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.

About £200 per month for the higher doses

Exactly.

Different prices for different suppliers but you can get first dose for less thank £150. Highest dose

I'll just add this image as a lot of people have asked this question. Courtesy of someone from Reddit.

Maybe if you'd put all that in your post instead of "she's only lost 2 stone and is grossly overweight"

I inject every 2 weeks so it is £100 a month. I buy it from boots so get my boots points, which is around £19. So I get £8 a month on toiletries for free.

I no longer want take outs, which was probably around £50 per month, maybe a little more. So now it is costing £42 a month.

To feel the way I do for £42 a month is so worth it.

OP can you get a second job/ weekend job to pay for it? For example doing one or two shifts a week in a bar? Or pick up some overtime or additional hours at work? Sell some stuff on vinted/ebay? Do boot sales? See it as an investment in your health.

Can you just buy it over the counter in the U.K., without a prescription?

No. You need to go through an online pharmacy and pass some criteria before they will prescribe to you. Sending pics etc.

I'm taking Mounjaro as prescribed by the Diabetes nurse because I have T2 diabetes and am obese. It's been absolutely brilliant at regulating my blood sugar. More effective than Insulin and Metformin combined, to the extent that only 2 weeks in I was able to stop the insulin and cut my Metformin prescription in half.

As an added benefit I've lost weight and am finding it so much easier to eat low carb.

I've been obese since I was 11, was diagnosed with PCOS when I was 28 but was refused any form of treatment repeatedly by the GP because according to them it was my responsibility to sort out my diet and be less fat.

Problem is, as the blood test have always shown, my body does not produce enough insulin, and doesn't react well to what it does produce, so the only way for me to lose weight was to eat close to zero carbs. Hardcore keto was the only thing that worked even a little bit. So no fruit, no veg except green veg grown above ground, no pasta, rice, legumes, bread.... I could lose weight if I lived on meat and dairy but I felt like crap, my hair would fall out and it was incredibly difficult to stick to.

With the Mounjaro, I can eat a more moderate diet, I calorie count to make sure I'm not eating excessively, I reduce carbs to make sure I'm not spiking my sugars and to stay in the 'low carb' range, around 100-120 g per day, I have fresh fruit and veg with every meal. I've got enough energy that I'm able to swim 3-5 days a week depending on my availability, so I'm building stamina and muscle.

So yes, I think these injections are a massive health improvement for me, and no 'zipping my mouth' has never helped in the past so I see now reason why I would stop the injections and move to an approach that has always failed before.

That's brilliant @InfoSecInTheCity
You must be delighted.

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.

'Food noise' seems to be a popular term since weight loss injections have become popular. I'm sure lots of us could say we have food noise but we do have to just distract ourselves and accept we can't keep eating more. If there are some people who really can't do this, then it needs more investigation because it isn't normal to think about food to the point of obsessing when you've just had a meal. Is there something not working correctly in their body, is it a mental health issue, issues around food from childhood etc? Are they actually feeling hungry or is it just wanting something that tastes nice as food is linked to emotions for them? Weight loss injections suppress appetite but reading how little some people are then eating they're going to be deficient in nutrients which will cause other health issues in time.

it isn't normal to think about food to the point of obsessing when you've just had a meal

Yes, we know that. And many of us have come to realise that it’s why we struggle to lose weight when we should apparently just ‘zip our mouths and stop overeating’.
I have no issues around food from childhood, and no mental health issues. I do have mild PCOS and insulin resistance, so I suspect that’s a large part of my problem.
MJ has allowed me to take a break from the ‘food noise’ and develop healthy habits away from it. I am certainly not eating as little as some of the people on this thread, and what I am eating is carefully considered to fuel my body effectively. I am losing 1-2lbs a week, which is the recommended amount, and I am exercising 3 times a week. All habits that I intend to continue when I am no longer on MJ.

I've always had food noise...I just didn't know the term. I've been battling for thirty years. I've been a healthy weight...I was a size 8 at one point. It was still a battle though. Telling people to distract themselves and just try harder doesn't work. I'm not stupid. I know what to do. I'm currently a size 14-16...even that takes willpower. I could easily be much bigger. I know many people who are just not interested in food...they feel hungry,they eat, they then forget about it until they're hungry again. I really find it fascinating and wonder how their brains and bodies work differently to mine and others.

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.

I do agree with that. I think we need more investigation into why some people have this 'food noise' and can't ignore it.

I saw someone liken it to ocd. So most of us can get something dirty on our hands, wash our hands and then and forget about it, but for those with ocd, they obsess about the dirt, may have to clean their hands multiple times to feel ok and possible never feel properly clean. They get stuck in a loop unable to ignore the 'noise'.

Obesity comes with a lot of health risks so these injections are possibly worth any possible future risk to health. Reading what some people are eating though, they're going to have other health issues soon enough cause deficiencies and not eating enough calories regularly. Will it just turn one problem into another one?

The constating thinking about food could be caused by insulin resistance. Which causes you to feel hungry and to want to eat. Google AI gave me some good info on this! Insulin resistance is a precursor to type 2 diabetes.

Insulin resistance
When cells are resistant to insulin, they can't absorb glucose as well. This causes glucose to build up in the blood, leading to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).

Lack of energy
Without enough insulin, the body can't use glucose for energy, which can cause fatigue and increased hunger.

Cells feel starved
Even though there's plenty of glucose in the bloodstream, cells feel starved of sugar, which drives the appetite for more.

Here's how insulin resistance can lead to T2D:

Insulin resistance
When the body can't use insulin properly, it secretes more insulin than usual to manage blood sugar levels.

