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.

You’re wrong and I can see this becoming a black market drug if you were to succeed in making it direct prescription only. More people would be obese and those with ED would continue to lie to get access.
Under current regulations I’ve had to upload my photo ID and have a video consultation including weigh in - that’s enough.

Maybe they started taking it ,when their BMI was in the accepted range for medication and now they are only comfortable telling people they are on it,now they have lost weight.
My experience was it was very thorough,and certainly my provider is very good .
But like anything in life , personal responsibility comes in to it
And like smoking,drugs alcohol,it's a personal choice to use them or not .
And it's a personal choice they are making to abuse the weight loss jabs ,and they will have to take responsibility if it all goes wrong.
I don't think those of us who are taking it responsibly ,should be punished because some People choose to abuse it

The real division is a financial one - if they were affordable to all, a lot more people would use them and would throw their principles/cautions out the window.

It’s another way in which financial status will determine the way you look, your health (the risk of overweight related illnesses is at this stage far higher than WLI as there isn’t sufficient evidence of long term effects) etc.

Campaign about the inequality by all means but it’s unrealistic to say people should do what you think is best for them. People take all kinds of risks.

The whole thing is so open to abuse. I was discussing the face to face consultations coming in with a friend who told me she's getting them for a friend who is not overweight. She also gets them for herself from a different pharmacy! I pointed out her GP is likely to find out and her friend is at risk because she hasn't been properly screened. It's idiotic!

The even more worrying one I heard about yesterday concerns a nurse prescriber who works in the NHS. She already does botox etc privately but has now jumped on the Mounjaro bandwagon and charges £300 a month. Two weeks ago she gave my friend's husband his first dose - 10mg. The label on the box is handwritten and tells how much you're getting per click. She's told him how many clicks for 2.5, and later in the week she told him to do another 30 clicks! She also told him he's ok to reuse his needles when he said he wouldn't have enough.

I'm still trying to work out how to report this person. Absolutely shocking.

For context, I'm on Mounjaro myself and stayed on 2.5 for quite a long time. Obviously I'm aware that you need to step it up.

And no I don’t use them, I don’t t need to. But I’m lucky I have my health. If I became unwell and couldn’t be active for example, it might be very hard to stay on 1100 calories a day (that’s the maintenance at my height and age for a sedentary life) for the rest of my life.
It’s having an active life that means I can enjoy a balanced diet. And lucky genetics.

Why do you care?

I used it to lose a lot of weight. But now im usually between 56-60kg, but always have a pen in the fridge for when i tip over 60kg (after hols).

I don’t know the ins and outs of how but four of my relatives are on MJ and none of them would meet the official criteria. One I would be surprised if their BMI was over 25, a super fit cyclist type. The others were maybe a bit heavier than they’d have ideally liked to be but at most I’d say BMIs around 26-28. It does seem to be perfectly possible to get the drugs as long as you can pay for them.

The problem here isn't with weight loss jobs. The problem is with your friends.

I have a good friend who has been obese for the last 30 years. Weight loss jabs are transforming her body and her life. People who actually need them shouldn't be denied them because people like your friends abuse them.

You are so right OP, seen loads of photos of people taking it who really don't need to. Also know of two people who are 5'5" and 5'6" and both weigh around 7.5st. They look emaciated but can't see it themselves. They still think they need to lose weight. They are both in the eating disorder category, their BMI's are on the floor and they still carry on.

I agree with you that people need to be verified in person but unfortunately, you will always get a private pharmacy who will prescribe it. Channel 4 Dispatches covered this topic and it is truly frightening!

I'm struggling but I won't take the medication. I have lost weight before and hope to do so again. I hate the thought of injecting any kind of chemical or hormone into me and I have a feeling that even medication wouldn't work for me as I am an emotional eater. And I also hate the thought that I would have to be on it for my whole life.

I think that losing weight is about finding other ways than food to comfort yourself if you are an emotional eater. I always think initially that weight loss is an impossible task whether I only have 7 pounds to lose or 40 (as I do now). I find that eating more protein and fewer carbs (not cutting them out though) has the same effect, as is reported with the meds, of making you not feel hungry. The moment I eat a bit of highly refined carbs like sugar my need for cakes and biscuits becomes insatiable, so I am avoiding them.

Wouldn't it be funny if all the weight loss meds were really a placebo and the scientists were conducting a huge experiment to demonstrate that, for some of us, a lot of the resistance to weight loss is in our minds?

The NHS may have to deal with it, just like they deal with everyone else who comes in with ‘unnecessary’ medical issues. Think: the broken leg caused by skiing, the person run over by a car because they were not looking where they were going, the person who fell on broken glass because they were too drunk to walk straight. All avoidable, but it happened anyway. There is just no point in saying things like ‘but we all have to pay’ - we also all have to pay when football hooligans cause damage to our cities or when people murder other people and we all have to pay the police, the judge and the prison. Don’t forget the NHS will also be able to save costs when so many obese people can now obtain a healthy weight, and will have less health problems because of it. At least most Mounjaro users are actually trying to better their health, which in my opinion, can only be a good thing.

