Episode 49 of the Living Life Well Show: The end of Compounded GLP-1s: why and what that means for those on them
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[00:00:00] Welcome to the Living Life Well Show, the intersection of God's Word, today's science, and healthy living with common sense application, all based on the truth of the Word of God. I'm your host, Dr. Jon Skelton. Now let's get straight to the truth.
All right. Welcome back to the Living Life Well Show. Today, I'm excited to talk about what's going on with the GLP 1s and what that may or may not mean for you or your family members or anybody else that may be taking them. So for those of you, unless you've been living under a rock, you know what a GLP 1 is.
It's semiglutide, Wigovi to Tazerapide Manjaro, ZepBound, all these different names that we attribute [00:01:00] to the GLP 1s and the GLP 1 agonists, if you will. So technically these are considered peptides. They're a little bit larger molecules of what We traditionally maybe would consider peptides.
And peptides have in general have been in the news. Well, recently you've seen the plethora of commercials with regards to getting these drugs for weight loss, for diabetes. And so. This has sparked all the Roe commercials the commercials we saw during the Super Bowl the him and hers commercial all these different things that, that we've been seeing out there in the news.
Well, some people are now starting to really give you a plan to get off of GLP 1s? Well, this has been brewing for really the last several months to a year or so, because basically the pharmaceutical companies could not meet the demand [00:02:00] that the public was placing for the medication. And so they then allowed the secondary producers to Compound medications, basically taking the formula that was out there and making these prescriptions available to the general public to get and typically at a much lower price.
Think generic versus brand name essentially. Normally, when a drug is created, it has a run time for seven years or more in which no one can really sell it in nothing but its original, under its original manufacturer. So being brand name, if you will. So what this drug shortage did was essentially shorten that time frame, open that up to all types of manufacturers, different pharmacies that can compound or make these substances based [00:03:00] upon the formula from the original manufacturer.
And so that's what's been happening for the last year or so. That's what's increased this availability. Well, recently, just in the last week or so, the FDA has ruled that This is going to stop. This is going to stop because the original manufacturers can now produce enough of this to quote meet the demand.
Well, I don't think that's really true. I think the demand probably is going to exceed what is out there. And the reason is because insurance companies qualify you for this medication, correct? So, again, I'm no big fan of GLP 1s I do think that they are very harmful, I think they cause lots of problems, I think there are some people that absolutely you would consider these for, but in general, I think that they are with potential for harm long term.
Again, [00:04:00] those studies we'll see in the future, I believe, but we're already seeing issues with gastroparesis abdominal pain constipation, dish different issues with cancer involvement. I've talked about these in the past. That's not really what this is about. What this is about is understanding what this means for the general public that may or may not be taking these as the insurance company wants you to.
So the insurance company has put parameters around paying for these medications. Well, what are those parameters? Well, basically you've got to be a diabetic or you have to be a BMI above 30 or a BMI above 27 with a known health condition that they would prescribe this for. So, looking at that, What is a BMI?
Well, BMI is basically a calculation that's based [00:05:00] upon your height to weight ratio is essentially the easiest way to describe it. Well, if we take an average height and we say a person has a BMI of 30, backing into that, they're roughly 30 to 35 pounds overweight. We take that same formula and we add that to a BMI of 27 And that only equates to about 10 to 13 pounds overweight.
So remember for the insurance company to cover the medication for you, you have to have a BMI that is a 27 or more. And between 27 and 30, you have to have a condition that they consider to be worthy of treating the excess weight for. So what are the conditions that are covered that would lead to those that have a BMI between 27 and 30 [00:06:00] having the insurance actually pay for the medication.
So those would be things like high blood pressure, again, diabetes, high cholesterol, sleep apnea. arthritis actually and fatty liver disease. So there are some conditions that might be covered when you're in that 27 to 30 range. But I would submit that there are many more Americans that are within that range that would like to just lose a little weight that.
don't have any of these conditions that don't have any of this coverage. So they're using it strictly to help manage weight and or using it just for a period of time to maybe get beach ready even if you will. And so for those people, this is definitely going away. So these cheaper prices that they're seeing now Are going to be gone.
They really won't be able to get the drug It'll be cost prohibitive, for the vast majority of [00:07:00] americans And so you will have an inability to get it in addition the insurance companies will continue to regulate who is able to get it and who isn't so That is what we're going to see so what that means is that as we kind of go along for these people that are in that category of overweight and that's the only issue and it is between that BMI of 27 to 30 that don't quite qualify.
