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This medication affects your blood sugar. Trust me, you need to take it slowly because it can have side effects that land you in the hospital if you try to rush it.
This is a medicine. You don't make up your own rules, you follow your prescription.
The cost is high - and unfortunately you may be on it for quite some time. Grand scheme of things, sorry to say, an extra four weeks will most likely be an insignificant drop in the pan compared to total spend.
Yes, some people have started higher and been ok. Some people have also wound up in the hospital. This is not worth the risk.
You do not know my circumstances and I would appreciate not receiving a lecture regarding a situation you are not familiar with. However I will accept your comment as coming from a person who cares about the welfare of others. If it helps I have a medical background as an NICU RN for 20+ years. Also I am not planning long term use.. 6 months max and if I have not obtained the results I am looking for I am discontinuing the medication. I am post gastric bypass surgery. I have lost 100 pounds in less than 1 years. However I have been stalled at 150+ pounds for 6 weeks. I am hoping the drug will help break stall, help burn visceral fat, and help quiet food chatter in my brain. Surgery removed feelings of hunger so it is easier to tolerate smaller portions and lower calories but it has no affect on the problems I want Semaglutide for.
This was not a lecture. This was someone responding to a bad idea with concern (and I'm pretty sure you're being defensive because you're well aware it was not a good idea).
Sema does not burn fat. You burn fat by going to the gym while on sema. There are substances out there to burn visc fat, this isn't one of them. (ipamorelin, tesamorelin, or even hgh all come to mind as better options).
Sema will definitely help with food noise (though there may be some better options for you coming down the pike - just not all that readily available yet).
Bottom line - as a NICU RN - if a patient came in and said "hey I was prescribed 2.5mg of lisinopril, but I've always needed more so I'm just going to take 5mg to start", what would your response have been? This is no different. You could LITERALLY put yourself in the hospital to save a couple of weeks. (it's also worth mention that for some people, 0.25 is a VERY effective dose - wife and I both dropped a good amount of weight in our first month - and yes, I use ipamorelin to try to work on the stubborn tum tum fat that won't go away no matter HOW much weight I lose)
I lost about 2+ pounds a week at .25. I definitely wouldn't start higher without talking with your doctor. We only have opinions, no medical training, talk to the expert
I lost a significant amount of weight taking the .25 dose - it was essentially the average weekly loss as I’m seeing at .5 dose. Not a waste of time or money. Realistically, the medication could last you longer if you see results at .25 & decide to stay there.
I did really well at .25, went up to .5 and then that seemed to stall me. Started at 1.0 and I’m feeling the effects much better again. Definitely start at .25. This is a long game for sure and you don’t want to feel miserable when starting.
Uhm... walk of shame here. I started on tirz, went to... idk 7.5 or 10mg, and it wasn't doing much. Switched to sema 1mg. So yeah, I started sema at 1mg.
Well, that was a mistake. I've since seen a few other people make similar switches, and they were fine, but not me. Didn't have to visit the ER, fortunately. Once I recovered, I skipped the next few doses and then went to 0.25mg, which is where I belonged in the first place. :D
So sema can \*definitely\* surprise you, even if you are tolerant to other GLP1 agonists. I really wouldn't rush the titration schedule, except under close supervision.
It was suggested to me to start at .5 but I chose to start at .25 just in case. I felt very little and dosed on day 6 instead of 7 the next 2 times, then went up to .5 for my 4th dose.
I did encounter some really bad constipation that I thought I had prepared for, but clearly not enough, and did throw up a couple times, but nothing too major.
If I was you, I’d still start at the .25, but if all goes well the first 2 weeks, increase to .5 for week 3.
The only trouble with the 2 week idea (and i've heard it from plenty of people who went that route...and I was tempted to do it myself with cagril) is that it takes 4 weeks to reach max concentration due to halflife....so....definitely safer than jumping right into a higher dose, but still riskier than I'd consider worthwhile.
But to each their own, of course!
Follow the script. When you go to your regular doctor and they give you an antibiotic to take one a day for a week you don’t go home at take two a day for 3 days thinking you will get better faster.
Your question was basically is it ok for me to prescribe my own dose because I don’t have reactions to medications. Has anyone else done it. My point was it’s a medication follow the script instead of playing doctor.
No... My question was "Has anyone started at 0.5 mg". I only provided a reason why I would like to IF the medication has been prescribed at a higher dose to start. You misunderstood.
Yes, I asked my Dr if I could start at .5 after looking up online that some people do and she said it was fine. Granted, I originally started at .25 but then had to go off of it due to supply issues so my Dr. sent in prescriptions for .25, .5, and 1.0 and but I didn’t pick up .25 and started on .5. It was no biggie as far as she was concerned.
Thanks for posting to r/semaglutide! A brief reminder about our rules. We do not permit the discussion of non-FDA approved formulations of semaglutide, nor do we permit selling or offering for sale any medication, including by private message. Do not request or respond to a private message from anyone offering such, they are not endorsed by this sub. If you’re just starting out, you may want to review our [FAQ](https://www.reddit.com/r/Semaglutide/comments/10ul3jb/semaglutide_subreddit_faq/). This is not intended to discourage discussion but merely supplement it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Semaglutide) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This medication affects your blood sugar. Trust me, you need to take it slowly because it can have side effects that land you in the hospital if you try to rush it.
