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Original poster

Ozempic Shortage

133 replies

mummydoris2006 · 27/06/2023 14:20

I have quite a few complex and chronic health conditions and am prescribed Ozempic each month to help with these among any other medications.
Recently Ozempic has become available to buy as a weight loss quick fix which has resulted today in me now not being able to get my prescribed medicine!
There is a national shortage and my nurse is out of alternative options because they've all been exhausted due to the Ozempic surge.
I understand how hard it is to hate your body and to have a lot of weight to lose but surely medical needs should come first?
I am only early 40's but take a cocktail of meds every day that help me function and still be able to work. These are carefully monitored, and through trial and error over the years keep me being able to live my life. Now I have to deal with the consequences to my health because of a new 'fad diet' in effect. Sorry, rant over ...

OP posts:
BlowDryRat · 27/06/2023 16:43

Rather than blaming people for buying something that's available to them, focus on why the supply has been so badly managed. It was obvious to anyone with two braincells that there would be a huge surge in demand once it was approved for weight loss. There are processes in place for managing drug shortages and these should be implemented now. Write to your MP.

Chocolateship · 27/06/2023 16:47

BlowDryRat · 27/06/2023 16:43

Rather than blaming people for buying something that's available to them, focus on why the supply has been so badly managed. It was obvious to anyone with two braincells that there would be a huge surge in demand once it was approved for weight loss. There are processes in place for managing drug shortages and these should be implemented now. Write to your MP.

Thinking about this logically the companies who produce it want to make money, they make more money by having vast amounts of it to satisfy everyone who needs and everyone who wants it over charging more as its supply is scarce; so why haven't they? Almost as if this will have been heavily considered but isn't feasible.

BlowDryRat · 27/06/2023 16:49

Yes, that's when the MHRA steps in to effectively ration shortage drugs until the manufacturer/s can ramp up production to meet the demand. It happens surprisingly often.

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General health
IceCreamQueen86 · 27/06/2023 16:58

Things should settle down once Wegovy becomes available later this year.

AlexTfan · 27/06/2023 19:34

I cannot believe people are using this “magic” potion to get rid of excess weight. Who knows what the effects might be in the future for current users - it’s a scary prospect. Loose skin will, as ever, still be an issue too.

InTheGardenShed · 27/06/2023 20:04

IceCreamQueen86 · 27/06/2023 16:58

Things should settle down once Wegovy becomes available later this year.

I heard it's being delayed , next year at earliest

MeinKraft · 27/06/2023 20:10

Karmakamelion · 27/06/2023 14:43

@mummydoris2006 really where from because when I'm looking there isn't any.

She's not going to tell everyone where to buy it if she's suffering because of a shortage!

Oblomov23 · 27/06/2023 20:25

Dh has his prescribed by diabetic consultant. Ok prescription. No local chemist had been able to get it for last 6 weeks. I'm pissed off about it tbh.

countrygirl99 · 27/06/2023 20:33

DH has been called to see the diabetic nurse on Thursday as they can't source Ozempic. Being on it has made a massive difference to his management and he?has been able to reduce all his other medications including insulin. He's very worried about what will happen now.

flotsomandjetsome · 27/06/2023 20:38

My GP told me today that he may have to find me an alternative and he would check the supply issues...... has this afternoon come back to me saying it will be very hard to get a reasonable supply until mid 2024, so we need to re-think 🤬

countrygirl99 · 27/06/2023 21:02

flotsomandjetsome · 27/06/2023 20:38

My GP told me today that he may have to find me an alternative and he would check the supply issues...... has this afternoon come back to me saying it will be very hard to get a reasonable supply until mid 2024, so we need to re-think 🤬

DH has been told 6 months. He's really worried.

flotsomandjetsome · 27/06/2023 21:11

Wording I had was ...

the DHSC has now released a 'Medicine Supply Notification' - expected to be limited and intermittent supply of these medications until mid 2024.

... It really is a worry

Suckingalemon · 27/06/2023 21:20

Some of the holiday slimmers on the weightloss thread aren't just in it for vanity.

Having been read the riot act by the GP that I'll follow in the family footsteps of diabetes and high blood pressure if I don't shift 3 or 4 stone, I'm on a mission. I'm bringing out the big guns, I'm using Saxenda to help.

I'm not expecting the NHS to fund my diabetes care in 5 years time, I'm willing to pay 50 quid a pen to get back on track. Diabetes will bankrupt the NHS.

I was underweight until the age of 24, there is more to weight control than just willpower.

If this medicine is so critical to a proportion of the population then it should have been more tightly prescribed, don't blame the everyday man trying to sort herself out for the sake of her own health.

