To think weight-loss injections should be prescribed in person only. The scale of abuse must be shocking.

[Thisisdrugabuse]

Hear me out here. I have had 5 friends in their 30s and 40s tell me they're using weight-loss injections from online sources. Fine. Except one is a size 8 and another a size 10. Oh, it's so easy to get, just upload a photo of a day you looked chubbier a few years ago and change your height/ weight a bit. Out of my friends that recently told me they're taking it, the size 8 is on the highest dose. She looks ill. Only 1 is over a size 14 I'd say.

Am I being unreasonable

No-to think these medicines are not licensed for normal sized people. They might be at risk of osteoporosis, liver problems and who knows what else. It all seems dangerous and completely unregulated.

Yes- jog on op. These are important medicines helping lots of people and if people lie, that's their issue.

Is your size 8 friend lying about where she’s getting it? I mean, a photo where she looks a bit chubbier is never going to make it look like her BMI is 30! And online places have had to clamp down and be stricter about it. Is she actually getting it through a legitimate pharmacy?

I don't know the ins and outs. She's buying it online for sure and a friend said it was an online pharmacy. She hasn't told me she's taking it, a mutual friend said as she's buying it from the same online pharmacy apparently. I didn't ask which one. I was just so shocked to be having this conversation.

The online pharmacies are already clamping down with video calls, video clips video selfies then showing scales, photos holding a date on paper. These are all examples of verifications I've had to use but yes, having in person pharmacy checks would help cut down on fraudulent cases.

Yeah. I guess some are stricter than others. I'm so worried it's dangerous. One friend said she only gets a bit dizzy. I wondered if she was having a hypo when I saw her. Her pupils looked really odd

I was a size 14 in May when I first started taking Mountjaro think bmi was 27.They accepted my photo and I tweaked my weight and height.Very easy.
Since I got to mid 40s I haven't been able to lose any weight and with the injections I've actually managed to lose the nearly 2 stone that I've put on in the last yrar and a half taking me to a healthy bmi again.I get what you're saying but it's hard not to be tempted when you're struggling to get back to yourself.

Thank you so much for being honest here. I completely understand. Im a size 10, my facebook feed is bombarding me with adverts. I've been on some websites and had a look myself. It is tempting. I work in healthcare, I know the risks, and if I thought about it, I think abuse of this medicine must be widespread. At the time I did this, I didn't know any thin friends were taking it.

It's not feasible for all prescriptions to be done in person and it is highly unlikely that anyone is now able to get a prescription with fake photos since all providers are going to need a video call before prescribing before long. I also don't agree that people who need the prescriptions and qualify should have extra expense and hassle added to the process simply because some idiots obtain prescriptions via deception. They are adults, they need to take responsibility for their own stupidity.

I would take that with a pinch of salt if I were you. A photo where a size 8 looks a bit chubbier isn’t being approved unless she’s buying it at a hairdressers or some other back street place.

I do think they’ve already cracked down a lot so will be harder to get going forwards. Obesity is such a crisis in this country that I’m not sure I’d want to raise the barriers to entry further.

I do think lots of skinny rich people take it, anecdotally the first place I heard about weight loss injections was on a Chelsea Handler sketch(thin, sweary comedian - hilarious) It was a new thing and her doctor gave her it to try as he got free samples.

She's definitely taking it. Her husband is considering leaving her over it. He's so stressed and doesn't know what to do.

This is so irresponsible. I completely get the frustration of wanting to lose weight and it being difficult and slow, but you're taking drugs that are not licensed for use for people in your physical condition. It's so dangerous! And you're making it difficult for the people who are using it legitimately, because you're one of the hordes who give mj a bad name.
I have two family members who are abusing Mounjaro. Both are underweight now, neither have ever been overweight, one is dangerously thin and is in imminent danger. Very very easy to use a photoshopped photo or to use a filter that makes you look bigger.

This is extremely widespread drug abuse like nothing I've ever seen. And noone is talking about it. That's why I started this thread. One friend said its expensive, but now I don't eat hardly anything I don't have food bills anymore. Food was getting so expensive I think I'm saving money. She's tiny.

In my Doctor's surgery monthly news letter recently they advised that our health board doesn't offer weight loss injections . They gave advice to anyone who sought these privately. This advice centered on possible side effects and implications of the injections on other health conditions. This, together with the increasing number of disaster stories reaching the press about women taking these injections, makes me very wary about them.
I think the women you talk about are risking their health and well-being but if they are stupid enough to do that there is nothing you can do about it.

