Women's Money Wisdom

Episode 187: Navigating the Costs of Weight Loss: A Personal Journey

• Melissa Fradenburg, CDFA®️, AIF® • Season 4 • Episode 187

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Have you ever wondered about the cost of the popular injectable weight loss drugs? In this candid episode, Co-Host Melissa Fradenburg, CDFA®️, AIF® is pulling back the curtain on her personal journey, navigating the costs and side effects of weight loss medication.  With an overwhelming response on social media to her weight loss story, it's clear that many of us are in the same boat. From exploring the expensive terrains of name-brand medications to finding cost-effective treatment through compounded medications, Melissa's journey has taught her the significance of understanding healthcare costs and the benefits of cost-effective treatments.  As we dive into the physical and financial burdens of obesity—a global issue—we aim to provide you insights, resources, and most importantly, hope, if you're grappling with similar issues.  In the realm of women's financial wisdom, we know health is wealth.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. I'm Melissa Joy, a certified financial planner and founder of Pearl Planning. I'm Melissa Freidenberg, financial advisor. We dive deep into topics like work-life balance, financial planning, personal growth and the intricacies of the sandwich generation. Tune in for money conversations that every woman needs to have. Hello and welcome to the Women's Money Wisdom Podcast. This is Melissa Freidenberg, and this week I am going to be talking about my own personal journey with a popular weight loss stroke and just generally talking about weight loss for women in their midlife and the cost of that, as well as some hope for all of us.

Speaker 1:

If you, too, have struggled with your weight, you're not alone. Modern lifestyle has caused a surge of obesity throughout the world and, coupled with it, the intention for weight loss has also increased. Losing weight requires willpower and dedication and, even more importantly, it's just knowing the right methods and lifestyle changes that must be adopted to achieve permanent weight loss. I personally have struggled with weight my entire life, and especially after having two children back to back. I never really lost the baby weight, if you will, and my baby, my youngest, is 13. However, I have found that it gets harder and harder to lose weight the same way or method that you did once did Well and I guess, just as you get older, I've basically been putting on five pounds a year for the last five years and still having, you know, 10 to 20 pounds prior to that. That really just wouldn't go away. I mean, I mentioned it takes willpower and dedication.

Speaker 1:

I just want to say that I have been on for the last five months, the generic version of some of the popular drugs. We go via an ozympic. It's called semi-glutein. It is the compounded pharmacy version of these drugs. It is a little more affordable and I will get into exactly the cost of that to share with you. But also, this by no means is the easy way out. It is certainly helpful, but you still need to eat healthy, move your body and this really is a way that has helped me again, somebody who is not naturally thin. I'm not thin yet, but I'm on my way there to be thinner than I would be without the help of this medication. It's not without risks and it's certainly not without side effects. I will share that with you as well.

Speaker 1:

But again, I want you to understand that you're not alone. An estimated 45 million Americans go on a diet each year and spend 33 billion each year on weight loss products. A higher percentage of women 56% versus men at 47% have tried to lose weight in the last year. All this information came from a study by Boston Medical Center and I will link that in the show notes if you'd like to see more on these statistics. But again, I just want you to know that obesity and being overweight is more common than you think and so many are struggling post-pandemic whether it's from COVID or just could be from the pandemic lifestyle that we had for a few years of not getting out there, not going to classes at the gym and maybe not eating as healthy. Those are all things to consider.

Speaker 1:

But again, I'm going to focus on how I've been able to get halfway to my weight loss journey with the help of stomach loyte, which is an injectable drug. There are rumors about different celebrities being on these drugs. You'll see so many in the spotlight have completely changed their bodies in the last few years and not many admit to being on it. I did want to admit to being on it. Now that I met that 25 pound mark, people are asking me how I'm losing weight and I really want to be transparent about it. That's one of the reasons I've decided to record this podcast today. Another reason I posted about how I've lost weight on my personal Facebook page and I was overwhelmed by the response. I got 27 private messages from people asking me specific details, mostly women, one man. But I just want to say clearly if that's my personal Facebook community that is so interested in this process, I really thought that our audience may also benefit from me sharing how I've been able to do this. And also, it's not for everyone. Financially it is a commitment, but I have found a way to do it that is a little bit less of a financial burden than maybe a route that you have explored with your primary care doctor or insurance and some of the name brand drugs. So here we go.

Speaker 1:

So back in April of this year 2023, I reached new highs, or I should say new lows when it came to my weight loss journey. I was the heaviest I've ever been not full term pregnancy with my 11 pound baby JP, so I was two pounds away from that all time high that I reached during that pregnancy, which happened to be back to back pregnancies with my daughter. So, as you can imagine, that's pretty discouraging. Again somebody who's never been thin. I had a brief stint with being pretty thin in college after a bad breakup. Basically, I didn't eat for a few months, which is terrible, but just being realistic here, and that's pretty sad I've never been super fat or obese like I was. Back in April I was considered obese, which does have something to do with my doctor prescribing these medications At age 43, I'm realizing. I have friends, parents, who are aging and having issues from being overweight or unhealthy their entire life, and my own mom is struggling with cholesterol and heart problems. She's really never been obese. But again, just as we age, years of not taking care of yourself in that weight department or really not eating healthy or certainly catching up, and to the extreme. I have a dear friend whose mom has had a stroke, has had some toes removed, and these are all things that I'm thinking about.

