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.

And yet “eat less, move more” still seems to work for so many people…

The ‘hunger feeling’ can feel like you want to gnaw your own arm off for some, for others, a mild ignorable twinge.

When your ‘switch’/metabolism is messed up the thermostat is bust as it were. As a 20 something pre menopause a mild hunger feeling - so, ok fine - mid 50s? Same person - ravenous, wild animal hunger. We are NOT programmed to ignore it. Hence issue.

Where did I say she should go on a diet? Diets don't work. It's about changing the way you eat FOR LIFE, like taking WLIs for life. The differennce being that one costs money.

I've got chronic health problems, I've had surgery and am taking a bucket load of medication that messes with appetite. Oh, and premature menopause thanks to oophorectomy. I'm not oblivious to this, or to body changes. But eating isn't the only way to deal with hunger in otherwise normal people - if you've got a condition like prader willi, then yes. But not for the vast majority of people, surely.

Lol, absolutely! As you can see from just a few quotes below, it is working really well.

The worldwide prevalence of obesity has more than tripled between 1975 and 2022. Obesity is now recognised as one of the most important public health problems facing the world today. - World Obesity Forum 2025

New study released by the Lancet shows that, in 2022, more than 1 billion people in the world are now living with obesity. Worldwide, obesity among adults has more than doubled since 1990, and has quadrupled among children and adolescents (5 to 19 years of age). The data also show that 43% of adults were overweight in 2022. - World Health Organisation 2022

New analysis led by Imperial’s School of Public Health shows obesity rates have increased dramatically over the last three decades.
One in eight people in the world is now living with obesity, according to a new analysis which highlights changes to global trends in malnutrition over more than 30 years. - Imperial College 2024

That's great.

I feel like it is having an impact beyond appetite and blood sugar control, but it's hard to tell as it could be that i just haven't had a flair up in a while (last really bad spell was March) i guess time will tell. My sleep is certainly better since being on it, not sure about energy levels as it's been the summer holidays so not a normal time of year for juggling everything and fitting in regular time to exercise.

There does seem to be a few positive developments in medical management coming on so hopefully mounjaro will be properly studied for Cushing's. The surgical options are definitely somewhat unappealing!!

Ok, I will change the terminology.

@Ihateboris do you genuinely believe that most fat people haven't tried changing the way they eat, haven't tried by themselves to lose weight and keep it off long-term? The increasing number of obese people in this country suggests that efforts to just change the way you eat for life is not working very successfully.

I am unaware of any study that says obesity in our children is caused by different medical conditions. They usually directly relate it to being fed crap, and lots of it, and having sedentary lifestyles.

Of course, SOME adults will have medical conditions that cause serious weight gain, but most don’t. Most overweight people reach this point by eating and drinking excessively. I reached 2.5 stone excess on my tiny frame from eating more than my body needed.

I know lots of overweight and obese people and I can’t think of one that has a medical condition. Most are like this because they eat trash, lots of it, and do zero exercise, as I did.

If you have a medical issue that causes gain, you should be first in the queue for WLI and support.

By the way, someone mentioned WW’s. Both me and my DH did this and have kept it off for a year so far. If you pop over to the WW’s “this is what I ate today” you’ll find 90% of the people posting their breakfasts of “just 1 sausage, beans, bacon and egg today” or “I skipped breakfast and now I’m having a lasagna”. There are rarely any salads or fruit. That’s why WW’s doesn’t work for many people. They cut back, but they still eat crap. The template and the advice given by Slimming clubs are actually very good. People just don’t follow the recommendations and are just not prepared to give up processed food.

OK, but my point still stands. She hasn't tried yet.
Can you imagine if we all had issues with food noise etc, and the NHS had to fund the jabs for all fat people...there would be nothing left in the pot for any other medical issues. 🤔

No, its the sort of comparison that happens. And mounjaro prescribing was linked to cancer drugs up thread.

Considering I do this for a living, I do know I am talking about.

I know, funny that isn't it?

Who'd of thunk it??

