I'm currently in the process of switching to compounding. It took me seeing it in a few posts before I figured it out, but I kind of like the term Plan C. However having seen that a lot of people were confused by it, I'm avoiding using it myself.
From what I gather, there were problems with discussions of the topic that led to a lot of posts being removed and that led to using code words, such as Plan C. That was before I started on Zepbound and before I joined this sub. Now the rule is no discussion of sourcing for the compounded version, but the existence of the option can be discussed.
I can understand the skepticism, but the information for learning about it is out there.
I first started wondering about using a GLP-1 drug sometime last summer. I spent time learning about it and listening to some podcasts. Once I felt like I understood the risks and possibilities, I talked with trusted family about it. They all thought it was a good idea for me. From the outset, I knew that there was no possibility of it being covered by insurance for me (Medicare forbids it). Then, I made an appointment to talk to my PCP about it. I was kind of surprised when she was 100% supportive, but not surprised that she couldn't prescribe it for me. I'm just not sick enough or not sick in the right way (mostly mildly elevated BP and joint and foot problems that are exacerbated by my weight). If I'd had diabetes or heart disease, she could have prescribed for me, I think.
She did suggest that Weight Watchers had a program for doing it so that was where I started. It was a good choice, because they have good supports for getting started. But, now they don't prescribe anything but 2.5mg due to the shortage and it really is extremely expensive (I can afford it, but with basically no spending money left over).
After I found this sub, I started learning about the other options. I seriously started looking at compounding when the shortage got so dire. And, I decided to take the plunge. The compounding pharmacy my prescription is going through is certified, so that is at least somewhat reassuring. (Check out the two compounding subs linked in the FAQ for more.) The cost for 5mg is about 30% of what 2.5mg Zepbound was costing me.
Has Lilly seriously considered doing vials while there are pen shortages? If they do, I will leave plan C and hope right back to zepbound. I like it better and to me it seems logical during these difficult times with shortages.
Yes. I was able to buy Lilly vials from Canada Pharmacy for $585 per month, regardless of dose. That lasted for one month, then the shortage was announced.
I agree I just started on the other this week after finishing my 5mg doses and let me say the nausea was fierce this first week. However I think I’m finally getting over it after 3 days.
I like that the vials take a lot less room than the pens, but I prefer the pens 10 to 1 for ease of use. I can see why Lilly does not do the vials in the U.S. There are people who have trouble using the "pens". I can't imagine what would happen when people have to figure-out syringes and vials. I guess Lilly thinks Canadians are smarter.
One pen that works for four doses like what they use in the UK makes more sense to me than one pen per dose.
There has got to be a reason why Canada has vials and US doesn't. I wonder if it has something to do with laws/regulations in the US. The bottom line for me is if I was able to buy vials from Lilly, I would.
The warning should be about sourcing, that rule is still in place as the mods feel discussing sourcing is still against Reddit rules. But discussing our experiences on Zep, MJ, tirzepatide, etc. and actually calling it compounded tirzepatide is fine.
Ok but two days ago I tried saying plan c on an original post and it was removed by the MOD. Which was super confusing because I see the word compound everywhere and wasn’t sure why it got removed
Which is why it’s ridiculous that people refuse to just say compound 🤦🏻♀️ It’s been allowed in this sub for long enough that it’s silly to keep saying it and confusing new people.
I get downvoted all the time for stating the same thing. Compounded Tirzepatide from legitimate compounding pharmacies is a safe and effective option for those suffering from the shortages or who have to pay a high OOP for brand name.
The lawsuits were against MED SPAS and not the legitimate compounding pharmacies. Compounding has been around for a very long time for many other drugs outside of weight loss.
> Compounding has been around for a very long time for many other drugs outside of weight loss.
Very true. There are risks with compounding because some people in *every* business are shady - [my cousin was one of the 64 who died when a compounding pharmacy sent out contaminated steroid injections, for example](https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/pharmacy-founder-sentenced-in-michigan-to-10-years-in-fungal-meningitis-outbreak-that-killed-64-people) - but as long as you go with an actual, legitimate compounding pharmacy and not a shady med spa that doesn't accept anything but cash or Venmo (have a friend going this route right now, she does not acknowledge any of the *many* red flags I and others have pointed out to her) or buy it from some random fly-by-night website, you're as safe as you can be.
My mom's on Wegovy and has been considering compounded tirzepatide since her insurance doesn't cover Zepbound yet. She's gotten some pushback from the family when she brought it up at a Mother's Day lunch with family, since "compounding pharmacy" is a four-letter word given the above death none of us have forgotten, but my mom's a retired pharmacist. She's literally worked at two compounding pharmacies before. She's fine with it. That's good enough for me, if/when my Zep eventually isn't covered anymore.