Speaker 1:

This is not strictly about vanity, although back in April nothing was fitting. I had an event to go to. I went to Nordstrom and I could not even get anything in the regular clothing. I could not even fit into a 1416 in Nordstrom. I ended up borrowing an outfit from them. I think she wore this when she was pregnant, which is again discouraging, but at the same time this was when I was like okay, something has to change. In the months leading up to this I had been to my primary care doctor a few times and asked her for help. In years past I had tried I guess it's called Fentermene, so it was baked a few years ago.

Speaker 1:

Any of the drugs that really make your heart race, make you thirsty, make you feel like you're on speed I just can't do them. I don't like that feeling. It just wasn't for me. I literally couldn't even get through the first month's supply and somebody could worry about the drug, but it just wasn't for me. And maybe it could help me lose weight. I were able to tolerate it, but again, I could not even get through the prescription to try it.

Speaker 1:

So my doctor mentioned this new class of drugs. They're injectables, they're made for diabetics to reduce glucose in your blood, and I guess they also work in a different way of signaling your brain that you're full. And again, this is for people with diabetes. I do not have diabetes. So basically, she was willing to prescribe the brand name OV, which is for weight loss, versus the same medication called Ozympic, which is for diabetes, and so she prescribed the Wacobe, but she did not know if my insurance would cover it. She said the easiest way to figure it out is by prescribing it and seeing when I go to pick it up how much it costs. She did warn me that if insurance doesn't cover it, it's super expensive.

Speaker 1:

I was so excited. I left the office with hope. Unfortunately, I got totally faked out because I checked the CVS app before picking up the prescription. It said 0.00 as my balance due on the app Went through the drive through. I had like screen shot at the app to a couple of friends that I told about this and I was so excited I was literally in happy tears. I rolled up to the window and I was like, oh, there's a problem and I'm thinking maybe it's out of stock because that's been an issue. The problem was it was a mistake. My insurance does not cover weight loss drugs and even though I'm technically obese at this point, I'm going to have to pay out of pocket for this drug.

Speaker 1:

That was over $1,500. I don't remember the exact amount. It was like $1,500 in change. I just don't have that kind of money. Not many people do. Maybe the celebrities do and the Uber Rich. $1,500 per prescription. This was just the starter dose. So, like on these medications, you need to increase the potency of the drug or how often you take it.

Speaker 1:

So of course, like any hopeful chubby girl, I went home and I decided to sell everything that was in my closet for the swap and my kids closet and my Christmas decorations and some furniture and I think I made like $750 in two days. And I was like woohoo halfway there to one month and realized this is not sustainable. I want to make an investment but this is ridiculous. So I did a little research. I did find that the manufacturer has a discount. I think it was like $200 a prescription Again, between swap sales and coupons. Maybe your financial picture is different. This just was not. I could not in good faith do that for a period of like six months to a year, which I knew was going to at least take that.

Speaker 1:

So I began researching other options and I do have a friend who sees a concierge doctor who I now see, and it's a family practice doctor. Concierge medicine is recent. The idea with concierge medicine is you pay a monthly subscription fee and it does not go through your insurance. Everything is covered in the office visits and then if you need to be hospitalized, you can run through insurance. My doctor is associated with Beaumont Hospital and for prescriptions, if covered by insurance, you can run things through that. But again, you pay per month whether you need any medical care or not. In my research I found that they do like a full makeup on your current health situation and they offer more than just an average primary care doctor offers as far as help with things like weight loss or any other medical problems that you're currently facing. So I thought I will give it a year. I'm going to do this. You have to pay the monthly and then, even if you quit within a year, you still have to pay one year's monthly fees. So again, it was a big financial commitment but when doing the math with the Wacovi not covered by insurance, even with the coupon it just made sense.

Speaker 1:

I ended up visiting this doctor. She did a full like heart stress test, a genetic screening, a complete physical like I've never had before and really monitoring my situation. I started the drug the end of April and it is now the end of September and I'm down 25 pounds. Let's talk about what she prescribed for me. So, because my insurance was not going to cover any weight loss drugs. She ended up prescribing a compounded version. I went to University Compounding Pharmacy in Troy, or she called in the prescription there for semi-glutei.

