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.

Do you think those injections are healthy????? I would rather zip my mouth and stop over-eating. And buy flats.

What part is a bit far @JennaZ ?

My own reasons for taking mounjaro? Or me telling another poster that their reasons for not taking it are not morally superior to my reasons for taking it?

I saw a post of Facebook this week about homeschooling in which the poster said “I don’t send my children to school because I actually want to be around them”. I actually fully support homeschooling but the implication that they love their child more than others who make different choices do is insulting. It’s the same here. Someone implying that my priorities are wrong because I’m spending money on a weight loss drug when I could be spending it on making life easier for my child in the future is very insulting when everything I do is for my child. Including this.

I'd like to hope so .. I had my Covid jab quite happily without worrying too much, there was less research into that.

My risk of obesity related disease is/was pretty high so it's a calculated risk I suppose.

Join a Facebook group, you'll get a feel in there for the cheapest provider. As long as it's a registered pharmacy, all is good.

Be prepared for people to spam you with their discount codes! I use MedExpress who I've always found pretty good as long as you're happy to get on with it without 'weekly catch ups' and meal plans etc that some offer.

Lot of research coming out that these medications have a positive effect on health. Heart health, helps with addiction, and many more. Also let's not forget the lifes it's saving by helping morbidly obese people lose weight and give them the ability to make positive changes.

You don't have any base for your statement. You can't afford it so would rather pretend to yourself that they are bad for you than accept they actually work.

Since people are no longer using ozempic for weight loss and haven't been since the middle of 2023 when Wegovy was licenced, and since novo nordisk have increased production massively, it's hard to understand why your mum is still finding it hard to get prescribed ozempic! And as others have pointed out, mounjaro is the more effective drug for the same issue so she will have been prescribed that because it's more effective, not because of a mythical ozempic shortage.

All medications have potential side effects. You carry out your own risk assessment.
I was overweight for years after children and tried to lose it a thousand times and just couldn't do it.

My dad had type 2 diabetes and had a stroke in his 60s. A few weeks ago he died of a heart attack. My mum died in her 60s of cancer. Being overweight increases the risk of all of these conditions.

I'm a healthy weight now thanks to Wegovy. My health has hugely improved as a result. I'm running 10ks again because running is a lot easier when you're slim. It was worth the risks and worth the money.

Yes I probably could. The issue is not whether I can stick to those calories necessarily...I have done many times in the past. I've been every size imaginable. I lost four stone in the past. The problem is the food noise...so yes, I can stick to the calories but I cannot stop thinking about food. The diet becomes all consuming. I really want to be the kind of person who feels hungry, eats a meal, then forgets about food until they're hungry again.. this is why I want to try the medication. I just want brain to stop obsessing over food... I've been using my willpower for over thirty years, if I didn't have any, I'd be even bigger than i am now.

On the contrary, ongoing research has found these GLP-1 medications are actually having a very positive effect in many ways. People who take it are having fewer cardiac problems, for example and it's helping other addictions, not just food.
I truly believe this is the start of an amazing drug that will be developed and licensed for more use as we discover more and more benefits.
And those that say we shouldn't take it because it's for diabetics, drugs are developed all the time to help other conditions, once they are found to have an effect different to their original use. Science moves on and there's no rule to say they're only for diabetics.

Good for you, no one is forcing you to take them. Good luck with your chosen weight loss method.

What is wrong with discipline and self-control? Why shift responsibility onto a drug? Are you not aware that we know almost nothing about the human body? We are tinkering at the edges, as many biomedical professors would say. You seriously think that something which re-conditions the body to such an extent has no side effects? Just because they are not studied yet and not discovered yet and it will take ages to do it, if it is doable indeed, does not mean they are not really dangerous.

Are you aware that we have not even studied (not enough time) the side effects of sunblock creams?

This naive belief in 'science' is often our downfall.

I think it depends on the protein.
We eat a protein heavy diet but mainly from lentils, chickpeas and beans (kidney, black, butter,) etc.
A big bag of lentils costs about £2 for a kg in my local shop and serves 15 portions for adults.add some onions and brown rice and spices that is pretty cheap.
Pasta with tin of chickpeas, tin of tomato and onion again pretty cheap.

What is wrong with discipline and self-control?

Because what you're doing here is linking weight loss with a kind of morality and virtuousness....you're just not trying enough....try harder, stop being greedy, have some self control, be a better person, override your appetite and brain, be stronger....

Everyone knows how to lose weight....many are absolutely desperate and they still can't do it. Obesity is a disease.

How is discipline and self control working for you?

@El12 I’m a biomedical professor and I’m on the drug so I suspect you don’t know what you’re talking about 🥰

Eh, not very well, tbh.

A lot of medical professionals are taking it because of it's amazing benefits. Luckily they are able to do their own research and see research based evidence on the benefits of these medications to have come to the conclusion that they are safe to take it.

But you do you. As plenty of others have said, no one is forcing you to take it. Enjoy using discipline and self control to lose weight. Enjoy all your flats you're going to buy.

I’m not going to prove who I am or get into a slanging match, obviously, I’ve got to go to work! But as a group we scientists tend to be particularly keen on medical intervention, as you might expect. The data is so clear that being obese is so terrible for long term health that it’s no surprise lots of us are going to take these drugs to improve our health.

This is just it isn't it, it's not intended, and should not be prescribed to people who just want to lose a few lbs. For someone who is obese, even if there is a risk the risk benefit swings towards using it because the health risks of being obese for a prolonged period are known and are really bad. Just like any drug really, all have risks and whether the risks are worth it for you depends on the affects of the condition you're looking to treat. That's what this is, a medication to help improve someone's health and improve their quality of life at the end of the day. The same people who tend to judge people for using it are likely the same who look down on people who are overweight.

It's a risk factor, but it's not necessarily directly causative. T2D has strong genetic links. It's actually a very complex disease. There may be an underlying metabolic problem that fuels both.

the GLP-1 drugs are incredibly effective for Type 2, much more so than the other medications. People with diabetes aren't wrong when they say access should be prioritised for diabetes. In the USA Novo Nordisk and Lilly effectively encouraged the problem by charging more for the weight loss labelled versions, so they made more money on the weight loss customers and effectively encouraged doctors to prescribe the diabetic version for weight loss patients. (The maximum dosage for Ozempic is 2mg while it's 2,4 for Ozempic. For Mounjaro/Zepbound, it's the same, 15mg.)

as a friend says, "being fat may kill me eventually, but uncontrolled diabetes will kill me a lot quicker"

This is such a mean and ignorant thing to say to people. Do you think everyone who's struggling with obesity overeats or hasn't 'zipped their mouth and stopped overeating'?

Also, talking about buying flats by saving 200 odd pounds a month is like those ads where they tell you to stop buying coffee and you can buy your own house in a year. It's ridiculous.

If it's your priority, good for you but I agree with the poster that said you shouldn't make it seem like yours is a better one. Not everyone wants to 'buy flats' or has a need for it.

I don't know if this is your attempt at humour or modesty or sarcasm but why would you then preach discipline and self control if it's not working for you? Others have also said it doesn't work for them and they've found something that will help but you'd rather passive-aggresively insult them about 'overeating and zipping their mouths'.

I agree with another pp that perhaps you can't afford it and want others to keep struggling with you? Feel free to save for your flats and allow others to buy what they choose.

Especially because by her own admission, she can’t manage to zip her own mouth and stop over eating.

How much do people in the Uk pay for them ? They are about €300 a month here (Ireland) ... I'm morning them but everyone else I know is