They are suing certain pharmacies, too. The settled a suit with a medspa, but other suits, including pharmacies, are pending. I don’t think they are any of the ones commonly used, here, though.
You are CORRECT Sir!! Perfectly articulated! Med Spas compounding adding additional ingredients (b12) using non 503A pharmacies are the ones to watch out for.
Upvote from me ! :)
It was banned but now it’s not because the mods for this sub worked to get clarification from the Reddit mods about where the prohibition was really coming from. So we can talk about compounded medications now; we just can’t discuss sourcing. That said, this is still the brand name sub, so in depth discussions on compounded belong on a different sub.
I find it funny we can't discuss sources when I've gotten ads through the reddit app for compound providers. Glad they at least came around a little on the topic. I understand not discussing illegal sources, but legitimate compound pharmacies are safe and legal and we should be able to discuss them, especially during a shortage.
The subs specifically for compounding discuss sourcing, although I'm not sure how they sit with reddit's rules.
/r/compoundedtirzepatide and /r/tirzepatidecompound are the two subs.
Exactly. I remember the first time the term "Plan C" was used and everyone thought it was hilarious, it just became a funny little joke among regulars on the sub. I understand why people think it shouldn't be used now because it confuses newbies, but it's just people having fun similar to any other kind of inside joke.
When I tried posting on Lilly 2 months ago about compound, I was blocked and not permitted to post. Maybe things have changed since.then. Honestly if Lilly doesn't like talk of compound then they should have been better prepared. Everyone expected them to be but they weren't.
Me! I googled it and was surprised as hell! It basically solidified my original thought, I found a post here of someone just straight up asking “what tf is plan c”
Exactly. And I don't see why we have to accommodate people who can't be bothered to use search function in Reddit. It takes 30 seconds to find out what plan C is and a couple of threads that discuss everything about it.
Ugh contrave… such a bad idea… not sure why packing an opioid blocker in a pill with Wellbutrin was ever a good idea. I can partly understand Wellbutrin as I took it a while back, and it did curb hunger - but the naltrexone… Anyone taking pain medication and then starting up contrave is essentially making plans for an emergency room visit… why docs don’t mention this violent interaction is beyond me.
Just throwing this out out there.....I take Contrave and Zepbound together!! So if you have Contrave on hand...definitely take it. It helps me with the food noise.
Hi there..it works really well. I started taking Contrave before ZEP. My insurance didn’t cover ZEP, so my PCP prescribed Contrave while I figured out if I was going to pay out of pocket or not. I was on Contrave for at least 90 days before ZEP.
It works differently than ZEP. It only works with the brain to help with urges, impulses etc. There is no gut interaction. In those 90 days I lost about 10lbs because I was able to eat less as I was not always thinking about eating. When I added ZEP, that’s when the fullness and satiation kicked in. In my experience, they really compliment each other really well.
I'm currently in the process of switching to compounding. It took me seeing it in a few posts before I figured it out, but I kind of like the term Plan C. However having seen that a lot of people were confused by it, I'm avoiding using it myself. From what I gather, there were problems with discussions of the topic that led to a lot of posts being removed and that led to using code words, such as Plan C. That was before I started on Zepbound and before I joined this sub. Now the rule is no discussion of sourcing for the compounded version, but the existence of the option can be discussed.
I’m super skeptic about it as well. I love the idea of the availability but the unknown makes me so skeptic.
I can understand the skepticism, but the information for learning about it is out there. I first started wondering about using a GLP-1 drug sometime last summer. I spent time learning about it and listening to some podcasts. Once I felt like I understood the risks and possibilities, I talked with trusted family about it. They all thought it was a good idea for me. From the outset, I knew that there was no possibility of it being covered by insurance for me (Medicare forbids it). Then, I made an appointment to talk to my PCP about it. I was kind of surprised when she was 100% supportive, but not surprised that she couldn't prescribe it for me. I'm just not sick enough or not sick in the right way (mostly mildly elevated BP and joint and foot problems that are exacerbated by my weight). If I'd had diabetes or heart disease, she could have prescribed for me, I think. She did suggest that Weight Watchers had a program for doing it so that was where I started. It was a good choice, because they have good supports for getting started. But, now they don't prescribe anything but 2.5mg due to the shortage and it really is extremely expensive (I can afford it, but with basically no spending money left over). After I found this sub, I started learning about the other options. I seriously started looking at compounding when the shortage got so dire. And, I decided to take the plunge. The compounding pharmacy my prescription is going through is certified, so that is at least somewhat reassuring. (Check out the two compounding subs linked in the FAQ for more.) The cost for 5mg is about 30% of what 2.5mg Zepbound was costing me.
