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.

I see no issue with them, if used correctly. If i can't shift the baby weight I might consider them!

Honestly op and others that are against weightloss medication. What makes you the authority on the subject? How are these medications affecting you personally to be so against them. What moral high ground can you claim. Are you perfect in every single way? im guessing no.

personally i have worked so hard to lose weight, exercise, eating healthy for years etc etc. and i could not lose weight, Im currently bmi obese. Everyone and their dog knows that being obese is one of the worst health predictors for diseases and later life. Im doing the responsible thing of trying everything to lose weight if that means i have to use medication, i will and i currently am, and it is working. What that means for my health will hopefully translate in less care/interventions in the future and work for as long as possible as my health dictates. These are a good thing if tolerated and if they work. The health benefits are tremendous.
i will obviously have to work to maintain the weightloss, it will be hard, but im educated well on how to do that and im also aware my genetics mean i gain weight easier than some and i have to be aware of that, like any other disease. Because that is what obesity is. It is a disease! It’s not lazy people, scoffing their face all day. Its mothers who have gained weight through successive pregnancies and the weight wont shift, its people who have injuries affecting their mobility, its people with depression, and frequently its a combination. When all is said and done, the weight is still there and wont shift. What do you propose people do, join slimming world who promote eat as much as you like? Slimming world, where your counting points? It’s such a joke. Its teaches bad practices around food and whats healthy.

This is more or less the same for any weight loss method though. People restrict/eat only pineapple/use meal replacement shakes/whatever to lose weight, then when they've lost the right amount for them, go back to their normal diet, which may or may not lead to weight gain.

I don't see the difference tbh.

I know people who don't meet that criteria who are taking them. There are clearly loads of (slim) Hollywood celebs etc who are using them as appetite suppressants too.

I also know people who DO meet the criteria, who are only taking them during the week so they can still eat takeaways at the weekend. I cannot see how taking medication that kills your appetite 5 days a week then eating fish 'n' chips all weekend could possibly be good for you.

Tiktok etc stories are only written because they are terrible. Meanwhile millions of people (literally) quietly take these drugs to help them get healthier, to stave off nasty health complications involved with being overweight and pretty much every qualified nutritional scientist is calling them a significant health breakthough. Oh, and in the US - for the first time in decades - obesity is on the decline because of them. They have done what no amount of social tweaking has managed to do. No amount of publishing calories, making activity more accessible, moving where the heathy food is in store etc has ever managed to make any noticeable difference. But the drugs have.

They are abused, but nowhere near as much as painkillers are abused and no one wants to ban them, or even make it harder to pick up paracetamol in stores.

Most medication is open to overuse, if something does something, what is one persons something might not be another’s.

I think the novelty for using weight loss medication will soon wear off for those who don’t really need them simply because the side effects can be tough.

Better physical and mental health.

Less diabetes, high blood pressure.

Less heart disease, heart attacks, strokes.

Reduced costs to the NHS.

Yes its bloody awful. Ban it now!!!!!

I also know people who DO meet the criteria, who are only taking them during the week

Hmm. 😤

They are a weekly drug. You cannot take them 5 days a week and not on 2 days - because you only dose once a week.

I'm sorry but your second point is total bullshit. Firstly it's a weekly injection so it's impossible to 'only take during the week'. Secondly it builds in your system and when you're on a full dose the appetite suppression lasts longer than a week so it would be impossible even if you tried to jab on a Monday for example so you could binge on a weekend. It's literally not possible to do that on these drugs.

who are only taking them during the week so they can still eat takeaways at the weekend

Its a weekly injection. You can't only take it during the week in order to eat takeaways at the weekend. It just doesn't work like that.

@AnonymousBleep what rubbish.

You inject once a week. Yes they do "wear off" towards the end of the week but they build up over time.

Oh and "people in Hollywood" take all sorts. They are not normal people, they do not have normal doctors and - as we've sadly seen too much lately - they can get access to a shit load of drugs they shouldn't have. I don't think their lives bear any reflection to the lives of normal people.

