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, I hope that you find a solution because you’ve done very well and it must have taken a lot of work in addition to the Mounjaro.

This King’s Fund piece covers some of the issues that people mention in this thread.

GLP-1 medications such as semaglutide and tirzepatide have been called a ‘breakthrough’ in tackling obesity. With clinical trials showing double-digit weight loss in just months, and approval for NHS obesity treatment secured in late 2023, expectations are sky high. But here’s the catch: with 64% of adults overweight or obese in 2022, weight-loss medication demand is rising fast, and the system meant to deliver them isn’t keeping pace.
…
NHS modelling shows that even in the first year, if all eligible people came forward and 7 in 10 started tirzepatide, the cost could reach £3.1 billion (including the drug itself, specialist weight-loss clinics, extra dietitian and nursing staff, and digital support systems). For scale, the NHS primary care medicines budget in 2022/23 was around £9.5 billion. In this context, a £3.1 billion cost figure would account for roughly one-third of that spending – a significant and unprecedented portion.

https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/insight-and-analysis/blogs/glp-1-drugs-nhs-should-roll-them-out-at-scale?

@RethinkingLife I've just posted that the Government estimates that obesity related illnesses costs the NHS £6.5 billion per year. You are saying that according to the King's Fund research if all eligible people took WLI it would cost £3.1 billion, that is less than half the current cost for treating their obesity related illnesses. Imagine the savings to the NHS after a year!!!! I think I will write exactly that to my MP and the Health Secretary. We desperately need to save the NHS some money and this seems like an easy way to do that.

I think people need to realise that many of us are seeing our kids deteriorate on massive long waiting lists, being denied treatment and refused shared care from GPs. Those same kids are expected to take responsibility for the little they do get for fear of being bumped off services. So hearing those who are sucking up huge amounts of funds from the most expensive areas of the NHS -Type 2 diabetes. High blood pressure (hypertension) Heart disease (cardiovascular disease) Obstructive sleep apnoea Abnormal blood fats (dyslipidaemia) from self induced behaviour say they want yet more NHS money for an expensive drug on top because they absolutely can’t turn round behaviours themselves is some what galling.

The government is going to have to acknowledge this as it seems to be one set of patients that are hoovering up the biggest section of the funding pie whilst others see increasing cuts and that simply isn’t going to be seen as very fair.

What effects are they? Wasn't sure it had been used long enough to show real long term effects

It hasnt

Just someone who thinks they know it all .

I wonder how they think they know better than medical professionals?

I bet these people all line up for the wonderful Covid jab …that is new and look how many people have died having that ‼️

I’m sorry OP, I totally get it. I hope you’re not taking the many posts from people with the understanding and empathy of a pebble too much to heart.

I was diagnosed with a debilitating life changing illness 2 years ago and have piled on weight as a result of being largely immobilised. I now have a multitude of other problems off the back of it. Lost about half a pound a month by living on less than 500 calories a day, and finally resorted to MJ. Even on that it’s 3-4lb per month max, and I’ve run out of money. It’s so demoralising 😔

Eat less, move more.

But you don’t recoup savings straight away. The savings might come in say 20-30 years. And I say might because it’s modelled data and no one knows for sure what the long term safety or effectiveness of Monjaro on weight loss, nor how that translates into actual real world drops in cardiovascular disease (cvd) in later life. We have data over a few years - side effects and things like actual sustained reductions in cvd take decades to really see. In the meantime we’d have to stop whole services like cancer, fertility, maternity etc etc.
So no not everyone can have Monjaro! Not everyone can have all sorts of life extending cancer therapies, dementia drugs, round the clock nursing care etc etc. These things would be effective but not cost-effective and certainly not affordable in our tax based NHS model. The NHS has a fixed budget and has to try allocate best value for money for people across a whole range of conditions.

Good news, an obese woman (like me) is 40% more likely to get a weight related cancer so your taxes will be doing just that. Much better than helping people reduce that risk of getting cancer in the first place, right? Maybe we'll all have time to think about famine while we're on chemo.

Wow , you are so clever and educated on all this 🤣🤣

Only you can decide what goes in your mouth, and how much you eat.If you choose to overeat, you will be condemning yourself-take control.

If you want hard economics and to save the NHS and economy money it would be far better for everyone to drop dead of heart attacks at 65 than live with dementia or a chronic debilitating condition for 20 more years.
Not sure people want to advocate for that though!

Switch to Wygovy! It’s the same price as Mournjaro before the increase. It is just as effective. I also suggest you read the guidelines for having it in the NHS, it’s not just about BMI is about co morbidities, so nothing to do with your GP, he can only prescribe according to the guidelines! The NHS doesn’t an infinite pot of money!

But it's not an illness, it's a lack of willpower.

Why the biscuit for that poster's comment? She is right.

I wish there was one of these on here 😃🤣🤣🤣🤣

The fountain of all knowledge has spoken 🤣🤣🤣

That’s the absolute opposite of what @NeatKoala was saying - “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.” - medication should be the short term assistance needed to help get over the physical symptoms, and then the addict is expected to engage and work on the other factors such as psychological.

I get the frustration. My BMi was high, I was pre diabetic and have a condition that causes weight loss to be difficult. However, I wasn’t big enough for the injections. I was more frustrated because it’s also proven to help my bowel disorder.
but the NHS does not have an endless pot of money. I have to accept I either pay for it or I keep going with the gym and diet and focus on my health.
its not your GPs fault, 1000s of people want this jab and they can’t say yes to everyone.

More exercise, fewer calories + will power?

Have you thought about writing a book?

Strange that you find facts so LOL-worthy.

You don't have to be a fountain of all knowledge to know that if someone DOES take the weight loss injections, and loses 5 stone in a year, when they stop them, if they eat healthy, and are not sedentary, they will very likely keep the weight off.

Have you thought about doing this? At least give it a go. It may even work if you stick to it. You may be a bit less angry then.

The GP isn’t taking away your choice to be healthy.

Evidence?

Why do you assume you’ll put the weight back on? If you’ve made the lifestyle changes the drug helps with, then you’ll either continue to lose weight or at worse maintain.

AGAIN, a poster telling the truth seems to be offending people. Why does the most obvious thing to do (to keep weight offf) annoy people so much? Have you tried doing this?

I’m sorry but this is absolute bollocks, dangerous and super offensive. I also had gestational diabetes. I did everything right and was religious about low carbing. But I ended up on insulin for the duration because - guess what - our bodies are all different and my pancreas was failing to keep up under the strain of pregnancy. My mum - who was seven stone ALL of her life had type 2 and needed metformin. Stop judging and spouting crap that could endanger women with gestational babies and their unborn babies.