If you are on weight loss injections, what do you make of this article?

Yep!

And I just don't see how people getting the drug illicitly and longer term weight gain for those who went through the proper channels then stopped are linked. But at least one poster seemed to be doing that.

Again, it seems to me that people have entirely different expectations for this than other drugs, essentially because they disagree with it. I am far less 'monitored' for other drugs I take than I was for Mounjaro. For Sertraline I have one check with the Nurse Prescriber a year, and it would seem that my GP practice have moved to this check being an online questionnaire. Like you, I'm not sure what supervision people want (though I think it might involve people being regularly lectured on how they should just have more willpower rather than taking this nasty drug) but I don't think it aligns with what's normal for other medication.

If they do mean people buying it off TikTok then it's the wrong term - that's not 'unsupervised' use, it's 'illegal'. You can buy plenty of prescription medication as street drugs and while more could be done to tackle that it doesn't tell us anything about their use in people being legitimately prescribed them.

And here’s another one debunked courtesy of nondata1985:

Yes, people often regain weight after stopping Mounjaro - that’s in the data. But the idea they usually end up heavier than they started just isn’t true. In trials, people who stopped regained around half to two-thirds of what they lost, and most were still below baseline a year later.

Yep, but apparently adults making bad decisions by outright lying which ultimately could have consequences is somebody else's problem now. There is too little individual accountability left in this country!

If you use remote telemedicine honestly and the HCP follows their PGD then the risk vs benefit equation based on evidenced based practice is in favour of having WLI.

If other people want to lie to obtain it then they are adults and it is not my problem and should not affect my accessibility to mounjaro or the cost of it (remote prescribing is what is keeping the cost down).

You are completely correct but the difference with the injections is that they reduce (sometimes completely stop) the food noise and hunger pangs.

When you diet with other methods, you still get these but you have to be much better at consciously controlling them.

That is why diets that are too restrictive never work in the long term and we’re told to lose weight slowly.

Traditional diets are much harder to lose weight and how easy it is to maintain it, depends on how restrictive it was.

The injections make it much easier to lose weight in the short term but much harder to maintain it than traditional methods.

@Tessasanderson Yes, I will keep taking the medication if I need to. Please don't worry about the cost to me, I can easily afford it and am capable of planning to manage my finances and those of my family, to take into account unexpected life changes and cope.

I am glad that I am not doing anything wrong. I never thought that I was.

My point about my future weight is that thanks to these types of medications, I do not have to inevitably regain all the weight I have lost. There are now a variety of effective tools to manage it, if it turns out, as many people think, that I cannot maintain the weight lost on my own. So, the option is always there to restart medication, or continue to take it. A return to a BMI of 50 is now avoidable.

I'm not lying. I could cut and paste but I'm not petty.

What counts as “unsupervised” use? Given that you cannot legitimately obtain WLI unless from a pharmacist or GP who do perform some checks for each prescription - is that not enough supervision? If not, what do posters imagine would be acceptable level of supervision?

I acknowledge that people buying so-called WLI from TikTok etc is a problem, and that’s what I would call “unsupervised” use, but curious about what other people mean when they use that term.

You won’t go into the reasons because you don’t have any.

I have done a lot of research into obesity and these injections. I also have a related degree and so understand the science behind it.

Why is stating the facts patronising or stupid?

Why is it people like you cannot cope with hearing anything negative about WLI’s?
Do you think if you bury your head in the sand it will make it not true?

I struggled my entire life with weight issues and I will always give other women advice on what I know or what worked for me because there is so much misinformation out there.

You are not helping other people by refusing to acknowledge the negatives.

So, in your opinion, what are the negatives vs positives of WLIs?

I’ve not been on WLI but I have at times in my life lost weight by other means (lost 3.5 stone with slimming world a few years ago). And put a fair chunk of it back on after I got to target and eased up. So really it’s no different to other weight loss methods. I don’t think because you might put it back on means you shouldn’t bother to try. That’s like saying lots of people relapse with smoking or drinking so really they shouldn’t bother trying to stop. For some people it will stick, for others they might need it long term, and some others may be on and off it but it trying to improve your health will always be better than doing nothing.

So you are still taking the drugs to maintain or improve your weight loss.

Respectfully, how can you even comment on what your weight will be in the future. The only guarantee to maintain the weight is to keep taking the drugs which you hint at yourself.

Thats not saying you are doing anything wrong but surely the need to use the drugs to achieve weight loss means that to maintain or reduce weight gain in the future means you are going to need to continue taking these expensive drugs.

