It’s been a while since I’ve written much here, especially about AI things, I think mainly because of teaching. I am once again “all AI/all the time” with two sections of first year writing and an advanced “special topics” course called “Writing, Rhetoric, and AI.” It’s all going well, but because I’ve been reading and writing about AI for all of those courses all semester, I haven’t had a lot of time or energy to write more about it here.
More on that special topics class later because I’m scheduled to teach it again next term– and if you are an EMU student interested in an advanced online writing class, go sign up! Soon I am also going to write more about AI here, about how this last semester has gone and perhaps a response/alternative to the draft of some AI Guidance from the CCCCs. But in the meantime, Zepbound news.
I started Zepbound in January 2024, and by Thanksgiving 2024, I had lost a total of about 38 pounds. As of thi past Thanksgiving, I have lost a total of about 43 pounds, give or take. This is the thing about Zepbound and all of these drugs, I think: I lost as much weight as I did in the first year or so because I simply was not as hungry, and when I ate a meal, I did not eat as much. This is still all true, but I’ve obviously plateaued a bit. It’s certainly better to still be losing at least a little weight rather than gaining it back.
All of which is to say that this stuff has worked great for me, but only up to a point. I’d like to lose about another 20 or so pounds, but to do that, I’m actually going to have to try.
Anyway, in Zepbound and similar drug news:
- Since the last time I blogged about Zepbound, I’ve been to the doctor for my annual physical. All of my various numbers and measures for things continue to improve, which is good, obviously. The main reason I wanted to do these drugs is to avoid becoming diabetic, and that mission seems accomplished, at least for now. I would like to lose more weight, but I’m not sure it would make me a lot “healthier,” if that makes sense.
- In the “what’s it like” to be on these drugs genre of essays and articles, I liked this one from Kara Baskin at the Boston Globe, “Zepbound, six months in. The good, the bad, the awkward.” (I accessed it via archive.is) We’re quite different people– Baskin is a 5-foot-1 woman who was about 30 pounds overweight– but with similar not great health issues related to being fat and an interest in addressing that. It’s a good read, and I can relate to a lot of it. “Dining out requires strategy,” she writes, and then tells a story about how she and her husband were celebrating something with an elaborate out to yeat experience, she went all out, and then puked it all up an hour later. I haven’t had that experience, but if I’m going to eat out at a restaurant, I have to plan my day around it, like eating a small lunch if I’m going out for a big fancy steak dinner or something. Like Baskin, “I sure do miss that wild abandon,” because I kinda liked pigging out once in a while. Of course, that’s probably why I needed to go on these drugs in the first place.
- One thing I have not experienced that Baskin says she has is any sense of guilt or judgement from others because I’m on these drugs. No doubt a lot of that is heavily gendered, but I also think it’s becoming more “acceptable,” for lack of a better word for it. About a year and a half ago, KFF published a poll that said (among many other things) that 12% of adults in the US have tried a GLP-1 type drug, and about 6% are on these drugs right now. Also (and not surprisingly) the percentage of people on these drugs who have been told by a doctor they have health risks because of weight is a lot higher than that.
- Lots more famous people are on these drugs and have told their stories– Serena Williams made some news about these meds and now she’s a spokesperson for ro. I think that has also had a way of destigmatizing these drugs as well.
- The Trump administration rolled out a deal with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to reduce prices and the like, though it’s probably still too early if it’s made a difference– or, given this administration, if it’s even a real thing. Oh, BTW, do you remember that press conference in the Oval Office where the guy fainted and where there was a photo of Trump just standing there looking like a zombie? That was about this deal.
- These companies are getting crazy rich. Novo Nordisk (the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy) has turned Denmark into what Planet Money last year called a “Pharmastate.” Among other fun facts: “Nearly 1 out of every 5 Danish jobs created last year was at Novo,” and if you include the indirect jobs (suppliers, businesses like restaurants where Novo workers eat, etc.), it’s closer to half. And Eli Lilly (the maker of Zepbound) is the first corporation in health care to have a trillion dollar market value. Obviously, the downside of that for users is these drugs are super expensive. I’m cautiously optimistic that my insurance will keep covering it (though a lot of insurers are dropping it) and/or the prices will come down soon.
- The other thing I’m optimistic about is the new drugs that are coming along. For one thing, the pill form of these drugs is almost here– supposedly. The Oprah Daily was very excited that these pills were “Almost Here” at the beginning of December 2025, but I’ve been reading about the pills arriving on the market any day now for about a year, so…. The other big news is that Eli Lilly said that retatrutide, their “next-generation (of) obesity and diabetes medication” is even more effective than Zepbound and it also reduces knee pain, and that includes patients who are not obese.
Anyway, still on the Zepbound, losing a little at a time….