Semaglutide from Compounding Pharmacies

Semagutide is the ACTIVE ingredient in both the branded medicaitons of Ozempic and Wegovy. At The Natural Path, we have our Semaglutide created in a state of the art compounding pharmacy for our patients. We like to have ours compounded with Carnitine and methylcobalamin (B-12). I also like to pair it with a therapeutic dose of B-12 in troche/lozenge or injectable form to help with cleansing and detox pathways. The intention of using the medication is as a “tool” to help change diet and lifestyle patterns and eventually go off of the medication. I like to support my patients through the process. We navigate side effects, dose changes, etc. Please note that soe forms of Semaglutide have been FDA-approved for weight loss IF you have a BMI over 30 or a BMI over 27 with a co-morbid condition. Semaglutide has not been FDA-approved for general weight loss. Wegovy is the branded form that they have FDA-approved for weight loss ONLY if you fall into the BMI categories mentioned above. We like to dose Semagutide safely. We begin with .25 mg for 3-4 weeks and then move up to .5 mg for 2-4 weeks and go above that dose if needed. At this time,  25% of our patients find 25 mg to be a great dose where they notice appetite suppression and slow weight loss. Most of our patients prefer the .5 mg dose and stay there based on weight loss, appetite suppression, and side effects. We do have a handful that have gone up to the 1 mg dose and do well there. We save doses above 1 mg for those in the higher BMI category (> 30 OR > 27 with a co-morbid condition). The danger of going up to higher doses is hypoglycemia. We like to monitor all of our patients’ symptoms closely and evaluate HbA1c if moving to higher doses of Semaglutide.

Types of Medications Compounding Pharmacies Offer

• Some may be allergic to a dye or other ingredient in a medication. In these cases, a compounding pharmacy would create that medication without the allergen.
• Sometimes children and/or elderly parent can’t swallow the pill form of a medication. In these cases, a compounding pharmacy can recreate the medication in another form.
• Topical numbing creams placed on the skin prior to some treatment are made at a compounding pharmacy
• Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) often comes from a compounding pharmacy.
• Medications that are in short supply can be produced by compounding pharmacies.

At this time, Semaglutide can be created in a compounding pharmacy in place of the commercially sold drug that’s currently in short supply and we would need to use branded forms for those who fall into the FDA-approved caetgories.

We want our program to coach patients to a healthier lifestyle with diet and exercise. That way, if accessing medication becomes a problem, they would’ve had at least 6 months to strive for their goal weight with medication and then maintain it with newly developed behavioral changes learned in the  6-month program.

Quality Standards of Compounding Pharmacies

In regards to the quality of medications produced by a compounding pharmacy, the facility we get semaglutide from is considered an “outsourcing facility,” as defined in The Drug Quality and Security Act, of 2013. That law created a new section, 503B, in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. As such, an outsourcing facility is overseen and inspected by the FDA, along with state regulators.

Under the law, outsourcing compounding pharmacies must comply with section 503B and current good manufacturing practice (CGMP) requirements. In other words, they have very high standards to keep.

We have incredible relationships with our compouding pharmacies and only use the ones we know and trust.

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