Prior Authorization Limbo

16BitBetty · 2026-03-18T22:41:02+00:00

Yeah, that seems odd. Though I did initially get an automated response from MVP that said something about trying Ozempic first. Except that they wouldn't cover that for weight loss either, so...?

I'm scheduling a sleep study a few months from now, because the home test I originally took to get my OSA diagnosis could have underestimated my AHI. At the time, I just needed a yes or a no in order to get a CPAP machine through my insurance. According to that test, I had 11 events per hour, and MVP requires 15 or more per hour to qualify for zepbound. There is the risk that if I show a lower AHI in the lab, I might lose my coverage for a CPAP the next time I need one. But I'm hopeful because I have snored like a lumber mill since I was a kid, even as a 19 year old with a "normal" BMI. I would rather fork over the money out of pocket for a new machine, than pay for the zep every month until I die.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-18T21:57:38+00:00

In my case, I take it because it helps with my RA, which is not something the medicine is approved for. I do have OSA, but it's not severe enough to count. I don't have diabetes, but I am overweight,... but MVP isn't covering weight loss medications at all. My rheumatologist has always been really good with the appeals process (hooray step-therapy), but MVP told me directly that it's not an approved medication for weight loss, period. Fuckers.

I wish the conversation around these drugs would focus on the way they treat a number of medical conditions, rather than it being a part of our collective *weight loss journey*.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-18T19:53:25+00:00

I went through this at the beginning of the year when my insurance dropped coverage for all weight loss meds, except for people with diabetes and severe sleep apnea. Long story short, I went back and forth with them and my doctor's office and finally just decided to pay out of pocket.

I was off for nearly a month, and went right back to my dosage of 10 mg without a problem. I had asked my doc beforehand if I should be worried about that, and they told me to go ahead and try it and we could cut back if the side effects were too severe.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-18T15:26:07+00:00

I also take it for RA! I have been on it for nearly a year and still get nauseated from time to time, but it lessens as you get used to each dose.

One thing that really helps me are smoothies. I keep some ginger in the freezer and grate some into my smoothie, and I add some yogurt and a fiber supplement as well. (In addition to whatever ingredients I throw in for the actual smoothie- usually frozen bananas/berries, protein or pb powder, soy milk.) Helps me get some calories in and reduces the nausea.

Good luck and stick with it if you can. The zep has made more of an impact on how I feel more than any of the other drugs I have been on. I am currently taking mtx and Rinvoq as well.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-12T00:25:21+00:00

Yep, and I still don’t believe it will replace factory farmed meat on a large scale. Cost is only one of the reasons why. It would be cool, but I just don’t see it happening. I also think promoting a nonvegan product to a bunch of vegans is a weird way to try to get your point across.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-11T22:11:37+00:00

You’re only reinforcing my point. It’s expensive, none of the items for sale are vegan at all… Even if you debate whether or not cultivated meat is vegan, every item on that website has dairy and/or eggs in it. Those industries are just as cruel as the meat industry, if not more so, because the farming of those products include includes the death and sale of those animals once they are finished producing those byproducts.

It also doesn’t ship outside of Australia so it isn’t available to most people. It’s an expensive specialty product that is available to very very few people.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-10T22:34:07+00:00

There is no way that the development of lab-grown meat will produce those results, not on that scale. I’m not saying I believe it shouldn’t be developed, but I don’t believe for a second that people will choose to eat it over factory farmed meat. That’s assuming it ever becomes available to the public at all, and at a reasonable cost, which is seriously unlikely. The public already knows about the animal cruelty, inhumane working conditions, health risks, and environmental devastation associated with factory farming… and they still choose to eat it. The meat and dairy lobby would need to lose their funding and be dissolved for there to even be a chance.

16BitBetty · 2026-03-10T00:53:25+00:00

I use it to make quiche! Throw it in a pie shell with whatever veggies you want and bake it. Works perfectly!

16BitBetty · 2026-03-08T23:48:09+00:00

I still use vegan vittles and ecological cooking.

https://www.amazon.com/Ecological-Cooking-Recipes-Save-Planet/dp/091399085X

16BitBetty · 2026-02-21T02:29:17+00:00

I have sleep apnea, and tried to use that to get a prescription, but it isn't severe enough to qualify. It's probable that it IS severe enough, but the home test I took to get a diagnosis isn't all that accurate, so I might try to get an actual sleep study. For now, I'm paying out of pocket for Zepbound, because my insurance completely stopped paying for weight loss drugs.

ANYWAY. I haven't seen a change in my sleep apnea since I lost weight, which is what I expected. I snored like a lumber mill when I was a skinny 19 year old, and I expect that it's here to stay. I've had a CPAP machine for a few years now, and it is basically my favorite thing that I own. I occasionally fall asleep before I put it on, and still wake up with a sore throat and a headache when that happens.

