To have turned down Munjaro?

[Uberella]

In 2020 I was diagnosed with type two diabetes;I have since then lost 6st in weight to try to help;I was huge at 5ft 4in and a whooping 22st 10lbs.

Roll on now;unfortunately despite my weight loss I’m really struggling with my diabetes at the moment;My blood sugars are really high even when I’m not touched anything sugary.

I’m currently on insulin and statins for high cholesterol.I’ve been told multiple times in the last few months I’m at risk of early death.

which is why I’m wondering if I was right today to have turned down munjaro jabs when offered them during a routine treatment review today.

I know I need to lose more weight;I’ve been doing slimming on and off for a few years but I’m terrified of the munjaro jabs;I know people who have suffered terrible side effects from these jabs plus weight gain after stopping the jabs and I’m not liking the things I’m hearing in the media about it.

I saw another pharmacist at my GP surgery a few months ago that I don’t normally see and he said to me that he doesn’t personally recommend Munjaro as there is evidence it causes hepatitis.

I think some people have a misunderstanding of what Hepatitis is and believe it’s an STD or something only drug users get.

It is inflammation of the liver, there are several types, some are more likely to be transmitted through sex or drug use, but you can also get hepatitis from another infection, parasites, alcohol overuse.

Liver damage is one of the very rare side effects of Mounjaro use so it isn’t a completely unreasonable thing to be concerned about, but it is very rare and studies have actually seen a correlation in liver function improvement when on Mounjaro in a much larger number of people because it reduces fatty liver.

How many of these people you say you see at the hospital are taking it properly? I would assume the vast majority of people you see are buying it from unlicensed people.

Mounjaro worked great for me, so worth a try imo

I’d be more worried about pancreatitis which is a rare but known side effect. Probably as my life has been ruined by pancreatitis, and well, an acute attack can kill you. But guess you have to weigh it up. My pancreatitis was caused by a gallstone which was a fluke, but I guess overall the risk to your health now is more than the risks from the jab. Unless losing more weight will lessen the diabetes issues, i’d go on it. Don’t mess with diabetes, another darn pancreas issue.

After all this time of these medications being available, and all the studies and scientific research available, it is hard to believe there is still so much misinformation about them. Please do some proper research, you will see that for people in your current health situation, the benefits far outweigh any potential side effects.

Mounjaro is rarely prescribed by GPs as you need to meet quite strict criteria to have it through the NHS. That your GP thinks you have met those criteria is concerning healthwise. In your position, I would do proper scientific research into both MJ, and the very real and life threatening risks you face from uncontrolled diabetes and obesity. Then make a decision.

During my time on MJ, my bloods show that I have gone from pre-diabetic with NAFLD to normal HbA1C and the NAFLD is in remission. I have lost 40 kgs in over a year and my fitness levels are greatly improved. Please reconsider @Uberella It could save your life.

Mounjaro can be a literal miracle drug for many people OP. You won't know if you're one of them unless you try it.

I’m sorry and can understand how you feel. My brother been told the same about bringing forward possibly an early death and he refuses mj.

I’m getting out of hospital soon and chatting to the pharmacist yesterday was told take your time, get strength fully up before getting back to the weight loss injections x

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't mounjaro originally developed as a treatment for diabetes? Before it became this magic 'weight loss jab'

You're not unreasonable to make an informed choice about your own health and choose not to take medication offered if you don't want to.
However, mounjaro was originally developed as a treatment for diabetes and has been used for that purpose for years. It's very effective in insulin regulation and also helps tackle one of the main causes of diabetes, obesity.
For comparison, I take several medications every month for asthma, all of them come with various risks, some of them potentially serious. However, I doubt anyone would suggest I stop taking them because of this.
At the end of the day, the decision is yours. If you're not sure about it then perhaps go back and talk to the doctor who suggested it and tell them your concerns and get their professional opinion on the pros and cons.

OP you say your blood sugar is high even when you don’t touch anything sugary. Forgive me if this sounds like a daft question but how are you controlling your carbs and do you exercise ? Unused energy from carbs is stored in the body as glucose, so perhaps you need to review that, as well as incorporating a bit more exercise.

I’ve had zero side effects. Over 2 stone down now. Did 2 months on 2 5 and now second month on 5mg not everyone gets side effects and it really is a game changer.

I want to thank everyone who has taken the time to reply with helpful suggestions and to share their own experiences;You’ve given me podcasts to listen to,literature to read and things to research.

To those ridiculing the lovely pharmacist from my GP surgery (not some member of boots staff as someone suggested) shame on you;my daughters close friend is a third year pharmacy student, pharmacists go through four years of university, do hours of placements in hospitals like other medical professionals and have extensive medical knowledge.Medication can cause liver inflammation and mounjaro is a medication.

