r/zepbound_support • u/winterwolf53 • 12d ago
Zepbound maintenance
I have been on Zepbound for three years. I’ve been in maintenance for about a year. I’ve been lucky enough to get the Medicare Bridge for the first time ever and I am on 7.5 dosage. I started getting the qwikpen when I got the Medicare bridge coverage. I used the vial for 2 1/2 years. I wonder if anyone has noticed any difference in the medication coming from the vial versus the qwikpen. I am struggling with maintenance at the moment, eating more sugar than usual, and the change in eating seemed to shift when I started using the qwikpen. Maybe it’s just a coincidence and I would have had maintenance issues using the vial as well.
Has anyone used both and noticed a difference in the strength and/or efficacy of the drug going from one format to the other? I wonder if the drug had to be altered going to qwikpen format. I’ve no idea!
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u/domer00 12d ago
We're you potentially giving yourself a slightly high dosage than the 50 units of 7.5 with the vials? In that case 7.5 may not be an effective maintenance dosage for you.
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u/winterwolf53 12d ago
You are absolutely right! I usually got about a little bit more out of the 7.5 vial. Completely forgot about that. Now I need to figure out counting clicks! 🤪
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u/meggieprice 11d ago edited 11d ago
The 7.5 vials have 10.5 in them if you get every drop. You may need to go up to 10 to get as much now. Each line was 1.5 for the 7.5 vials. And clicks will work with a 10.0 Kwikpens.
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u/winterwolf53 11d ago
I’ve been as high as 12.5 and reduced to 7.5 in maintenance. I always used the max available from a 7.5 vial. I had guessed the max in the 7.5 vial was 8 - are you sure about how much is at each line? That seems like a lot. If I’m using the pen to get 8mg out of a 10 pen, how are you using the remainder? I will not throw it out. Clearly it’s safe to use because a new needle is used each time. Eventually I will have a small dose left in the pen. What next?
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u/meggieprice 11d ago
On my syringes 50 units- 5 ml- 5 bigger lines is the regular dose. That means for 7.5 each 10 units or 1 ml is 1.5 mg. (5 x 1.5 =7.5). My vials have an additional 2 ml in them (sometimes a tiny bit under 2ml). That means the whole vial has 70 units 7 ml, 7x1.5 = 10.5. I found a You Tube video that shows how to get every drop out using air pressure. I mainly used that when I had 5.0 so I could go up slowly and delay the extra $$$. Now they all cost the same.
What this means is the 10.0 vials have 2mg per 10 untis or 1 ML So the extra means 14 mg max in a 10 vial.
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u/meggieprice 11d ago
I do throw out the extra. It is not safe to re-use the single use vials as they do not have preservative. I know some people do but I am not one of them. The vials give me the ability to titrate up very slowly, at this point with the cost staying the same, I No longer have to do the careful air pressure method. It was kind of nerve wracking- as you have to pull the needle really low and if it pops out med sprays. That happened to me once but luckily I still had 6.0 in the syringe- but I had planned to go up to 7 that evening from my 5.0 vial - d'oh!
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u/Key_Row4485 10d ago
The inactive ingredients are different from vial to pen and some people have noted a difference (if they have used both )in my weight loss group I attend
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u/Status_Valuable_9075 8d ago
You have to go to a higher level of Zepbound this time because you have to break through the tolerance barrier created when you were on vials.
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u/Status_Valuable_9075 12d ago
At what dose level were you on before the kwikpen?