Extremely hacked off by GP. Won’t prescribe Mounjaro

[Hakunatomato]

I have been self funding Mounjaro for the past year, and have a debt on credit card because of it. As a result, my HBa1c has gone from 19 to 5.5. I have lost almost 5 stones, now down to 16 .stones so effectively I have put my diabetes into remission as a result. I can no longer afford it because of the price rises and have asked my GP to start prescribing it. Their response is that because my blood sugar is now nearly normal they won’t do it, despite me having a bmi of 46. When I finish the course I have I now have to watch my good work go in to reverse and watch my health decline. All for the sake of the £30 a week is would cost my GP at wholesale NHS cost. If I put the weight back on again and wait while my blood sugar levels rise and I will have to apply again. I am so pissed off.. The relatively small cost as opposed to what the bills will be when my Diabetes returns doesn’t make sense.

OP please come back and confirm that at a bmi of 46 and weighing 16stone that you are in fact very short… ie 1.48m.

So entitled - why should the NHS fund this when they can’t afford to fund all sorts of things that would improve people’s lives? What about the IVF for people who aren’t eligible due to postcode or other issues? What about the physio that people aren’t getting in good time after accidents? What about the people with anorexia and bulimia who can’t get the counselling or therapy needed to recover? Why is your problem more important than those? As others have said you now need to continue the habits you’ve built on MJ or find the money

Living with the noise and resisting it is extremely difficult and has a huge effect on my mental health. I describe it as being in a constant argument with myself
..eat, don't eat, eat, don't eat. It turns me into an all or nothing person when it comes to food...so restrict then binge rather than consistent sensible choices. It's extremely unhealthy really. Again, if you haven't experienced it you won't understand it.

I heard that the NHS are very anti prescribing WLI to people who previously self funded. The fact you now claim it's too expensive isn't a good enough reason. I do understand that as why should they suddenly have to find the funding for thousands of people who now say they can't afford it?

You’re complaining that the taxpayer won’t fund something for you, and blaming the point-of-contact for it. Write to your MP and the Health Secretary; fund it privately; do overtime; cut back on other things. Deliberately making yourself sick to get something for free is the heights of both stupidity and entitlement.

OK, so how overweight are you? Has this been a lifelong issue or a recent development?

Perhaps you could try to suspend your disbelief for a moment that other people may have different experiences to you? And that what applies to you might not actually be relevant to others who have underlying conditions, etc?

Medication exist and is given to help and survive the worst withdrawals symptoms, it's not there to stop addicts and alcoholics to BE addicts and alcoholics and fight it the rest of their lives, that's why there are so many programs and steps to try to help.

Why is it a fat shamer to point out that when you look at obesity like an actual addiction, and people need to accept to work on it possibly every day for the rest of their life, instead of waiting for a miracle drug to do everything for them?

This.

What about trying wegovy or retratruide? Or the pills which are a bit cheaper?

This has always been my worry with WLI - the aftermath of individuals who are reliant solely on mediation to manage their weight without making long-term changes to maintain a weight loss.

Im 13 stone.
5ft 2.
A good size 16, bordering on 18.

So you are also of the opinion then, that heroin addicts don’t need methadone to manage withdrawal (just use willpower!) or that alcoholics shouldn’t be prescribed Antabuse - because they should just use willpower to stop drinking?

And has it always been a battle with your weight lifelong ir is it middle aged spread?

That doesn’t answer the question. Where did you get this information?

So.... I work in drug treatment and we all know that Antabuse doesn't work unless people do the psychological work alongside it. Otherwise people just stop taking it that day so they can have a drink.

It's not much different with WLI - they are only likely to work long term if you also change what goes on between your ears.

I'd say the last 5 years ive been putting it on slowly.
I've got lazy and complacent, but I'm struggling with fitness now, out of breath on hills, struggling to get on and off my sunbed on holiday.
I'm embarrassed by myself.
But there's only 1 person who can help me.
Me.

I agree, but if you’re saying nobody should be prescribed WLI because the fatties should rein themselves in surely you also apply that in other situations?

yes, yes, that's exactly what I said in the post YOU ARE LITTERALY QUOTING....

Give me strength...😂😂

As someone who had to pay £30k to sort out a condition that isn't covered by the NHS I totally understand your frustration, and am paying £200 a month for my daughter's ADHD meds because of the bonkers system. But my husband has type 1 diabetes and has been brilliantly looked after by the NHS and I know what my friends in the US have had to pay for diabetes and cancer treatments. One went bankrupt paying for cancer treatment before she died.

So while I understand your frustration, we actually get it pretty good in the country.

I would agree with you. And also point out that for you this is a recent thing and the cause is clear. Can you really not understand that there might be different situations in which your logic of “fatties are gross, just stop shovelling biscuits in your gob all the time” might not be helpful or relevant?

@NeatKoala - I'm sorry if my post wasn't clear. My issue is not with the OP, or with any one other poster - but with the impression I'm getting from some posts that people who have achieved weight loss using WLIs or medication have cheated and don't deserve any credit for losing the weight.

As I said, surely what matters is that the burden on the NHS of obesity is being reduced?

Of course.... and we do.

In terms of drug treatment we aren't going to throw medication at people indefinitely if they are not prepared to engage with the process of (at least attempting) to make some changes themselves!

Surely if you think fat people should just eat less...you also think that anorexic people should just eat more? I mean why is it so difficult?

Just do what a lot of us have to do, exercise regularly and watch your calorie intake. And yes, it’s not easy - I am hungry for much of the time but value my health above pretty much everything else.

but if you have to take MJ at maintenance for the rest of your life im sure the calculation for the NHS is that weightloss surgery is cheaper in the long run no? and without the added admin of consistent check ins with the GP etc.

and the whole sale NHS price for MJ is £90