What do we REALLY think about the weight loss jabs?

I so relate to what you describe. I agree that people who don’t have food nagging find it very hard to understand. And I’ve heard many people rubbish it, thst it’s just this new phrase - an excuse a fat person uses to excuse them from personal responsibility. But stories like yours and people I know IRL say this is the magic.

I use them. I have lost 31lbs since the end of April, gone from BMI of 36.6 to 30.6. The endless food noise has gone, the need to finish everything in sight then forage in the cupboards for something vaguely edible just to feel satisfied disappeared overnight.
I so, so badly wish that everyone who wanted/needed could afford to take them and deeply feel for those who just can't explain what food noise is to their loved ones; my fiance could never truly understand it but luckily accepted (when I finally crumbled) what I was telling him as truth. But he sees the difference now - I'm not hiding evidence of food, not nipping into Greggs on the way to work - all the 'good' habits I displayed in front of him were blatantly a lie!
I feel better from the inside out, my skin is healthier, my face is no longer puffy, my libido is back, my confidence is so much better in all aspects of my life.

I feel very lucky that I can afford to fund this, but I do agree it seems too easy to be prescribed - I used Asda in the end primarily because they just wanted photos (not a video) and they provide a maintenence dose if wanted once a healthier BMI is met. But I could have so easily lopped off a couple of inches from my height, added a couple of kilos to my first prescription. Even now I could lie and not put in my new weight for a repeat. That concerns me for those who are already at or close to a healthy weight.

I already lost my gallbladder a couple of years back, well before I started the jabs. But on that - again I know I'm probably fortunate but it has had absolutely no impact on the way I eat/my digestive system (that I can detect!). Hence still being able to eat a Greggs cheese and bacon wrap and a sausage roll before 9am...

I can understand why people take them and I know it can be really, really hard to lose weight if you’re obese. But i don’t like how people who are slightly
overweight are using them, it feels like misuse of a medication if just simply used to drop a dress size or to look a little bit thinner in their wedding photos. Totally understand that with obesity the risks of being so overweight are worse than the jabs, so I get it. But I really don’t like the idea that it reduces appetite and stops people from tuning into something we need to survive. Nor do I like that now there is a “shortcut” to being thin, the body positivity movement has gotten awfully quiet, as if people weren’t genuine or sincere about embracing different body types or loving themselves as they were. I’m a size 14 who works out several times a week, walks the dog a few km a day and eats a relatively balanced diet - I’m healthy but not small, and I worry that people with healthy bodies who aren’t naturally slender are going to feel the pressure to lose weight when they don’t need to just because being skinny is the norm. Or maybe once anyone can be skinny and it isn’t seen as a difficult thing to achieve, perhaps the curvier figures will start to be fashionable again. I don’t know, I’m just thinking all of this as I write!! So no, I’m not a fan for those reasons, but I understand why people take it and know we live in a culture where being skinny is desirable - those messages, now they are hard to ignore! Invent a jab for that!

I don't know much about it at all, I just recounted my experience from work. Oddly I work in a very male dominated industry and 80% of those who have had issues are men 🤷‍♀️

I don't either because I don't know how it works or which company she's using but it is 100% true that she was on the maximum dose for a long period of time and she was worrying about being told she couldn't continue.

I know the reasons why it isn't face to face but it absolutely requires more regulation. Just because something is difficult to put into practice it doesn't mean that a poor alternative that obviously has major flaws is acceptable.

40 years ago people smoked, another way of suppressing appetite

I am not a scientist and I'm not taking the jabs but I know they have helped a lot of people. They have been licensed and gone through all the tests. I am sure that they are as safe as any other medication if they are used properly.
I don't understand your comment about the Covid vaccine it doesn't make any sense.

Yes real people I work with or know from socialising.

I don’t watch or listen to “people chatting shit on the internet” I have a life and don’t have time to be on social media. I also don’t tell lies either or make up stories.

obviously some people do their own research but many don’t!

Likewise.

I’m never advised to increase the dose …. Ever!

I cannot understand how your friend was?

The difficulty here is that what you're suggesting requires more HCPs. And there's already a shortage of them globally. If you want eg people made to come in and weigh face to face so a presumably qualified person can check, those qualified people are going to have to come from somewhere. In a lot of cases that's going to be the NHS, where they're doing things we really need them to do and we won't necessarily be able to replace them.

It takes a lot of capacity to check everything patients claim, which is why we already have substantial reliance on self-reporting within the NHS. Even if one sets aside concerns about accessibility and accepts your contention that face to face is the gold standard, it's very clearly one we aren't able to provide across the board.

Yes, I think face to face would be gold standard. I think it is for any medical issue to be honest, you can pick up on things face to face that you wouldn't spot over the phone.

Ok so maybe 'pushed' isn't the right word. It was obviously encouraged because she went up much faster than my friend did via the NHS and she was able to stay on it way past her target weight. She's spent thousands on this, I'm convinced capitalism plays a part.

What changes have I said I want? None I don’t think. And neither have I criticised any particular group - several times I’ve said we all prefer easier options, and I’ve referred to myself.

I understand why people might take it personally, but I read that as them projecting, not me criticising, because I’m not. I’m giving an opinion. If you want to think I’m secretly making it about you, knock yourself out I guess.

Effective medication is one thing, but as can be seen from the thread and across the board, many people use the medication and then stay on it for potentially ever because they haven’t actually dealt with the underlying issue. I don’t think that’s healthy and it allows the perpetual advertising of UPF, alcohol and the increasing sedentary lives we lead to continue. While
some people can get prescribed or paid for WLIs and resist the effects of those things, others can’t, and the knock on effect isn’t good for anybody. In my opinion.

