HERE WE GO(vy)—SURE COULDN’T HELP MYSELF
If you’ve been on the internet watching life’s current events, first and foremost how are you holding up? We’ve officially kicked off the month of January and already it’s been way too much… that’s just from my perspective.
One of the many many recent headlines was about the “Wegovy weight loss pill” being approved.
There are a lot of eyes on this. Finally a non injection option. It’ll carry the same weight-loss power. Same active ingredient. Just in a tablet. Cue the collective ooos and awwws.
But before we all get to reorganizing our medicine cabinets (knowing a huge cohort of people were only able to turn down the lure of weight loss because it was a needle)… Let’s take a step back and talk about this.
At the end of the day a wellness trend and the media frenzy behind it will move fast research/science/chemistry/biology med approvals/physical examinations/insurance contracting all of that goes at its own pace.
It’s still a prescription that’ll need a prescriber not a multivitamin you can go and pick up on your next grocery run.
Oral semaglutide is what we’re discussing. The same semaglutide that is also Ozempic and also Rybelsus. It’s shown impressive weight loss results at high doses in clinical trials performing well as Wegovy the shot so we knew a pill was on its way.
It’ll be a lot cheaper than the injections but I know insurance companies will still do their dance covering and not covering every single order. I wouldn’t bank on it being available at your local pharmacy counter any time soon. You can put the phone down before you start calling give it some time.
The “Wegovy pill” is what it’s being coined as. Not sure if we’ll get a different name. But like all the semaglutides it’s best and most responsible to distinguish which is indicated for diabetes and which is indicated for weight loss.
Ozempic ── Rybelsus ── diabetes
Wegovy ── this pill ── weight loss
Semaglutide working hard like rent is due. We’ll see what tirzepatide has planned to match.
Do I think it’ll will be flying off the shelves when it gets here? We saw what the needles did. And as I brought up before, injections are usually the ones with the mental block. No matter how small. Even when the schedule is once a week vs daily.
A pill changes that psychology entirely. It lowers the barrier to giving it a try. The appeal is there. Accessibility is expanded. It’s also easier to hide when taking (not that I would ever condone being medically secretive) just the reality.
As more people may be getting their hands on this medication it is important to point out a pill does not mean lighter or gentler on the body especially as its use is still being studied. No one is promising that.
This is the same drug, same mechanism so the same background knowledge and respect is going to be requested.
So to brush up on semaglutide and how the pill would work…it is a GLP-1 receptor agonist. It:
slows gastric emptying into your small intestine(delaying digestion- keeps you fuller longer)
reduces appetite and cravings (quiets the food noise)
helps regulate blood sugar (stimulating insulin secretion from the pancreas and suppressing glucagon)
That’s what the injection did and the oral will do the exact same. All while being ingestible. It’ll use a special absorption vehicle to survive your stomach’s attacks long enough to deliver its effects to the bloodstream and actually work. That’s why:
It will most likely need to be taken on an empty stomach with a small amount of water
It’ll need a fair amount of time before eating, drinking anything else or taking other meds (0.5-1 hr) Delayed gastric emptying comes with delayed gastric absorption for anything else. Time other medication appropriately
No crushing, cutting, or chewing the pill
And it’ll require patience and consistency before results are seen
Being the same drug, in the same class, potential issues of digestive disruption will be the same. A side effect profile of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation… Gastroparesis… Appetite suppression that can tread the line of not eating/under eating if not careful. You have to keep an eye on the thyroid... Your pancreas… And actually, the added worry of overdosing is heavier with a pill because most people will remember how many times in a day they’ve poked themselves.
That’s where education and discernment come in. Nothing here is to be played about.
This is a medical tool affecting hormones in your body. Not a dietary fad. You also shouldn’t be relying solely on it without lifestyle changing.
Just like the injection, a pill can be of assistance. It can’t disciple your habits.
There are people this may be most appropriate for and there are those it might not.
We’re already seeing the misuse, overuse, and abuse with injectables. Another storm is on the way. To all the providers, pharmacists, and patients locked into this, stay grounded. Phentermine flashbacks galore…
