What to Bring to Your First GLP-1 Appointment

Your first GLP-1 appointment — whether it's a telehealth video call or an in-person visit — is essentially a job interview where you're the applicant and your medical history is the résumé. The more organized and complete the information you bring, the faster and smoother the prescribing process goes.

Here's exactly what to prepare, why it matters, and how to make the most of what is typically a 15-to-30-minute consultation.

Your Medical Records Checklist

Recent Blood Work (Within 6 Months)

If you have lab results from the past six months, bring them — even if they were ordered by a different doctor. The key panels your GLP-1 provider will want to see:

• Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP): Includes kidney function, liver enzymes, and blood glucose
• Lipid panel: Total cholesterol, LDL, HDL, triglycerides
• HbA1c: Your average blood sugar over 3 months — the gold standard for diabetes screening
• Thyroid panel (TSH at minimum): GLP-1 medications carry a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors, so your provider needs a thyroid baseline

Don't have recent labs? That's fine. Many telehealth providers will either order labs for you or work with your existing primary care physician to get them. Some platforms include lab work in their program cost.

Current Medication List

Write down every medication, supplement, and vitamin you currently take — including dosages and how often. This isn't busywork. GLP-1 medications interact with several common drugs:

• Insulin and sulfonylureas: Risk of hypoglycemia when combined with GLP-1s — your doctor may need to adjust doses
• Oral contraceptives: GLP-1s slow gastric emptying, which can reduce absorption of oral medications taken around the same time
• Blood thinners (warfarin): Delayed absorption may affect INR levels
• Thyroid medications (levothyroxine): May need timing adjustments

Weight History Timeline

This is the piece most patients skip, and it's one of the most valuable things you can bring. Write a brief timeline:

• Your weight at key points in your life (high school, college, after pregnancy, after a major life event)
• Diets and programs you've tried (Weight Watchers, keto, calorie counting, Noom, etc.) and what happened
• Any previous weight loss medications (phentermine, Contrave, Saxenda) and why you stopped
• Your highest adult weight and when it occurred

This isn't about judgment — it's about clinical context. A history of repeated weight loss followed by regain demonstrates that willpower isn't the issue, which is relevant to prescribing decisions.

Family Medical History

Specifically note whether immediate family members (parents, siblings) have:

• Type 2 diabetes
• Obesity
• Cardiovascular disease (heart attacks, strokes)
• Thyroid cancer (especially medullary thyroid carcinoma — this is a contraindication for GLP-1 medications)
• Pancreatitis

Your Insurance Information

Even if you're planning to pay cash, bring your insurance card. Some providers will check coverage as a courtesy, and you may be surprised — more plans are covering GLP-1 medications in 2026 than ever before, especially with the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge launching in July.

Before your appointment, call the number on the back of your insurance card and ask:

1. "Are GLP-1 medications like semaglutide or tirzepatide covered under my prescription drug benefit?"
2. "Is prior authorization required? If so, what criteria do I need to meet?"
3. "What is my copay or coinsurance for specialty medications?"
4. "Is there a step therapy requirement?" (Some insurers require you to try and fail on cheaper medications first)

Questions to Prepare

Write your questions down. Appointments go faster than you expect, and it's easy to forget what you wanted to ask. Here are the essential ones:

1. "Based on my health profile, which GLP-1 medication do you recommend — semaglutide or tirzepatide?"
2. "Will I be getting brand-name or compounded medication? If compounded, which pharmacy do you use, and are they 503A or 503B accredited?"
3. "What does the titration schedule look like? How quickly will my dose increase?"
4. "What side effects should I expect in the first month, and what warrants calling you?"
5. "How often will I have follow-up appointments, and what will you be monitoring?"
6. "What's the total monthly cost, including the medication, consultations, and any lab work?"

For Telehealth Appointments Specifically

If your consultation is happening online — which is increasingly common — a few additional prep steps:

• Have a quiet, private space: Your provider will ask about health conditions you may not want others to overhear
• Test your camera and microphone: Technical issues eat into your limited appointment time
• Have a valid photo ID ready: Most telehealth platforms require identity verification
• Know your current weight: Weigh yourself the morning of your appointment if possible — some platforms will ask you to self-report
• Upload documents in advance: If the platform has a portal, upload your lab results and medication list before the visit

The Printable Quick List

Bring or have ready:

1. Recent blood work (CMP, lipid panel, A1c, TSH)
2. Complete medication and supplement list with dosages
3. Weight history timeline (key weights, diets tried, previous weight loss meds)
4. Family medical history (diabetes, obesity, thyroid cancer, heart disease)
5. Insurance card (even for cash-pay visits)
6. Photo ID
7. Written list of questions
8. Current weight (weigh yourself that morning)

The goal isn't to overwhelm your provider with paperwork — it's to walk in prepared so the conversation focuses on your treatment plan instead of scrambling for missing information. A well-prepared patient is, in every provider's experience, a more successful patient.