1. How will I know if a THR-beta agonist is working?
3. What should I do if I miss a dose?
4. Can I ever stop taking the medication?
5. How much does this treatment cost?
6. THR-beta agonists should be used in combination with a healthy lifestyle.
2. How often do I need to be monitored on this medication?
FAQs About THR-Beta Agonists for MASH
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7. A THR-beta agonist can often be combined with treatments for other conditions.
MASH often has no symptoms, so your doctor will regularly check your liver enzymes with a blood test and perform a few noninvasive imaging tests, such as transient elastography (TE) or magnetic resonance elastography (MRE), once when you start taking resmetirom, and then again once you’ve been taking it for a year. “If there is significantly improved or normalized liver enzyme (ALT), or improvement of liver stiffness measurements by TE or MRE, it indicates good response to the treatment,” explains Li.
Your liver doctor will run lab tests when you start taking a THR-beta agonist, and then again at 3, 6, and 12 months after you’ve been taking the treatment. Beyond that, monitoring can be at your doctor’s discretion.
The most common side effects of GLP-1 agonists are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. To reduce these side effects, “eat smaller portions of food, avoid certain types of food — [namely] spicy or high fat foods — and stop eating once you’re full,” suggests Neumiller.
1. How can I minimize the side effects?
You don’t need to “double up” the next day if you miss a day’s pill. “Take it as soon as you notice you missed it, but if it is almost time for the next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your normal dosing schedule,” says Chen.
The most common side effects of GLP-1 agonists are nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. To reduce these, “Eat smaller portions of food, avoid certain types of food — [namely] spicy or high-fat foods — and stop eating once you’re full,” Neumiller suggests.
“Yes — especially when it’s not effective or tolerable,” Li says. But if your lab results are showing it’s working, there’s not yet any timeline on when you should stop taking it, since THR-beta agonists are still new. “At this point, if patients respond to resmetirom well, based on the one-year evaluation, they may continue the medication,” she adds.
Without health insurance, the estimated cost for resmetirom is around $40,000 to $50,000 per year. If you do have health insurance and are a good candidate, some insurance carriers may cover the cost, while others may cover part of it. The manufacturer of resmetirom also offers a copay savings program for people with insurance whose prescription plan doesn’t cover the full cost, and who are not on Medicaid or Medicare Part D. If your doctor thinks you are a good candidate for resmetirom, follow up with them if your insurance won’t cover the cost of it.
