The rise of the trend of GLP-1 and the pressure it brings?

[PiriPiriMenopause]

First of all I just want to say I have nothing against the choice people make for the injections at all, I think they’re great and they obviously work for people who need them! I totally get why someone would want to take it, and it really is transforming lives.

But I worry about the pressure this is bringing so the it. I’m a size 14 and pretty normal. At the moment I don’t have trouble buying clothes or getting stuff to fit. My BMI is about 26 which yes is higher than the recommended but not massively so.

So many people I know are on this drug! Honestly, in my normal every day life, I know of at least 15 people who are taking it. It’s working brilliantly and the results are fantastic they’re happy and it’s great, I love seeing how their confidence has turned on a sixpence. Some of the women were larger than me some were not that much larger than me or the same size.

I’m not sure if my experience is a reflection of what’s going on country wide or not. But AIBU to worry about the knock on effect this will have moving forward. I worry that a size 14 will soon become almost obsolete in the shops because people are no longer requiring larger sizes, I worry about the knock on pressure this will bring to those of us who can’t afford to take it or simply don’t want to or can’t take it. I worry about it becoming a culture for people of my daughter’s age and what it means for their confidence in future.

I’m just interested to see if I’m just being paranoid or if this is something other people worry about. There’s always been a massive pressure on women in particular with their size and appearance but this is the first time I’ve ever really felt it so extreme!

You really aren't getting it. Your last sentence sums it up really. Whether you are in favour of them or not is completely irrelevant, and I am still mystified as to why you feel the need to say whether or not you personally approve of medication that you don't take for a condition you don't have. It's like me going onto a thread for people who have cancer and announcing that I am in favour of chemo! Who cares whether you are in favour of them or not.

do i care about some jealous resentful women on line spitefully posting faux concern and daft debates, as they can’t get them and want them,, nope.

Why assume that everyone who has the opposite opinion and dares to question the use of WLI must be jealous and spiteful? It's baffling how triggering debating these drugs are.

Reading some of the comments from users on this thread, I'm starting to think they should add "likely to make you deeply hostile and defensive" to the list of known side effects.

What is the “opposite” opinion on WLI? Opposite to the opinion of the MHRA and the NHS?

There is quite a lot of off-label use which is a valid concern, but I'm guessing if that doesn't fit the narrative that isn't allowed to be mentioned either. And is of no interest to the posters on here who are only interested in views that echo and reinforce what they want to hear.

Well I'm afraid that's actually how discussion forums work. People with views that don't mirror or reinforce yours are still allowed to say something.

Absolutely!

Anyway I'll leave them to their echo chamber, now they have torched off any discussion they find uncomfortable.

Sorry what do you mean by off label use? Mounjaro and Wegovy are specifically approved and licensed for weight loss in the uk, they are not being used off label. Please stop making things up.

That taking them is cheating. That the side effects make it too risky. That not enough is known about long term impact. Etc etc.

None of those are my views, btw. I think fair play to anyone who takes them and is healthier as a result. I cannot because of my eating disorder history. I am obese and fervently wish I could. But the reaction to anyone who dares to voice any of the above is quite something else!

Well it's not really a discussion point is it? Whether you personally are in favour of licensed medication being prescribed. It's like saying you are in favour of the existence of traffic lights. Really odd.

Sigh.

I was BMI 40+. This was well before the NHS started rolling it out and even if it wasn’t, I had no co morbidities so wouldn’t have qualified. I definitely wasn’t on the lower end of the weight scale but don’t and wouldn’t have qualified for NHS treatment. The reason the NHS are prescribing with restrictions is purely because of money. I paid for my medication because I had to to save my health. Im not alone in that - surely you don’t think that everyone who wouldn’t qualify for NHS treatment is a size 14?!

@Calliopespa “quite a lot of off label use”. Do you mean the small number of clinics that prescribe micro doses to those that can afford it? Is that quite a lot of people? Seems like it would be a tiny minority compared to the hundreds of thousands of people getting private prescriptions from the online pharmacies.

You want to discuss the off-label use as a reason why size 14 will disappear from shops, is that right?

You're being disingenuous now. This entire thread is about the pros and cons of WLI and people voicing whether they're in favour of them is part of that. I find it odd how you are determined to shut down anyone who dares to say they have doubts. If it's making you so cross, maybe mute the thread?