I have a telephone review with the pharmacist (who deals with my diabetes reviews) in 3 weeks so If I change my mind I can request a prescription for mounjaro then.I’d say 3 weeks is long enough to do some reading on it.

I admit I'm not very knowledgable on this, but wasn't the original purpose of these jabs to help those with diabetes? So they could be ideal for you. Good luck. x

I had prediabetes and lost 5 stone over the last few years. I'd have taken weight loss injections if they were around at the start but by the time they rolled out I wouldn't have been prescribed them.

I was a couch potato eating and drinking lots of crap, and started off cutting out junk and calories generally, and started running and then doing weight training. I gradually increased the running and moved onto a high protein diet I track with a fitness app.

I now run or work out 5/6 times a week and while I occasionally give myself a holiday from nutrition tracking I do it most days. I've joined a running club and a gym I really like, and get advice from a PT. It's sometimes tricky balancing this around the kids and work and means some early starts to fit in exercise, and tbh some other things I enjoy have slid a bit.

My BMI is now in the middle of the healthy range.

I think what I'm saying is that it can be done but it takes a lot of effort, time, some expense and continuous lifestyle changes; i couldn't have leapt straight into what I do now but it was a process over a few years of tightening things up and getting better advice. And also realising these changes were permanent.

I guess a lot of it comes down to wanting to improve your health and weighing up whether you're going to be able to go further on diet and weight (and well done on losing 6 stones, that's amazing!) or whether the jabs will be more effective.

Firstly well done on weight loss.I read somewhere that pancreaitis and gallstone issues can be caused by MJ .maybe rare though .If you are not happy with these injections I would carry on losing weight as you are .You have done well to lose so much.

My relative is type 2, Mounjaro has been wonderful for them so far - it really helps with keeping glucose spikes down. They wear a cgm, so you can see the difference it has made to them in the few weeks they’ve been using it along with Insulin

Pharmacists aren't infallible.
Neither one High St and the other a hospital pharmacist knew that Vit K2 should be taken with Vit D3. They both checked on their computer to find it was correct.

Nor have they recommended Vit B12 to patients taking Omeprazole, which would have saved many from the bad side effects resulting from the drug.

As to your original question, if you want to discuss with more people who actually take it for Diabetes, rather than weight loss only. People are sharing their experiences of taking Mounjaro on Diabetes UK.

The value in GLP1 drugs isn't just in weight loss.

There are massive clinical trials showing they significantly improve diabetic control, reduce chronic kidney disease, and protect against stroke and cardiovascular events including heart failure. It is a standard part of care to offer these drugs to patients like you with risk factors.

They've been used in diabetic care for many years (at least 10 years)

Serious side effects are rare and you need to balance the more common side effects against a significant long term benefit to your health

It seems mad to me that you’ll take statins and insulin, but not mounjaro based on …. Not quite sure what, media hype?

have you looked at the side effects of statins?

and the side effects of uncontrolled blood glucose?

mounjaro is a safe & effective treatment for many, in your case the benefits far outweigh the risks.

Are the recommending it for weight loss, or are they recommending it because it helps with insulin production? If it's the second I'd be more inclined to go for it- yes these jabs are great for weight loss but that wasn't why they were originally created

Exactly🤣

Op, you can make any decision that you want for yourself. But you knew that.

It's not a "new drug".

No-one mentioning the side effects of statins? Look them up.

@Moooooooooooooooooo. I had very weak feeling legs on statins- had to cut down to 2 a week to get rid of that and not at a high dose either ( which apparently is still
much better than none) not a great feeling -

a GP friend told me that whilst statins are very useful for cholesterol levels and de rigeur if you have had a stroke or coronary event - they work better on males and women under 50 and aren’t necessarily that effective on women over50 with only cholesterol Asa problem and better trying to get it down on its own with different diet, quit smoking if applicable and a bit more excercise

I'm really pleased you feel this thread has provided good research material.

The many posters on MN who are 'concerned' about the side effects/long term outcomes for fat people taking it often also say that it's a diabetes drug (and presumably think that then none of those effects are relevant for them). It's sad that they may be putting you off accessing an effective medication - for weight loss and blood sugar control.

Your pharmacist's advice is also a bit worrying - hepatitis is NOT a common side effect of Mounjaro and for him to be deterring people from it on that basis who could benefit enormously from it is questionable. It should be an informed balance of risks and not skewed like that. There have been some reports of people with raised liver enzymes on MJ but nothing that is causing serious concern and the effects appear to be totally reversible. This article is quite good - I can't vouch for Diabetes Magic as a website but he is citing scientific articles.

Can Mounjaro Cause Elevated Liver Enzymes? - Diabetes Magic