To think I should be allowed weight loss injections?

[Chalk111111]

Firstly, I think it’s a great thing that people are able to use this medication to gain control over their weight, and I think the bar set for getting them on the NHS is ridiculously high and it should be given to anyone who is obese. All those years people spent banging on about how much obesity was pressuring the NHS and then when we’re given a medication to tackle it they don’t make it available!

So I’m not confused about why I can’t get it on the NHS - I shouldn’t be able to - but why can’t I pay for it?

My BMI is 24 and I’d like to shift a stone and a half/two stone. I’ve fluctuated between this weight and a stone lighter for about ten years. I used to be able to shift half a stone at least but this time I’m really struggling.

I keep getting adverts about weight loss injections so I thought I’d have a look. Filled in the questionnaire and it says my BMI isn’t high enough for a prescription? But surely if my starting BMI was, say 35, I’d be allowed to stay on them until my BMI was 21/22, which is what I’d like? So why can’t I pay for them to lose a couple of stone?

Because the reality is, most people who have allowed themselves get morbidly obese are very likely to do it again. Even those who have lost weight through hard work and learnt to control the food noise naturally. Once the magic injections stop, they're at a high risk of regaining

OP: why can't I buy this with my money?

Replies ad infinitum: why should the NHS buy it for you, you greedy caah!

Honestly, when are pharmacy companies producing reading comprehension injections? When they do, I recommend the reading comprehension injections be made mandatory on the NHS!

Because anorexia is an evil disease that kills people. There is no choice over it.

I am healthier than I have been for a long time as I have put weight on and am no longer underweight and having hypos. But the pull of these jabs is hard to resist.

I want to be super skinny again, desperately need to be skinny again inspite of the fact that it will damage me more than I have already been damaged.

I am grateful that I can't legitimately get hold of these drugs, and that I am too scared to try black market ones. I dread to think what it would do to me.....but I still want them.

ETA My BMI is currently 22.7.....yes I do track that closely.

Wow, lots of people being rude to @Chalk111111when it is they who are being deliberately obtuse and ignorant. I get what you are saying OP.

Because weight loss drugs are a finite resource that’s in very high in demand all over the world. Health services treating type 2 diabetes and other serious weight related health conditions in different countries should have priority access, rather than healthy individuals who want to lose a few pounds.

Obesity is a chronic disease. Once you have it it's extremely hard to recover from. Obesity damages the fat cells so that they are stretched and sometimes causes new fat cells to grow, meaning that once you have been obese it's extremely difficult to maintain a healthy weight because the body is trying to regain the weight and your appetite will therefore often lead to weight gain again. This isn't the case with someone like you who is a healthy weight. Therefore it's different for someone who has been obese and is treating obesity with WLI to remain on them once they reach a healthy weight to maintain that weight, rather than someone like you who is not and has not been obese.

Probably because OP has asked a question and doesn’t like the answer so keeps on asking the same thing hoping someone will agree with her and give her the answer she wants. Only so many times people can repeat the same answer before getting annoyed. Don’t ask a question if you are not prepared to accept the answer is the moral of the story.

Reading comprehension - try it.

Shifting a few pounds isn’t the same as losing weight to take risk off your heart, joints and in some cases save your life. I’d guess these are meant to be a last resort thing as opposed to something to just take.

Yeah, there are risks, not insubstantial either. This is going to be a massive issue in the future & as a society we are going to be appalled we allowed it to happen

be thankfully you can't get it.

enjoy the healthy body you have!!

I understand your point.

but honestly, I was carrying a wee but more weight, like you. I was desperate to shift it (well befire all of these injections) then I got ill (unrelated), then had an 'event' that left me disabled overnight and I really regret not just enjoying my healthy body and enjoying my beach holidays as much as I should have because of a few extra pounds! Please try not to care so much & just enjoy life 🤗🌷

I’m not sure why you’re getting such a hard time OP, it’s a perfectly reasonable question. Lots of people appear to have misread your original post. I’d also wondered how it works when someone on WLI reaches a healthy BMI…and what the difference is between that and someone who’s ALREADY a healthy BMI taking it (but paying, obviously.) Seems as if this question has been answered which is good.
I also agree that a BMI of 24, although technically not medically an issue, is still heavier than I’d like to be. It’d put me at a size 14 I reckon. Not sure why anyone would have a huge issue with that opinion, it’s personal preference. It doesn’t mean you’ve got an eating disorder 😂

Isn’t it funny how precious overweight people have become about access to weight loss injections. It’s like the idea that a person of BMI 24 would possibly want to weigh a little less than that is an offence.
Is it because they would then still be skinnier than you?

