To think all these weight loss jabs are a bad move?

[Pineconecollector]

I’ve seen so many people recently saying they’re on Mounjaro - someone wrote on Facebook that they were struggling to eat anything at all, hadn't eaten for over 48 hours. Just zero desire to eat anything. Surely that can’t be healthy?

I also know of someone who has lied to an only e pharmacy to get the jab, because her BMI would be considered too low to be prescribed it. She’s wanting to get down to a size 6.

all medication can be abused and used inappropriately e.g painkiller tablet abuse etcI have lost 5 stone on mounjaro and am eating but a lot less obviously.

Personally I am at high risk of diabetes and losing the weight can only be good. Plus the cost to the NHS due to weight related illness is massive; no just diabetes but all the other related health conditions like COPD, issues with things like knee, heart problems .

Yes I am very concerned about maintaining the weight loss and how to keep it off. Food noise is a real thing which had disappeared for me, so I am no longer thinking about food and eating all the time, and I know when I come off mounjaro this will come back. But going into my 50s at a health weight and not being obese is only good

Hi @OrlandointheWilderness Fellow obese person here at 19 stone! You sound like you need some weight training in your life! I too tried to run myself into the ground 17k steps consistently for 3 years to achieve the low weights of 15-16 stone! I am on the brink of asking GP for help but honestly cannot afford the injections (spend too much on gym stuff!)

Seriously think about getting a PT and strength training it is so rewarding to see what your body can do and not have to focus on what you look like - it has been a revelation for me but I would not knock anybody with serious obesity trying the injections

And great that you are metabolically healthy - that's a thing that not all lighter people can say!

People with distorted body image / eating disorders are always going to find a way to cheat the system.

To a certain extent things need regulation - but also I don’t want to live jn a world where everything is the governments fault if we access something that’s bad for us…

they’re working for lots of people. There are a million thread already complaining about them. No one is making you use them.

The thing is though that obesity rates have not been like this forever. Look at a photograph in a busy public place from 60 or 70 years ago. The change is tremendous.

We should be really alarmed at this.

I think there are also considerations around kids, they are affected by whatever is causing this and can't fix it with injections. If nothing changes, it's just producing another generation who will need appetite suppressing drugs.

It's a band-aid, and it's possible to see that people personally find it very helpful, and still worry it's leaving a fuge honking iceberg floating around out there.

These drugs have been around for years.

@Christstollen the injections are MHRA approved for weight loss. In order for that to happen, there have been several long-term studies into their use, with thousands of participants across many different countries. Look up the SURMOUNT research trials if you're interested. The research is continuing, in the UK, run by Eli Lilly the manufacturer.

This every time

This myth that keeps getting bandied around about the deep reasons for overeating. We're human, we like food, some of us have no off switch and we can and have freely indulged because our society is set up to make that easy and accessible

Eat less and we'll lose weight and the medication makes it possible to do that.

Its been around for 20 years. Its not new, its just newly approved and available on a larger scale for people to take via prescription.

I think it’s important to state the vast vast majority of people who take the jab are absolutely fine. Some people will always have side effects. Antibiotics once made me suicidal - on closer inspection this was a recognised side effect. We don’t advocate getting rid of antibiotics.

There are a lot of people having their own myths about the causes of obesity (greed and laziness) exploded, many people and companies have their livelihoods grounded in this misinformation and suddenly it’s challenged, they can either adapt to this new information or become as irrelevant as a doctor blaming imbalance humours

I agree things were not always like this. A lot has changed in 70 years though and it's not the willpower of a large portion of society.

The food we eat and are surrounded by is vastly different. Andrew Jenkison wrote a great book about it all whose name I forget covering issues like UPFs and epigenetics covering reasons for this.

Again, the evidence that advice to lose weight via diet and exercise does not work is immense. In fact dieting can actually be a predictor of obesity - the opposite effect!

Anyone who disagrees probably just doesn't like their fat friend getting thin!

This appears to be the crux of the matter and the pervading undertone on so many weightloss injection threads, albeit wrapped up in faux concern about side effects and long term effects and efficacy.

It's interesting that so many people say they aren't restricting food just eating normal portions at mealtimes and not snacking. Yet every dieter ever would tell you they stick to x calories and never snack. Clearly they don't.

I do get it actually. I've never been overweight, I am in my 60s and weigh the same as I did 40 years ago but my lifelong habits are 3 meals a day of whatever I want but no snacks. I don't think about food until mealtimes and then it's what to cook. However I was once on a high dose of steroids for a few weeks. They don't make you gain weight in themselves but what they do is increase your appetite. I found myself fantasising about food and thinking about what I could eat. It was bizarre and if I was like that long term I would most definately gain weight.

