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GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

glp1digest.com

511–520 of 640 posts

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#511
post #321

Earlier quoted context omitted.

SSRIs barely have side effects

GLP-1 - Mild nausea, always temporary and in the beginning, easy to avoid by tapering dose. Extremely effective. SSRI - about 10% chance of major sexual disfunction, often permanent, significant likelihood of sleep disturbance, majority get blunted emotions. Debatably effective. Not really comparable.

As someone who's currently experiencing significant and crippling gastroparesis due to GLP-1's, being reductive about the side effects is not particularly helpful.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#512
post #243

Just want to share my own experience since were doing it: Took Wegovy (Semaglutide) for about 6 months. Barely lost any weight, would occasionally get nauseous. Then the doc switched me to Mounjaro (Tirzepatide) + Phentermine, and holy shit, I just don’t feel like eating, almost ever. Lost 20kg in 6 months, which is all I needed to lose, never had any side effects. None. I did feel a little weird/buzzed the first tim…

You need to be careful with phentermine. Unlike the GLPs it very much is physically addictive, basically just adderall.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#513
post #231
post #215

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are the long-term (>20 years) effects of taking GLP-1s really all that well understood? Because that's kind of what you're suggesting here. Making millions of people dependent on a drug to maintain basic health does not strike me as the best of ideas regardless. I understand why it's a good idea for many from an individual perspective and I'm not judging anyone, but from a societal perspective it does not seem like a…

Why not? We have an overweight and obesity epidemic that has persisted through everything else we've gotten enough political capital to try thus far. The "miracle" drug is the most promising direction we've had in a long time. Whatever possible adverse long term effects have to be (plausibility they actually happen) x (harm they cause) > known harms of being overweight. The scale of the solution is allowed to match t…

"We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas"

The obesity trend has happened almost in lockstep with the proliferation of highly processed foods. Butter and animal fats being replaced with low quality, hydrogenated vegetable oils. Cane sugar being replaced with high fructose corn syrup and other highly processed sweeteners. Sodas and sugary juices replacing water. Food like substances with little to no nutritional value designed solely for taste and texture.

These things are calorically dense while containing nothing the body needs to thrive (though the calories will allow it to survive). They are easy to eat in large amounts and leave you feeling hungry. And unfortunately, these are the most affordable and readily available foods in the United States.

I don't think this is a conspiracy. It's just capitalism. These low quality ingredients are cheap and extremely shelf stable. In addition, the government subsidizes the production of this garbage.

So to say obesity has persisted through everything we've tried is a bit backwards. It would be more accurate to say "a percentage of the population has managed to avoid obesity despite all of the things we've tried."

- Make healthier food options more affordable and readily available - Better nutrition education - And if you really want to get the government involved, ban the use of some additives, oils, sweeteners, and dyes that allow the creation of many of these highly processed foods

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#514
post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For semaglutide, the newest and most potent GLP1. United States: The main patent is expected to expire around 2032. Monthly Price: $950 - $1,350+ (cash price without insurance) Norway: The main patent is expected to expire around 2031. Monthly Price: $109 - $301 (cash price equivalent in USD)

Canada: January 2026(!) Novo lawyers messed up, didn't renew the patent filing over a payment dispute. Hilarity is ensuing. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/09/hims-hers-generic-semaglutid... And once generics for GLP-1s are going in Canada, Section 804 of the FD&C act becomes VERY interesting: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/reports/importation-program-un... Reimports of generics from Canada into the US here. we. go.

LOL, that must be one of the biggest fuck ups in pharmaceutical industry.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#515

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you see a decrease in people gambling / drinking when on the medication? N=1, I'm on ZepBound and in general my brain is less likely to give in to things that give instant satisfaction.

I can't drink whatsoever now. I've been on Wegovy for ~4 months. I used to be a VERY light drinker, i.e. like 10 drinks per YEAR (rum and diet coke, glass of wine, or 2-3 beers in a night). I would usually get a drink when my band played. A month or so ago, I got a bourbon, which I'll happily sip for an hour while talking, and I had to force it down, and left over half of it. Same with a beer; I went to a baseball ga…

When I took Adderall in college a few times I had a very similar feeling. You could have told me my favorite restaurant was giving away my favorite food, and it would have been nauseating while I was on the meds.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#516

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay will report back in one year.