Well, my friends are lying to me in that case! They are both on Ozempic (or some equivalent) and that is what they told me!

I see this too, a deliberate decision to ignore the health benefits, the huge cost to life of obesity, to the nhs. but a focus on the but “what if a skinny woman wants to get skinnier”. What if a teen wants to do it. And a lot of misinformation,,,we don’t know the drugs, (yes we do they have been around well over a decade, they aren’t tightly controlled, yes they are as tightly controlled as any other prescription medication and as much as it’s not your own gp who prescribes it is a doctor and your gp is immediately notified.

many prescription drugs are abused, from painkillers on, Christ even drugs for animals are abused, ketamine anyone. It doesn’t mean we stop producing them and prescribing them.

these drugs are even more controlled as your gp is notified. If skinny people are lying to get them, then gp’s will know and will notify the supplier. That’s their job. That’s the safety net. Many people are actually getting phone calls from their docs about it.

i don’t think Ive ever seen a drug launched that helps so many with a life limiting issue and people going oh let’s not do that. Let’s address the wider societal issue shall we and think of the minority who will abuse it.

DH is diabetic and I was furious when his doctor tried to prescribe Ozempic but couldn't because so many people were taking it for weight loss that there wasn't any available for people who medically needed it.

Truly. Fucking. Selfish.

@AnonymousBleep what happens in the US with celebrities is absolutely irrelevant to the UK and it's regulation of medicines. In the US the entire model of healthcare is different, wholly private and the rules are very different over there. It's well known that money talks in the US, where doctors will prescribe all kinds of medication that in the UK wouldn't even be available.

You also cannot stop taking the injections at the weekend because that's just not how it works! It's a weekly injection, it's in your system for longer than a week after you inject it.

This is actually BS. You take the injection once a week, not daily. The effect may be less powerful towards the end of the week, but the drug remains in your system for several weeks.

I’ve lost weight on them - 6 stones - and yes, I have a takeaway occasionally with the family. Difference is I can only eat a tiny portion and I make healthier choices, so ‘having a takeaway’ in and of itself is hardly abusing the impact of the medication. It is supposed to help you develop a healthier relationship with food so that, actually, having an occasional takeaway/meal out is a normal and mentally healthy aspect of your life.

From experience.. after day five I you get a bit hungry

Like with anything in medicine it's about weighing up risk vs benefits. Being morbidly obese is incredibly dangerous and if something has been found to work to help this then that's great. It's all well and good saying just eat healthy and exercise but many people do this and still can't lose weight. For many reasons such as disability, medical conditions, hormone imbalances, medication, age etc etc. I've not used these injections however I have done a vlcd and it's actually shocking based on my height and medical conditions how low my calories have to be to lose weight

Also let’s be very aware of how they present a clear threat to the fast food industry and all the manufacturers of junk food. They have a vested interest in disrupting the perceived successes of anything that turns their consumers off their product.

The disinformation campaign will come.

Are we going to ban anti-depressants too then?

They have horrible side effects and some people end up in bed with tiredness and lethargy.

People use them as a cheat when they should go for a nice walk or try yoga.

And what happens when people come off them? They get depressed again if they haven't addressed the underlying issues. Are people going to stay on them for life?

But we do require people to have drivers licenses, road tests and seatbelts.
Adding a few basic checks in pharmacies would make weight loss drugs much safer. Like weigh ins in person not just a picture of the scales.
Obviously some people would still find ways to cheat but it would make it safer on average.
There is a ton of middle ground between a ban and a free for all.

From experience - yes you get a little bit hungry but not enough to binge on takeaways for 2 days every week.

I agree. But it does worry me that teenage girls are looking at these people, with their bodies that are unattainable without drugs/starvation/hours in the gym and feel inadequate in comparison. Yes I know this has always happened. I just wish it didn't, and hate the idea that my daughter thinks there's some 'magic pill' that would make her look like a Kardashian. (I also hate the Kardashians!)

Then you will be thrilled to hear this is old news. Mounjaro (arguably better for weight loss and diabtetes) is in plentiful supply. Except the NHS has been reluctant to pay for it, but that's another matter.