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!

Oh, I’m slim, thank you. I just have to work very hard at it.

I think it should be available to people who really need it (which covers your “life-saving” description) and not cheaters who get it online who aren’t much bigger than me.

Ariana Grande is another example.

I think the jabs are a good thing.
A big part of the cause of mass obesity IS mass obesity!
It has become normalised to the extent that people feel they don't need to make an effort to be healthy or to resist the urge to over indulge when it comes to food.

I think it should be available to people who really need it (which covers your “life-saving” description) and not cheaters who get it online who aren’t much bigger than me.

I don't fundamentally disagree with this. With a starting BMI of just over 40, I was clearly well within the guidelines - but I know normally-sensible people who have cheated them. (I am also very much no longer using it in the textbook manner myself, now I am maintaining.)

On top of that, we obviously have the people who are daft enough to buy who knows what from hair/nail salons and the like. We really never have seen the likes of this with any medication that I'm aware of.

I think the rise if GLP1 will have a massively beneficial effect on the NHS!
Stop worrying about clothes ffs.

Thank you! I did about half of the weight without the jabs (but didn’t want to go off thread) I was very big so the weight fell off when I started exercising and cut back on crisps, chocolate etc. When I got closer to a ‘normal’ weight it was harder to lose so I started Mounjaro. I was in a calorie deficit obviously to lose the rest of the weight which was quite easy with the appetite being suppressed. I now can get away with around 2,000 calories a day but only if I get my 10,000 steps in and do 30 mins cardio 2/3 times a week. On the times I’ve skipped the cardio because of illness or life in general then I’ve seen a pound or two gain that week so have to cut back a bit the following week. I’ve started doing some weights (probably considered light to most people) because of my age and having a young disabled child because I want to stay as strong as possible and that really seems to turbo my weight loss (not sure if that is the case for everyone) I don’t count my calories on a Saturday and I have an Indian or a Chinese takeaway without fail. And once a week I treat myself to a matcha drink from a place that doesn’t publish the calories 😭 my sister can get away with more calories than me and still maintain so there are definitely variables for us all.

Of course same for opioids, or any other prescription med people abuse. Doesn’t mean we make it more difficult for the legitimate needs, that needs to be balanced, but if there is a medication that has an effect people want and aren’t eligible for then there will be always someone who cheats, lies, gets black market stuff,

I don't think that most overweight people will be taking these drugs. Some cant afford it, others don't like taking drugs if they can avoid it. Some people who have lost a lot of weight on them will put it all back. There may be side effects that take a while to show up. We'll have to wait and see.
At size 14 I should think there would be plenty of taller women with a healthy BMI who take your size.

Quite honestly I know no one at all on weight loss injections! I think about half a million people here in the UK are on them? with 67 million here thats a tiny proportion! We live in a fairly MC area (SC). And there are many who could be slimmer (Including me!)I doubt many people can afford to stay on them long term. Also what happens when you come off. do you regain the weight or does it stay off Size 14 is a small/medium . somewhere I read that most British women are size 16 or over .I dont think youve much to worry about OP!

One possible downside is that manufacturers of edible food-like substances will work harder to make them more addictive.
But then again can they be made more addictive?
And even if they can would it make any difference, surely those who are using the jabs will be immune to the lure of addictive edible food-like substances?

Well, yes hormones do, since that is the whole basis of GLP-1. But hormones associated with the menstrual cycle have a different impact. They certainly can affect the digestive system, as many women will attest - I always got menstrual diarrhoea, for example. And they can affect appetite too. But they aren’t going to have the same effect as GLP-1 hormones.

No, last stats were about 2.5 million, and that was about 3 months ago so prob more now.

looking at different countries it’s about 50 million currently globally.

Why if you weight 15 stone and end up 8-9 stone can you not wear a size ten??

I’m using a GLP1, now size 14 and not aiming for anything lower. I don’t care if that’s ‘large’, it’s a darn size smaller than I was five stones ago. I don’t think size 14 clothes will be disappearing any time soon. I have noticed my local pub now has a lot of smaller option meals, whereas a few years ago it was only one or two options. It’s difficult to see how this puts pressure on anyone, it’s just a choice.

