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

Nobody has said they're a magic wand, just that they are better for resolving obesity than anything else currently available. Mounjaro doesn't have a two year limit. Any weight loss strategy will be challenged by illness, pregnancy or major life changes. You are holding WLIs accountable for every problem associated with weight loss. It's not an easy process, and there are no perfect answers. You are, however, in no position to announce that no one can take them for life and that everyone must plan to come off them. People are entitled to make the best decisions for themselves based on the information available. At the moment, it looks like I can take MJ in the long term. If that changes, I'll plan again.

@chipsticksmammy I think peoples’s experiences are very different. I’ve been on it for 18 months, and been on 10mg recently. It works the same as usual for me although my weight loss has inevitably slowed down as my calorie deficit reduces. I think extrapolating any definite statement from any one person’s experience is probably not a reasonable thing to do.

@Eyeshadowpeople who take it for diabetes are usually not prescribed higher doses unless their blood sugar is not stabilising. If they lose excessive weight on the lowest dose they will be taken off Mounjaro. The 2.5mg dose does not produce significant weight loss for the majority according to the research trial data, so staying on that dose for diabetes control is very different to using it for weight loss.

Honestly, I've seen a lot more people who are sceptical of WLI criticising the idea that they can be taken long term. Lots of us who take them see long term use as a substantial positive and are very vocal about our plans!

They may drop in price by then, already there is a grey market for peptides and the demand means it’s only going to be more available and less expensive

Well, the major issue will be is that if the NHS stop the funding of them, as recommended by NICE,, after two years, then it will only be those who can afford them that can take them. 🤷‍♀️

The NICE guidelines are for the NHS use of Wegovy, and represented the situation at the time. Mounjaro is approved for long term use. The NHS and NICE guidelines don’t apply to private prescribers, as they are about NHS cost effectiveness and use of public money.

Of course people were stressed about the Sept 2025 price hike. No one knew what the prices were going to be and the decision to change them came at such short notice that no one ahd time to plan for it. Why is it an issue that this was difficult for some people to manage? As it turns out, the price hike wasn’t as awful as initially suggested, and many people were ok with moving to Wegovy instead. All manageable in tbe longer term.

I wish I could erase the phrases “quick fix” and “magic wand”! I never see anyone using WLI refer to it as that, people know it’s a long term process or if they are ignorant of that then it’s explained to them in the support threads.

There are no barriers to taking them long term if that’s what people want and they can budget for it, which people who are considering it tend to do!

This thread was asking people on wli what they thought, I don’t think there is even one person of the 50 odd million globally on them who doesn’t know if they stop they may regain and thinks the drug is a magic cure that works when you don’t take it.

This is exactly what I said in my first post.

These injections are an amazing tool but they can only help you lose so much.

They’re not going to continually make you lose weight.
That’s why people who take this medication due to diabetes aren’t dying from starvation.

They say staying on the lowest dose possible whilst still losing weight is the best way to help this and then slowly reducing it further once at your goal weight.

Thanks @SilenceInside I have a nutrition coach and PT who have been amazing at helping me hit my calories and I am now lifting heavier than ever before. My cardio fitness is also massively improving.

A lot of it is due to the weight loss and the increase in muscle I have seen. It is still tricky to push yourself hard every day while under eating.

There is only so far you can push it I think. I am noticing a massive loss in supression from the WLIs, I could barely look at food 15 months ago on 2.5mg and now I have feelings of hunger and can happily eat large portions at 15mg.

I am thinking of changing to Wegovy to see if it makes any difference or just settling at 15mg is what I need for supression.

Usually when someone says here that it has to be taken for life they are accused of being jealous, not knowing what they are talking about, « same for any other diet and they don’t come with a warning » etc.

Full transparency, I was looking into WLI for a close family member (long time obese), told them about it, and only later found out about the long term aspect. I shared that with them, not an issue - but I felt that it is quite an important bit of info that is not widely publicised. That’s it.

I don’t think you’re atypical though, I got up to a max of 10mg, lost weight consistently to goal, then slowly tirated down to 5mg, which is my maintenance dose and have been on that maintaining for the last 9 months, the effect was the same at 10 and 5 as the increase in cals to maintenance off set the slight increase in hunger, my weight is very stable and deviates by 2lbs.

i think for some people it just doesn’t work very well,for example i could never have went up to 15mg, id have been very unwell, never mind it wearing off.

tne drugs dont stop working, they still control blood sugar etc as they always did, otherwise they’d not be prescribed for diabetes and shortly cardio vascular. But the psychological impact needs to be taken into account, as factually the drugs work as they always did, but diet fatigue sets in and you see the real impact for you personally,

But as you’re aware, the recommended length of time from the NHS, marketers of the drugs and NICE was 2 years.

