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.

It is still necessary for a GP to approve the supply to you, you complete an online questionnaire and if they have any questions they come back to you. I had to answer more specific questions, as I have Chronic Kidney Disease.

This! I have found that the amount of money I'm saving each month on food (particularly takeaways and junk food) goes a fair way to covering the monthly cost of the injections. I agree a hell of a lot of people have a very pious attitude to weight loss injections (it's cheating, don't you know?). I suspect they'd have a completely different attitude if the money was being spent on gym membership or a personal trainer.

A couple of people I know who do the injections have theirs covered through work as a part of their package. However in general their packages are quite generous and cover a lot of other things too.

@InfoSecInTheCity exactly.

In order to enact the cure, you need to actively generate MORE food noise & engage with it You need to think about food even more plus add in anxiety over selection, calories, fat/protein/carbs etc.

So the problem is exacerbated by the cure. Which isn't really a cure at all.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who didn't understand this response!

You can get it for £150 per 4 weeks at the starting dose. That is the same as getting a Starbucks or a meal deal each day.

What could possibly go wrong?

the obese anti vaxxers are struggling

Honestly my whole mind has quietened down. I fell better than I ever have. Autism and ADHD and it seems to really calm my mind. My house is tidier than ever and I seem to be able to focus more on tasks that need to be done. Maybe it's all in my mind but even if that's the case is it's worth it.

I'm on Ozempic and honestly you just don't feel hungry. I went out for a meal on my birthday in August and I could only eat about 1/3 of the food on my plate and certainly didn't want a dessert. I've lost 4 stone so far. I've never been successful on diets before.

I like to add a bit of balance to these threads to manage people’s expectations. You sometimes get very enthusiastic people…. Who then mention a Voy code.
There’s no doubt it is amazing for some.
ive been on it 10 weeks and have lost just over 1 stone (starting BMI 34.8, BMI now 32).

I do still feel like drinking alcohol, but only in the second half of the week after I inject, and I have still fallen foul of snacking too much, but overall I am eating less and feeling more in control.

people respond differently and not always that dramatically,

i have been going up in doses but have had to drop down too as the gastro side effects have been quite bad

I’ve a discount code if anyone wants to try mounjaro with some money off. Every little helps. Happy to share if anyone wants to message me

As an example, last night I bought my kids McDonald's. I would normally have bought myself some too. I just didn't want it. I would normally have bought a bottle of wine. I just didn't want it.

I've probably saved £15 right there.

(Before anyone judges about the McDonald's the plan was to buy dinner in the cafe of the centre my kids were race training at but they had no food left. )

I don't really get the whole discount code thing and it is entirely possible to buy MJ without using any codes at all. I chose a supplier that just offeres a lower price without codes.

This website keeps an up to date list of UK prices: https://monj.co.uk/

I haven’t used any discount codes either, nor offered any out to others. I just chose a reputable supplier and have stuck with them.

I prefer to use a reputable private health clinic as I have hashimoto’s & need regular calcitonin tests which other providers don’t even consider

I used a discount count for my first pen and got it considerably cheaper with VOY that’s why I’m happy to pass on my discount to anyone who wants to use it. VOY is a reputable company to get it off and they don’t just send you pen out, they also have a full plan for you and provide support over the phone and watsapp. This is why they have a full money back guarantee.

I was so happy to join them with a mumsnet posters discount code that was passed onto me as I’d been considering gastric sleeve which is much more expensive and drastic. So I’ve saved quite a lot

And presumably you get something in return for someone using your code? Because if so you should be honest and give that info as well.

I was always slim in my twenties and and reasonably so in my 30's when I had children.

In my twenties I had endometriosis and mild polycystic ovaries (all hormanal) and two cycles of IVF (obvs hormonal). I hit 40 and things started to change, even though I had not changed my lifestyle at all. I was watching what I was eating and exercising regularly but looked in the mirror one day and noticed I was developing an apron belly. I started to develop other weird symptoms,notice I could put on weight easily but was gaining and losing the same 2 pounds over and over again. Was told by my GP is was just age related changes.

For the first time in my life, I became food obsessed. I don't mean that I wanted to keep eating, just that every day was a mental battle to work out what to do to lose weight against a body that wouldn't play ball.

What can I eat today so that I can stabalise my weight? Have I weighed it? Have I logged it? You are having a meal out on sunday, better have a super low cal day Monday and Tuesday to compensate? How many steps can I fit in today? If i don't fit in at least 15k I'll put on a pound of two (inward panic). Oh no! Work is busy this week, lots of appointments - how will I manage to get a workout in? (panic again). Can't do much at the weekend as need to get lots of steps in, long workouts only to keep my weight the same.