Completely agree! I’m massively struggling with the food noise again. I’ve lost 5.5st and have overhauled my entire wardrobe and lifestyle (gym etc) . But I feel a massive failure as I can’t shake the urge to eat massive portions again! It’s incredibly hard to manage without being on a maintenance dose!

I'm not sure why you think you can speak with such authority on this, or how you can decide that injections are not a lifelong option. There are new GLP1s in development; we've had semaglutide and then tirzepatide, there is another coming down the line and of course pharmaceutical companies are pouring in resources to keep pushing the limits of what these drugs can do - so you really can't say with any confidence that people will reach a ceiling on them.

Obesity is a physical problem in the body; psychological intervention may or may not help but I can assure you that there is no magic bullet in 'figuring out why you overeat' any more than depressed people can just 'figure out why they're sad' and be cured. Yes, therapy and non-pharmaceutical interventions can absolutely help with weight management like they can with mental health problems too, but it's not an all-encompassing cure-all for all sufferers. Medication, sometimes lifelong, plays an extremely important role.

@Tessasanderson I have been on Mounjaro for 18 months. I will be on it for a while longer before I get to my initial target weight. Then I will continue to take the medication as I work through managing maintenance and what my long term approach will be. I might continue taking a lower dose, or I might gradually move off it. Whatever works for me.

I will most certainly come back and tell you my BMI in 5 years. It might not be 25, but it certainly won't be 35, 40 or 50 ever again.

Don’t tell lies. I haven’t “attacked” anyone, ever.

@EyeshadowYes, people often regain weight after stopping Mounjaro - that’s in the data. But the idea they usually end up heavier than they started just isn’t true. In trials, people who stopped regained around half to two-thirds of what they lost, and most were still below baseline a year later.

The rebound isn’t because appetite comes back “100x worse”, it’s because the drug’s hormonal effects stop and the body defends its previous weight. That’s biology, not lack of insight or psychology suddenly taking over.

People also aren’t typically gaining weight while still on the injections - continued use leads to maintenance or further loss on average. Plateaus are expected.

Agree obesity is complex and these drugs aren’t magic. Disagree that everyone should plan to come off. For many, obesity is a chronic condition and long-term treatment is entirely reasonable - just like BP or asthma meds.

Amazing drugs, real limits - but the evidence is more nuanced than you’re suggesting.

I just wondered where the evidence was for much of it.

For me, it was figuring out why I overeat.

I was deprived of food as a child and basically had to steal food from shops or eat out of bins.

So psychologically, my natural instinct to eat to survive was in overdrive and so I would overeat.

Of course that led to feelings of guilt and greed and becoming overweight - so I unconsciously associated food with guilt and shame but at the same time the need to overeat.

So I spent years yo-yo dieting - restricting myself and then binging, feeling guilty about the binge and restricted myself again - which I’m sure many overweight people can relate with.

Overeating is the most difficult things to overcome because we need food to survive.
When you give up Smoking, drugs, alcohol etc you give them up completely but you can’t do that with food and so it becomes more of a psychological issue than a physical one.

I have said it before but I think these injections should be free on the NHS for many people but should also come with therapy and a dietician etc else people are just throwing their money away and are risk of ending up twice the size.

Yep, gained it all back after stopping (although I did have cancer - which annoyed me as I thought I’d lose loads of weight 😂)

I previously lost 5st on sw which was a long hard graft including a marriage breakdown.

I saw the jabs when they first came out and used them to lose 3st quite quickly but I now know the best way for me is healthy eating and exercise.

The research is that weight gain is likely once you stop, full stop. There isn't any evidence that there exists a form of support that will prevent formerly obese people from regaining weight, whether they did it through WLI then stopped or used traditional methods.

I understand why people find the idea of support comforting, but it does lead them to make a lot of assumptions.

I'm not going to listen to you because you attack everyone on every thread on this subject who doesn't agree that WLI are the most marvellous invention since the wheel.

why do you assume people taking WLI aren't able to see the bigger picture here that you see? do you assume fat = stupid? why assume people aren't addressing the bigger issues and looking at what they can do long term ie. figuring out why we overeat and how we might eat normally?

Are you still taking the drugs?
How long are you down the line?

I didnt say they didnt improve your weight problems. I didnt say they werent going to improve situations. BUT if you are still taking the drugs after losing the weight or you are only in a year or so of losing the weight then my point stands. Come back in 5 years time off the drugs and tell me if you are still at 25 BMI.