@HereforonedayonlytoavoidStrangerThingsspoilers I think that the reaction to those sorts of opinions is justified and valid. They are unevidenced, judgemental, incorrect opinions. Yet often very confidently asserted. I think it’s great that many posters push back on those kinds of thoughts, and counter the claims with detailed explanations as to why they are flawed.

No that is not right.

I have said I do not believe that size 14 will disappear. That was exactly what I came on to say to the op who asked that question.

And yes, by off-label use I am indeed referring to those who pay for it from clinics. And those are the people I have seen using it.

But honestly it's tedious conversing with angry people who are so defensive they are triggering without actually following an argument. Nowhere have I said size 14 will disappear. I simply don't think it will.

Over to you to self-reinforce with your touchy co-posters.

I guess, because nobody has such opinions on any other medication. Only ones that treat weight loss. Where are the debates on whether folk should be using the newest immunotherapy drug? Why do people think
they need to weigh in (no pun intended) on drugs specifically to treat obesity?

I am not shutting anyone down. I have no problem with a discussion of any actual issues. I am however mystified why one posters seems to repeatedly want to share her personal opinion on the validity or otherwise of a medication that she doesn't require for a condition she doesn't have. Particularly when that opinion seems to be WLI are fine for those that they are clinically indicated for but shouldn't be taken by those for whom they are not. An opinion which no one has disagreed with. Like I said whether people are personally in favour of something or not is irrelevent to an actual discussion of any issues.

You say unevidenced, judgemental, incorrect opinions, but that's not the case by a long shot. Users make false assertions too.

I’m not jealous. I have been a size 8-10 my whole adult life and am happy with my body. I think it’s great you lost weight if you were unhealthy. I also think the many people in my circle who are a little overweight taking it for vanity reasons look unwell and cannot see how this widespread black market use can be ignored given the scale of what’s happening. Of course that is worthy of comment!

That's not what off label means. I suggest that you do a little more research as you are starting to look rather uninformed. Private prescriptions are not off label, off label has a different meaning when referring to prescription drugs. No one is angry btw so much as disappointed to see inaccurate information being put forward

@CalliopespaI think that the fact that you know people that are of normal weight using WLI from clinics that offer off label micro doses is really quite unusual. I don’t even know a single person who is taking a WLI in real life, let alone someone who isn’t overweight taking it from one of these few clinics that offer this service. I find it a bit of a diversion to try to centre that type of usage in a general discussion about WLI. It’s not the overwhelming majority of usage and is a tiny number of people.

She isn't even talking about that, she just means everyone who is not getting it through the NHS, she doesn't understand what off label means.

I don’t know of anyone on weight loss jabs. I’m amazed that you know 15.

My main concern is that the jabs take away any incentive people might have had to eat healthily and keep active. The jabs might stop you from getting fat, but what about your fitness, your gut health, your heart health? Your appetite might be suppressed but there’s nothing stopping you from getting your reduced daily calorie intake from mars bars. You would be thin but very unhealthy.

This is exactly what I think.

And as far as "jealousy" goes, perhaps the real issue lies with @lemonts who seems obsessed with saying no-one is permitted venture an opinion if they don't have the condition. Anyone naturally size 10 or smaller can just shut up.

The reason people comment on these drugs in a way they don't comment on, say, blood pressure drugs is because no-one who doesn't need blood pressure drugs is asking for them. It is the fact that there is off-label use that makes it relevant to a broader audience.

That said, I still think, in direct reply to op and right on the actual topic of the thread, that not enough people will take them in those circumstances for mid-range sizes to disappear.

I think the problem is that if people are very obese there just isn't much incentive to lose naturally. Keeping fit and active is harder. Many people are obese because of health conditions, disabilities or other conditions they have litttle to no control over, and the drugs bring a sense of control.

The drugs give a boost and, with assisted weight loss, can help move people to a place where they have that incentive.

People are weighing in because it's an issue that is starting to impact body image within the wider society and not necessarily in a good way for women. After years of body positivity, WLI jabs are fuelling the return of thin = successful/attractive, so if you're not thin, you must be failing. Not being obese and being healthy is of course a good thing, but celebrating thinness can be damaging.