Yanbu op, i have loads of friends in a similar position. Bmis between 23 & about 28 mainly, who don't qualify but go on line and get it. It's not hard.

I am bmi 25, peri & would love to shift 2 stone but am not risking my health. I also don't want to start something that i either have to stay on forever or pile weight back on if I stop.

There are 2 different sources relevant here. Legitimate pharmacies that are really tightening up their procedures, and so I think it’s unlikely that your size 8 friend, even if they got it there previously, would be able to continue for much longer, and illegal sources, they are basically street drug dealers and goodness knows what muck she would be buying. And like anyone who takes illegal drugs, it’s risky.

I don't understand how they are all doing this:- for example my online prescriber doesn't allow you to upload a photo, you have to take it there and then via their order page with their camera software. So no ability to alter. I know loads more now insist on video calls and I am expecting that soon from mine.

Part of me doesn't believe some of these stories. We get so many people on the WLI board starting threads full of lies because they hate the fact their fat friends are getting thin, and this thread feels like another dubious extension of that.

YANBU, I know 2 people who absolutely do not need them at their current size and they bodge it so that they keep getting them.

One of them even had a gastric band put on years ago and is nowhere near being fat. I’m convinced at this point it’s just ED and body dysmorphia.

I suspect a couple of friends are going to move from the pharmacies, to muck. Theyre addicted to the weight-loss (that they don't need). For bone health bmi over 23 is best.

Sadly, I can tell you this is real. The first skinny friend i had tell me, I just went silent. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It absolutely is real. I started this thread because I am so worried. I don't want to lose my friends by saying things directly to them. It feels judgemental but I'm scared for them. I think its a brilliant breakthrough in medicine for people with high bmis and things like diabetes.

I've had quite a few people tell me I was too thin to need it, but I actually had a bmi of 30 and have lost 15kg to get back to a bmi of 24. Sometimes looks are deceptive

It’s already quite hard to get it from a reputable pharmacy online. Video checks, photos etc.
So I assume these people are using other sources online which are not legitimate. And of course those sources should be shut down.
But a lot of people seem to lump all sources of WLI together. Genuine pharmacies are not prescribing to people who don’t qualify.

You don't just sent a photo in of when you were chubbier though it isn't impossible to fake it. Most are doing video checks now so it's more difficult.

Anyone paying for the proper stuff from a genuine pharmacy isn't putting themselves at a massive risk though as they will be paying for the real thing and will be receiving advice as to how to take it.

It's not the same as getting from a bloke down the pub or a dodgy beauty place as your ridiculous mates probably will be. That is incredibly dangerous and you could be having anything.

I'm on 12.5mg and am BMI 25 now. I've lost weight slowly but steadily and will be staying on it until I get to BMI 23 then coming off it slowly. I got it legitimately as I have PCOS as when I started my BMI was 29. I have had hardly any side effects, which mostly seem to come from people being really unhealthy to start with, carrying on eating unhealthy food, not eating enough, or losing weight too quickly.

I agree with you OP but you won’t get much support on here. MN seems to be full of people buying these injections.

I'm taking it legitimately and I truly wish the NHS had taken the reigns and prescribed it generally to those morbidly obese before the rise of all the pharmacies doing it for profit took off.

The pharmacy I'm with is good in that from the start it's asked for video confirmation of weight (although not height...) and a form of check in each week although that can be self reported.

BUT even with all that I've seen people post on here who have added extra clothes to weigh, or made themselves heavier. And on the fb groups for that pharmacy it's clear some people are moving into disordered eating territory - chasing suppression, getting very hung up on what they do and don't eat, wanting lower and lower numbers and getting anxious about managing that... The ones crash dieting or trying not to eat anythinv

I'm genuinely conserned that that's with a reputable company that insist on ordering every 4 weeks. Most pharmacies you can choose your dose (and easily chase suppression/not eat) and it's almost just buy what you want off the shelf.

I think the unintended consequences will be disordered eating for many even if they were the right bmi to get it.

Added to that those only a bit overweight who should t be taking it.

Yes I absolutely agree the whole thing has taken off far too fast and unregulated.

The drugs are amazing and life changing but it worries me the way it's spread as NHS aren't prescribing it to very many and that it's become normalised to be on them and to chose your own dose and not be aware of the damage you can do, or disordered eating.

And yes even on these threads we see people who lie to get them. How many more people are out there using this drug just to lose a stone or so?

For morbidly obese people it is truly life changing and I so so wish the NHS had decided to prescribe for this group and it hadn't normalised just almost buying it off the shelf.