I spent more than two years working on Intuitive Eating being superconscious of hunger and fullness levels and fighting with myself to stick to smaller portions, but after three months of gradually raising the dose of Ozempic, I realized that, beyond weight loss, Ozempic has made Intuitive Eating much easier. Now I can eat half of my breakfast and put the rest aside for later, without thinking about it or arguing with myself. Is this what normal people feel like around food? Because I still enjoy eating, and I still have cravings for this or that, but it’s just not overwhelming anymore.
So, of course, as soon as I was fully on board with Ozempic, and ready to go up to the optimal dose of 2 mg a week, I found out that I wasn’t immune to the Ozempic shortage.
The pharmacy had had no trouble getting the lower doses, so as I got used to a faint sense of nausea and more sensitivity to acidic foods, there was no stress around getting the weekly .25 mg, .5mg, and 1 mg doses. But it turned out that I should have become aware of the shortage when my doctor moved me up to 1 mg a week, because my pharmacy didn’t fill that prescription. Except I didn’t notice, because I still had three boxes of the lower dose pens, so I just took two .5 mg shots to make up the 1 mg dose, assuming that’s what I was supposed to do. So when the doctor raised my dose to the full 2 mg, and told me that there might be difficulty getting it, I was surprised to hear it. She told me that if the pharmacy couldn’t get the higher dose I should just stay at 1 mg. I didn’t hear anything from my pharmacy after the 2 mg dose had been called in, so when I went in to pick up a few other refills I asked for the 2 mg prescription of Ozempic and the kid at the counter sent me over to the pharmacist for the bad news. Not only couldn’t they get the 2 mg dose, they couldn’t get the 1 mg dose, and couldn’t give me the available smaller doses to make up the higher dose (I guess it’s an insurance thing). He said they would let me know if a supply of either the 1 mg or 2 mg dose came in, but he had no idea when, or if, it would.
I called the doctor’s office to let her know about the problem and to ask if there was another medication she could switch me to, and the secretary, who’d heard it all before, said no, just call around to different pharmacies until you find one with a supply of Ozempic, and then call us back and we’ll send a new prescription.
I still had 1.5 mg left at home, so I made plans to make it last two weeks, taking .75 mg each week, and crossing my fingers that the pharmacy would come through by then; because I didn’t want to have to call a million pharmacies, and then call the doctor’s office each time someone said they might have an extra dose for me; but also because I couldn’t quite believe that it was an emergency. I couldn’t believe that my doctor would have started me on Ozempic if there was a real, even reliable, chance that I wouldn’t be able to keep taking it after the first few months. That just seemed crazy.
When I told my nutritionist, and my therapist, and Mom, that my plan was just to wait, they said absolutely not. You must be more proactive! You must keep calling and running around to get this medication that is actually helping you! But I couldn’t do it. I felt like a black hole was opening up under my feet at even the thought of chasing down Ozempic doses across Long Island. I couldn’t even put into words why it felt so awful, but I’m pretty sure I made sad puppy dog eyes, just like Ellie, because Mom volunteered to call around for me. She found a big pharmacy a few towns away that was expecting to get a shipment after the weekend. All I had to do, they said, was call my doctor for the prescription on Monday morning and it would all be fine.
So on Monday morning I called my doctor’s office and the secretary said that the doctor would call in the prescription. I called the pharmacy every few hours to see if they had filled the prescription, but each time the automated operator said they didn’t have my name and number in their system yet and I should call back later. After eight PM, when I’d given up, Mom called one more time and got the notification that my prescription had been filled and a four week supply of the 2 mg dose of Ozempic would be waiting for me in the morning. I was so relieved, and so exhausted just thinking about having to go through this again in a month.
I was still up at one thirty in the morning, anxious and preoccupied about Ellie’s health and the war in Israel and Gaza, and trying to read a mystery to distract myself. I’d finished yet another chapter and decided to check my email for a break, and that’s when I found the notification from the new pharmacy saying they had run out of Ozempic and couldn’t predict when they would get the next shipment in.
I don’t know exactly what happened. Maybe there was enough Ozempic at eight o’clock, when they put it into the computer, but by the time the pharmacy had closed an hour later it was all gone. Or maybe someone stole a box of Ozempic out of the back door after midnight. But it was starting to seem like Ozempic was being doled out on a first-come-first-serve basis, or some sort of Hunger-Games-style competition with no rules at all.
