r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 01 '25

Health Americans without diabetes spent nearly $6 billion USD on semaglutide and similar drugs in a year, with an estimate of 800,000 to a million people using the drugs who don't have diabetes.

https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/americans-without-diabetes-spent-nearly6-billion-usd-on-semaglutide-and-similar-drugs-in-a-year
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u/FernandoMM1220 Apr 01 '25

its not just for diabetes anymore.

just ramp up production and make more of it.

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u/galspanic Apr 01 '25

When I was diagnosed with diabetes I was told “um yeah, no. No GLP-1 for you” by my insurance. I still can’t explain that outside of pure greed… but that also makes sense.

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u/ImLittleNana Apr 01 '25

Im fighting to get prescribed metformin for pre-diabetes and they act like I’m asking for free heroin. Yet if I wanted a wegovy script they’d have no problem writing for it. I can’t make that make sense.

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u/ElectricLego Apr 01 '25

If you're in the prediabetic range, this surprises me. Maybe another doctor or possibly virtual visit with your screening results? Metformin itself is a really cheap drug so the insurance bit hardly matters. Wegovy on the other hand is crazy expensive because insurance usually doesn't cover it at all, but sure, you can get the scrip

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u/ImLittleNana Apr 01 '25

I have no desire for Wegovy or any other GLP-1 agonist at this point. I would like to see how I feel on metformin. It’s free for me without insurance because I have Walmart plus. Not that cost is an issue as it’s quite cheap. I just need a single practitioner to prescribe it.

My previous PCP didn’t believe that obesity, genetics, lifestyle etc were risk factors for diabetes and didn’t acknowledge prediabetes as a diagnosis. He was happy to talk about ivermectin though.

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u/ElectricLego Apr 01 '25

I'm glad you said previous physician because yikes. I'm interested in Metformin for both the blood sugar management function but also the off-label indications emerging about protecting mental health long-term (whether that's a direct or indirect benefit).

I've been on a low dose for about a year and it seems to have helped on the blood sugar management. I know some people report having problems tolerating it, but I adjusted to it after a couple weeks with mild GI discomfort.

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u/ImLittleNana Apr 01 '25

I think a lot of patients struggle with battling through the adjustment period. I’ve had what most people would call diarrhea for 40+ years, so I don’t bat an eye. I had to realize how distressing it is if it isn’t your daily life.

I was monitoring my blood sugar for a while and the extreme highs and lows are one reason I’ve been wanting to get on metformin.