AutisticLegoLover · 27/06/2023 21:21

Those on ozempic to lose weight often argue that they will end up with diabetes and on it anyway so best to get it now and prevent diabetes to start with, or something along those lines. Basically an I'm alright Jack attitude. The ozempic threads are eye-opening and now mainly about where to buy it because nowhere has got it or their usual supplier has increased the cost by £50 etc.

kenadams86 · 27/06/2023 21:24

I'm a practice nurse and I've spent most of my afternoon today trying to alter my diabetic patients medications and swapping them off ozempic. It's a nightmare and I feel very frustrated for my patients.

kenadams86 · 27/06/2023 21:26

The guidance we've been given today is that supply is not likely to return to normal until at least mid 2024

Luzina · 27/06/2023 23:11

kenadams86 · 27/06/2023 21:24

I'm a practice nurse and I've spent most of my afternoon today trying to alter my diabetic patients medications and swapping them off ozempic. It's a nightmare and I feel very frustrated for my patients.

is liraglutide hard to source too? I’m wondering why the GP switched me over from that to Ozempic and whether they’ll switch me back? So far I’ve been able to get the Ozempic but wonder if that will change now

NotMyFinestMoment · 27/06/2023 23:19

I put in my repeat prescription request for Ozempic about 10 days ago and it was sent to the chemist within 24 hours. I still haven't got mine and I've now ran completely out of it as of Sunday and I take it for type 2 diabetes. The chemist doesn't think they will be able to get it for at least another week.

kenadams86 · 27/06/2023 23:24

Luzina - according to latest guidance we received today - all GLP1 medications seem to be effected. Including semaglutide, liraglutide and duraglutide.

Original poster
mummydoris2006 · 28/06/2023 10:35

Suckingalemon · 27/06/2023 21:20

Some of the holiday slimmers on the weightloss thread aren't just in it for vanity.

Having been read the riot act by the GP that I'll follow in the family footsteps of diabetes and high blood pressure if I don't shift 3 or 4 stone, I'm on a mission. I'm bringing out the big guns, I'm using Saxenda to help.

I'm not expecting the NHS to fund my diabetes care in 5 years time, I'm willing to pay 50 quid a pen to get back on track. Diabetes will bankrupt the NHS.

I was underweight until the age of 24, there is more to weight control than just willpower.

If this medicine is so critical to a proportion of the population then it should have been more tightly prescribed, don't blame the everyday man trying to sort herself out for the sake of her own health.

If your GP has read you the riot act then that would suggest that there's no medical reason for the weight gain I would think? Obviously I could be wrong, however in 2008 when I approached my GP for help to lose weight I was told if I shifted 7lbs myself to show I was committed I could be put forward for gastric surgery. This was enough of a kick up the arse to change my whole outlook and make me take control of my own weight. There are people out there who are denied drugs for life limiting conditions but I could have gastric surgery on the NHS for something that was my own doing, I was so ashamed.

I'm sorry, but if you're using Saxenda or Ozempic or any of the others for weight loss rather than medical reasons I don't think this can be justified by the line you're saving the NHS money in the long run. What happens when you stop injecting? If your whole thinking and understanding of food hasn't changed then you will go back to eating how you were before. There are many stories of people actually gaining more weight after stopping and weighing more than they weighed before.

What about the long term side effects such as thyroid cancer etc that those of us have to weigh up against the health benefits of us taking the medication? There are awful long term side effects, if heaven forbid someone became ill with a serious condition would that not then cost the NHS money, therefore cancelling out your argument of saving the NHS money in the long run?

OP posts:
InTheGardenShed · 28/06/2023 10:44

I don't think it's any if your business if people take things to aid weight loss

You don't mention the success stories, only the doom and gloom. If people can afford private prescriptions then they will buy what's available

IncessantNameChanger · 28/06/2023 10:51

I think it's clear from the replies your on a hiding to nothing. I think personally it needs to go to the people who who do have diabetes right now not those who might one day. It should have been ringfenced for medical need ( ie those under medical care with a medical professional) first then the surplus sold on. But that's not the world we live in. Hence things like panic buying in the pandemic. Everyone is out for number one

TheMurderousGoose · 28/06/2023 10:56

What happens when you stop injecting? If your whole thinking and understanding of food hasn't changed then you will go back to eating how you were before.

Yes, accounts I've read say it switches off the 'food noise' in their brain which I can see would be life changing if you're used to constantly thinking about food. But surely that also means that most people will need to keep taking it once they've reached goal weight or risk reverting to old eating patterns.

countrygirl99 · 28/06/2023 11:01

InTheGardenShed · 28/06/2023 10:44

I don't think it's any if your business if people take things to aid weight loss

You don't mention the success stories, only the doom and gloom. If people can afford private prescriptions then they will buy what's available

It is when that decision will damage their health. You clearly don't realise how important this drug is to many T2 diabetics. And it isn't only the obese get it. In DHs family it's genetic.

countrygirl99 · 28/06/2023 11:03

TheMurderousGoose · 28/06/2023 10:56

What happens when you stop injecting? If your whole thinking and understanding of food hasn't changed then you will go back to eating how you were before.

Yes, accounts I've read say it switches off the 'food noise' in their brain which I can see would be life changing if you're used to constantly thinking about food. But surely that also means that most people will need to keep taking it once they've reached goal weight or risk reverting to old eating patterns.

Yes it's not a magic bullet. Unless those taking it for weight gain address the cause the weight will go back on.

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