Is it the begining of the end for Weight loss injections?

[BeginingoftheendforWLI]

Just watched a report on BBC news, they did an item on a woman who had type 2 diabetes and was prescribed Mounjaro, doctors were impressed she managed to come off insulin within a month. She had some weightloss and now goes to the gym regularly.

Her doctor admitted that there was widespread concern in the medical field that people who were buying it privately for cosmetic reasons not for medical reasons could face some consequences in the future such as muscle growth and bone degeneration and lack of nutrition - they simply don't have this data at present.

Feel like this is going to be big news in the foreseeable future.

It may stop the solely cosmetic crew but those of us with serious weight issues will still look at the possible pros v the possible cons.
I am intending on going on it. I am morbidly obese and can't keep going like this or I will end up with serious health issues and mobility issues. (No current health problems mean I don't qualify on NHS)

No I don't need educating like many people think.
Fat people are not fat cause they are uneducated.

The data is the same with any diet.
Obesity is complex, there’s still much to be learned. Using WLIs as a tool to reverse/prevent other life threatening illnesses comorbid to obesity is a game changer for so many people.

As an aside any treatment and research into obesity and truly fixing the root causes (of which there are likely to be many) could really take off if people would just let go of the horrible attitude that fat people are stupid and don’t deserve effective treatment.

Exactly this

This is correct.
I recently completed a weight loss program where it was stressed that toning is essential for this reason.
I also am taking WLI with the understanding that I either change my relationship with food and learn how to fuel my body to optimise my health or I stay on WLI forever. Nothing changes unless I actually put in the work.
The benefits of WLI outweigh the risks for most obese individuals but there are many who cannot get past the mindset that it's 'cheating' 🤷‍♀️

Given the amount of posts I've seen from people with low BMIs asking how they can trick the system to let them get it anyway, I totally believe that there will be ongoing problems because they are being massively misused.
As an alternative to bariatric surgery for people who are dangerously overweight then I imagine the gains out weight the potential unknown harm. But many people who aren't even close to that position are taking them without a second thought to long term consequences.

Oh OP, surely you’ve realised by now that you cannot post ANYTHING that’s remotely critical of WLI on MN? No matter that the news report you mention actually raises a valid point about the lack of data regarding the impact on muscle, when anecdotally users have reported disappearing buttocks and sagging biceps as a loss of muscle issue caused by the rapid weight loss that WLI that can trigger. But no, you are not allowed to express any critical thinking about WLI whatsoever and any suggestion that there might be long term issues that haven’t presented yet is just not allowed. Tut tut!

This doesn't make sense. People have already expressed those exact concerns a million times so one more person saying it certainly does not spell the end for weight loss injections

GLP 1s are indicated as an adjunct to lifestyle intervention and exercise - you're supposed to do both while taking them and they certainly don't take away your ability to do exercise. Have a read of Wilding et al. (2021) which describes the STEP 1 trial of semaglutide.

I mean the likes of the Daily Mail have pretty much constant articles about WLI, both positive and negative to the extremes, and that hasn’t spelt the end for WLI. One BBC report is unlikely to make any difference to anything.

People seem to love spending a bit of mental energy worrying about these medications. I guess it’s a useful distraction technique for some.

It's cos they care. They care so much. Obviously not about the risks of obesity or the stats around other weight loss methods but their hearts ache for us on weight loss injections and the risks we take. Obviously people abusing countless other drugs aren't a reason to restrict them but weight loss injections induce a special type of caring. They're the most dangerous, risky, abused drug ever and the regulators signed them off at a drunken party or something.

Yea, your far better not stuffing your face to start with. Lot of angry overweight mums on here isn't there?

In what way 'beginning of the end'?

We're only at the very start of the NHS prescribing it for anything and most areas they're not prescribing it for weight loss yet. We're at the beginning of the beginning as far as proper medical use, for the thing it was intended to treat!

We may be about to see a reduction in companies selling privately, but probably not.