This was a daily inward battle as I continued to put on weight (2 stone). Then at 44 I was diagonised with pernicious anaemia (impacts hormones) and Hashimotos disease (autoimmune thyroid - hormonal).

I was prescribed Thyroid medication and thought that this would be the thing that would help me. It slowed down the weight gain but despite my efforts, I was then 3 stone overweight. I'm 5ft 10 so carry it reasonably well.

I believe that the weight gain has caused me to become insulin resistant, making it almost impossible to lose weight despite my efforts and eating 1450 controlled calories a day.

Then in August, I decided to bite the bullet and order Mounjaro. I have changed nothing except the addition of the weekly injection. I continue to eat 1450 calories a day, I aim to get 10k steps in a day and I lift heavy 3-4 times a week. I don't do takeaways and I try to stay away from UPF's, as I have always done.

I have finally started to lose weight. I don't know how much as I made a decision not to weigh myself initially for the benefit of my mental health and to stop the weight related obsession. I take my injection, exercise and eat well - log it....and get on with my day. I have dropped a dress size and feel so much happier already.The brain fog has disappeared and I am sleeping well.

The relief from the constant mental debate about what I need to do to control my weight has gone....and I could sob with pure relief. I feel that I am finally getting my life back and that I will soon look like someone that cares about their health and exercises regularly.

People treat you differently when you are overweight - you feel constantly judged and feel dismissed as a person. I know this because I was slim in my twenties and thirties and people are just nicer to you.

Yes, some people are overweight due to significant overeating but for others it is much more complex than that. Even if someone overeats, there is usually a root cause linked to emotions and mental health.

Personally I feel that I had lots of hormonal issues going on that probably would need a Endocronologist to get to the bottom of. Am I going to get that on the NHS? No, I have 6 monthly blood tests for my Thyroid by my GP who is happy if my TSH level is under 5 (research shows that patients with autoimmune thyroid conditions fare better under 1).

The NHS is not going to help me with my issues. I don't need to know about healthy eating and exercise.

So how can I afford it?

I can't afford not to. I am now 47 and I am not prepared to spend another year of my life like the last 7. I do not have a single photograph of myself with my children during this time because I have become so embarrassed about how I look. I have become a shadow of myself.

Interestingly, I break even costwise as I have stopped online comfort shopping to make myself feel better. I may actually be financially better off since I started taking Mounjaro.

I am prepared to take it for life. The risks outweigh the benefits for me.I was heading down a path of Type II diabetes, heart disease and a higher stroke risk if I couldn't take control.

One thing I know...noone cared when I was putting on weight despite dieting and exercising. Noone cared about how this made me feel day to day. If people have a problem with people taking weigh loss medication that they've paid for privately, it really is their problem.

I could have written a lot of this myself 👏.
I’m taking responsibility for my own health and paying privately for a medication that will hopefully cause me to cost the NHS a lot less in the long run. Genuinely don’t know why anyone else would have an issue with that.

This is such a good post and articulates it so well.

It is funny how people don’t care when you put weight on jeopardising your health. but then they really care about how you lose it using your health as a justification for their ‘concern’.

The shopping compulsion being reduced/stopped is interesting as I have heard there seems to be growing evidence it’s helping people with reducing drinking and smoking. Wouldn’t surprise me if they find it does help with lots of compulsive behaviours

The shopping compulsion being reduced/stopped is interesting as I have heard there seems to be growing evidence it’s helping people with reducing drinking and smoking. Wouldn’t surprise me if they find it does help with lots of compulsive behaviours

@SwiftiesVSLestat It wasn't unsual for me to drink two glasses of wine every evening, and more at the weekend. I didn't have a drink problem, I just really like wine 😐😆and was in a bad habit. Since starting MJ on August 11th I have had two white wine and sodas, and maybe four gin and slimine tonics. I've replaced my evening relaxation wines with a walk.

@SwiftiesVSLestat Yes, I didn't even make a decision to stop shopping online. It just sort of happened without me realising it. So strange.

I have worked as a registered health professional for 20 years, have no kids or partner, paid my mortgage off (on my own) 3 years ago, though I spend 350 a month commuting to work, I have a takeaway once every 2-3 months, don't drink or smoke and I'm a big saver so have at least £1k a month to spend on anything I want, usually goes into savings. I take instant coffee to work so don't spend on coffees. My food bill has halved from 150 a month to £70 a month on mounjaro. I'm prediabetic and insulin resistant so it's life changing and worth every penny for me. Everyone has a different way of life and situation so we make of it what we can. I always shop for discounts, use vouchers etc and shop in primark!