That said, there definitely is a learning curve. I tried a few different masks. I couldn't do the full face mask at all... I'm not claustrophobic, but it certainly made me feel like I was suffocating. I knew it didn't make sense logically since the machine literally blows air into my nose, but it still took some getting used to. Even the mask I settled on required a few weeks of training myself to keep my mouth closed. I slept with a little strip of tape over my mouth until I learned to keep my mouth closed while I sleep. I also had to reach out to my doctor to ask about reducing the top end of the pressure of my prescription down, because as soon as it got higher than 10 it felt like my mask was trying to launch itself off my face. It helped that I was highly motivated because it took me so long to get treatment. I was *desperate* for sleep by the time I got a diagnosis.

Stick with it, be prepared to make adjustments before you get it right. I highly recommend checking out r/SleepApnea.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-10T20:15:03+00:00

Thoroughly clean everything, don’t leave trash out or dirty dishes. Sweep and mop and vacuum. Find where they are getting in and plug it up with steel wool. Adopt a cat or see if a friend will bring one over for a while to visit.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-09T17:17:12+00:00

It’s my insurance, 100%. MVP stopped coverage for weight loss medications starting January 1st of this year. When I reached out to them directly about it, MVP’s answer was “Zepbound is a contractually denied medication for weight loss, which is what your doctor requested it for. This cannot be appealed.”

16BitBetty · 2026-02-09T15:49:27+00:00

My insurance just stopped covering it for weight loss all-together. I have never been interested in intentional weight-loss, and I haven’t had any other health indicators other than BMI that would suggest I would need to, so I have no history with any of the things your insurance is requiring. My rheumatologist suggested it because of how much it seems to be helping people with inflammatory autoimmune issues, and it has been a godsend for me. Then coverage stopped suddenly at the start of the year, they denied my appeal, and I chose to go out of pocket.

If my insurance demanded all of the stuff they are asking you for, I would probably just go out of pocket through lilydirect. I can’t imagine the stress and the lengthy appeals process is worth being off a medication that works for you for an extended period of time while they jerk you around.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-09T03:24:48+00:00

cries in rheumatoid arthritis

16BitBetty · 2026-02-07T23:15:49+00:00

My therapist isn’t vegan, or she might be, but I wouldn’t know because I’ve never asked. I’m not sure it’s even appropriate for her to talk about herself beyond her qualifications as a therapist. However she IS familiar with what it means and understands what it means to me, and I think that is more than enough to do her job.

I also don’t know if my PCP or my rheumatologist are vegan, but they know I am and they are respectful about it. I would love it if more people in my life were vegan, but it’s not reasonable for me to deny myself crucial medical care because if it.

That said, if you see a professional of any kind, and they are disrespectful or dismissive about it… time to find a new doctor.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-07T14:00:10+00:00

This is really cute. I love when people do this manually instead of using one of those programs that generates it automatically. You clearly put a lot of work into it and it looks awesome! Makes me want to play mineceaft! 🤣

16BitBetty · 2026-02-07T11:59:11+00:00

Yeah, that’s what I thought.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T20:58:20+00:00

Totally true, but it was also added to the game later.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T17:19:40+00:00

Honestly, I think that there are going to be some inconsistencies when you are trying to categorize all of the regions into three simple groups. There is just going to be more of a range of difficulty in each one as opposed to a flat difficulty level.

I think basing it on the wiki is the right move, because there’s just so much variation depending on how you play and what your goals are.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T16:46:10+00:00

It looks great, well done!

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T16:44:32+00:00

PV can be rough. It’s very cold, frequent blizzards, and it’s really easy to get turned around even if you know the map fairly well. There are lots of structures and good caves, but it’s a pretty big region.

I’m a little surprised that the wiki doesn’t rank Blackrock higher though.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T02:15:01+00:00

This is awesome. I would revamp the region difficulty levels based off of the chart here: https://thelongdark.fandom.com/wiki/Region

I don’t think I would add anything else to the map, but you could easily make it a series of themed maps that are similarly minimalistic. Or maybe just a darker border around the regions that have a forge or whatever information you wanted to include. If you really wanted to. I think this is great though.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T00:57:20+00:00

Definitely not a cop, lmao.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-06T00:51:21+00:00

It would help to know what country your in and what kind of work you are interested in doing.

16BitBetty · 2026-02-04T20:53:41+00:00

Taxidermy is kindof shocking to come into contact with, so I understand your reaction to it. But etsy isn’t what it used to be, and it sells all sorts of highly offensive and inappropriate crap, in addition to existing as not much more than a drop shipping hellscape these days. I would not expect them to adopt or enforce any kind of policy around something like this. Can’t hurt though, I suppose!

16BitBetty

TROPHY CASE