So essentially we'll just take it anybody with a BMI of 29 or less. Now you're considered overweight and those And being overweight does have health consequences, of course, but maybe you haven't been to your physician. Maybe you don't have any of these conditions that have been yet diagnosed.
Your insurance company isn't going to cover you. You've got to have alternatives. Well, those alternatives go back to what's recently being [00:08:00] advertised by these compounding companies, which is a way to get off of the GLP-1s. Well, what are they recommending that you do? Well, primarily they're recommending you really kind of return to what I've been saying all along a whole foods diet that's heavy on plants.
A good cycle of, Rest and de-stress that is going to be heavy on focusing on sleep on recovery on exercise. So the tenants that we've been prescribing to you all along is what all these compounding companies are now going to start to do because by. The middle to end of May, right before summer starts, all this compounding is going away unless something happens in the courts between now and then.
Doesn't sound like it will. I know the compounding companies are definitely fighting that battle, but what I will tell you is the compounding companies have a whole lot less money [00:09:00] than these drug manufacturers do. So, The likelihood is for a whole lot of people that's going to start well What essentially do these GLP-1s do they essentially induce a state of fasting, right?
So for these people as they start to transition off really educating themselves on what fasting is and isn't, how to incorporate that, what they've already been doing, essentially is what they could continue doing. But as we've said, when you fast for an unending period of time, And you do that repeatedly, especially without adding in the other benefits of exercise and nutritious food, you are going to end up with muscle loss to a certain degree.
When you fast for longer periods of time, that is going to then develop into what we call sarcopenia, or excess muscle loss. At that time, you [00:10:00] are then going to develop cardiovascular issues. So, again, As we see these GLP 1s going on for long periods of time we will see this start to reemerge that I believe that we're not going to get quite the cardiovascular effects that we see in the short term with the use of these medications.
So, that's why it's important regardless of whether you're on it, continuing on it, or having to transition. off of it. You make sure that you educate yourself. You know what good healthy foods are and aren't. And also really understand whether fasting is a potential of something that you do every day or not.
I don't suggest that it is. I suggest that when you fast, you break up that routine. You change. Your body likes change. Your body likes dynamics with regards to fasting for sure. Same thing with exercise. When [00:11:00] we have issues with exercise, we need to change the routine. If we hit a plateau with exercise, we need to change the routine.
And so You want to keep it dynamic, you want to keep it fluid, you want to move things along. None of which just following a GLP 1 only type of protocol is gonna give you. And that's what the vast majority of people that have been on these medications are doing. Or, they're using it to overcome their plateaus.
But they aren't instituting these other things that they could be doing. Fasting, changing up your exercise routine, changing up how and when you're eating. All these things are going to keep the body guessing. All these things are going to keep the body guessing. Keep that metabolism rubbed off.
revved up and moving forward, essentially really keeping the engine that is the metabolism in good shape, well lubricated [00:12:00] and running well each and every day. It is something that I know most of you most likely have someone that you know in your life that is on a GLP 1 or considering that.
And so if they fall into that category where they don't have a diagnosis of diabetes and they maybe are obese, and the same thing goes with those people that previously had met the criteria, meaning they were diabetic or they had a BMI that was over 30 or over 27 and had these chronic conditions.
Now, if their BMI falls under that's going away. The insurance companies are not going to pay for this any longer. So And you're not going to be able to get it from these compounding pharmacies either. So essentially you need to start preparing. Now you've got a little bit of runway to do that. And so with that being said, I will let you guys know in.
[00:13:00] April, I have a six week program to help you transition off the GLP-1s if you would like, and or just overall general health to help you move into a direction where you understand these things, you understand fasting, you understand what whole foods are, how to incorporate them, what exercises are going to give you the best results for these chronic conditions like obesity, like diabetes what you can do to help with fatty liver and hopefully be rid of that.
And also helping with sleep apnea, helping with joint pain and arthritis. blood pressure as well. So be looking for that. That'll probably come out around the middle of April just about the time summer starting. So for those of you that maybe don't have a chronic condition, but would like to pursue maybe weight loss or tuning up for summer this be a great six week course [00:14:00] all online that would be available to you as well.
So. I hope this has been informative. I hope this has been beneficial and thanks and God bless.
That's it for this episode of The Living Life Well podcast. If you like what you've heard and want to learn more or want to know how to put this into practice for yourself, go to live life well clinic.com. Until next time, this is Dr. Jon Skelton saying go out and live the truth so you can live life well.
