Comment by addisonj | Hacker News Reader

Comment by addisonj | Hacker News Reader

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This is pretty interesting, but for anyone who is on semaglutide maybe not a huge surprise? At least in my experience with semaglutide, everything I consume I need less of and I feel way less desire for things.

I am not a big sweet eater, but usually enjoy a decent sized chunk of dark chocolate about every other day. I still have roughly the same cadence of wanting a piece, but the difference now a single square is enough and I don't feel the need for more. It isn't like the desire for things like sugar, fat, etc is gone, it is more like I am just wayyy better at knowing how much of that I need.

I have been on semaglutide for ~2 months and it has honestly been wonderful for me. I have described it as being the drug that helps my brain stop acting like we live in times of famine and has massively improved my relationship with food.

It really is just a shame that it is so cost prohibitive as I genuinely think that it probably could do a ton to reduce healthcare and impact of food overproduction (I eat so much less meat and I have heard some from others), but I don't think that will happen unless insurance starts covering it

I've never tried it. Can I ask a follow up question?

Do you feel less need of other "wants" as well? money, ambition, power, sex drive? Things in this vein.

Sorry if I'm being awkward but I'm genuinely curious.

I had the same question. Because it could have been that it reduces desires in general, like invoking a slight depression where you just don't care about things, including addictions. Then again, things like depression are likely to increase the desire for dopamine triggers.

Can confirm what the other poster said - it only affects the desire for food and food-related items.

It is absolutely amazing. Before I was basically always hungry, even right after a big meal that left the stomach physically full, the thought of "eh, maybe more food?" was in the back of my mind. Now it's not there and even a small portion makes me feel full.

If anything, the weight loss has made me feel so much better that I have more energy to work on other goals, it definitely hasn't stopped desire for sex or money or success.

No, it’s only food-related. Basically you feel hunger less. It’s easier to implement good diet. Obviously you need to eat healthy to get benefits from semiglutide.

Obviously you dont. Just the reduction of caloric intake and as a result, a reduction in body fat, is gonna lead to health benefits.

I’m taking it, and it’s still trivial to overeat with calorie-dense food. It’s just easier to control impulse to do so.

My point is you only need to eat LESS to be healthier if you are overweight. Ofcourse the best results are achieved when actually eating healthy... But still

Nope, not found that. It's been entirely food-related for me, although I did recently kick my nicotine gum habit without too much issue.

Compound itself is not that expensive. US prices are crazy as usual. In other countries it’s $300 for the month. In US you can buy off-brand semiglutide online for $300-$400 for the month as well.

"off brand" and "online" for something that I'm going to consume (or inject?) sounds pretty scary to me! I don't buy even simple recipe ingredients on Amazon.

Over here doctors are required to write the prescription for generic (off-brand) versions of medication if available. This was introduced to counter promotions to the medical professionals by pharmaceutical companies.

The generics have the exact same active compounds and are regulated exactly the same.

I do not think Amazon or any other non-Pharmacy can legally fill prescriptions for medicines here, brand or generic.

Semiglutide is patented by Novo Nordisk, so in this case it’s not even clear where this online off-brand semiglutide comes from. I.e. it’s not legally produced as generic yet.

It's on the FDA drug shortage list, that allows compounding pharmacies to sell it off brand.

Is semaglutide itself patented, or is it the pen/delivery mechanism? The online sellers provide vials of semaglutide that need to be reconstituted and then drawn up / injected like insulin or other vial-based peptides. I assumed this is legal and possible because the patent is actually on the pen and not the peptide itself. But I haven't been able to confirm that one way or another. Even if that is the case, the ease of use is no doubt to me a huge part of the reason it has been so successful. I don't think it would have seen such widespread use if it were only available in vials.

Novo Nordisk is buying sacks of API from Chinese and Indian factories like everybody else.

This is illustration of real vs US healthcare prices, not call to action to buy off-brand online medicine.

To save money realistic options in US: if paying with insurance Novo Novordisk has some rebate system. And if paying out of pocket - buy in Canada.

In EU we consider 300$ a month for a drug expensive.

What are the drawbacks of taking this? I saw the point about price, but if it was cheap enough to not be a factor, is there a reason why everybody wouldn't be on it?

It can affect other medications and anesthesia due to how it slows your body's intake of... everything? For example, my wife who takes wegovy and ADHD medication had to switch from an extended release stimulant to a regular immediate release one, which now acts like an extended release due to the interaction.

Anesthesiologists need to know about semaglutide usage because it makes the period you need to fast before going under a lot longer

Availability, price, some people get unpleasant side-effects. There are newer and better versions available, and more coming out soon. The whole field is relatively new.

There are apparently 40 million prescriptions in the US alone. There'd be more if not for the shortages and price.

I’ve been having a very similar experience with chromium supplementation (which supposedly improves insulin resistance), but likely not as strong an effect.

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