I’m not good at fighting for what I need, or racing to get places faster than someone else. Even the thought of competing for scarce resources exhausts me down to the bones. I’ve spent so many years trying to manage my weight, and spending enormous amounts of money and time on diets and nutritionists and programs and apps and on and on. And I’ve spent so many years being criticized by doctors for not being at the right weight, and for not trying hard enough, and finally there’s a medication that actually seems to be helping me, but I struggle with the idea that I should get something when someone else needs or wants it too. I don’t believe that I should be the first on anyone’s list to get Ozempic when people with type two diabetes, the original patients the drug was made for, are struggling to get their medication. I can’t make an argument for why I should get what I want in a way that convinces me, let alone anyone else.
For days, this huge, raw, unhealed wound full of self-loathing and hopelessness opened up and practically swallowed me whole, and I just wanted to cover it with duct tape and wait for the Ozempic shortage to end on its own. But, gradually, the weight of it started to recede, just enough for me to be able to hear Mom say that someone at our regular pharmacy had suggested calling independent pharmacies in the area, instead of the big name ones.
I dragged myself over to the computer and googled independent pharmacies near me. I made a list of about ten places, including the one down the block that had been closed for a long time but was supposed to reopen under new management any day. But making the list was the most I could manage at that point, especially at ten o’clock at night, and I planned to start calling another day, when I’d built up another dose of hope.
The next day we had to take Ellie for another echocardiogram to see how she was doing on her meds. They raised the dose of one of her medications and said to bring her back in four months, which felt more hopeful than at our last vet visit; and then I had to go teach, and as I was leaving Mom said, do you want me to make those calls for you?
Of course I do, Mommy!!!!!
By the time I got home from teaching, all I needed to do was send a picture of my insurance card to the just-re-opened pharmacy down the block and they said they would have a four week supply of the 1 mg dose of Ozempic ready for me the next day. I wasn’t sure I believed it, though. I had to wait until the phone call came the next morning and we drove over and became the first customers to pick up a prescription from the newly opened family run pharmacy (all three staff members standing behind the desk smiling at me).
I have no idea what will happen in four weeks when I need a refill, and I have no idea if I will ever be able to go up to the 2 mg dose, and I don’t know what lesson to learn from this. Have faith in humanity? Support local small businesses? Trust that even deeply felt, unbearable hopelessness will eventually pass? Let Mommy handle everything?
I don’t really understand why a small pharmacy was able to get the 1 mg dose of Ozempic when my big chain store couldn’t get it; and I don’t understand why the second big chain store was able to get the un-gettable 2 mg dose, or where it went between the time they told me they’d filled my prescription and the time they told me they couldn’t.
But I do understand why Ozempic is so popular with so many people, in a world where even an extra five pounds is counted against a person’s character, and doctors believe that extra weight is the cause of all disease, even when it’s not.
I wish I didn’t need to take this medication. I wish my body could self-regulate to the perfect weight without any intervention. I wish I didn’t need any medication at all: for pain, for depression, for a faulty thyroid, for high blood pressure, or for my weight. But I do. And I’m afraid this whole thing is going to happen again, and again, and I don’t know that I will be any more prepared to manage the waves of emotion next time. But for now, I have my medication, and Ellie has her medication, and we both have my Mom nearby for support when we get overwhelmed.
As for anything else, we’ll just have to take it day by day, because thinking ahead is too freakin’ hard right now.
If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my Young Adult novel, Yeshiva Girl, on Amazon. And if you feel called to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.
Yeshiva Girl is about a Jewish teenager on Long Island, named Isabel, though her father calls her Jezebel. Her father has been accused of inappropriate sexual behavior with one of his students, which he denies, but Izzy implicitly believes it’s true. As a result of his problems, her father sends her to a co-ed Orthodox yeshiva for tenth grade, out of the blue, and Izzy and her mother can’t figure out how to prevent it. At Yeshiva, though, Izzy finds that religious people are much more complicated than she had expected. Some, like her father, may use religion as a place to hide, but others search for and find comfort, and community, and even enlightenment. The question is, what will Izzy find?
rachelmankowitz 
I’ve heard several reports on NPR about a shortage of a variety of different medications, including chemotherapy drugs. And since drug companies aren’t required to reveal why there’s a shortage, it’s anyone’s guess. But money is most assuredly involved.
They are making billions on weight loss medications.