Prediabetes
If the pancreas can't produce enough insulin to overcome insulin resistance, blood sugar levels rise and prediabetes can develop.

T2D
If left unmanaged, insulin resistance can lead to T2D, which occurs when the pancreas can no longer produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood sugar levels.

I've always had food noise...I just didn't know the term. I've been battling for thirty years. I've been a healthy weight...I was a size 8 at one point. It was still a battle though. Telling people to distract themselves and just try harder doesn't work. I'm not stupid. I know what to do. I'm currently a size 14-16...even that takes willpower. I could easily be much bigger. I know many people who are just not interested in food...they feel hungry,they eat, they then forget about it until they're hungry again. I really find it fascinating and wonder how their brains and bodies work differently to mine and others.

Sorry if it came across as me saying it's as easy as 'distract yourself', I didn't mean if like that at all. It's obviously a real thing that lots of people struggle with which is why I think more should be done to understand what it is that makes some people obsess over food.

The only comparison I can make from personal experience is when I'm in the week before my period, I often feel completely starving, even if I've eaten a big meal. It's like my stomach doesn't register that it's full. I feel quite agitated generally but also because for that week, I always feel like I've not eaten for days, despite just eating. Fortunately the following week I could happily not eat anything so if balances out, but if I felt that hunger and thought of food all the time, it would drive me crazy. It's obviously something hormonal with me so I wonder if it is for others, only they have it every day.

I read a post on these boards recently in another discussion about these weight loss injections and a poster said that if people were just greedy then the drugs wouldn't work would they? I thought this was a good point. I mean if someone is just a fundamentally greedy person, then surely they'd remain greedy whilst on the drugs and not lose weight? But this isn't what happens is it

Your comparison of what you feel like on your period and then after your period. That's how I feel now that I'm on Mounjaro. I also still get the period cravings, that hasn't gone away. But after my ttm I can go back to not thinking about food and it doesn't control my life. So mounjaro has made me normal basically!

Yes my hormones definitely have some effect for sure. I am the same during my cycle. As an example, I went out for lunch with dh...we had a three course meal....a charcuterie board and bread, a chicken main dish and I had dessert. When I left the restaurant, I actually realised I didn't feel the least bit full and i could have quite easily had another meal. So yes definitely worse at some times of the month but there's probably not a moment of the day where I couldn't eat something if offered.

I read a post on these boards recently in another discussion about these weight loss injections and a poster said that if people were just greedy then the drugs wouldn't work would they? I thought this was a good point. I mean if someone is just a fundamentally greedy person, then surely they'd remain greedy whilst on the drugs and not lose weight? But this isn't what happens is it

Yes, I agree. I suppose if you've always had a 'normal' appetite, where you eat and then don't think much about food for another 4 hours, its hard to imagine how others feel and all to easy to judge and just say someone is greedy.

I also think there's some slim people who feel a bit pissed off that they've had to eat healthily, watch what they eat etc to be slim and feel angry that others are getting to be slim without the work. I think they see it like cheating, which is what I think causes some heated debates on this issue and why many people are against these injections.

Mounjaro takes away the cravings 90% of the time. You don't have those thoughts in your head saying go eat, get a takeaway, have some more etc. If you were at a buffet or something like that, with MJ it's now easy to resist and not eat anything if you weren't hungry. You would take only what you could manage and stop at that if you were eating. You know there is no point taking too much as you won't be able to eat it.

What is greediness though? Going back to a buffet 5 times with a piled plate each time and eating it all? Making sure you have the most of any shared food? I've never been like that. A lot of obese people have shame and wouldn't want to be seen going up to a buffet 5 times so wouldn't do it. So I wouldn't say all obese people were greedy.

Mj would still work on a greedy person though as they physically can't over eat.

@WeekendOutfit for me, the effect of Mounjaro happened on the first day of taking it, and it just switched off all the interest in snacking and overeating. That has continued now I'm in my 11th week. I still get hungry albeit to a much lesser degree and I can ignore any hunger until mealtimes. Then eat a much smaller portion.

To me, that seems like a clear indication that my body has had a physical reaction to the tirzepatide and affected my ability to resist (or not even think of) thoughts of snacking or overeating. Nothing to do with my willpower or my moral strength. A physical change. I find that extremely interesting and that's what's been the game changer for me.

But why do they care so much about what others do/don’t do/eat/don’t eat? I genuinely don’t get it. How does it affect them?

But why do they care so much about what others do/don’t do/eat/don’t eat? I genuinely don’t get it. How does it affect them?

I don't know. If people are feeling better by using them and avoiding illnesses related to obesity, then it's a good thing imo and it's absolutely none of my business anyway what people put in their body.

I think some people do look down on overweight people and enjoy feeling that they're somehow better. It's a messed up way oc thinking for sure.

I agree with your point about slim people being angry. This must be the case because there is so much anger whenever a thread like this is started.

What slim people don't understand is that obese people have also eaten healthy and watched what they've eaten. Gone to the gym done everything right etc, but still not lost weight. Plus adding food noise and constant hunger, it's hard to maintain that lifestyle. Especially when you don't lose weight after say months and months of being good with no slips. So eventually you give up and eat what you want. Then you gain weight quickly and go back on your healthy diet again hoping this time will be it... Into a vicious cycle.

There is something in the genes /body makeup that makes weight loss harder/impossible for some people. Which naturally slim people don't understand as they have never experienced it themselves. I would say that a majority of obese people have worked a lot of harder over their life time, than naturally slim people have to lose weight.