Has Lilly seriously considered doing vials while there are pen shortages? If they do, I will leave plan C and hope right back to zepbound. I like it better and to me it seems logical during these difficult times with shortages.
Yes. I was able to buy Lilly vials from Canada Pharmacy for $585 per month, regardless of dose. That lasted for one month, then the shortage was announced.
You went to Canada to buy the vials or you live in Canada? Is that in Canada dollars? That is around $440 in US dollars.
I believe someone posted an article about vials!
I agree I just started on the other this week after finishing my 5mg doses and let me say the nausea was fierce this first week. However I think I’m finally getting over it after 3 days.
I like that the vials take a lot less room than the pens, but I prefer the pens 10 to 1 for ease of use. I can see why Lilly does not do the vials in the U.S. There are people who have trouble using the "pens". I can't imagine what would happen when people have to figure-out syringes and vials. I guess Lilly thinks Canadians are smarter. One pen that works for four doses like what they use in the UK makes more sense to me than one pen per dose.
There has got to be a reason why Canada has vials and US doesn't. I wonder if it has something to do with laws/regulations in the US. The bottom line for me is if I was able to buy vials from Lilly, I would.
My guess is that they didn't have enough "pens".
Which is, once again, why people should stop calling it cute names and just be transparent. Glad you got it figured out, OP.
It’s called Plan C because you can’t say the word in the Zepbound subs. I got suspended recently for saying the word hence plan C
This is the zepbound sub and you can talk about compounded tirzepatide. The rules changed a while back.
It did give me a warning when I made this post that plan C talk wasn’t allowed. That’s why I used Ç instead of C in case the bot flagged it
The warning should be about sourcing, that rule is still in place as the mods feel discussing sourcing is still against Reddit rules. But discussing our experiences on Zep, MJ, tirzepatide, etc. and actually calling it compounded tirzepatide is fine.
Ok but two days ago I tried saying plan c on an original post and it was removed by the MOD. Which was super confusing because I see the word compound everywhere and wasn’t sure why it got removed
People who don't come here often don't know that.
Except you can. Compound. It's allowed. If it wasn't, we'd remove plan C as well.
All I know is I was banned for 10 days like two weeks ago so I just air on the side of caution
Most people aren’t aware they don’t have to call it that anymore, and some GLP subs still don’t allow it.
Plan C has kept me consistent while chasing Zepbound. That's all.
Which is why it’s ridiculous that people refuse to just say compound 🤦🏻♀️ It’s been allowed in this sub for long enough that it’s silly to keep saying it and confusing new people.
I get downvoted all the time for stating the same thing. Compounded Tirzepatide from legitimate compounding pharmacies is a safe and effective option for those suffering from the shortages or who have to pay a high OOP for brand name. The lawsuits were against MED SPAS and not the legitimate compounding pharmacies. Compounding has been around for a very long time for many other drugs outside of weight loss.
> Compounding has been around for a very long time for many other drugs outside of weight loss. Very true. There are risks with compounding because some people in *every* business are shady - [my cousin was one of the 64 who died when a compounding pharmacy sent out contaminated steroid injections, for example](https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/pharmacy-founder-sentenced-in-michigan-to-10-years-in-fungal-meningitis-outbreak-that-killed-64-people) - but as long as you go with an actual, legitimate compounding pharmacy and not a shady med spa that doesn't accept anything but cash or Venmo (have a friend going this route right now, she does not acknowledge any of the *many* red flags I and others have pointed out to her) or buy it from some random fly-by-night website, you're as safe as you can be. My mom's on Wegovy and has been considering compounded tirzepatide since her insurance doesn't cover Zepbound yet. She's gotten some pushback from the family when she brought it up at a Mother's Day lunch with family, since "compounding pharmacy" is a four-letter word given the above death none of us have forgotten, but my mom's a retired pharmacist. She's literally worked at two compounding pharmacies before. She's fine with it. That's good enough for me, if/when my Zep eventually isn't covered anymore.
Yes, it's insane to me! I used to work in a compound pharmacy making chemo. Compound pharmacy is nothing new, or unsafe. It's the shady med spas
They are suing certain pharmacies, too. The settled a suit with a medspa, but other suits, including pharmacies, are pending. I don’t think they are any of the ones commonly used, here, though.