Speaker 1:

I wouldn't say it's not the generic version of these other drugs I mentioned. It's the compounded version, and I'll link some resources in the show notes to explain what that means. But one thing I liked about this is it's not taking the name brand drug away from those who have diabetes, because I do not. I'm not diabetic, I'm not even pre-diabetic, just plain obese and overweight. Now, that's not to say, if I continued going forward, that I would not develop, but, again, I didn't want to take from this limited supply. That is because so many people want to do this drug for weight loss, so that was important to me. The biggest factor, though, was affordability, so for my initial startup dose, it was $140 for one month supply, which I understand is not in everybody's budget. So please understand that I feel you. I know what that feels like because my initial prescription was not in my budget either, but I did pay $140 a month in the beginning, plus the $200 a month for the concierge doctor.

Speaker 1:

I am making a long-term investment in my health and making lifestyle changes that are going to last beyond this journey with medication and that's my decision. We're all on our own journey to be the best versions of ourself and I have no regrets. But I just want to put that out there, that I understand that not everybody can afford this. I will also link in the show notes my episode on budgeting, because if you are trying to find a way to cut back on things so that you can afford something like this, I get it. It can't have everything, so really think about that commitment before just jumping into this. I will say I am on the full dose now and that is closer to $200, a little over $200 a month for that dose, the higher concentration, the higher amount. But again, still through the compounding pharmacy and my concierge doctor, I do just a little logistics.

Speaker 1:

It comes in a vial versus like a pen, so I do have to inject it once a week myself using a diabetic needle and I haven't had any issues with that. I know that some people are a little squeamish about it, but I have lost consistently one to two pounds a week initially and then when I last up to my dose, it makes me very sick for two days Headache, nausea. Those are probably the worst symptoms a little bit of stomach pain I found. As I've gotten used to it, it's much better and I take it Saturday evening, so that the worst day is Sunday, which is really kind of my down day. Anyway, I'm better by the end of the week, so that has worked for me.

Speaker 1:

Again, I really want a transparency on my whole process so that maybe it could help somebody else or at least give you hope, because the biggest thing I found is so often thin, fit people that go to these classes every morning where they burn like 1000 calories. We're like just work out, just pull your body, just stop eating junk. And it was so discouraging because they had no idea that I had even tried like 1200 calories and some of these crazy classes. And the problem for me is my body just was built for like famine. My primary care and my downstairs doctor said the same thing. I'm just you know that German Irish like hey, there's a potato famine, don't worry, we're cool, kind of build right. So I was doing all the things I really couldn't do the high-intensity Workouts, the burpees, if you will, because of all the extra weight that I'm carrying still, even after losing 25 pounds. My knees couldn't take it. I played ice hockey goalie at bad knees anyway. Planter fasciitis I like all these things. Their excuses to some, but to me they were really physically limiting. I am just starting up some classes at the corner studio now and walking and Some weightlifting. Now that I've shed 25 pounds it's so much easier and again I've made that commitment to myself on this weight loss journey. I still have another 20 pounds to 25 pounds to go to hit my goal.

Speaker 1:

Weight, which Sounds like a lot of weight to lose. A lot of people are like how do you even have that to lose? Well, I'm heavier than you think and I was heavier than you think when I started. I do have that weight to lose and I'm very healthy at that goal weight. What am I doing? For the first 20 pounds, I was really doing no physical activity Additionally than what I had been doing before. Yes, I was trying to like move my body and take the stairs and part far away, but no actual like weight loss exercise plan.

Speaker 1:

I was just honestly focusing on not being so nauseous and not putting as much food in my mouth, and this medication really helped me to not feel hungry and Just literally feel full after eating half the amount that I normally would, even maybe less than half. So I really am eating smaller portions. I am not really snacking. I'm making better choices, eating more vegetables, a lot less meat, and that's not intentional. I'm trying to get protein from other things just because really the meat has made me feel nauseous. And I guess I would compare the feeling that I have on the medication, especially when I go on a higher dose or in the initial dosage. For me it's very similar to how I felt like in the first trimester of pregnancy with both of my kids. So I'm not actually throwing up, but it's just like a general aversion to some foods, anything like greasy or meat heavy, and Again just kind of feeling a little icky, generally headache, almost hormonal icky, but Usually just for the first 48 hours or so after injecting medication and then by the end of the week feeling great. That's my experience.

Speaker 1:

I hope that you Appreciate my vulnerability and sharing this with you. I know it's not for everyone and I know it's a financial commitment and this is a little bit of a loose topic for Our old version of the podcast 52 pearls, which focuses more on investing and budgeting and strictly money topics, but health as well and the older I get, the more I realize this and again, just the outreach from so many. After initially sharing on my Facebook page, I really wanted to share with you my experience and just open up and be a little more vulnerable. So I hope that if you are struggling, like me, with your weight, that you find a solution for you, because I know the struggle is so real and so many of us are dealing with it. I wish you luck and I hope you're having a great day.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the women's money wisdom podcast. If you found value in our conversations, please take a moment to like, follow and subscribe wherever you're tuning in from. It helps us continue to bring these valuable insights Every week. Head over to women's money wisdom comm. There you'll find tools, tips and a supportive community to help you gain financial confidence.

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Melissa Joy, CFP

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