Using drugs to modify our behaviour?

Do you say the same about ADHD medication or medication for depression or psychosis?

Research needs to be done into why more people have this hormonal imbalance. It could be down to the food industry, UPF's, artificial sweeteners, preservatives etc could all play a role in why more people do not naturally respond to the GLP1 hormone.

However, the above is also a theorised reason why theres an increase in the amount of people with IBS, IBD and other digestive conditions. And those people arent berated or called names such as lazy when they chose to take a medication to allow them to live a more comfortable, healthy life.

This is the same thing, its a medication, which fixes or helps lessen the effects of a problem. It doesnt work in people who already have sufficient GLP1 receptors.

As for side effects, all medications have them. Some more than others. I had a family member almost go blind thanks to a prescribed medication for an autoimmune condition. Should that be banned too? Or do we manage the side effects or look for an alternative that also helps treat the condition?

@LolaLouise it's absolutely UPFs. Read ultra processed people. They disrupt hunger hormones.

My BMI is 28, I'd like to lose 2 stone.

I have a busy stressful life and whilst I enjoy healthy food it's very difficult for me not to eat unhealthy quantities of unhealthy food quite regularly. I think about food almost constantly and I'm as strict as I can be with myself. Were I not like this in think I could easily be another 2-3 stone heavier than I am.

Would I be a good candidate for this? In have no particular weight-related health issues as far as know!! But I'd like help to get back to a ' normal' BMI of under 25. I'm fairly active, walk every day and do a sport twice a week.

I think they need to be tightly controlled. The temptation to use them to get from a size 10 to a size 6 (or smaller) will be very strong for a lot of women, and they're easy enough to get hold of so long as you're prepared to pay. I just don't want my teenage daughter and her friends thinking that you can use drugs to turn yourself into whatever is looking hot on TikTok right now, and there's loads of pressure (social media and peer pressure) on young girls to be 'hot' which still means being skinny.

You can only get them if your BMI is above 30, or 27 if you're a certain race or have other weight related conditions.

No, you would not (or should not) get a prescription because your BMI is not 30 or over, or 27 or over with weight-related issues. Some people from specific ethnicities can get a prescription for it if their BMI is 27 or over, eg South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean ethnic backgrounds. Perhaps if that applies to you, then you could consider applying for a prescription.

The best thing you can do is research it. Theres a Oprah documentary on Disney plus that discusses the science, though it is some what biased overall. Read the articles on registered pharmacy websites. Try looking for some medical journals on it. some pharmacies will prescribe with a BMI of 27 or greater regardless of enthnicity and co morbidities, most are 30 or greater though. But research first, and then you can make an informed choice over whether the medication is for you.

Well our food culture and society has changed, much more americanised and look at the obesity problem over there

Our european neighbours havent got as much of a problem because although Im sure many are just as inclined to overeat as us, their food culture and society is different, however with the introduction of a more americanised way of life, they too are increasingly overweight and obese, their rates are now rising too.

Food is too cheap, too accessible, too much of it, socially acceptable to eat too much of it, eating between meals, eating while out and about at not proper meal times, we have bought into this big time.

I personally also think the low fat fad has a lot to answer for, it made eating of volume carbs 'ok'. And its not.

Also people smoked more years ago so that is also an appetite suppressant.

Me either! 😌

Mounjaro is magic in a syringe as far as I am concerned. The lady with the itch comparison hit the nail on the head. Now the itch has been removed I can concentrate on eating three sensible meals a day.
'Food Noise' can be so hard to understand if you've never heard it before, I swear I've heard the bread bin actually shout for me from the kitchen before taking this medication.
It's also been so beneficial for my mental health. Before I would eat, feel disgusted with myself, get upset, eat to make that feeling go away. Put weight on, self loathe, try to stop eating, fail, feel disgusted again, beat myself up.... the cycle never stopped.

Here we go again.

If you don’t want or need to try these drugs, don’t.

Otherwise, why not MYOB and stop passing judgment on those that do.

Am sick of these threads.

Why are people so anti these drugs but supportive of other medication? It's a really loaded topic. I'm obese and have PPMS (primary progressive multiple sclerosis). These are a game changer, literally life altering. But there's so many comments about there being a 'right' way to lose weight. About being virtuous and being 'good' I think. It's absolutely fascinating. I think there's also a rage that lifelong fatties are losing weight without struggling. It has to be dressed up as concern