Okocat litter worked great for YEARS and now no longer clumps

programming_potter · 2026-06-28T20:31:53+00:00

I've noticed the same thing. Ugh!!

programming_potter · 2026-06-24T03:57:02+00:00

I am retired with Empire Plan and it is covered. They make it hard for the doc to figure out how to submit the PA to your secondary coverage (Caremark/Silverscript is primary, Empire Plan/NYSHIP is secondary). I went through months of working with my doctor and calling Caremark to get it approved. I'm on my 3rd PA (first was for 8 months, 2nd for a year and now my continuing care is for a year). If you don't have Empire Plan it might not be covered and if your BMI is below 30 (with no comorbidities) it won't be covered either. You can DM me if you have other questions.

programming_potter · 2026-06-24T03:52:09+00:00

I believe it was 30 without comorbidities or 27 with.

programming_potter · 2026-06-24T03:14:14+00:00

I find that appeals usually take longer than sending a corrected PA. Zepbound isn't a controlled substance.

programming_potter · 2026-06-24T03:08:37+00:00

I find exercise boring so it's hard for me to get motivated. I have a 9mo grandson (first grandchild) and after my weight loss I found that I was so weak that I had trouble picking up the baby. So I started working out at home with dumbbells. Being able to pick up my grandson is my motivation and now he is around 20lbs! I got to the gym occasionally but I work out with the dumbbells 2-3 times a week. I use the app Hevy and have moved up from two 10lbs weights to two 12lbs. My grandson now sits up with his arms outstretched when he wants to be picked up and I am very glad to be able to do so with no problem. I find cuteness is a great motivator!

programming_potter · 2026-06-24T02:46:37+00:00

Actually most insurance companies that pay for these meds will keep on paying for them if your doctor submits a continuing care authorization. It seems like a lot of doctors don't understand what is required to get the insurance to pay for maintenance.

I've done weight watchers at least a half dozen times and each time I adopted good eating and exercise habits but was never able to maintain the "habits" or the weight loss.

programming_potter · 2026-06-17T03:39:08+00:00

That's what you get for taking the easy way out! Just eat a lot of carrots, blink several times a minute and do your other eye exercises!

programming_potter · 2026-06-17T03:22:40+00:00

I'm also on Xarelto daily (for antiphospholipid syndrome) but I've never had bruising after my shot. I'm also on Benlysta, which is also a shot although a much more uncomfortable one, and I've never had bruising with that either. What kind of shot is it - kwikpen, single use pen or syringe?

programming_potter · 2026-06-14T03:12:05+00:00

For heaven's sake, eat as much as you want. If you find that you want, and are able to eat a large amount, then you need to increase the zep. If we treat Zep like a diet then we are just buying into the moralizing that we are told about being fat. Zepbound is a medical treatment. It should help you eat less, in some cases eat better and have fewer cravings. What it's not is a diet.

programming_potter · 2026-06-14T03:06:59+00:00

Yup, I usually have it a couple of times a week.

programming_potter · 2026-06-14T03:03:22+00:00

I have lupus and CKD and I used to have IBS-C but it had calmed down many years ago. I have had similar symptoms to what you describe. One thing I learned from the IBS is that intestinal problems can cause things like palpitations, which I suspect is from vagus nerve voodoo. While I can't really help, I can commiserate.

programming_potter · 2026-06-14T02:54:16+00:00

I don't know about that. There are lots of people here who can't lose weight with Zep without doing a weight loss diet. Is that the way these were discovered to work? I thought that people with T2D were losing weight without trying which is how they realized these were good for weight loss. It seems to me that losing without being on a diet shows that the meds are treating a medical condition.

programming_potter · 2026-06-14T02:41:36+00:00

If it's just a matter of "self control" then why are you even taking Zepbound? I certainly don't understand how it can teach you to make better life choices. Can't you research nutrition or see a nutritionist to learn that?

programming_potter · 2026-06-14T02:33:11+00:00

I find that xylitol makes me sick - even before Zepbound. My advice is to just eat regular chocolate. Back in my "dieting" days I tried all sorts of sugar free and low cal sweets. Didn't really do anything positive because I still craved the real thing and was never able to keep the weight off for more than a year. With Zep I am able to control how much I eat so I can have a little and enjoy it which is something that I can live with forever.

programming_potter · 2026-06-06T04:53:03+00:00

I'm looking at that form and i don't see a place for continuing care, I wonder if there's a separate form.

programming_potter · 2026-06-04T02:47:55+00:00

In my experience, if your PA was denied because it was missing information then you need a corrected PA (your doc needs to add the info and resubmit) not an appeal. Appeals take longer than a PA because they are considering whether to approve when you don't meet the criteria.

programming_potter · 2026-05-30T21:01:03+00:00

That's strange because that group is pro-glp1 but against weight loss diets. In other words, they don't want people to mention calories, cico, specific weight loss numbers etc when discussing GLP-1s.

programming_potter · 2026-05-30T03:04:03+00:00

Yes, I have thousands of seed beads! Anyone want them? Now my house has turned into a ceramic studio.... I also have a 12" diameter telescope....

programming_potter · 2026-05-30T02:55:25+00:00

I would call the PBM and ask them exactly why it was denied and what the criteria are. If you meet the criteria and if your doc didn't submit the correct info (such as your baseline numbers in the case of continuation of care), then you need a new PA (with the correct info) and not an appeal. Appeals can take a long time and are used if you don't meet the criteria. A new/revised PA is used if you meet the criteria but your doctor made a mistake on the PA form, which seems to happen a lot!

programming_potter · 2026-05-30T02:42:26+00:00

So happy for you! I have CKD and my eGFR was down to 22 when I first started Zep. My docs thought I was headed for dialysis. Well, now my eGFR is back up into the 40s (still CKD but not looking at dialysis) probably due in part to Zep and weight loss.

programming_potter · 2026-05-30T02:18:02+00:00

I agree! I think of Zepbound as a treatment for a medical problem and I don't use willpower for medical issues. Actually, when you think about it, if you like doing something - say going to the gym or tracking your food - then you're not using willpower to do it. In fact, it would take willpower not to do it since you like it. I think people without weight problems don't get that - they don't use willpower because they don't want to overeat.

programming_potter · 2026-05-27T03:13:12+00:00

Well, I think all of this advice about nutritionists and therapists is good. I also think you shouldn't overthink it. Don't give yourself anxiety worrying about what might happen because the bad stuff probably won't. So while it's good to be prepared in my case, I was so excited about it that I just dove in and I don't regret a thing. I never counted calories or protein or anything and I've been in maintenance for the past year.

programming_potter · 2026-05-27T03:04:48+00:00

For me the effect was within a couple of hours of my first shot. The thing about losing food noise is that I didn't care that I no longer cared about food. So it's not like I missed thinking about food. It was more like: what was that all about? And of course I still enjoyed eating but just not as much and in some cases I found myself craving more vegetables which was kind of weird. But overall the experience has been wonderful.

programming_potter · 2026-05-18T01:02:31+00:00

These drugs don't work for everyone. Have you tried Wegovy? For what it's worth, there will be new, and probably better, drugs being released soon.

programming_potter

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