Starting your weight care plan

Before treatment begins

1. Complete the Pre-Treatment Questionnaire. This gives your provider the information needed to determine whether weight medication may be appropriate and safe for you.
2. Read and sign the GLP-1 Consent.
3. Your provider reviews your information. Weight medication is not added automatically. Nothing is scheduled or charged until your provider confirms that you are eligible to move forward.
4. Complete any requested labs. Labs are ordered only when clinically indicated. Your provider will let you know what is needed and when it must be completed.
5. Attend your Weight Care start visit. This is a video visit by default and is included in the program. An in-person visit is available for an additional $50.
6. Choose the medication and pharmacy plan. We will help you compare appropriate medication, insurance, savings-program, and cash-pay options. Medication and laboratory costs are separate from the clinical program fee.
7. Begin treatment. The $75 monthly Weight Care add-on begins only if you start treatment.

What the program fee covers

This fee is paid to The Menopause Clinic and covers your clinical care: your Weight Care start visit, provider review of every Weekly Weigh-In and GLP-1 Check-In, dose adjustments, prescription management, and portal messaging about your treatment.

It does not include the medication itself or laboratory testing. You pay the pharmacy directly for your medication and the lab directly for any testing. Example medication prices are listed further down this page.

Your program timeline

What you need to do

Every week

• Take your medication exactly as prescribed.
• Submit one Weekly Weigh-In, even if your weight has not changed. Regular self-weighing is associated with greater weight-loss success, which is why we ask you to submit one weight every week.
• Try to weigh under similar conditions each week.
• Contact your provider through the portal if you are having side effects or other concerns.

Weekly Weigh-In — every week GLP-1 Check-In — every 4 weeks

Every four weeks during dose adjustment

Complete the GLP-1 Check-In, even if everything is going well. We will review:

• Your overall weight trend
• Appetite and nutrition
• Protein intake
• Physical activity and strength training
• Side effects and tolerability
• Mood and overall well-being
• Whether weight loss is too slow, appropriate, or too rapid
• Whether your dose should remain the same or change

Once your dose is stable

• Continue the Weekly Weigh-In.
• Complete a full GLP-1 Check-In every three months.
• Keep your primary care provider informed, particularly if you take medication for blood pressure or blood sugar. We manage your GLP-1 medication but do not adjust unrelated prescriptions.

What to expect

• We begin with a low dose primarily to help your body adjust.
• Early appetite changes do not necessarily predict your final result.
• Weight loss generally develops over months, not days or weeks.
• You do not need to reach the maximum dose. The goal is the lowest dose that provides meaningful benefit with acceptable side effects.
• Results vary, and medication does not replace adequate nutrition, protein intake, movement, or strength training.
• Treatment is generally ongoing. Stopping GLP-1 medication commonly leads to some weight regain.
• The program is designed to continue only while the medication is providing enough benefit to justify its cost, risks, and burden.

Choosing a weight-management medication

These medicines can help reduce appetite, support weight loss, and improve metabolic health when used along with nutrition, movement, sleep, and other healthy habits. The best choice is not always the medication associated with the greatest average weight loss. Your medical history, comfort with injections, daily routine, insurance coverage, cost, and medication tolerance all matter.

What the medication may cost

Medication is paid directly to the pharmacy and is separate from the $75 clinical program fee. The examples below are cash-pay prices per month through Amazon Pharmacy at the time of writing. Prices change, savings programs come and go, and insurance may cover some options — so it is worth checking pharmacies near you before you decide. We will help you compare during your Weight Care start visit.

Because dosing starts low and increases gradually, your monthly cost typically starts at the lower end and rises as your dose does. You do not need to reach the maximum dose — your goal dose is the one that works for you, not the highest one.

Questions to help you decide

• Weekly injection or daily pill? Weekly: Wegovy injection or Zepbound. Daily pill: Wegovy oral or Foundayo.
• Is avoiding injections your highest priority? Consider Wegovy oral or Foundayo.
• Need the simplest pill routine around meals? Foundayo can be taken with or without food. Wegovy oral requires an empty stomach, a small sip of water, then a 30-minute wait.
• Is maximizing average weight loss especially important? In trials, average weight loss was highest with Zepbound (about 20%), followed by Wegovy injection (about 15%) and Wegovy oral (about 14%), with Foundayo somewhat lower (about 11% at the highest dose). Only Zepbound and Wegovy injection have been compared directly in the same study; the other figures come from separate trials of different lengths, so treat this as a rough guide. The medication you can safely tolerate and take consistently is often the best long-term option.
• Do you have established cardiovascular disease? Wegovy injection may be especially worth discussing because of its cardiovascular-risk-reduction indication for certain patients.
• What will your insurance cover? Coverage, prior authorization, pharmacy availability, and out-of-pocket cost vary widely. A medication can be clinically appropriate and still not be covered by a specific plan.

My priorities

Check the items that matter most to you and bring them to your Weight Care start visit:

• I prefer a once-weekly medication.
• I prefer a daily pill.
• I do not want injections.
• I can follow a strict morning, empty-stomach pill routine.
• I want a pill that can be taken with or without food.
• I want the option associated with the greatest average weight loss.
• Cardiovascular risk reduction is an important goal for me.
• I have concerns about nausea, constipation, or other stomach side effects.
• Insurance coverage and monthly cost will guide my decision.

Important safety information

These medications are not appropriate for everyone. Tell us if you have a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer or multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2 (MEN2). They are generally avoided during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Common side effects

• Nausea
• Constipation
• Diarrhea
• Vomiting
• Stomach pain or indigestion
• Feeling full sooner than usual

Side effects are most likely when starting treatment or increasing the dose. We can slow down dose increases or remain at a lower dose longer when needed.

How side effects compare between the options

All four medications share the same core stomach-related side effects, but there are some differences worth knowing:

• Wegovy injection has the lowest rates of people stopping treatment because of side effects, and it has the most long-term safety and heart-outcome data.
• Zepbound has a side effect profile similar to Wegovy injection, though nausea may be slightly more common early in dose increases.
• Wegovy oral has a similar stomach side effect profile to the injections; its main practical challenge is the strict empty-stomach routine rather than tolerability.
• Foundayo tends to cause more stomach side effects as the dose increases, and somewhat more people stop it because of side effects — in its main trial, about 5% stopped at the lowest dose and about 10% at the highest. It can also raise heart rate slightly more than semaglutide.

None of these differences make one option unsafe — they are part of the trade-offs we will weigh together based on your history and priorities.

Please let us know promptly about

• Severe or persistent abdominal pain
• Repeated vomiting or inability to keep fluids down
• Signs of dehydration
• Symptoms of gallbladder problems, such as right upper abdominal pain, fever, or yellowing of the skin or eyes
• Changes in vision if you have diabetes
• Low blood sugar symptoms if you also use insulin or a sulfonylurea medication

When to contact us

Send a portal message if:

• Side effects are persistent or difficult to manage
• You are struggling to eat or drink enough
• You are unsure whether to take your next dose
• Your other medical provider changes your medications
• You are having trouble completing the required follow-up