First off I just wanna say awesome and I send positive energy to you and you’re gonna do great. But then I just wanna talk about how long life is in terms of weight gain! Even two years is an “short” amount of time! Last month, I looked over my doc where I keep track of my weight and I’ve been gaining about 1 pound a year since I started tracking it… 20 years ago. That’s a significant amount and I maybe have 30 years…

I know! I am totally aware. My FIL died sitting in a recliner basically from age 55 to 70. He didn't move, didn't watch what he ate. We saw that happen over a long period until he died about 3 years ago. It started with toes, then loss of a leg.

Since that happened, it really kicked us into motion plus shaking the COVID funk!

I wish you the best as well

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#517
post #204

Clinical psychologist here in Norway, and just my subjective experience: People stop GLP1 agonists for the following reasons, in descending order: - They want to enjoy eating again. - Medications are a hassle. - Worry about long-term effects, even if there is no alarming evidence for now. - Price (we are a spoiled/rich country). - Other (like hating needles, feeling bad for taking medications that others need more, b…

Having ADHD myself, and a bunch of friends who also have it, I have noticed that the people with this condition rarely have a healthy relationship with food. There is either a tendency to overeat indulgent foods, or a tendency to not think about food that much. I have also heard about people with ADHD being on GLP1 agonists that it does a lot for their reward seeking behavior and impulse control. This makes me wonder…

As someone with diagnosed ADHD. I fully agree. There's some background thread that says "you, now, eat". It's almost impossible to shut off.

That being the case, the same behaviours have led me to a compulsive need to plan meals. Doing so has helped me lessen (not eliminate) food noise. Anecdotally, I've noticed with others as well, that this is the way. Prep - be fine. Don't prep - eat a small village.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#518
post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For semaglutide, the newest and most potent GLP1. United States: The main patent is expected to expire around 2032. Monthly Price: $950 - $1,350+ (cash price without insurance) Norway: The main patent is expected to expire around 2031. Monthly Price: $109 - $301 (cash price equivalent in USD)

Canada: January 2026(!) Novo lawyers messed up, didn't renew the patent filing over a payment dispute. Hilarity is ensuing. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/07/09/hims-hers-generic-semaglutid... And once generics for GLP-1s are going in Canada, Section 804 of the FD&C act becomes VERY interesting: https://www.fda.gov/about-fda/reports/importation-program-un... Reimports of generics from Canada into the US here. we. go.

All over 250 CAD

>Novo Nordisk’s lawyers requested a refund for the paid 2017 maintenance fee of $250 Canadian dollars ($185) because the company wanted more time to see if it wanted to pay it, according to letters included in the documents.

>Two years later, the office sent a letter saying the fee, which now included a late charge bringing the total to CA$450, was not received by the prescribed due date.

>Novo Nordisk had a one-year grace period to pay, but never did, and so its patent lapsed in Canada. It lapsed in 2020 when the fee was not received, but it doesn’t expire until January.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#519
post #517

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having ADHD myself, and a bunch of friends who also have it, I have noticed that the people with this condition rarely have a healthy relationship with food. There is either a tendency to overeat indulgent foods, or a tendency to not think about food that much. I have also heard about people with ADHD being on GLP1 agonists that it does a lot for their reward seeking behavior and impulse control. This makes me wonder…

As someone with diagnosed ADHD. I fully agree. There's some background thread that says "you, now, eat". It's almost impossible to shut off. That being the case, the same behaviours have led me to a compulsive need to plan meals. Doing so has helped me lessen (not eliminate) food noise. Anecdotally, I've noticed with others as well, that this is the way. Prep - be fine. Don't prep - eat a small village.

Also ADHD here, and same thing for me. Hyperfixating on meal planning and strength training has pretty much saved me. It's hard, and I still have to fight food noise daily, but having everything pre-prepped means I have easy, friction free healthy choices instead of reaching for a bag of chips and downing the entire thing while sitting at my desk, or not having the executive function necessary to cook an un-prepped, unplanned dinner and just eating a whole pizza instead.

I also used to binge, and meal planning and pre has also helped with that, as I tend to have periods of either really high food drive, or almost no food drive at all leading to not eating for an entire day, then downing 3000+ calories in one meal.

ADHD sucks. It's often trivialized in pop culture, but it makes life so difficult, and those real difficulties are almost never talked about.

Re: GLP-1s are breaking life insurance

#520

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, yeah. You could always just lose weight and probably get out of being prediabetic.

> just lose weight This might be the left-wing analog of climate denialism.

What does the left-wing or more broadly, political philosophy have to do with that statement?
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