Phew! 😊🙏
This is quite a rollercoaster ride you’re on. I’m a type 2 diabetic and have been considering requesting Ozempic because it has been heavily advertised in the past. I’m still on the fence about requesting it because I’m reticent about pharmaceuticals in general. Regardless, I hope Novo Nordisk steps up production of Ozempic for people who are currently utilizing it.
I’ve heard there’s an even newer medication coming soon, so that may take the pressure off ozempic. Eventually.
I hope this comes out very soon for you.
Sorry to hear this.
I read yesterday (Washington Post? Wall Street Journal?) that Novo Nordisk is starting a “manufacturing blitz” because of the unanticipated demand and shortages. Good news for all of us T2s, of course, but good news for everyone who can become healthier with the help of this drug.
That’s great news!
I hope the new pharmacy can keep you in stock. It could be that there is a maximum any one store can receive? Who knows?🤷🏻♀️
No idea.
I’m sure you Googled this, too, but would your doctor prescribe either of these two meds for you in place of Ozempic? “If you’re looking for Ozempic alternatives with the goal of losing weight, Wegovy (semaglutide) and Saxenda (liraglutide) might be an option for you.Jul 10, 2023”
For some reason the doctor wants to stick with ozempic.
Thanks for sharing,
Well at least you get the medicine after a lot of efforts. I hope next time it’ll be better
Thank you!
Take care
It seems that ever since Covid nothing is dependable. Everything is ethereal, as if at any time when we think we’re on firm ground we suddenly are in some alternate universe. I fear for anyone who isn’t resilient, or has no support team, as you have in Ellie and your Mom. So happy you persisted!
Thank you!
The global medication shortages are biting hard. We’re seeing it affect antimicrobials so that our First Nations people may be at risk from some serious infections.
I hope the situation improves for you, Rachel.
Thank you! I hope it improves for everyone!
In more one of my short video marathons on YT, this pearl appeared!
The interviewee said the discovery was worthy of a Nobel Prize in medicine.
And it reaffirmed the value of FASTING.
How it works,
The organism, during sleep, WITHOUT food intake during the night period, SELF-REGENERATES by feeding on old and diseased cells. This cannot happen with eating food at NIGHT. In other words, sleep on an empty stomach.
And, another renowned proctologist
Brazilian, indicates the intake of WATER only (600ml), in the first meal of the day; plus the half-hour wait for the first food intake.
This routine will allow the body to regulate itself with just water and self-detoxify.
*… the discovery has received a Nobel Prize in medicine.
:))
What a nightmare, Rachel. I see that med advertised almost hourly. Maybe they should spend the PR money on making more meds.
That would be awesome!
Hard living on a knife’s edge. At least you have a month’s reprieve. Fingers crossed for an end to the shortage
Thank you!
Let’s hope the pharmacies don’t run out of whatever people need and that no one needs to panic.
Sounds good!
I didn’t click on the “like” option because the only thing to like about this post is that you did eventually get the medication you need. I understand your thought process about there being people who need the medication more than you do for whatever reason, but each and everyone of you who has a prescription for this medication deserve to have it.
It seems that, between the pandemic and the spiking inflation rates, more and more companies are less and less concerned about the needs of their customers. It might be that your local pharmacy had what you needed because they had just reopened, but I do believe that small businesses are more interested in taking care of their customers because their only advertising comes from word of mouth.
I hope you will continue to have a good experience with them being able to provide you with what you need. And I hope you will tell your story to your neighbors as a way of referring them to this hometown pharmacy.
Absolutely!
My husband is taking Ozempic through the VA. Thankfully we have had no issues so far, but I’ve heard horror stories similar to yours. I wish pharmaceutical companies were less concerned with getting rich and more worried about getting medication that works to the people. ((HUGS))
Amen!
What a nightmare! I’m hopeful that with newer Ozempic-type medications coming out, there will be more people taking those and not so many taking the actual Ozempic! We’ll see.
Fingers crossed!
We order our regular meds every month, but you can guarantee the pharmacy will have a problem with at least one item and they have to ‘order it in’. It once took us an 80 mile round trip to source 5mg of warfarin, something Hubby has been on for over 30 years and they have now decided to discontinue the 5mg tablet but will keep the 1mg and 3mg. It doesn’t make sense. Now at least that has been resolved and he can order them with confidence.
Oy. That’s just crazy!