That is so sad. I never even gave it a thought, until you mentioned it, that the meds could be misused by people with eating disorders. This is going to be especially dangerous for young people.

OP no idea why you're getting such a hard time but just wanted to add I too have a number of friends who are worryingly thin from using WLI - one friend I actually thought was seriously ill when I saw her she was so skinny. Not one of these was obese, I'd say most were a 10-12 all probably wanting to shift a few pounds maybe even a stone or 2 but absolutely no chance they were even close to qualifying for it legally. I'm guessing money talks and it is worrying and I do agree online prescribing should be banned.
I'm normally a 12 but currently more like a 14 so yes of course would like a quick & easy way to lose it & if it was risk free & not so expensive might be tempted but I'm genuinely shocked. It's like anyone normal size with money is suddenly stick thin. Maybe that's just where I live but it's rife and of course I haven't spoken to all of them to know it's WLI but it's a bit of a coincidence that after years of being in the 10-12 range so many are suddenly able to drop to a size 6-8.

Do their faces look ok? Some of the celebs who have used it look terrible (sorry to be so judgmental) and I would hate to look like that. Is it because they lose the weight so quickly? Will the weight redistribute so that their faces fill out again in the long run?

Oprah Winfrey looks absolutely fantastic, though. But I am not even tempted.

They won't be getting it from a pharmacy registered with the General Pharmaceutical Council unless they slipped through the (then inadequate) checks early on.

If they are getting it from anywhere other than a GPhC-registered pharmacy then it is being sold illegally.

Someone who is willing to buy prescription drugs illegally is clearly willing to risk their health. I don't have much sympathy unless they are very young or unable to understand the risks they are taking.

I'm using it (BMI 34 though) and I do tend to agree with the OP. I actually looked online at what you have to do and thought, none of these people prescribing me this is looking beyond a few checked boxes. So I got it locally, in person, where I had a consultation and there is follow-up and monitoring.

I am on WLI and have lost 3st since January. Still another 2st to go and that will get me to a healthy size 12. I have no ambition to get to a 6/8 or even 10. Anything below a 12 on my frame looks too thin.

To add, I get my WLI through an online pharmacy but had to have a video call before it was prescribed and also had to step on the scales and show them the weight. I also have to check in each week and show them the scales. Still open to abuse I guess...

This is really concern from me. I am 5ft5 and 61kg. I have weighed 56-61kg my entire life except pregnancy and 6 months after (mid-40s now). I assure you, there's no jealousy and i have no issue with my weight. I do find these jealousy responses extremely weird to be honest. I work in healthcare and am genuinely worried this is a healthcare ticking bomb. I think its wonderful for those taking the drug who are overweight, have health conditions etc. I am very worried (and no, not faux-concerned) by friends who I feel are on the road to eating disorders for fhe first time in their lives. It feels like they're addicted to losing weight that they don't need to lose. If they lose more weight I think they could have health problems. I think more people are telling me because of my job as a healthcare professional and to ask my opinion.

I'm taking MJ prescribed by my GP (for diabetes). I had to attend two in person appointments with him. He weighed and measured me as part of the process. He was very thorough about the medication, potential side effects etc. I then had an appointment with my diabetes nurse where she oversaw my first injection, rang me a week later to check re side effects and has rung me twice more in the 6 months I've been on it. there's no way I would get the same service through an online prescription.

My BMI was about 27.5 when I started, I was a size 14, but my blood sugars were out of control despite two lots of meds. I've not told anyone apart from DH that I'm in MJ, but if people knew they would probably think I shouldn't get it as I'm not obese. But it has been a miracle for my blood sugar levels which is all I care about.

I do think it's open to abuse, especially by people with ED. So I think it should only be available via the NHS, but the criteria should be widened to anyone with a BMI of more than 40, or anyone with a BMI of more than 35 who also has other issues like high BP. And of course it should remain available to people with T2 Diabetes who haven't found other meds effective.

They have been life-changing for many but plenty of people abuse them. There should be greater regulation and oversight for something you inject into your body. There should also be a minimum limit and once you hit that you can't be prescribed any more as weight-loss can become addictive.

Thankfully I don’t need them (perfect size 8) but live and let live. What is it to you OP? Another thread bashing people who use weight loss injections. For us people who have been thin from. Birth weight have taut skin and muscular abdomens so nothing to be jealous about. Do mind your own business, if you were my friend and dared criticise me I would tell you where to go.

I have absolutely no issue with people that need to take these medicines taking them. I am absolutely shocked my friends are using these. These are normal, healthy working middle-class women with children. 30s/40s, runners, gym-goers. Interestingly all of them have also had botox. I have wondered if botox has desensitised people to injections/ medications.

@NellitheNelephant so there's 4 friends I'm thinking of. One of them does look amazing - she's very very slim but does look great. The other 3 look really awful - gaunt in the face, even with clothes on I wince at how skinny their legs are, one has also added some fillers presumably to fill the hollowness so now just looks totally different & frankly plain odd. I am certainly not going to say anything (these are mum friends I spend time with not every so often so not close even friends to be commenting) but I am worried

It’s none of your bloody business!! No one cares if you agree or not. It’s their body, their choice
Snout out!!