Why are the NHS making access to 'fat jabs' almost impossible.

Sorry I just want to check is he saying the hormone issue makes you obese or the hormone makes you want to eat more and eating more makes you obese? The same with medication, does the medication make you obese or make you want to eat more.

I think the way it is being presented can be confusing.

Obesity and such diseases may be linked, but one does not definitely get these diseases if fat.
So, no, you won't die without the drug. However, many diseases will kill you and it's bad enough trying to pay for those without having to fund what many think, is a lefestyle problem

I was listening to that podcast last night. Was interesting that he said that obesity could be caused by a hormone issue and these drugs might help with what the body is lacking to support weight loss. Sounds like more research can be done to see why /how these drugs work exactly and why some people are super responders and some don't respond at all. It's very fascinating. If obesity is caused by hormone issues in the body and scientists can figure out what it is, then maybe one day obesity could be cured.

I have written on here about Dr Robert Kushner who prescribes and researches the jabs. He says science has discovered the body establishes a biological set point that the brain has of where your weight ought to be, namely at the higher weight if you have been overweight for more than just a short amount of time..

He says after dieting or coming off the fat loss injections your body will be fighting to get back to its set point at the previous higher weight through increasing hunger hormones and suppressing satiating hormones. For this reason he believes obesity is a chronic relapsing condition and people need to stay on the injections which he supports.

Tackling obesity can be approached on multiple levels, support and education to try and limit people gaining weight but for those who are obese injections or surgery is probably the only long term option.

Show me where I said it was easy?

I have an ND child, have my own health issues, can't work full time and rely on benefits. Our household budget is small, my ex was an unsupportive abusive dickhead. I also struggle with food issues, and emotional eating, and gain weight very easily. But I work on making healthy choices and prioritise healthy food in my grocery shopping. The reason I'm not more overweight is because i know it's ultimately my responsibility because I'm the one that puts the food in my house and in my mouth. But it's not easy.

As a population we need to acknowledge the real issue, and then the NHS needs to be funded to tackle it, with proper mental health support, not with short term solutions like injections.

Exactly @Pussycat22

The NHS picks up the tab for obesity related diseases anyway. If prescribing medicines that actually seem to work reduces pressure on the system and saves the NHS money, why not?

I never really get to the bottom of why, on threads about injectables, some posters are so invested in them not working, not being good for all the things that they are proven to be good for, not being great tool to help people become a healthier weight. It's so bizarre!

I'd rather follow what doctors and scientists say than randos on the internet.

As a bit of background, I am a dietician (although now for cancer not obesity) and I have a job based in the ICB (commissioning).

The main reasons for blocks are that a) there is no money, the NHS simply cannot afford it. B) there is limited evidence of long term benefit, so it is excellent for things such as rehabilitation to reduce risk prior to an operation for example, but to invest so much into it for people with obesity or diabetes is still lacking in evidence to be cost effective long term, and im afraid everything comes down to money these days. C) There is also a significant number of risk adverse individuals, conscious that people who are border line can stop eating altogether and then develop other issues, but we do not have the capacity or funding to review these patients.

As an aside note, your experience of tier 3 is not what a tier 3 should be, although the long waits to be seen is sadly a state of the nation right now.

Good luck!

Yes it is. Both mounjaro and wegovy are licenced for weight loss. They were both first designed for diabetics but the side effects of weight loss is the reason they can be used for obesity also.

They help to make diet more achievably effective.

Diets alone statistically don’t work, but then we’re in a crappy situation where those of us who are obese are damned if we don’t try to diet, damned if we do, and double damned if we take a medication that not only helps us but helps other health aspects!

It isn't licensed for weight loss so that's why. Eli Lilly are releasing anew version soon that is licenced just for weight loss

However it's very expensive. All new drugs are so the nhs are likely to still make you jump through hoops.

So you're saying all fat people are doomed to fail long term regardless of what method they use?

The injections are a diet. Diets don't work long term.

Yes it's important to mention the other benefits Mounjaro has apart from weight loss and helping diabetics etc. More findings from America as they have had access to it for longer, but it's helping people with addiction issues, reducing fatty liver, reducing inflammation, helping autoimmune conditions etc. Someone has reported its helped with her fibromyalgia and her thyroid problem hashimoto has been going into remission. The benefits seem to go way beyond just weight loss. It is a miracle drug. People might not want to believe that, but long term, more and more evidence is coming out that it is.

People make judgments about weight far more than they do pretty much anything else.

I almost started a thread about this a while ago because I completely agree. I recently spoke to my GP about it, who wanted to give it to me but of course, couldn't. He had seen it work wonders on family members, he actually told me to go for it privately - aka buy it myself.

I think the NHS need to weigh up (intended pun) the cost of an obese individual vs paying for weightloss jabs, I'll bet my bottom dollar that the latter is much, much cheaper.

I'm fat and my knees hurt, I get sciatica, have gallbladder issues, depression, and I'm pre diabetic. I'm doing something about it by using MJ but I have to pay privately for it, which is OK for me but not everyone can afford this.

Just think of the conditions and illnesses that could be avoided completely, lessened, reversed or made managable, back/hip/knee problems, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease, cancer.

And I've tried traditional dieting, many times in different guises in the past 20+ years, MJ is like a switch turning off a lifelong food obsession and that, frankly, is what most obese people need.

OK that has made my day and I might now hide the thread so I don't have to see what ignorant, hateful bile gets posted by others. Thanks!

Something tells me it won't get through!

@StilettosForMiles thanks for that extremely clear explanation, hopefully it will be of benefit to plenty of people reading this thread.

I really don't know why I'm bothering to come back because people don't want to understand. But I'll try one more time and say:

Choosing to take these injections and accept the risks and the unpleasant side effects that accompany them IS taking responsibility for behaving in a normal and healthy way. Because yet again I'll say - taking these injections ONLY works alongside a healthy diet and calorie deficit. It is not possible for people on these injections to continue with previous unhealthy choices. Doing so while taking them would make you very sick.

Therefore, people on the injections can experience several months eating a healthy diet of small portions - long enough to embed good habits for coming off the injections.

The injections are NOT MAGIC. They are a tool to help people lose weight because losing weight is very hard and becomes much harder once obese because of physiological changes within the body.

Choosing to take medication to improve your health is not a cop-out.

I realise that there are enough people utterly blinded by prejudice and misinformation about obesity who will refuse to understand what I'm saying but I'm hoping maybe some of you will finally get it.