To be annoyed at the lack of treatment for diabetes as everyone is snapping it up for weight loss?

[lucie82]

Just as the title says really. Myself and other diabetics are having our meds chopped and changed because the pharmacy can't get hold of them. It would seem that they can't get hold of them as people are buying them for weight loss!
Why is everything all about an easy fix with weight loss? If you're taking "weight loss drugs" and not changing your diet and life style then surely once you stop taking them you will put the weight back on?

The issue isn’t the fact that obesity - a chronic illness with potential severe impacts on the health of those affected, one of them may be type II diabetes! - is also getting treatment.

The issue is insufficient manufacturing and the allocation of medication.

where I’m at there are two different quotas.
The quota for ozempic / other diabetic medication is independent of the quota for wegovy or Saxenda, which means that amount of mediations required is calculated separately.

To get a weight loss prescription you have to be in treatment at a nationally recognised facility for obesity and endocrinology, seeing as “regular” doctors can’t prescribe it.
which means that it’s very rare that somebody with obesity could snag medication allocated to those with diabetes.

but for some reason(!!!) obese patients were still subjected to national handwringing and outrage about “taking away diabetes medications”.

Explaining that wegovy isn’t even authorised for the treatment of diabetes and would need to be prescribed off-label and lid out of pocket by diabetics somehow didn’t help!

I am on Wegovy for weight loss and it is working. The drug I take is not licensed for treating diabetes.

I pay approximately £200 per month for it. I am not wealthy. I go without other things to afford it - namely all the takeaways, bottles of wine, bags of crisps etc that would add up over the month… and led to my being fat in the first place.

I’m sorry that you have had a bad experience with a “friend” who takes Ozempic, doesn’t eat sensibly and still loses weight.

If it is any consolation, the side effects are hard going (especially if you’re following a poor diet) and she probably feels very ill much of the time. With such a poor diet, she is probably vomiting an awful lot and suffering from gall bladder pain also. She probably isn’t telling you this side of things because she knows you don’t like her and aren’t really her friend.

I know a woman with a lifestyle I find disagreeable. In short, she commits benefit fraud. I distance myself from her and I try not to let her behaviours cloud my judgement of all other people that need benefits.
I also know of a woman (through gossip) who supplies her teenage children with vapes. I do not let this shape my opinion of all people that vape.

I have a prescription for migraine medication that I have not been able to fill since January. The medicine has no other uses but is still in short supply.

Thanks for this. Where are they both made? Do we have to import them?

Ozempic and wegovy are both made by novo nordisk who are a Scandinavian company but I think they are opening production in other countries to keep up with demand

Yes, just checked, Denmark, so in EU. So other factors for the shortage are probably linked to cost, with low Sterling values, and import issues.

Shall I hazard the 'B' word?

It really isn’t more complicated than eating less. Everything else aside, output needs to be more than input to maintain a healthy weight.

We live in a society now where even eating too much is seen as an illness. The responsibility is always placed on something else and medicalises it, creating (imo) a bigger problem. If it’s an illness then why are some obese people more than happy with their lives and they just admit they love the taste of food? I love nice tasting food, most people do.

I can’t be done with this mindset because where does it end? Surely every action we take could be attributed to a psychological issue? We all need to take responsibility for our own health and well being.

I've been taking one of these injections. I did research and have never seen any issues anywhere regarding supply for diabetes for what i was taking, not when I was researching anyway. Really it is the suppliers you have issue with, not the people taking it. Both obesity from disordered eating and diabetes are chronic illnesses, so both should be treated if there is a good medication that can do this. I was just in the obese BMI range and have struggled to lose weight with exercise and was constantly hungry on diets. For me this was a prevention method for poorer health in years to come, which is really what we should be aiming for if we want a healthy nation and a functioning NHS.

If people are trying to be healthier and are funding it themselves it is a good thing and better for the UK financially in the long run.

The producers and suppliers should prioritise diabetes over weightloss of course, but I don't think it is fair to blame people buying the drugs for weightloss - it is cheaper and less invasive than a gastric band! We should be asking why an adequate supply is not being produced and whether there is a profit incentive involved and if these supply issues are manufactured.

There have been lots of shortages of other, unrelated drugs too. So many other factors contribute to this - Brexit red tape, cost, etc. If an online pharmacist can get it easily for weight loss, then why can't prescribers for diabetes access it easily? There is clearly something more to this than fat people hogging all of the drugs. It is probably something more bureaucratic than anything.