Obviously this may change as research develops (especially for MJ) but how are people planning to take these for life if the guidelines turn around and say they’re not suitable to take long term?.

There were multiple posters panicking about not being able to afford or even order MJ because the price shot up.

As PPs have said, you cannot take it if you get an illness or get pregnant etc

These are outside factors too - most weight gain is caused by other factors like stress, emotional eating etc.

So they’re not a quick fix and should be taken over a decent period of time but it’s narrow minded to not even consider the possibility that they may not be able to be taken for life.

A PP admitted she eats whatever she wants now - even naturally slim people need to have some idea of what they’re putting in their bodies.

I am all for the injections but we need to be honest and say they’re are not a magic wand and they’re not going to make all of your weight problems disappear.

@chipsticksmammy part of the reason it is harder to lose weight when near target is that unless you do something very different, it is hard to create a 500 cal daily deficit for sustained weight loss. Graphs of people's weight loss show this same pattern, the rate of weight loss slows over time. Ways to get out of that plateau include increasing exercise, particularly strength exercises to increase muscle mass, if possible.

I've been weight training for years so not so relevent for me but the good news is that, for PREVIOUSLY UNTRAINED individuals, body recomposition whereby fat loss and muscle gain occur simultaneously, is absolutely possible. It sounds counterintuitive as by reducing overall calories your body will tend to enter a catabolic (breakdown) state. High protein, essential fats and veg are the answer.

I use WLI and I am now on the higest dose of Mounjaro. I am not far off my target.

The effect really has worn off now, I dont get the supression I used to and its becoming harder and harder to lose weight. In fact I havent lost any real amount since October.

Yes, there's something of a pattern on WLI threads of people making claims they can't back up, then when they're asked for proof and don't supply it someone will chime in that you can't say anything about WLIs or similar.

People who feel there's too much pushback against criticism or scepticism about WLIs would do well to acknowledge how much dreck there is posted. If I had a sceptical point to make that was grounded in evidence, I wouldn't want to wade through a load of invention and cope first.

And also inaccessible, quite rightly, to most people with lower end obese BMIs.

I was on Mounjaro prior to get pregnant and lost 3 stone . I put in 2.5 pounds back in almost 5 months ( I’m 19 weeks pregnant) so I’m not sure this always happens . This being said I’m not an awful eater , I alway managed to lose weight prior to entering my 40s and used it out of desperation when dieting and exercise where not working as before .

I mean, the thread title directly asks people who are on WLIs what they think. And no one is struggling with balanced opinions; people are pushing back against posters stating opinion as fact eg your assertion that people cannot take WLIs long term and that they must come off them when goal weight is achieved. It's possible that people may not be able to stay on them long term, and it's possible that they will. People can plan to take these for life and adapt their plans if that changes. That's a balanced opinion. Your initial post was not balanced.

@Eyeshadow I genuinely don't think people struggle with balanced opinions. The problem comes when people state their opinions as though they were facts.

There is much to be discussed around obesity and WLI and the paper published in the BMJ on Wednesday is trying to stimulate that discussion. If we all stuck to discussing options and looking at ways to tackle the obesity epidemic and consider how best to deploy WLI in ways that do enable people to have long term success, then it would probably be much more beneficial for all of us! IMHO!

@Peridoteage agree with all your suggestions for a healthier start in life and promoting healthy lifestyles. I'd love to see all those things too. However, at the moment the Government isn't pouring money into WLI, it is pouring billions & billions of pounds every year into tackling the health issues caused by obesity.

There are multiple threads of posters asking about WLI’s and whether they should start taking them.

YOU might know everything there is to know but this thread wasn’t created with just you in mind was it.

@Peridoteage I don't think the govt is pouring money into WLI at the moment. The prescribing on the NHS for weight loss alone is very limited. The vast majority of the millions on WLI are paying for it themselves privately. I totally agree with you about prevention and creating an environment where individuals are less likely to become obese. But you do have an existing adult population who are currently obese and will be experiencing the health consequences of that now and in the near future. So that definitely needs addressing in addition to prevention of future issues.

Surgery offers long term solution, whereas the WLI’s are medically classed as temporary solutions.

I actually think a combination of both are ideal and should be free to those of a certain bmi.

For some people who cannot move around easily due to their weight, surgery can be quite dangerous but if they were offered injections first then they may be able to reduce it enough to make surgery safer.

It’s the equivalent of mansplaining, isn’t it.

Why do you think people don't know this already?? That's what is getting people's backs up. We KNOW. We aren't stupid.