I cannot see how she was pushed into going onto a higher dose, it just doesn’t work like that online!

That would be more a face to face thing, which you’re advocating for?

lol, considering the safety record of these meds, the huge health benefits, and the fact there is now 7 million people on them and the cost and infrastructure would stop the role out and damage the health of millions then I think that ship has sailed and quite rightly too.

see in person 😂

I’ve lost 3 stone 8lbs in just over 5 months with no injections just old fashioned willpower. I still have the same amount to lose again and will keep going. Lots of people have asked if I am on WLI but for me I didn’t want the expense and also I didn’t want to rely on them. I’ve nothing against them and have lots of slimmer friends than me on them - their choice. If it helps people I don’t see the problem tbh.

I'd love to know how you equate a subcutaneous injection weekly as being the same in effectiveness/immune response/etc as an intramuscular injection given yearly. And that they'd divide up a vaccine into multiple doses when they have no idea how many somebody would take.

I'm not saying it shouldn't be available, I just think these providers need to be forced to take more responsibility.

They need to actually see the people they're prescribing to and have proper conversations about side effects they might be experiencing. People can just lie about their weight and withhold information to get jabs.

It's quite clear that all these companies care about is money, they pushed her into going up to maximum dose because it's a lot more expensive and means more profit for them. They shouldn't have been allowed to do this.

I don't think she even told them about the hospital stays because she wanted to stay on the maximum dose! She went way below her target weight.

She was quite open about not wanting to go down to a lower dose because she was worried about eating again and putting weight back on, someone told her they could get it from a hairdresser they knew if they wouldn't keep her on it! Luckily she knew that wasn't sensible. It's not right and it needs to be stopped.

@Allisnotlost1 I think what is challenging about the “it’s not about individuals” line is that if you are in the target group that would be significantly negatively affect by the changes you want, it’s hard not to see the ways that it would affect you individually. Or take the criticism that you level at a group in our culture personally, as you are in that group. The “it’s not about you” claim seems hollow.

I think GPs prefer the option that means their patients don’t develop serious complications quickly rather than it being the “easy” option. In the same way that I prefer an effective option to remove my obesity rather than trying the same process that has failed repeatedly for my entire life. Effective versus ineffective is not the same as “easy” versus “hard”.

Me too - hands up again, I am envious (sorry)!

Oh God you’ve just described my wish!!!

Right now I am irrationally envious of you assrrggghhh does me no good I cannot afford the damn jabs so unlike you, I often go to bed hungry (when I shouldn’t be).

I was a size 20 or so and have maintained my weight loss well. It’s just so fucking tiresome though never to be free of that nagging voice, always being in calorie watch, never really relaxing around food. I should but I can’t lose any more it’s just too hard and the calories I need to maintain at a lower weight would be unachievable for me. Without the off switch. Which would make it achievable for me as it clearly does for so many.

Me too. I’m a little younger and I gained weight due to peri , very, very high cortisol which led to weight gain, which in turn led to high blood pressure, insulin resistance and sleep apnea, it was impossible for me to get the weight off on my own, i was so unwell, exhausted, and in a vicious circle

now, im down from bmi 32 to 20, dress size 18/16 to an 8, im in the gym 5 days a week, im visibly fit and toned, and importantly all my blood test results now healthy and im off the brutal blood pressure meds as its naturally healthy now.

i have been maintaining for about 18 months on a low dose, and it’s so wonderful to know your clothes always fit you, I don’t go to bed hungry or feeling deprived. I can go out for dinner, socialise, eat what I please, I can easily over ride any feelings of fullness, last week I had a seven course tasting menu with a little too much wine, and I have no issue going back to a healthy diet the next morning, with no thought at all. As my blood sugar is controlled and my insulin response optimal. So no cravings. My weighr is stable and goes up or down 2lbs, I sleep a solid 8 hours a night. The sleep apnea is long gone, and my cortisol is back to healthy levels.

my husband is also staying on a low dose, It’s reduced his alcohol consumption. He typically had a couple of drinks a night to relax, just habit, he doesn’t do that now.he seldom snacks and eats a healthy diet like me. but importantly his family has a history of heart attacks and dementia so he’s staying on for the wider health benefits.

my heath now, compared to 2 and a half years ago is a huge huge improvement and my gp is fully supportive. In fact she recommended them. Although obviously I had to buy privately.

I can’t get my head round all the but but buts, some of it very odd, like being fat doesn’t increase your risk of gallstones or pancreatitis. A wholesale ignoring of the scientific evidence and attacking people for taking rhe meds to get healthy

I don’t know what’s challenging about ‘it’s not about individuals’. Of course people are very often taking GP advice, and that’s another example of this being a system issue. GPs know that most of us prefer easier options, they’ve been dealing with weight/smoking/alcohol related illness for years. As I’ve said, I understand why people make these choices but it’s silly to pretend it’s not an easier option that the difficult, slow and boring process of calorie deficit.

Pressed send too soon. How many overweight but not obese people have a weight related health condition? Not many i’d guess, but interested to see data.

Why are you so rude, do you think it helps your point?

If every case was different, medication wouldn’t work. 🤯

Me too. I'm in my 60s and have spent most of my adult life yo yo dieting. Just knowing I'll never have to go through that again makes me elated, apart from all the health benefits I'm now enjoying.