Is it the begining of the end for Weight loss injections?

I wish my 50 year old friend with poorly controlled type II diabetes had accessed this medication. Perhaps they would still be alive to see their children grow up.

I was so happy to see those two women on the BBC, both had been so disabled by their weight and on a path to very premature death. They looked so much healthier. All this faux concern about long term effects when these people didn’t have a long term future. Plus the medication has been around for years, the side effects are well documented.

I was a “fatty” at 25 stones. I have arthritis and 2 other auto immune conditions, all stopped me being mobile. I started Mounjaro last November (2025), I pay for it privately. I have lost 10.5 stones, I’m still obese, but I’ve dropped 6 dress sizes. I now move a bit more easily, I can stand for a lot longer. I have had to decrease my dose recently as the higher doses gave me sulphur burps and vomiting, but in careful consultation with my prescriber we have decreased the dose and I am tolerating it much better.

Without WLI I would still be that almost housebound woman. I have changed my eating habits and for the first time in a very long time I feel in control.

I have increased my life expectancy, am much healthier and although one of my auto immune conditions has got much worse, everything else has improved. I have 4 stones left to reach my goal and I will have a consultation with my prescriber to look at what my next steps will be.

I have made sacrifices to be able to afford it. We are not wealthy but it has been worth every single penny.

In what way 'beginning of the end'?

We're only at the very start of the NHS prescribing it for anything and most areas they're not prescribing it for weight loss yet. We're at the beginning of the beginning as far as proper medical use, for the thing it was intended to treat!

We may be about to see a reduction in companies selling privately, but probably not.

Yea, your far better not stuffing your face to start with. Lot of angry overweight mums on here isn't there?

It's cos they care. They care so much. Obviously not about the risks of obesity or the stats around other weight loss methods but their hearts ache for us on weight loss injections and the risks we take. Obviously people abusing countless other drugs aren't a reason to restrict them but weight loss injections induce a special type of caring. They're the most dangerous, risky, abused drug ever and the regulators signed them off at a drunken party or something.

I mean the likes of the Daily Mail have pretty much constant articles about WLI, both positive and negative to the extremes, and that hasn’t spelt the end for WLI. One BBC report is unlikely to make any difference to anything.

People seem to love spending a bit of mental energy worrying about these medications. I guess it’s a useful distraction technique for some.

GLP 1s are indicated as an adjunct to lifestyle intervention and exercise - you're supposed to do both while taking them and they certainly don't take away your ability to do exercise. Have a read of Wilding et al. (2021) which describes the STEP 1 trial of semaglutide.

This doesn't make sense. People have already expressed those exact concerns a million times so one more person saying it certainly does not spell the end for weight loss injections

Oh OP, surely you’ve realised by now that you cannot post ANYTHING that’s remotely critical of WLI on MN? No matter that the news report you mention actually raises a valid point about the lack of data regarding the impact on muscle, when anecdotally users have reported disappearing buttocks and sagging biceps as a loss of muscle issue caused by the rapid weight loss that WLI that can trigger. But no, you are not allowed to express any critical thinking about WLI whatsoever and any suggestion that there might be long term issues that haven’t presented yet is just not allowed. Tut tut!

Given the amount of posts I've seen from people with low BMIs asking how they can trick the system to let them get it anyway, I totally believe that there will be ongoing problems because they are being massively misused.
As an alternative to bariatric surgery for people who are dangerously overweight then I imagine the gains out weight the potential unknown harm. But many people who aren't even close to that position are taking them without a second thought to long term consequences.

This is correct.
I recently completed a weight loss program where it was stressed that toning is essential for this reason.
I also am taking WLI with the understanding that I either change my relationship with food and learn how to fuel my body to optimise my health or I stay on WLI forever. Nothing changes unless I actually put in the work.
The benefits of WLI outweigh the risks for most obese individuals but there are many who cannot get past the mindset that it's 'cheating' 🤷‍♀️

Exactly this

The data is the same with any diet.
Obesity is complex, there’s still much to be learned. Using WLIs as a tool to reverse/prevent other life threatening illnesses comorbid to obesity is a game changer for so many people.

As an aside any treatment and research into obesity and truly fixing the root causes (of which there are likely to be many) could really take off if people would just let go of the horrible attitude that fat people are stupid and don’t deserve effective treatment.

It may stop the solely cosmetic crew but those of us with serious weight issues will still look at the possible pros v the possible cons.
I am intending on going on it. I am morbidly obese and can't keep going like this or I will end up with serious health issues and mobility issues. (No current health problems mean I don't qualify on NHS)

No I don't need educating like many people think.
Fat people are not fat cause they are uneducated.

It is quite amazing how many people are suddenly so, so concerned about people getting too skinny, loss of muscle mass and all that. You never hear that when someone loses weight by other means - and it's the calorie deficit that can cause muscle loss, whether it's with or without GLP. Nobody asked about my muscles when I was doing WW, 800 kcal diets, fasting, meal replacements or all the other million ways to lose weight.

They’re a medical marvel. I suspect, one they become generic (cheap) most of the population will be on them. The cost saving to the NHS is going to be huge.

Exactly. All the people I know who are on it are gym bunnies now they have the confidence to get out there, exercising and running, doing weights and loving it.

Go look at the data for ANY diet. WW, slimming world, keto, 5:2, whatever. The only way to keep the weight off is to retrain the body and mind and WLI help to do that. None of the "proper" methods of losing weight are immune from the same issue. The idea that WLI are cheating, that you can jab and then go eat pizza and lose weight is bollocks. Just as with all the other methods, you have to build good habits and then stick to them. If some people fail at that that is not the meds' fault. For many people, what it has done is improve lots of other health conditions and their confidence so they CAn join a gym, start running or whatever.

If they only needed to lose a stone or two, how were they getting their hands on the injections? I know a few people on them and they had to provide evidence of their BMI before a prescription was issued.

My SIL has lost between 3 and 4 stones and her back and knee pain are practically gone. She doesn’t need to use her inhaler as often, which is excellent. So, yeah she looks absolutely beautiful but she is also much much healthier.

@Lolare why is it a choice between committing to lifestyle changes or taking WLI? For most people on WLI it’s both, and the taking of the WLI enables the long term lifestyle changes.

They probably change the bedpans.

But they have …

Yeah but you said it was an over the counter medication which it is not. OTC meds has a specific meaning in health care. Nobody forced you to do it.

In modern health care, lots of medicines are prescribed remotely, including on the NHS.

Remote WLI prescribers cannot just set up shop on a whim. WLI have gone through a lengthy assessment to be approved for prescribing in this way. Prescribers are regulated professionals with a lot to lose if they don’t follow specific standards.

If someone wants to get it online from India, or Temu or whatever then hell mend them as my mother said.

People eat less in them. I have a close friend and she forces herself to eat. Shes been a size 20 since her first child

Pretty sure @BeginingoftheendforWLI didn’t understand the news report - the concern is about people buying WLIs on the black market, from salons and such, not legally from drs and pharmacies.
It’s such a non story, of course Drs are worried about people taking drugs that aren’t prescribed for them (and possibly aren’t what they think they are!)