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.

I was diagnosed with type 2 in December with very high levels of 120. I have now nearly completed the remission program and I'm in remission. I think your GP would put put you on the program, it's shakes and savoury meals all under 120 calories for 12 weeks and then you reintroduce food, slowly. Also the hbac1 doesn't add up, the figures sound like the finger prick test. The remission programme is worth doing, harder than taking a jab as you have around 800 calories a day, but worth it

I hear you @Hakunatomato
ive tried every single t2 medication out there, mounjaro is the only one that’s worked.

I’ve tried every single diet out there (including fasting, low carb etc) and actually eat very little, in recent years have not been able to lose weight at all. On mounjaro I’ve lost 10kg.

both these things are because I have huge insulin resistance (& also inflammation if recent studies are right) and mounjaro has been the only thing that has helped reduce this (including metformin).

i get mounjaro on prescription as it was originally prescribed by my diabetes consultant. Can you ask for a referral to a hospital consultant to see if they can help?

I think otherwise. Have a look at the WLI threads and read through the improvement in symptoms that people see in such a short period of time. I have 3 types of arthritis, all greatly improved by being 3 stone lighter. The OP has dramatically improved her diabetes profile in the fairly brief time she’s been on it. There are endless examples of huge health benefits in months not years. Those would represent huge savings for the NHS.

Well I lost 6 stone with diet and exercise and apart from when I was pregnant I pretty much kept it off until I hit my 50’s. No injections years ago. I am still nowhere near the weight I was but felt my weight was creeping up so I am being careful about what I eat, exercising more and guess what, my weight is slowly going down. It’s harder at my age but it’s doable.

Anecdote does not equal evidence….

It is offensive because it is reducing a really complex problem to a sound bite, @zov. I posted earlier today about the complex issues that combined to make me over weight - the simple sound bite does absolutely nothing to tackle the majority of these problems.

I was hoping to show people like you what my life is really like, in the hopes of making you all a bit more sympathetic. Clearly I failed.

Why do you feel you have to revert to unhealthy eating habits without the drug? Diet and exercise can surely take it from here after you’ve come this far. There’s no reason that it should be inevitable that you pile the weight back on.

Your health improvements are incredible and I understand your frustration.

However, people who reverse their diabetes do not continue to be given insulin and so this is a similar situation.

Lots of people decided this was going to be a long term drug without actually thinking how that’s going to be possible.

This is a short term drug that is meant to be used for obese people to get a grip on their weight.
It is not a magic wand.

I’m sorry you’ve not got down to your goal weight but coming off the drug was always going to happen and so now it’s about maintaining and continuing to make healthy choices.

So people died of the Covid jab, but no one will be harmed by weight loss jabs. It seems your logic suits you.

People take drugs to help with a number of addictions. They then come off them with support and have to find ways to manage addictions now that the crisis part of the addiction is over. As lots of people have said drug, alcohol and tobacco addiction is not treated with lifetime medication. And a lot of those drugs are an awful lot cheaper than Monjaro for the NHS!

You've convinced yourself that you are going to put weight on. You can do this without the drugs now ... you know what you have to do.

I mean, your good work doesn't have to go to waste!!! Have you heard of eating healthy and moving more???

Well done! 👏

It can be done, and having this defeatest attitude (that the OP and a few others on here have,) and getting angry because things aren't quite going their way, is helping no-one, least of all the person with that attitude. The WLI becoming so widely available was a terrible idea, as so many people (women mostly) have got so used to getting it now, and not losing weight the traditional way (like you have) and now they can't cope now the price has gone through the roof, and they can't get it anymore.

WLI were only ever intended for people to lose weight, and get to their target weight. Once they reached target weight then they should be stopped anyway. Then it's up to the person who has lost the weight to keep it off with healthy eating and a decent amount of exercise. They were never meant to be on for life FGS!

i didn’t say it was. I disagreed with your assertion, that was also unevidenced. However, there are plenty of anecdotal experiences on the WLI threads should you care to look at them . I have no doubt it won’t take long for it to be scientifically evidenced by the WLI providers too. Indeed I believe there is some already which I can find if you want me to?

I went to Overeaters Anonymous for 2 years. It's a good programme for many. Free. Online meetings.

Sorry but this is why the NHS is on its knees. You've self funded it to this point, but now you don't want to because it's gone up you suddenly demand someone else pays. After a year you should be in a far better position to regulate your diet alone as well as continue exercising. This drug is relatively new, people managed to lose weight before it. I'd love to have it but I can't afford it and I don't qualify so it's ts- that's life 🤷‍♀️. Sounds like you plan on getting yourself to a point where you will qualify rather than using this as an opportunity to continue eating healthily and exercising.

MJ just suppresses your appetite, so keep up doing what you’re doing and maybe consider a smaller dose while self funding. I wouldn’t put the weight back on to get it in the NHS as they might remove it once you get it back down to this level.
But congratulations on the weight loss and hopefully it stays off.

Take some responsibility for yourself, the NHS is already on its knees

I'm not judging you or anyone else.

I agree everyone is different as you've already correctly said, but it's my personal experience that I managed my diabetes through sensible eating.

I did not say people should ignore medical professionals or advice, or not take prescribed medication. You're twisting my words

And what I said wasn't even that offensive. Only to you. 😑

No, they are not. Obesity causes damage to the body that persists after fat is lost. That's why people regain weight so easily - it's not an 'education' issue.
Obesity causes changes to hormonal regulation and insulin resistance, and damages fat cells potentially permanently, leading to greater rates of fat regain.

WLI were only ever intended for people to lose weight, and get to their target weight. Once they reached target weight then they should be stopped anyway. Then it's up to the person who has lost the weight to keep it off with healthy eating and a decent amount of exercise. They were never meant to be on for life FGS!

Says who?

www.theguardian.com/society/2025/jun/26/weight-loss-diabetes-jab-users-report-pancreas-problems

If you can jump in your Time Machine and find me data on obesity rates and CVD rates in 30 years time in the future when we know the long term effects of Monjaro I will be most impressed.
I shall await your return.

No, it's a disease. Obesity may be self inflicted but once you have it, it's extremely difficult to get rid of it, no matter how much willpower you have.

Op i get the frustration, I really do, but you decided to self fund, just because the price has increased, it is very unfair that you are blaming the NHS for you not fitting the guidelines now.

My advice would be to speak to your provider about switching to wegovy.

Best of luck