To wonder how people afford weight loss injections?!

[Karmacharm]

So many people I know are doing Mounjaro or Ozempic. I’ve looked at the price online and even with the discount it’s still hugely expensive in this cost of living crisis.
I would love to do it but there’s no way I can afford it long term.

not everyone is struggling

i imagine they’re saving a shed load by not eating so many takeaways

Potentially it works out similar to the amount of food that you now no longer need to buy. I feel like in these discussions people need to
consider how they’d feel if it was eg “gym membership” rather than weight loss injections because those are such a contentious issue on here.

I just looked up the price. I think many people could afford it if they gave up something else - I guess it depends on how much you want something.

I looked into this for a friend the other day. Seems possible to get them for around £200pcm or under. That's a lot of money, but if you are compulsively eating your way to obesity that costs too. Subtract the cost of too much food from the cost of the injections and it is significantly cheaper - and worth it to achieve a healthy weight.

I’m managing it because I’ve cut down on the food I’m buying as I don’t need to eat so much. It’s all about your priorities, previously my priority was loads of food. Now it’s having the injections

We are not all struggling with the CoL crisis.
No young children here, no mortgage and both work full time. So I can easily afford it, thankfully.
And as others say I'm spending much less on food now, so that offsets the cost a bit.

I spend a fortune on junk food for bingeing on so I think I would save money by paying for the injections instead 😀

People will find a way.
I'm on it, I barely have an appetite now so the money I'm saving on food goes on Mounjaro.

It’s not prohibitively expensive for most.

By budgeting and the crap I used to buy now pays for the medication. I'm no worse off except for the pounds round my hips :-)

I didn't even know you could buy it online . I thought it had to be agreed by GP!

Same answer as every

"How does anyone afford ..." question.

They have more money/different priorities/are happy to get in debt.

There is a surprisingly large DIY community that's sprung up around it because of the high costs. They buy the peptide (like a generic version in powder form, that you mix and inject yourself) from China, organise their own testing to verify it and feedback to each other. It's more led by Americans, as the prices are obscene there ($1,000+).

A prescribing pharmacist can issue it once checks have been done.
Most reputable pharmacies will inform your GP of what has been prescribed so it's on your record.

I get it ( Ozempic) free on prescription as I’m a type 2 diabetic.
Be warned: the side effects when you first start it are not very nice. After several months, they settled down, but I felt quite unwell to begin with.
However, I’ve gone down from nearly 23 stone to just over 16 stone, so far. I could never have managed that amount of weight loss without it.

🤣

I am using it at about £150 a month but @DearGoldFish is quite right! Since being on it, I've not had a single takeaway and the usual 3 bottles of wine + drinks at the pub each week has stopped, so easily covering the cost!

But also, I have a good amount of disposable income so there's that.

Can I ask - do you just not fancy the take away anymore? Or the wine? Or is it that you can see the weight coming off so it’s spurring you on to be healthier? Are you exercising too? Obviously don’t answer if you feel I’m being too personal but I’m just quite fascinated and wondered how it works (before I think about getting some myself!)

Also - does anyone know what happens when you stop using it? Or do you have to use it for life?

We can never afford takeaways or eating out anyway and I don’t drink.
We are already on a low income so it’s not doable for us.

We have a 5 year old who will still need plenty of food on a weekly grocery shop, plus DH who is a fell runner and cyclist so needs plenty of food also.

Sorry if I’m being stupid, but how does it save money on food overall? I understand the bit about takeaways, but I always find healthier foods e.g. with decent amount of protein plus fruits and veg more expensive than microwave meals/oven chips/fish fingers and the like?

All it is really is an appetite suppressant, so when you come off it, your appetite will come back so you then need to make sure you’re eating a sensible maintenance amount. Otherwise you’ll put weight back on as with any diet if you go back to old habits. But I don’t think you could stay on it forever because it’s bloody hard to eat enough!

So do you really have to force yourself to eat then?

I can afford it because we no longer have takeaways.

I used to binge eat, buying chocolate and biscuits and crisps on my way to work.
I bought Tesco meal deals for lunch.
Popped out for a costa regularly.
Had a snack in a cafe while out and about at weekends.
Added crisps, biscuits, ice cream etc to the weekly shop.
Had a bottle of wine most weeks.

All of that quickly adds up.

I can afford it because we don’t struggle for money.