I don’t think the OP is asking an unreasonable question. Surely someone is allowed to be at the lower end of a normal BMI and if they are prepared to pay for it they should be able to.

I totally get where you are coming from OP, you’re asking why it isn’t permitted to use the weight loss drugs for cosmetic reasons when other cosmetic treatment (liposuction and other surgery) would be permitted and arguably would be more risky from a health perspective.

Clearly there is a difference between ‘need’ and ‘want’ and at the moment only those who need the drug for medical reasons, rather than want it for cosmetic reasons can get it.

I think in time it will be permitted to buy these drugs. I don’t know the answer to your question but I don’t agree with lots of the answers given by others as to safety etc. It may be a supply issue - there may be a desire to reserve the limited supply for those who need it. Or it may be because it’s newish and there are concerns around people with eating disorders accessing it so they put in the cut off.

I think they offer ‘micro dosing’ in other countries which may be what we end up with here in years to come for the cosmetic end of the market for those looking to shed a stone or so.

I think relatively speaking it’s early days for these weight loss injections. Yes they’ve been available for patients with diabetes, - but for weight loss, not so long. I’d tread carefully as the side-effects may become apparent as time lapses. Already there have been reports that these medications which have been heralded as a magic pill, just might not be seen in this light long term.

I hope my caution is misplaced, as this might very well be the best thing on the market for a long time.

It's really not difficult to lose a stone - just do it!

Honestly, you bleating on about how "it's not fair" is not going to change the rules, which are there for a reason.

Definitely!!

I have been helping my close friends daughter clear her property as she sadly died and have got to know her daughter and some of her friends / their parents (friends DD and friends in their 30’s, their parents in their 60’s) and so many of them are on weight loss injections. Friends DD looks completely different to what she looked like in Jan this year when I met her. One of her friends who is on it is a size 10. You can get them pretty easily it seems.

I am not even overweight but I bet if I asked her, she could put me in touch with someone who would sell them to me. I was quite shocked as I thought it was hard to get, but like anything, you just need to know the right people! I’d avoid it like the plaque as I have a pancreas disease and one of the side effects can be acute pancreatitis, and trust me, no-one wants that level of pain / life long problems.

Also I am the same BMI as you OP and I do look better at least a stone lighter. I can lose half a stone fairly easily though once in the zone. Don’t take risks with this medication. Gallstones caused my pancreas disease and living in lifelong pain and on a ton of really strong painkillers 24-7 is not recommended. Set yourself some small goals and you’ll lose it.

Its a dangerous product.

Its only good to take when you're so overweight that not taking it would be even unhealthier

I don’t know the answer to your question but high there is an expectation that people will regain the weight when they stop taking the drugs, there has to be a ‘maintenance’ strategy for people who have lost weight. I suspect that’s fact you are unlikely to become morbidly obese any time soon means that the risks / rewards are not deemed sufficient for you.

I assume it’s subsidised, you’re not actually paying for the medicine cost. So there’s no benefit to the nhs as you’re not obese and the govt shouldn’t be subsidising the medication?

This is ridiculous and absolute nonsense. It is much easier for an overweight person to lose a stone than it is for someone of the OPs weight.

I have been a healthy weight my whole life. Years of IVF have resulted in me carrying about 5kgs more than I’d like. I do all the right things like I’ve done my whole life to manage my weight and keep me healthy. I watch what I eat, I exercise 3 to 4 days a week mixing in strength and cardio, I sleep 8 hours a day… you know… all those hard things. But I cannot shift the last 5kgs. If I lose 5 kgs I am happier, my clothes fit me and it’s just where I am most ‘me’.
i stand no risk of an ED.

I should 100% be allowed access to a weight loss injection to help me if I’m prepared to pay for it.

This just isn't true.

Hi OP,

I think your question is a really good one, and I can see why you’d ask it.

Ive been on Mounjaro for about 9 months,
pay privately, and have gone from a BMI of 39 to 28. Still a way to go but it’s been a miracle drug for me.

The drug is designed to treat disease. In this case - obesity. Even when I get to a ‘normal’ BMI, I will still have all the internal elements that cause obesity, such as insulin resistance - hence why I will stay on Mounjaro for the very long term, whatever BMI I get to. The medication is treating the issue but it’s not curing it - hence I will always need some level or version of it.

As you are on a stone or so overweight, despite that being frustrating and a problem for you, it isn’t chronic or as a result of an internal disorder, hence the likelihood is that a drug for disease could either do more harm than good, long term, or at the very least, be a sledgehammer to crack a nut

i do get it though. And weight loss meds are evolving all the time - I hope there are more options available for all sorts of weight issues in the very near future.