Ozempic getting popular?

@ClonedSquare thank you I will have a look at that

I’m not the person you asked, but I order from Asda. It’s one of the more expensive options (£179) and is still way lower than some of the prices being claimed here.

@montysma1 can I ask where you order from? Interested in trying it myself but always seem to find very high cost sites

Mounjaro is literally licensed for type 2 diabetes, and is prescribable on the NHS - link. You're spreading misinformation

@AllBlackEverything Can you give some links to where it costs that much? I've never seen prices that high even for the later doses. There are only six dose levels in the first place, so if people can get up to 10 (the currently highest available) for under £200, you’re scaremongering to talk as if much higher prices are standard.

The price of the highest doses also isn’t really that relevant though. Plenty of people stay on the lower doses and only increase if their weight loss stalls. Even if you took the fastest route by increasing each month, you’d be six months in before you needed the highest dose. So the only people staying on it that long are people who have serious weight to lose and therefore serious risks from obesity.

I agree but the side effects of obesity are pretty bad too. It really is taking the world by storm.

I'm not convinced yet,I think there will be a lot of issues caused by taking it that won't become known for a while. It's a wonder drug for some but the side effects can be awful.

@AllBlackEverything the highest 2 doses are not released in the UK yet. It can be back ordered for £175 at several places. My low dose was £114. I have paid variously £135, and £145 going up the doses. My last order of the 3rd highest dose was £155

The increase in people obtaining it privately means a lot of nhs chemists are struggling to stock it.

my mom had a form of it for diabetes and hasn’t been able to get it. She’s now been told they will have a stock in around 3 months.

Lower doses start at about £150, higher doses go up in price, highest dose is £280.

@ClonedSquare .
Yeah, I sorry meant Wegovy/ Ozempic.
Either way, weight loss users are now on Wegovy, and Mounaro is not prescribed for diabetes, so people using it are not causing shortages of Ozempic.

I’d say there are loads of people on it, a huge amount. One of my friends started it and I’m a bit jealous! It’s a wonder drug and will change the world.

I'd love a separate board, keep it all in one place so the rest of us can have the weight loss board back!

@LaWench It's literally nothing like £300 per month. It can be found for about half that.

@montysma1 Mounjaro and Ozempic are not the same drug. Ozempic is semaglutide, while Mounjaro is tirzepatide.

It’s Ozempic and Wegovy that are the same medicine, with Wegovy being the weight loss version.

In the US, they use the names slightly differently- Mounjaro is the name for the diabetic form and Zepbound is the weight loss one. In the UK, Mounjaro is used for both I believe.

@tobee You can be prescribed it down to 25bmi but only if you are already on it. But you can only start on it above 30 BMI . So you will not be prescribed it to start with if you are only half a stone over weight .

Wrong.
Mounjaro
It's exactly the same drug as Ozempic at higher doses than prescribed for diabetes.
Mounjaro is not prescribed for diabetes, it is prescribed for weight loss. So the "rich people" have nothing to do with Ozempic shortages because they are prescribed for different things.
Facts eh?

Agreed. I don’t think posts like that are helpful or true. I think a lot of people on these weight loss drugs for the first time are actually able to start developing healthy eating habits because the drug has taken away that constant food chatter. I say this as someone with a normal BMI.

I think the weigh loss boards should be separate too.

I have also recently found out about two friends that use it. I feel like it's talked about alot in the media.

A year ago I don't think I'd heard of it.

The friends using it were both over weight but not hugely so. Both have always struggled to be as slim as they would like. They have had good results and look great.

I was surprised to learn it takes a while to work and doesn't lead to instant rapid weight loss as I'd imagined.

One works in pharma and has no worries about taking it. Likened it to how viagra came about.

Personally I'd be concerned that although it has been used for years as a medicine, and weight loss is a known side effect, the long term impact of using it for weight loss only, without diabetes, hasn't been assessed (I don't think).

I think most people have tried and failed to get their weight under control over decades. I doubt people are taking it as an easy option, more like they really struggled for years and this is a last resort. Does it matter how it’s done as long as peoples health and wellbeing improves?

Another vote for it to have its own page.
I’m much more a fan of helping people develop healthy lifestyle changes that are sustainable with only using meds as a total last resort. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.

I think it probably needs it’s own forum @mumsnet

You can buy it over the counter, tbh I think it’s great that it works so well for so many people (barring side effects). I’m delighted people are buying it for themselves, tackling your weight on your own means less pressure on the NHS in the longterm.

Already slim people are being foolish though.

This is definitely going to exacerbate the divide of being fat/thin with being poor/rich. I’m also amazed how many people are on it, but £200 a month would be way beyond my means. I am complete agreement that the weighloss boards should have a subsection for ‘medicated weight loss’, such as there is for Fasting/Slimmimg World/Low Carb.

The NICE criteria are listed here: https://healthmedia.blog.gov.uk/2023/09/04/accessing-wegovy-for-weight-loss-everything-you-need-to-know/

It seems that a lot of people with private prescriptions do not meet these criteria. I do meet these criteria, however I am unable to access treatment through NHS weight loss services in a timely manner. It would take at least two years on the NHS pathway. I have posted before about NHS weight loss services which, in my area at least, are not fit for purpose.

I am fortunate to be able to afford a private prescription. It costs me about £180 every four weeks. I have also made big changes to my eating and I now have a regular exercise programme. I am losing weight steadily and have almost no side effects. The one side effect i do have is that my previously high blood pressure is now in the normal range. The risks to my health from being morbidly obese with a BMI over 40 are far higher than the risks presented by taking a weight loss medication.

I don't usually post on the WL boards as people seem very obsessed about what they are eating, how much they weigh etc and I find some of it borderline eating disorder territory so I tend to avoid them.

As in crossover information.