This isn’t very fair. WLI have shown us that some people get much stronger hormonal signals that encourage eating, binging etc than others. Perhaps if you had OPs levels of food noise you wouldn’t be able to stop scoffing. Maybe you just don’t know what it’s like for her?

I think you’d be surprised by the meds people are on. There only seems to be this morality around WLI…. I’m a healthy weight but my meds cost the NHS £2,000 a month. They’re for eczema and I’ve been on them for years. The NHS continues to survive.

@Ihateboris And my point is how do you know she hasn't spent years trying to do exactly that? That is why I asked the original question - do you not think that fat people haven't usually taken many, many, many steps to not be fat during their lifetimes?

Yes, I can imagine. I have already argued on this thread that the NHS spends £6.5 billion treating obesity and it's side effects. If every eligible obese person in the country took WLI, it would cost £3.1 billion and the savings from not having to treat all the side effects of obesity would be potentially £6.5 billion. I do accept that it wouldn't happen immediately. I have also provided evidence that within 3.8 years of taking WLI there is a huge reduction in all the diseases associated with obesity. Just to prove I am not talking complete wank.

Ohhh dear, @TheGreatWesternShrew - you need to stop confusing the heartless, judgemental people with actual facts. It is very unfair to expect them to understand the complexities of obesity and weight gain, or to have any sympathy or understanding with people who do struggle to lose weight. Leave them on their high horses, where they can judge people to their little hearts’ content.

Well I don't know if she's tried as she's not said. What I'm saying is she may not actually need the jabs NOW, as she hasn't tried. Simples

Exactly!

If two metabolic diseases have been the cause of your inability to maintain a healthy weight then you have the sympathy of most people on here. I’m guessing your condition is unusual and not the cause of weight gain for the majority.
There’s no need to be calling people stupid and idiots. It’s just sad to see how OP, and so many on here are acting as if they have no control over their well-being.
I’ve just read today that the weight lost with jabs is largely muscle and lean body mass and can worsen problems for women with osteoporosis.

Exactly. As I said earlier in the thread, making the weight loss injections available for everybody was a terrible idea. Originally people were just using them to help them lose weight, get rid of the 'food noise,' and get to their target weight. People got too comfortable, they got spoiled, they became entitled, and felt they had a right to have these 'skinny jabs.' Even when they had reached their target weight.

Now the price has gone through the roof, and the GP is quite rightly refusing to give them to people on the NHS, just so they don't regain the weight, and people can't handle it. They've become addicted to the jabs, and don't think they can keep the weight off without them. Of course they can - and they must. They can't expect the NHS - and taxpayers - to fund their lifestyle!

The OP never returned. Obviously didn't like the fact that most people (posting on this thread, and voting in her poll,) disagree with her! Out of over 2600 posters as I type this, 4 out of 5 disagree with her. Quite a powerful message there!)

Well, thank you, but clearly I don't! I have two of the most underdiagnosed diseases ever and most of the time patients are just fobbed off by both medical practitioners and society as fat and lazy. I only received a diagnosis both times due to my own tenacity and research plus the fact that I'd done a food related degree so had a better working knowledge of nutrition than most. Even then the lipoedema diagnosis took 30 years longer than it should - how many less confident people accept being fobbed off and think they are fat due to their life choices rather than actual medical issues?

I will call whomever I wish stupid, thank you, when their ignorance of the issue and their offensive opinions provides evidence that they are!

Going back to the weight loss side of this.

To lose weight I need to eat under 800 calories a day. That is just how my body works, and how it's been for the last 30 years.

Mounjaro doesn't create weight loss, but it makes it A LOT easier to stick to under 800 calories. It turns off the "hungry and bloody miserable" signal for me.

I'm an experienced health professional yet I've been fobbed off for more than a decade, and only taken seriously after paying for private blood tests and private endocrinology. Finally i have been referred to nhs endocrinologiest, but still await a formal diagnosis, beyond just having very abnormal hormone levels across a range of hormones and metabolic syndrome.

If I've been dismissed for more than a decade then how many other "fat" people are living with their own undiagnosed metabolic hell!!

This.

With my endocrine / metabolic issues i need to live off a tiny calorie intake and I'd challenge anyone to do that long term without some sort of assistance.