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.

Understand your frustration. However, when you say you hate this country, bear in mind that the drug has become unaffordable thanks to the buffoon currently 'leading' the 'free world'.
https://www.itv.com/news/2025-08-28/mounjaro-manufacturer-admits-pressure-from-trump-contributed-to-price-hike

A hba1c of 48 or above makes you diabetic - no one has a hba1c of 5

you must be very short if 16st gives you a BMI of 46

the nhs has strict criteria and you don’t meet it.

You’ve done brilliantly - can you consider switching?
I won’t be able to continue with Mounjaro either so will probably switch to Wegovy.
GPs can not prescribe it if you don’t meet the prescribing requirements. It’s not personal. The way I look at it is that I was the one that got myself into a pickle with my weight and it’s my responsibility to sort it out.

The Newcastle programme of 800 cls a day etc does put some people into remission.

You say you bet if you stopped your meds you'd be diabetic again.
Surely only if you went back to eating too much and put weight on again?

Have you tried?

I think the NHS rollout for mounjaro is over 12 years and maybe the restrictions will be a bit less with time. It is still strict though.

Have you looked at wegovy with the NHS? there is something called Oviva. Maybe check that out. Or it does seem to be cheaper online as well.

I also have put my years treatment of mounjaro mainly on my credit card and will be paying that off but it has been really worth it. I lost 5 stone and went from BMI 40 to 28 so far.

Are you switching to wegovy? I'm swapping over next time

Exactly this. When people used to have smoking patches on their arm to wean them off smoking, once the cravings had died down, and they smoked no more, they didn't carry on using the patches - or smoke again. (Most didn't resume smoking anyway.) The idea was to use a particular aid to stop a habit, and then ditching it when it has stopped.

WLI surely is the same in principle. I find it unfathomable that anyone would plan to use these injections for life, even when they are down to their 'target weight.' Just so they don't put the weight back on. How about using some good old fashioned willpower? These jabs are meant to retrain your mind, and I don't understand why people keep taking them, long term.

It's an aid to weight loss. Why would you want to be dependent on these for life? This is a ticking time bomb for many, and a lot of people are terrified of losing them, or them going to such a high price that they can't afford them. Several posters have already got into debt to buy them privately. This is going to be a financial disaster for millions. They will stop paying for certain things/bills so they can get the WLI. Time for people to start weaning themselves off them.

Surely no-one would want to take these for life anyway, even if they weren't expensive? I know SOME meds are taken for life, for certain illnesses, but this is not a normal med. It's an aid to weight loss. (And being overweight is not an 'illness.') Once you have lost the weight, and trained your eating habits to be better, there should be no need to carry on using WLI.

And never mind 'tell me you know nothing about WLI without telling me you know nothing about WLI.' there should not be any need for someone to keep taking WLI once they get the desired result. The WLI retrains your mind and feelings about food, as well as helping you get to your target weight, so once you're at target, you don't need to keep taking them for life...

The 'alcoholics 3 weeks off booze thing' is a poor example OP. You have been taking the WLI for a YEAR and lost 5 stone. Taking WLI for life is untenable for many reasons, especially financial. No-one is going to be able to do it. Time to start weaning yourself off them now, and working on that willpower.

You're not reading what has been said about the medical guidelines. It's not about you having worked and contributed.

I only get 12 months of cancer treatment funded by the NHS. If I’d funded it myself, it would be the same. After that, if it’s presumed to have worked (all my tests are good), I don’t get anymore unless things get bad again. I’ve achieved the clinical targets. It’s watch and wait and I’m expected to do everything I can to take care of myself.

I don’t blame you for being angry about this and your health is obviously going to cost the NHS far more than Mounjaro would once the effects of the injections stop. People saying use your willpower have no understanding of what you have to deal with. I really hope the NHS comes to its senses.

To make such comments is akin to saying to an alcoholic well you have managed 3 weeks off booze, so we won’t help you until you become so unwell and have stage 4 liver disease

I had medication to help me stop drinking. But it was a short term thing and then I needed to stay off it by myself. So it was no different.

You seem to be starting off with a defeatist attitude so yes you probably will put the weight back on. I still sometimes need to fight the urge to drink. That's how it is. But I never saw it as inevitable that I would drink again just because no one was "helping" me. It was up to me to help myself. If you won't even try then it's hard to have sympathy for you.

Yes I have tried dropping the meds and maintaining the low carb diet. My pancreas is fucked to the point that it became clear I need at the very least metformin.

