Draper and Lehi, Utah
Medical weight loss in Draper, with a doctor in the room
Semaglutide and tirzepatide, prescribed in person by a physician, at the Draper clinic on weekdays and in Lehi on Fridays. Not an app, and not a questionnaire followed by a shipping label. A medical visit, with someone who will actually see you again.
How GLP-1 medications work
Semaglutide and tirzepatide copy hormones your gut already makes after you eat. They slow how fast your stomach empties and they turn down the signals that keep you hungry, so you feel full sooner and stay full longer. Tirzepatide acts on a second hormone pathway as well.
They start at a low dose and step up gradually. That is not caution for its own sake: the side effects are mostly about how fast the dose climbs, and going slowly is how most people avoid the worst of them.
Straight about what this is
What I prescribe, and what compounded means
I prescribe compounded semaglutide and compounded tirzepatide, prepared by a state licensed compounding pharmacy for you as an individual patient.
Compounded medications are not FDA approved. The FDA does not review them for safety, effectiveness or quality before they are dispensed. The large clinical trials behind these medicines studied the FDA approved brand products, Wegovy and Zepbound, not compounded versions. You should know that before you start, not find it out later.
If your insurance covers an FDA approved option, check that first. It may be the better route, and I would rather tell you so.
Who should not take them
These come straight from the prescribing information, not from my opinion, and they are the reasons I will say no:
- A personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer
- Multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2)
- Pregnancy, or planning a pregnancy
- A previous serious allergic reaction to the medication
A history of pancreatitis, gallbladder disease or certain stomach problems is a conversation rather than an automatic no. Bring your full medical history to the first visit.
What to expect
Side effects, honestly
Nausea is the one most people meet, along with constipation, diarrhea, reflux and a smaller appetite than they are used to. They are usually worst in the first weeks and after each dose increase, and usually settle. Smaller meals and stopping when you are full help more than people expect.
Less common but serious: pancreatitis and gallbladder problems. Severe or persistent pain in your abdomen is a reason to stop and call, not to wait it out.
The part most programs skip
Lose the fat, keep the muscle
When weight comes off quickly, some of it is muscle. Enough protein and regular resistance training are the consensus way to protect it, and they matter more on these medications than off them, because you are eating less of everything.
Your face changes too. Fast weight loss takes volume from the temples, the cheeks and around the eyes, sometimes before you notice it anywhere else. That is my day job, and it is worth planning for rather than reacting to.
Your face after weight lossStraight answers
Weight loss questions, answered plainly
How much weight will I lose?
I will not quote you a number to get you through the door. How much people lose depends on the dose they reach, how consistently they take it, what they eat, and how their body responds, and those vary a lot between people. Individual results vary, and anyone promising you a figure before they have met you is selling.
Is semaglutide or tirzepatide better?
They work differently. Semaglutide acts on one gut hormone pathway, GLP-1. Tirzepatide acts on two, GLP-1 and GIP. Which one suits you depends on your history, your goals and how you tolerate it, which is exactly the conversation the first visit is for.
Are compounded GLP-1 medications FDA approved?
No. Compounded medications are prepared by a licensed pharmacy for an individual patient and are not FDA approved. The FDA does not review them for safety, effectiveness or quality before they are dispensed. The brand name products, Wegovy and Zepbound, are the FDA approved versions.
Will insurance cover it?
Compounded medications are generally not covered by insurance. If your plan covers an FDA approved brand product, check that first, because it may be the better route for you.
Do I have to stay on it forever?
Not necessarily, but go in knowing that many people regain weight after stopping. What comes after the medication is part of the plan from the first visit, not something we figure out at the end.
Where are the visits?
In person, at 892 E 12300 S in Draper on weekdays or at 139 N Hunter's Grove Ln, Ste 125 in Lehi on Fridays. You see the doctor who prescribes for you.
Can I keep doing Botox and filler?
Yes, and it is worth planning together. Fast weight loss often changes the face before people expect it to, and the order you treat things in matters.
Start with a visit, not a subscription
Individual results vary. Text first if you would rather just ask something.