You are CORRECT Sir!! Perfectly articulated! Med Spas compounding adding additional ingredients (b12) using non 503A pharmacies are the ones to watch out for. Upvote from me ! :)
[удалено]
It was banned but now it’s not because the mods for this sub worked to get clarification from the Reddit mods about where the prohibition was really coming from. So we can talk about compounded medications now; we just can’t discuss sourcing. That said, this is still the brand name sub, so in depth discussions on compounded belong on a different sub.
I find it funny we can't discuss sources when I've gotten ads through the reddit app for compound providers. Glad they at least came around a little on the topic. I understand not discussing illegal sources, but legitimate compound pharmacies are safe and legal and we should be able to discuss them, especially during a shortage.
The subs specifically for compounding discuss sourcing, although I'm not sure how they sit with reddit's rules. /r/compoundedtirzepatide and /r/tirzepatidecompound are the two subs.
No one has time to actively seek out rule amendments…
I agree. Curmudgeons are downvoting.
Hahahah … oh well. I get an rule update when I get a ban warning ⚠️
It was and then with the shortages and I assume a mass exodus to the other subs, they backtracked somewhat.
Most people aren’t aware they don’t have to call it that anymore, and some GLP subs still don’t allow it.
I think most people know but think it’s fun to call it that honestly.
Exactly. I remember the first time the term "Plan C" was used and everyone thought it was hilarious, it just became a funny little joke among regulars on the sub. I understand why people think it shouldn't be used now because it confuses newbies, but it's just people having fun similar to any other kind of inside joke.
A lot of us didn't know until just now that the rules changed a week or so ago.
Much longer than a week ago, but still, it just confuses new folks and makes even them think they can’t say it.
Oh for sure, I just saw someone else say that's about how long it had been!
When I tried posting on Lilly 2 months ago about compound, I was blocked and not permitted to post. Maybe things have changed since.then. Honestly if Lilly doesn't like talk of compound then they should have been better prepared. Everyone expected them to be but they weren't.
My favorite is when people have Googled “Plan C” and come back confused and horrified.
I almost messaged my Dr to ask him about plan C , thank God I didn't he would have thought I was crazy 🤣
Me! I googled it and was surprised as hell! It basically solidified my original thought, I found a post here of someone just straight up asking “what tf is plan c”
Hey Mods! Any chance we could get a Plan C bot to help add clarification and context when people post or comment on Plan C?
I don't see anything wrong with calling it that if that is what people want to say.
Exactly. And I don't see why we have to accommodate people who can't be bothered to use search function in Reddit. It takes 30 seconds to find out what plan C is and a couple of threads that discuss everything about it.
I get it. I had to look it up when I started seeing so many posts about it. 😂
I thought they were big brained for having a backup plan this whole time! “Damn, some Reddit users are smart as hell! I didn’t think of that” 🤣
I won’t mention plan P then.
Ideally you should be hydrating a lot on this medication and executing Plan P very regularly.
Totally different than the plan P I was thinking, but I fully support hydration supplemented with some electrolytes.
this is hilarious, I had the same thought when I first started reading about it here
Anybody on the fence about moving forward with plan c can message me, I’ve been on it for 3 months and I’m having great results :-)
It took me two plus months before I realized what actual plan C was as well 😆🤪
Ugh contrave… such a bad idea… not sure why packing an opioid blocker in a pill with Wellbutrin was ever a good idea. I can partly understand Wellbutrin as I took it a while back, and it did curb hunger - but the naltrexone… Anyone taking pain medication and then starting up contrave is essentially making plans for an emergency room visit… why docs don’t mention this violent interaction is beyond me.
People may use plan c because it is much shorter to type. I just use Tirz. 🤣🤣
I use plan P and have had no issues. Cost effective and I get discounts. All DIY but worth it.
Just throwing this out out there.....I take Contrave and Zepbound together!! So if you have Contrave on hand...definitely take it. It helps me with the food noise.
Really….I have concave but was afraid to take with the compound version of zepbound. How is taking them both together working for you?
Hi there..it works really well. I started taking Contrave before ZEP. My insurance didn’t cover ZEP, so my PCP prescribed Contrave while I figured out if I was going to pay out of pocket or not. I was on Contrave for at least 90 days before ZEP. It works differently than ZEP. It only works with the brain to help with urges, impulses etc. There is no gut interaction. In those 90 days I lost about 10lbs because I was able to eat less as I was not always thinking about eating. When I added ZEP, that’s when the fullness and satiation kicked in. In my experience, they really compliment each other really well.