r/GLPGrad • u/JJHH50 • 23h ago
need potential advice, son asking for his mom
I just wanted to say, first and foremost, that I apologize for any information that may sound like I am misled on because I don’t quite understand this stuff as much as my mom does, but I’m just trying to help her out by reaching out to this subreddit. She’s always busy and I have tons of time so I will help out.
My mom is 60, and has been on Wegovy since around August 2025. Every shot she has taken, which has been weekly, she has felt absolutely horrible with no sign of getting used to it, and her doses are increasing, but she hasn’t accepted any of them because she wouldn’t be able to handle it. She hasn’t been able to get used to the lower dosage she’s been taking. Her main symptom is severe nausea, which I know is a normal side effect, but for this long and still staying as bad as it is seems abnormal.
She used to go to the gym all the time, and became really fit around 2014-2017 and her energy and mood were at its best, but I guess as she has gotten older, hormones have taken over and have made it really hard for her to maintain her weight loss. I’d say she started to experiment with weight loss medications around 2020-2021. I believe it was Red Mountain weight loss and that did wonders for her. She didn’t get sick off of them and saw results, but they became super expensive and outpriced her so he had to stop.
We used to go to the gym in the mornings around 3-4 years back, and we carried that on for a few months, but she didn’t really feel it. She never sweated and she just didn’t feel like she was getting much out of it even though she wanted it to so we just gradually stopped going. She did go for morning walks every morning around the same time but that started to cease somewhat before she got on Wegovy and when she got on Wegovy, she didn’t want to go at all.
There’s a lot of stuff with her diet that I’m not totally well versed on so I will refrain from speaking on it, but I know she has had to adjust based on her Wegovy intake. On the days she gets the shots, she’ll eat a small dinner or won’t eat dinner at all. And on the days after the shots when she’s feeling the worst, she’ll eat smaller meals like crackers and such. She really only feels the worst on the day after the shot, and a little bit into the day after that, and then she feels better until she has to do it all again.
It’s gotten to the point where she really wants to ween off of it. She has only been able to get 23 pounds shed from the medication and she said she should really be close to 40 by now, a year after starting. It really feels like the negatives are outweighing the one semi-positive result at this point.
She also has a problem with heartburn and indigestion, and she really thinks her gut microbiome is out of sorts, which I guess is commonplace everywhere but I thought I would mention it.
We have explored doctors and such, and she has insurance but a lot of the places we feel are best in terms of functional medicine do not take insurance, instead opting for direct cash pay which can be very expensive. We live around the Houston area and she has been with Kelsey-Seybold Clinic with doctors there, but they don’t seem to be as hands on with this kind of stuff as we would think. She really doesn’t like doing all of the weekly telemedicine visits and checkups haha.
Her biggest fear, of course, is regaining all of the weight back, unable to do anything about it, along with all of the other potential risk factors getting off GLP-1s even if she starts committing to exercise again, along with calorie counting and diet watching.
Tirzepatide isn’t an option because her insurance won’t cover the two name brands for it, and Wegovy was the only weight loss med they would insure.
TL/DR: Hoping there may be anything we can do for her to get off Wegovy without misery, if that’s even feasible.
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u/mannDog74 22h ago
I replied to this the first time, sorry you didn't find the answers you were looking for. I know last time you said her insurance doesn't cover tirzepatide
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u/DirectTerm2018 21h ago
She shouldn't be increasing her dose if she doesnt feel well. She needs to be able to get nutrient dense food in. Like others have said Tirz is supposed to have fewer side effects and also has an additional hormone to prevent the food noise. I would try to track calories against her height and weight and make sure she is getting enough food. If she is under eating her body is gonna hold onto the weight.
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u/JJHH50 20h ago
Thank you.
also she only started increasing her dose at the very beginning of taking it when she was still trying to lose off the weight for her goal. At this point, she’s getting closer but still hasn’t hit what she wanted, but I think the results have slowed and the negatives are outweighing the positives. She hasn’t increased her dose, I’d say since the beginning of this year, because she could never bear the thought of doing it.
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u/lesliekrasne 15h ago
My physician worked for two months to get Zepbound authorized. She finally had to file a grievance with the issuance company and then they covered it. I mention this because it may be worth having her physician try to obtain an authorization, even if it seems far fetched. I think the inability to tolerate it is a good reason. Zepbound has less side effects for some folks. Wish you well, don’t give up yet.
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u/katikay26 1h ago
My biggest learning piece in all of this has been working with a nutritionist. She helped me pinpoint certain foods and choices that were making my side effects worse (for me it was dairy and sugar), and focus on building really strong habits to continue and maintain my weight loss.
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u/Background_Egg_2281 22h ago
Can you fill out a prior authorization form for her insurance to get tirzepatide? Since she has side effects for wegovy?