Why are many severely overweight people not using GLP-1 treatments?

[Donteatmychips]

Just a pondering when I was on a day out yesterday. I know of course that there is an economic cost to GLP1s, but is there really really any excuse to such widespread obesity these days? I was walking around a seaside town and a National Trust property, and I would say a good half of those around were still large. I understand they are not that easily prescribed on the NHS, but I believe you can shop around and find deals from various online pharmacies. Is it just more that people don’t want to?

For full disclosure, I am on a GLP1 that I acquired elsewhere by walking into a pharmacy and just asking for it. Yes, it cost a lot of money and I know I am lucky to be in a position to have done that. I fought being on one for a long time and it’s not a magic bullet, but it does help and I’m grateful for that.

I know that modern versions of obesity are skewed, but I am talking really about people maybe 250lbs or over now, not just a stone to lose.

I could probably afford them and have weight to lose but I worked with someone who used them. Seeing how much it upset her stomach put me right off them - diarrhoea, vomiting, headaches.

No thanks.

Obviously not. But with the price of food nowadays people are eating whatever they can afford.
I know two people who used fat jabs who then lost weight, couldn’t afford the jabs anymore (but were satisfied with the weight loss), said they’d maintain it, and gained it back pretty quickly.
It seems that you’d have to be able to afford these long term, which is unsustainable for most.

my point was more around the cost and sticking chemicals in your body

That's an incredibly nasty and rather idiotic thing to say.

It is far easier (both in terms of prep and time) and cheaper to maintain a bad diet than it is a good one. Pack of cookies? 50p. Pack of raspberries? £3.

Burgers? 4 x £4

Chicken Breast? £8 for 4.

Healthy eating is a privilege not many can afford.

From talking to some of my friends who'd tried them - the side effects are pretty horrible. Two of my friends said they didn't just lose their appetite but felt sick all the time. They both used them for short-term weight loss which they're now trying to keep off with diet and exercise. Another friend has been prescribed them but doesn't take them because she enjoys eating more than she cares about being overweight, and she says they completely kill any appetite.

I tried Mounjaro but had to stop after 12 weeks as I had awful diarrhea for two days every week that stopped me leaving the house. I kept going for that long in the hope that I’d get used to the drug.

However, I lost 4 stone over 7 months and ironically I lost more when not using Mounjaro by intermittent fasting and calorie counting!

So this type of medication is not for everyone.

Yes, it cost a lot of money and I know I am lucky to be in a position to have done that.

You’ve even said it yourself. You’re lucky enough to be in a position to do this, Is it difficult to understand that not everyone is? I would love to try the injections but simply can’t afford it.

Thought: is being a judgemental person of mean character a greater sin than existing as a person with a body fat percentage higher than 30? Or is it only a sin if you let out your judgemental and mean thoughts like the OP?

Where does the poster stand on women like me with lipoedema? That's the fat disorder suffered by 10+ of women. The fat doesn't diet off. Are we exempt from your mean thoughts? Or is there a special section of your mind reserved for the disabled and other unfortunates? Or are we so disgusting we should stay in the house?

It’s priorities in the end I guess. They are expensive but otherwise increasingly not hard to get. I have been surprised recently to find some people on low incomes, not working and on benefits taking them via private providers. The people concerned told me that it was such a priority for them that they would forgo holidays etc to be able to afford them.

You’re hilarious. Even a full trolley of UPFs is cheaper than mounjaro 🤣

But your post is gross. You’re painting a picture of some slob sitting there ‘stuffing their face’. Everyone with an inch of critical thinking knows that weight is complex on so many different levels, including socio economical, medical and psychological factors to name a few.

Half the people walking around were 17-18 stone? Really op?

Even if they were, and even if every overweight person was on a GLP1, it would take time for that to happen and to then lose a significant amount of weight. It wouldn’t happen overnight would it? Plus how do you know who you see out in public is / isn’t on GLP1’s? Maybe someone has only recently started, or is struggling with side effects, or they’ve already lost weight and still have more to lose?

Even if GLP1’s didn’t cost what they do privately, or there was no link between poverty and being overweight, there are the well publicised side effects that I’m sure would put a lot of people off trying them. I keep seeing stories on social media of increasing law suits in the USA against the drug companies, so that would probably put a lot of people off too. They’re still relatively new, but access and popularity blew up very quickly.

Just on the cost issue, in case it’s helpful to anyone, the cost can be under £200 if you split doses and I save more than the cost of my mj on my food bill.

But yes, pretty goady OP.

I don't think any of us really has any conception of eating exactly what we 'need' - even people who have super-healthy diets. Back in the day, loads of our ancestors would have starved if we had a harsh winter. The concept of three square meals a day is relatively recent. We ALL eat more than they used to do (unless said ancestors were very rich, in which case many of them would also have been fat).

How do you know they aren’t? Or that they have just started?

What a judgy post.

i am overweight and on WLI and have been since it was only Ozempic (so prob a couple of years). Maximum dose of Mounjaro.

Total weight loss -NIL

I think that’s what the companies are doing!

I keep getting targeted by ads saying they have “medical weight loss plans for those with BMI 25+” to paraphrase . I can’t remember the exact wording but it’s hinting at it being GLP drugs. I used to get similar ads that said for those with BMI 30+

Some people prefer not to medicate if they can.

They're horrifically expensive.

Side effects and contraindications.

All perfectly valid reasons not to use them.

Big pharma are very clever.
Introduce a medication for off label use that people will probably need to be on for the rest of their lives.
I find it very concerning that people with a low or normal bmi are easily obtaining and abusing these medications.
There seems to be very little regulation.
The known side effects can be horrendous - thyroid cancer, pancreatic cancer, pancreatitis, gall stones (although GS can be from just losing lots of weight tbf)...
Who knows what the as yet unknown effects are.
It's an interesting thing that those former obese and morbidly obese people using WLIs and who are now a normal bmi are so judgemental to those who were like themselves not so long ago 🤷‍♀️
I'm now obese (thanks menopause!) and could afford WLIs but I'm simply not willing to take the risks - I have too many people depending on me.

I mean, by this rationale I could equally ask you why you dont just eat less and spend the money you're spending on WLI on a gym membership and a personal trainer or a nutritionist

Love the idea that you use the injections and you magically become sylph like though.

If people want to eat healthy they can, Its a choice to buy junk food.

You are comparing one of the cheapest biscuits to one of the most expensive berry fruit to buy.

Have an apple instead of a cookie or an orange. 69p for a bag of mini apples in aldi.

Tesco – Suntrail Farms Price Oranges (minimum 5 pack)
Price: £0.99

ALDI – Ashfields British Reduced Fat Beef Quarter Pounders (5% fat, 4 pack)
Price: £3.99

Veg was down to as little as 4p around easter. Buy it, chop it up and freeze it.

Everyone can afford to eat healthy if they really want to.

Clearly money is a significant factor. To afford WLI I would need to give up going to the gym , and I think that’s more beneficial for me.

As well as side effects, I’m sure I’d regain the weight once I stopped the injections- I need to make reducing my food intake a conscious decision and habit.

It's not a matter of over-eating for a lot of people, it's about not having the right nutrition in their body because of costs. Snacking on a cookie instead of an apple because it's cheaper.

That's likely because ozempic is limited to 1mg which is a very low dose for weightloss. If he was allowed to go up to 2.4mg or even 7mg which is the new limit for wegovy he would probably find it started working again.

I was wondering the same, but asking this question is almost always met with poison.
Anyway, none of my business, really, appreciate learning the reasons people have.

this from me too. OP, you do know that fat people have agency too don't you?