When I was growing up size 14 was the biggest size you could buy, very rarely you could find a 16, but also a 14 was smaller than it is now, more like a 12. It was awful trying to find things to fit and I look back on photos of me then and I was very slim but still wearing a 14. I’d probably would have been a 10 or maximum a 12 in today’s sizes. I’m not saying we will go back to that now but I can understand OPs fears.

I think your post is really interesting. If this wasn't a problem in the 70s what has changed? How did people manage to be slimmer then? I remember that it was really unusual to see someone who was morbidly obese when I was a child, and we associated that with Americans, not with people in the UK.

I wonder how the food industry is going to change with this revolution? It could be a good thing for those of us who don't want to take medication (me!) or can't afford it because food manufacturers might cut down on producing all the awful UPF's, although my fear is that they will continue to target those at children who are increasingly addicted to them, and amongst whom obesity is on the rise. They will then have ready made customers for weight loss medication in the future.

I don't think this will happen unless the price comes down a lot. I'm a middle earner and I couldn't afford that outlay each month.

Sorry if someone else has already quoted and asked; but I would love your experience of maintaining without the jabs? I’m down to my goal weight and titrating down to 2.5, which isn’t considered a clinical dose, and seem to be finding it (touch wood) okay so far… But my weight was higher due to pregnancy (thanks, 2 under 2!!!) rather than it being my sort of natural state, so I’m hopeful I can maintain without them. Are you exercising? I’m finding it soo difficult to find the time, I do a fair bit of walking but could defo be doing more.

I've lost 7 stone this year on weight loss injections and I am still in the morbidly obese category (just). BMI charts say I should lose another 5 stone - I'll be happy with 3. I am fed up of hearing how 'easy' it is just to give yourself an injection and the fat melts away like you don't have to completely change your lifestyle along with it. It's been bloody hard work but it's allowed me to reset my relationship with food and given me respite from the hormonal problems I've had all of my adult life. I couldn't care less what I look like or what size clothes I'm wearing but I will - with a bit of luck - live a bit longer. I've had to pay for it every month as I don't have the right medical conditions to qualify for it on the NHS even though my GP said it would work for me and was happy to write me a private prescription. It should be available on the NHS for all - I think it would save millions of pounds in the long term as the NHS won't have to treat so many weight related health conditions.

I share your concern OP, though perhaps from a different angle. Clothing choices in the UK are poor, our high street clothing retail is a disgrace, and could be restricted more if certain sizes have lower demand. Even more of the 'order it online' response that some on other threads have mentioned.

The more things are ordered online, the less of a high street we will have, and more money for the race to the bottom parcel carriers.

I don't care and what other people care about when it comes to their appearance is not my business.

If I understand these drugs correctly, the weight falls off because people no longer feel hungry/want to eat. This suggests that the problem was always, to use an old-fashioned term, greed, since presumably the people on these drugs are still eating enough to stay alive and active.

Myself, I'd rather cultivate self-discipline. No one knows what the long-term effects of these drugs will be. There may well be a massive class-action lawsuit 15 years down the line.

People walked everywhere and they didn't live on fast food. They maybe went to the chippy once a week or had a chinesetakeaway every once in a while, but most food was home cooked from fresh ingredients. Not always well-cooked, but home cooked.

I have a BMI of 36 and the weight loss jabs haven't even been offered to me. I am really not sure I would want them, it seems to me that you have to be on a maintenance dose for the rest of your life once you start. We don't know enough about the long term effects. The drugs have been linked to health conditions and even death. I have an adult son I care for so I want to be around for him as long as I possibly can. The NHS is struggling with supplies of the medication because of how many people are buying it. Some of the people who need it are diabetic and yet people are buying it who are barely overweight. That seems inherently wrong to me but I suppose it's like everything else in life.

I wonder if in a couple of years people will realise that they no longer want to be taking a (relatively) new drug, permanently.

Should also add that about half the adult population smoked, and naturally having so many people on an appetite suppressant drug had an impact on societal weight levels.