It isn't as simple as just eating less. I was told by my doctor, at the time I'd been through some severe stress and put on weight as a result, that I probably wouldn't be able to lose it no matter how much I tried due to cortisol production. In the same visit she refused to do blood tests for me because she said they'd be whack.

My child put on weight due to taking steroids for a few months.

There are real medical conditions that cause people to gain weight.

@DracoDormiensNumquamTittilandum
No problem

I have a type1 diabetic parent and have joked should have shares in the company by now the amount they'd get from them!

I’ve been to 4 pharmacies this week multiple times to get a non-diabetic prescription. The first pharmacy has told me 3 months in a row they are unable to fulfil my prescription. Fortunately I’ve been able to source it elsewhere.

there’s a lot of shortage for everything.

I realise type two diabetes is a complex diagnosis and isn’t necessarily related to weight. But as someone who is obese - Type 2 diabetes won’t just bloom in 24 hours. It’s something I’m already walking towards, I’m half way down the path.

Id love to make sure my absence of Ozempic means that it goes directly into a diabetic, but the truth is I can never know. Do I value somebody else’s life who may have less need for it than me?

I have to pick my battles. I’ll continue to vocally support an NHS that’s well funded and able to get the staff and supplies it needs. I’ll agree that all diabetics are in need of this medication to control blood sugars, above obese people who would benefit but not to the same degree. I’ll advocate for better regulation over private prescriptions and private weight loss clinics.

But I won’t for a moment think that my personal choice in medication will affect national supply. The ship has sailed, I’m sorry. Direct your anger not at desperate people making choices - but at the structural cause.

Yep, haven't been able to get mine for 6 weeks. My blood sugars are high again and there is very little I can do about it

I don’t mind talking about weight gain and the struggle to lose weight to people who don’t understand it and want to.

But so many people on this thread without much issue are happy harping on about how they take personal responsibility.

wouldn’t you rather learn the issues than continue to be wilfully ignorant and preachy? - this is not directed at OP who I appreciate is upset and frustrated. Totally understandable.

My eldest DS has been having real difficulties accessing ozempic to help control his diabetes. He is insulin resistant with multiple health needs and has to monitor his blood sugars five times a day. On ozempic his blood sugars stay in single figures without his blood sugar spikes through the roof and his blood sugar monitor alerts his GP and diabetic team. TBH it does not matter how careful he is with his diet or what the hospital team try it’s the only drug that has helped him stay stable. he is still recovering from trying the tablet form as that set off ketoacidosis and hyped his blood sugar to scary levels. If it had not been for the speedy reaction of his GP he could have died. He now has to monitor for ketones on top and head to A&E at the first signs of trouble.

TBH I think it is a group of drugs that should be for diabetics before those wanting to use it to lose weight

Ozempic is not used for weightloss anymore.

@triballeader I think the manufacturers may be having trouble manufacturing the drugs quick enough. Ozempic is just for diabetes and isn't taken by people using for weight loss. So the shortage isn't anything to do with people using for weight loss

You can't take any alternative medication? What did you take before semaglutide was available?

Lid = paid! Paid out off pocket

What excellent advice! On that basis, people with anorexia just need to eat a bit more. Let's just skip over the psychological aspects of disordered eating shall we? After all, psychiatric illnesses are not 'proper' illnesses are they? 🙄 People just need to not think, which to be fair, a lot of the negative posters on this thread are managing rather well.

Even the fact being obese is compared to anorexia is insulting. Obesity isn’t the same as anorexia. More than half the population are overweight, pretty sure it’s not the same margins! 🙄

Overweight isn't the same as obesity. Why are you insulted by the comparison of one form of disordered eating with another?

You can't take any alternative medication? What did you take before semaglutide was available?

Switching to any kind of alternative medication causes me issues for a good 6 months (my body does not tolerate change well!) and it took several years to find the right drugs for me in conjunction with the specialist team at the hospital. On the GLP-1 I'm on (and have been on for a number of years) my HBA1C sits almost at pre diabetic levels.

I am expecting a big jump at my next review due to the oos nightmare which diabetes UK puts down to a jump in off label prescribing.

I don’t view being overweight or obese the same way as anorexia. Starving yourself is not normal behaviour. Eating too much is what many people do, just some to the extreme

Your comment is disgusting. Obesity is in many cases a hormonal disease. I eat a pretty healthy diet, but my thyroid failed and I became obese. I have tried "eating less and moving around more" for years and years and nothing helped. These injections are a miracle for me and I will not feel bad for taking them.

Good for you

There's massive struggles with adhd medication for last 6 months. Ita not just diabetic medication that has supply issues