I was using Ozempic. a weekly dose, to help keep my A1c level down...yes, I'm diabetic.
Last dose was Wednesday, and looks like it may have been my last dose. Can't find a prescription refill at any of the local pharmacies, all saying they might get more in a month, perhaps longer. A shame, because it had lowered my A1c from 7.3 to 6.8...and I did feel better.
So, I did a bit of digging...the why the shortage has me fuming.
https://www.everydayhealth.com/type-2-diabetes/ozempic-shortage-how-a-weight-loss-fad-has-slashed-access/
"It might be hard to imagine a diabetes drug trending on social media, but that’s exactly what’s happening with semaglutide (Ozempic), a drug used to treat type 2 diabetes, as word spreads about one of its side effects: weight loss.
Hashtags like #ozempic and #ozempicweightloss have more than 300 million views and counting on TikTok alone, and many posts suggest it may help people rapidly shed a dramatic amount of weight. Meanwhile, tabloids such as The Sun and magazines like Glamour have reported on rumors that celebrities such as Khloe and Kim Kardashian are slimming down with Ozempic, helping them rock ’90s-era fashion trends that are having a moment, like micro-minis, crop tops, and ultra-low-rise jeans. Those headlines may further be fueling interest in the diabetes drug among the general population."
more:
"Some experts speculate the people driving the shortage of these drugs, both of which are injected, have neither obesity nor diabetes. “I worry more that people who do not have obesity or diabetes are buying semaglutide at its out-of-pocket cost to get skinnier, likely stirred on by TikTok videos or Variety articles,” says Beverly Tchang, MD, an endocrinologist and assistant professor of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
“Patients with diabetes and patients with obesity both deserve treatment, and the shortage of semaglutide in general affects both populations,” adds Dr. Tchang."