Yep!
When I read this, I’m thankful I don’t take any medication but this issue just adds to the stress – not good.
I wish I could skip all of them.
Quite understandable
It is working – that’s great news. Hope the supply issue gets handled soon.
Thank you!
So far I feel lucky that my nurse practitioner preferred to put me on Mounjaro as I’ve not heard that they are out but one time, and it was available the next day. Fingers crossed that we both keep getting what we need according to what our providers have prescribed us. It shouldn’t matter why it’s prescribed if it’s deemed necessary. I have only gone up once in dose from .25 to .5 so far and I’m feeling a good response in my appetite going down along with my blood sugar, so I’m quite pleased. Especially after reading on People Magazine about the mother in Australia who just died from taking these drugs to lose weight for her daughter’s wedding to fit in a certain dress. So sad! I hope you and Ellie continue to do well and I’ll be praying for you both. Hugs to both of you.
Thank you!!!!
My heart goes out to you. I have heard this from others, as well.
Thank you!
What a saga, Rachel! There seem to be nationwide shortages of lots of important drugs, including cancer medications. Ozempic is a hot item, so I’m not surprised. Sorry you’re caught in this bind.
Lessons learned? Hard to tell. While I try to practice patience and mindfulness, sometimes it just feels like SNAFU is the explanation for many of life’s travails.
So scary that cancer meds would be running short!
Sure is.
Good grief, what an ordeal you and your Mom went through just to get this medicine! Any explanation why there is a shortage? I do hope it continue to help you, especially at the 1mg dose.
Me too. Thank you!
How very frustrating! I hope things go a bit smoother when you get your refills.
Thank you!
M’lady and I have had similar run arounds with pharmacies, trying to find who has what in stock. ‘You would think’, in this computer age, individual pharmacies, even from the same chain, could talk to one another about in-stock supplies. Arggghh!
That’s just crazy!
I’m glad you got Ozempic in the end. I had to deal with a medication shortage briefly; luckily, it didn’t inconvenience me too much.
Thank you!
Oh, ouch! It does seem a little overwhelming!
Perhaps, though, just perhaps you are learning to bear with ‘things’ a little better. Maybe?
Maybe.
The meds shortages is shocking. Just recently my prescription ( a different medication) was put on hold awaiting a shipment. Love the fur baby pics. 🌷
Crazy!
What an ordeal. I hope it works out for you. My problem is not the pharmacy right now, but insurance, Medicare Part D to be specific. I no longer want Part D as my health insurance will cover drugs next year. It’s like the hotel California, you can check in but you can’t check out. After spending 30 minutes on the phone with Cigna today, they told me you can’t cancel by phone.
Oy. I hope it works out soon.
Our healthcare system is so broken. I found a dentist through my insurance website, made the appointment which was 2 months later. Then I got a text saying to arrive ½ hour early, except that the building is locked until my 8am appointment, so wait outside in my car. Then the front desk tells me that they accept Aetna PPO but not Aetna EPO (mine). Oh, and I was so distraught, I left my backpack and had to drive 30 minutes round trip to retrieve it.
I’m glad you finally got your meds! A Hunger Games future for us all, indeed.
Crazy!
I’m glad you were finally able to get this but why does everything have to be so hard?
Also how nice to have a new small business to support.
Thank you!
I have had some issues chasing down a prescription for my dad too, just enough to absolutely identify with your feelings of exhaustion in dealing with this! I am an adult, I should know all the aspects of running my life! But with his insurance company, I feel like I am having to learn a new language and the secret passwords that make everything work. Fortunately his doctor and an independent pharmacy are very helpful for us.
I hope it gets easier soon!
I know that Ellie, by way of your writings and sharing, continues to enjoy the most loving and caring and bountiful life that any doggy could ever imagine. My heart is with you and your mother as you experience this progression of life. I’m in my 70s, and over the years, I’ve had dozens of furry little friends in my family. The memory of every one of them continues to bring joy and comfort to me.
Thank you so much!
Wishing you best of health. Good info as I deal with my wellness also. tx much for visiting my site. I love anything to do with books & would be thrilled if you’d write a guest blog post for my site, which is for anyone who enjoys writing, or books, and all the arts. If you think it might be fun or helpful to have my followers (who total about 10k across my various social media) meet you, here’s the link for general guidelines: https://wp.me/p6OZAy-1eQ – best, da-AL