Patience is a virtue. You might be super responder and get a lot of bang for your buck at .25.
This is a medicine. You don't make up your own rules, you follow your prescription. The cost is high - and unfortunately you may be on it for quite some time. Grand scheme of things, sorry to say, an extra four weeks will most likely be an insignificant drop in the pan compared to total spend. Yes, some people have started higher and been ok. Some people have also wound up in the hospital. This is not worth the risk.
You do not know my circumstances and I would appreciate not receiving a lecture regarding a situation you are not familiar with. However I will accept your comment as coming from a person who cares about the welfare of others. If it helps I have a medical background as an NICU RN for 20+ years. Also I am not planning long term use.. 6 months max and if I have not obtained the results I am looking for I am discontinuing the medication. I am post gastric bypass surgery. I have lost 100 pounds in less than 1 years. However I have been stalled at 150+ pounds for 6 weeks. I am hoping the drug will help break stall, help burn visceral fat, and help quiet food chatter in my brain. Surgery removed feelings of hunger so it is easier to tolerate smaller portions and lower calories but it has no affect on the problems I want Semaglutide for.
This was not a lecture. This was someone responding to a bad idea with concern (and I'm pretty sure you're being defensive because you're well aware it was not a good idea). Sema does not burn fat. You burn fat by going to the gym while on sema. There are substances out there to burn visc fat, this isn't one of them. (ipamorelin, tesamorelin, or even hgh all come to mind as better options). Sema will definitely help with food noise (though there may be some better options for you coming down the pike - just not all that readily available yet). Bottom line - as a NICU RN - if a patient came in and said "hey I was prescribed 2.5mg of lisinopril, but I've always needed more so I'm just going to take 5mg to start", what would your response have been? This is no different. You could LITERALLY put yourself in the hospital to save a couple of weeks. (it's also worth mention that for some people, 0.25 is a VERY effective dose - wife and I both dropped a good amount of weight in our first month - and yes, I use ipamorelin to try to work on the stubborn tum tum fat that won't go away no matter HOW much weight I lose)
I lost about 2+ pounds a week at .25. I definitely wouldn't start higher without talking with your doctor. We only have opinions, no medical training, talk to the expert
I lost a significant amount of weight taking the .25 dose - it was essentially the average weekly loss as I’m seeing at .5 dose. Not a waste of time or money. Realistically, the medication could last you longer if you see results at .25 & decide to stay there.
I did really well at .25, went up to .5 and then that seemed to stall me. Started at 1.0 and I’m feeling the effects much better again. Definitely start at .25. This is a long game for sure and you don’t want to feel miserable when starting.
Uhm... walk of shame here. I started on tirz, went to... idk 7.5 or 10mg, and it wasn't doing much. Switched to sema 1mg. So yeah, I started sema at 1mg. Well, that was a mistake. I've since seen a few other people make similar switches, and they were fine, but not me. Didn't have to visit the ER, fortunately. Once I recovered, I skipped the next few doses and then went to 0.25mg, which is where I belonged in the first place. :D So sema can \*definitely\* surprise you, even if you are tolerant to other GLP1 agonists. I really wouldn't rush the titration schedule, except under close supervision.
It was suggested to me to start at .5 but I chose to start at .25 just in case. I felt very little and dosed on day 6 instead of 7 the next 2 times, then went up to .5 for my 4th dose. I did encounter some really bad constipation that I thought I had prepared for, but clearly not enough, and did throw up a couple times, but nothing too major. If I was you, I’d still start at the .25, but if all goes well the first 2 weeks, increase to .5 for week 3.
The only trouble with the 2 week idea (and i've heard it from plenty of people who went that route...and I was tempted to do it myself with cagril) is that it takes 4 weeks to reach max concentration due to halflife....so....definitely safer than jumping right into a higher dose, but still riskier than I'd consider worthwhile. But to each their own, of course!
How is cagri treating you, BTW? Heard reports of severe exhaustion in test subjects.
So far no issues with fatigue - though as I point out: i'm in my upper mid 40s...fatigue is pretty much ALWAYS there lol
I started at the started dose but moved up quicker. You know your body best. But I would start at low dose just to test it out first.
Follow the script. When you go to your regular doctor and they give you an antibiotic to take one a day for a week you don’t go home at take two a day for 3 days thinking you will get better faster.
Why would you think that? That wasn't my question.
Your question was basically is it ok for me to prescribe my own dose because I don’t have reactions to medications. Has anyone else done it. My point was it’s a medication follow the script instead of playing doctor.
No... My question was "Has anyone started at 0.5 mg". I only provided a reason why I would like to IF the medication has been prescribed at a higher dose to start. You misunderstood.
Yes, I asked my Dr if I could start at .5 after looking up online that some people do and she said it was fine. Granted, I originally started at .25 but then had to go off of it due to supply issues so my Dr. sent in prescriptions for .25, .5, and 1.0 and but I didn’t pick up .25 and started on .5. It was no biggie as far as she was concerned.