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.

Why can't people take care of themselves?
I get it, OP tried and is successful... now the Big Orange One has thrown in a curve it's all someone else's problem?

@Hakunatomato put your big girls pants back on and find a solution, you did it once, you can do it again.

Remember, nobody will help you, you need to help yourself!

you might not like it, but it's very true.

Why should you have priority for something you can manage by yourself, over others who NEED the treatments.

Depression is just being a bit sad though isnt it??

You cant see an issue with the way peoples brains are wired causing the overeating?

“I have no choice”

Well of course you do, you have proved to yourself that your obesity was caused by overeating, but that with a restricted and healthy diet you can live a healthier life. I understand that the reasons for overeating to such an extent are complicated, but now you know what a healthy diet looks like for you you need to find a way to tackle the reasons for your former weight gain.

You had a broken leg ( obesity) and needed a cast and crutches ( diet and weight loss drugs) , but now your leg is healed you can walk without support.

I’m so revolted by this post.

I have to disagree that £30 a week for the rest of your life is not an expensive drug. It would soon eat through the NI contributions you've made.

I have not seen that - and I am not making stuff up! I think you might not understand that Eli Lilly are not the only players in this extremely competitive future market. It's a wild west at the moment, granted. That will not always be the case.

While I do sympathise that GPL-1's are a game changer and going without is not as simple as some are suggesting, OP is rather contradicting herself.

Too expensive to pay herself, but so cheap the NHS should just cover it. For this reason alone, YABU.

Yeah I know - the ignorance is absolutely staggering - I don't know why I have bothered actually <hides thread>

you could even argue that over-eating means spending a lot more than that on unnecessary food. But people dont' like to hear simple facts.

It's easier if someone picks up the bill.

I think it’s normal for most women with gestational diabetes to not need medication and to manage through diet. I and everyone else I met with it didn’t need medication, and same with various forums I was on.

Carbs are so much worse than many of us appreciate!

I know right? You've brought it all on yourself. It's pure greed. Nothing else going on at all.

Eat less, move more and you too will be a size 8!

Because 50 years ago we didn’t have constant, cheap and unlimited access to fatty, sugary,
salty convenience foods.

I think they have a point though, in spite of your revulsion.

Nobody MAKES people eat so much that they become obese. I know eating and obesity are complicated but it's not like there isn't a choice about how much to eat and what type of foods. People arent born being obese.

Cost to NHS = £30.
Cost privately = £300.

Versus cost to the NHS of treating an obese person over their lifetime £45,000-£67,000 (thanks Google).

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

This post really resonates with me as only yesterday, my morbidly obese, type 2 diabetic, hypertensive DH was refused Mounjaro as a low dose of Trulicity, prescribed for his diabetes, with the hope it may help weight loss as well, is doing a good job of keeping his blood sugar stable (sadly, he's not lost a pound on it). He has been referred for Tier 3 help but there is a 2 year waiting list. We asked if he could change over to MJ or at least up the dose of Trulicity to see if he lost weight but were told no as the nurse could not justify doing this budget wise due to the fact that the Trulicity is doing it's job. It's incredibly frustrating. If he started eating loads of sugary stuff and messed up his levels so that the Trulicity was no longer controlling his type 2, he could then be moved to MJ...obviously, he's not going to do that but the fact that there is a drug available which will control his diabetes AND has a very good chance of getting at least some of the weight off him cannot be prescribed seems ludicrous. As a PP said, he was told bariatric surgery could be an option which seems very extreme considering the drugs that are out there. It's a sad state of affairs...😔

Do GPs these days at least TELL patients "Look lady, this ain't my fault, my hands are tied, I have to adhere to prescribing guidelines. So I'd better not see you venting your splean about ME the next time I log onto Mumsnet"?

I have a couple of chronic conditions and found it helpful when I was younger to have a consultant explain the parameters of what they were allowed to prescribe (even if I didn't agree with the guidelines).

well, put anyone into a "bootcamp" for several weeks, and basic healthy food in reasonable portion size, they lose weight. It's not rocket science.

Funny how people don't ever over-eat on veg or soup or potatoes or something.
It's not "food" they want, it's "treats". Of course that's a choice. If it was really just "food noise" and the need to eat "something", they would not focus on junk food exclusively, would they.

yes, so a CHOICE.

that's the point exactly.

If your HBA1c was 19, you weren’t even pre diabetic I don’t think?

My personal opinion is it’s not so much about food, although supermarkets and ready availability etc haven’t helped, but NEAT (non exercise activity thermogenesis).

I am old and was actually alive 50 years ago. Shopping habits were different, we didn’t have massive freezers so my mum would walk to the butcher/baker/grocer several times a week. No 24 hour tv or computer games, we played out from young ages.

even little things like homework. No information from our sofa, it was a trip to the library to look it up.

when I started my first job I was office based, but still in my feet most of the day with short spells at the computer to make notes, write things up etc. if I wanted something I got up and got it. Now, same job but I don’t need to move. Speak to a colleague? Teams. Need a research article? On line. Even lunch is now 20 steps away to a microwave because many offices are now on industrial estates so you can’t pop out, and no canteens even to climb a few sets of stairs.

women put menopausal weight gain down to hormones but when I look at my activity now vs even 10 years ago when I was walking kids to school, walking to the bus stop, taking kids to the park and generally out and about, I am simply less active.

i reckon my step count and general activity levels were way, way higher in the 80’s and early 90’s.

so yes, imo it’s the advent of computers and everything at our fingers, instead of getting up to get something. How many of us here would have got up to go meet someone for social interaction vs mumsnet?

as for o/p yes I am in a similar loophole. Got myself from obese to just very overweight, but an struggling for the last few stone to get healthy but am no longer overweight enough for wld. That’s if I could afford it!

Swap to Wegovy. It's really effective and a lot cheaper.

I am staggered that a medical professional is condoning me becoming unhealthy again just so I can be prescribed the medication.

You need to take responsibility for your weight. The only person who is condoming you from becoming unhealthy again is you. It's not on the GP or anybody else. I congratulate you on the weight loss - but that should spur you on now to look at alternatives.

OP I had 7 stone to lose and I'm just doing it myself the old fashioned way.

It was really hard at the start weaning myself off the sugar and ready meals and I did it by substituting sugar for honey (on my porridge) and then honey changed to banana which is what I currently have.

Anyway I am 3 stone 4 lbs down so far and it is a slow, slow process. Losing 1lb every week apart from week 4 when I seem to lose nothing. Despite being in my fifties I still have periods so it seems to be hormonal.

I think it is good that it is going slow and I think it is better for my skin.

I tried to get a doctors appointment last week and found it impossible so I gave up (it wasn't for WL drugs it was to ask about something else).

The NHS is very, very stretched at moment.

You have done so well. I hope you manage to keep going. I understand why the NHS has said no though.

Yes, I will 'continue' with the lifestyle changes - however I will say the appetite is galloping back since I've titrated down. Im snacking on tomatoes instead of biscuits these days.