The Truth

The question (and sometimes comment) that most perplexes us here at Emerge Weight Loss is: "Why is my medication not working?" This can also be communicated as: "Your medication is defective!" "Are you selling me junk?"

This isn't the most common question, not even by a long shot, but it is the most frustrating. Well, we've sharpened our pens, dug out our abacuses, and knocked our collective heads together to try to provide some insight on why those precious few patients of ours just don't respond the way we'd like them to.
 
1) The first point I want to dispel is that there's a great difference between pharmacies. I get it. You read the message boards and this person claims they didn't lose a pound or feel anything until they switched to this pharmacy. Another person swears up and down that X pharmacy is a hoax. 
​
By in large, these claims are not true. Most of the reputable clinics like Emerge utilize only a handful of quality pharmacies, like South Lake, Hallandale, and others. Each of these pharmacies does batch testing by a 3rd party laboratory. A report might look something like: 
​
We've completed an analysis of (pharmacy's) compounded tirzepatide in comparison to the (retail brand). (Pharmacy's) tirzepatide had 101.8% of the concentration promised on the vial. This ended up being 5.0891mg / 0.5mL, so slightly higher but basically right at what they state on the vial. The same analysis of their semaglutide versus retail had a concentration rating of 97.4% or 2.4360mg / 1mL. So slightly under the 2.5mg/1mL, but both within the acceptable ranges.
​
Also, each of these pharmacies is a FDA approved 503a compounded facility for sterile compounding. Essentially that  means that the FDA does inspections of their facilities to ensure they are operating and producing sterile medications for injection.
​
2) Next, a patient might be on the loading dose of 2.5mg or even 5.0mg, and still not feel the appetite suppression and fullness of the medication. A small percentage (by our estimates under 7%) will feel zero to little affect of the medication even after titrating up to the second tier level. This could be for a number of reasons.
​
a) The patient might have already been on GLP-1 prior, and they need higher dosing.
b) The patient is insulin resistant and will not respond until the titration is maximized.
c) The patient did not properly administer the medication. We've had patients inject air until we corrected them. We've had many patients inject at an insufficient low level mistakenly, until corrected.
​
3) Lastly, there also appears to exist a natural ebb and flow to the medication that differs between patients and at different times. Some mixture of body chemistry, resistance, buildup, etc. 
​
When a patient does not feel the intended affects, we do our best to work with them to titrate up faster. It is your job as a patient to communicate with your clinic. Most clinics want you to succeed. They feed off it. Here at Emerge, we share the success stories of our patients around the office like others share Monday Night Football scores. You should hear the hoots and horrays!
​
Please keep in mind, that every outcome and experience is normal. While many see success in those first weeks and months, it takes others a little more time to dial it in. We are here to help. We want and need you to succeed.  
 
As always, our team is always available for questions. We love that each person’s path is different, and we’re so happy to help guide you to a successful journey.