Diabetes is NOT just managed by losing weight and exercising. It's way more complex than that.

Which drug is that ( if you don’t mind me asking?) I’m on cancer treatment too
and there are only 4 lines of treatment. One failed, so I’m on number 2. I pray the other 2 are NHS funded.

I wish folks would stop posting this misinformation. El Lilly have been very clear and said on one of their announcements on the pills they would not be cheaper as they price based on market value not product cost. The pills will not be cheaper. And people need to stop just making stuff up.

Congratulations on your weight loss and on all the improvements in your health.
YABVU to blame your GP. They operate under prescribing guidelines and are unable to prescribe except in specific circumstances. They may be able to refer you to bariatric services for further support.
Why do you not think that you can continue to eat as you have been once the medication is withdrawn? Mounjaro, etc are not designed to be used permanently for weight loss. The idea is that you loose weight, develop healthier habits and then continue with them. It's the same principle as nicotine replacement, for example.

Even if you could afford it or the GP was able to prescribe, @Hakunatomato, what is the long-term plan? If you can't lose weight any other way, are you intending to be on the drug for life?

So you lack the willpower to sustain your weight loss naturally? You shouldn’t be taking medication to fix this as the situation has now occurred where you can’t afford and now you’ll go back to square one. Also, you should never have created a debt. Basically, you’re very unreasonable.

I agree a line must be drawn but what about people who injure themselves doing extreme sports requiring not just medical care but often involving,rescue teams, helicopters should they have insurance to cover themselves? Sorry if off topic but I have wondered

You were asking for trouble posting this in AIBU rather than the WLI boards, pretty much inviting the pile-on of ignorance (about how WLI work, about diabetes and obesity) and superiority that you've received.

However when you went on to rant Daily Fail-style about paying into the system for years and how you hate this country because people who take the piss get handed everything on a plate, you lost my sympathy.

surely You just carry on with the healthy eating with out the injections. I know you say you’ve tried everything under the sun before but if really is calories in calories out. I know it’s hard I’ve just lost a stone and still have more to go but it’s will power

Op I can see you are angry but making up prices does not help!
The price to the NHS is CONFIDENTIAL! If you knew this price and published on an online forum you would be sued by Eli Lilly.

So let’s ignore the price the NHS pay!

The fact is the NHS has to balance a fixed budget across multiple health conditions. They have access criteria for a number of high cost drugs and those criteria have been established based on best value to the NHS whilst not unduly bankrupting it or displacing other services such as cancer, children’s services, maternity etc etc. The NHS also has to fund all appointments, monitoring and treatment of side effects associated with the drug. This is not £30 a month per patient!

It is not the NHS fault you cannot afford it now. It is Eli Lilly’s fault who created an artificially low price to try get people hooked and then upped price, and created a shortage to force people back through titration doses.

Write to Eli Lilly rather than berate your GP!

Oh come on you must know how ridiculous that is. I'm overweight and I have no one to blame but myself, I choose to eat too much, no one is forcing it down my neck.

However when you went on to rant Daily Fail-style about paying into the system for years and how shit this country is and how people who take the piss get handed everything on a plate, you lost my sympathy.

Yes, it smacked of "and they come here on their boats, stealing our houses weight loss drugs..."

No, you're wrong. The WLI work on hormonal pathways that lead to better insulin use within the body, and on making the body feel fuller, therefore (again, using hormonal pathways) breaking the link between feelings of hunger and food consumption.

If you're type 2 diabetic, losing weight should aid the pancreas long term so that is a lasting benefit.

But take away the WLI and you're still left with the rest of your endocrine system, however that is set. Most people will put on some weight after stopping, and will have to go back to their stomachs telling them to find food all the time.

OP has chosen the wrong board for this. There's very limited understanding outside of the WLI boards about the recent advances in understanding why people become obese, particularly how hormones work, the fact that the body is literally programmed to make your weight go up and never down in response to calorific deficit (whether famine or dieting induced), and why "willpower" is not sustainable long-term to counteract these automatic physical processes and maintain weight loss.

It's just going to be constant blatting about calories in/calories out, eat less move more, take responsibility, blah blah blah, as if fat people had never heard of these things or tried any diets before MJ came along or as if the only problem is we didn't intellectually know you're supposed to eat less to lose weight.

I'm done arguing about it and do not care what people who haven't stood in my shoes think of WLIs.

I'm so sorry, OP, but it's likely once you've been off it and your sugar goes back up that they will prescribe it in due course. Get this moved to the WLIs boards where you will get a more informed and less shitty response.