I was a “fatty” at 25 stones. I have arthritis and 2 other auto immune conditions, all stopped me being mobile. I started Mounjaro last November (2025), I pay for it privately. I have lost 10.5 stones, I’m still obese, but I’ve dropped 6 dress sizes. I now move a bit more easily, I can stand for a lot longer. I have had to decrease my dose recently as the higher doses gave me sulphur burps and vomiting, but in careful consultation with my prescriber we have decreased the dose and I am tolerating it much better.

Without WLI I would still be that almost housebound woman. I have changed my eating habits and for the first time in a very long time I feel in control.

I have increased my life expectancy, am much healthier and although one of my auto immune conditions has got much worse, everything else has improved. I have 4 stones left to reach my goal and I will have a consultation with my prescriber to look at what my next steps will be.

I have made sacrifices to be able to afford it. We are not wealthy but it has been worth every single penny.

I wish my 50 year old friend with poorly controlled type II diabetes had accessed this medication. Perhaps they would still be alive to see their children grow up.

I was so happy to see those two women on the BBC, both had been so disabled by their weight and on a path to very premature death. They looked so much healthier. All this faux concern about long term effects when these people didn’t have a long term future. Plus the medication has been around for years, the side effects are well documented.

Don't justify yourself to these fools, they're not worth the time it takes you to type your defence.

There will always be abuse of prescription meds, it is not unique to WLIs. I take thyroxine for an underactive thyroid. Some people abuse thyroxine to lose weight. There is widespread abuse of pain killers.

I must admit, it's not been around long enough in this use for me to try it, am a chicken. But I think it's great - it seems to have helped so many people, people who just have tried everything for years. Obesity has so many health risks attached and if it helps cut those down then that's got to be a good thing?

What an arsehole comment.

That’s not quite true though.
I (and many people I know) have been on countless diets over the years. Strict calorie counting.
I eat more on MJ than I have following calorie restriction diets, I’ve done strict keto. All other diets have resulted in painfully slow weight loss, even when eating in a strict calorie deficit.
MJ means I’m losing weight steadily, so it’s doing something to me apart from appetite reduction.
I can also walk without pain, and a couple of very long term chronic conditions went within my first week of MJ.

Feels pretty fucking magical to me.

And one dunce who doesn’t know the difference between your and you’re. But hey, we’ve all got our faults.

As somebody else pointed out on another one of these threads, if the level of caloric, and accompanying nutritional, deficiency necessary to treat obesity is so significant that it causes unrelated health complications, then why isn't this a concern with lifestyle interventions designed to treat obesity?

I know several people this year who have lost weight under medical supervision, either with GLP-1 agonists or gastric sleeve surgery. All cited hairloss as a side-effect. I don't think that it is the beginning of the end for weight loss injections, but it might be the beginning of the end of the idea that calorie restriction for weight loss to treat obesity is inherently benign, or even 'healthy'.

Cope and seethe, babe. Cope and seethe.

We're losing weight and it's a problem for you, clearly.

There is, as yet, no data on the millions of people taking WLI in the UK, using private prescriptions. You have absoloutley no idea whether, or how many people gain weight, or how much.

And your opinion counts for nothing to those who have lost weight, reduced or stopped WLIs and who have maintained their now healthy weight for 6, 7, 8 , 12, +++ months.

@ThisTaupeZebra hair loss is not indicative of severe health issues due to weight loss. It’s usually temporary and self resolving, not a long term problem. It certainly doesn’t counter the health benefits from losing weight.

I am very curious as to how you would treat obesity if not to restrict calories for weight loss?

Anyone who looses a large amount of weight is at risk of many health conditions, things like osteoporosis, gallbladder issues etc.. The difference at the minute is that:
A) more people are being able to loose weight because they have access to a treatment that wasn't available before (keeping in mind weight loss drugs have previously existed, they were just disgusting like those pills that cause you to sh*t yourself if you eat any fat or inaccessible)
B) they are a big topic so the media and social media cannot stop talking about them.

Weight loss jabs will never go away, if anything they are showing great side effects such as reduced inflammation and promising signs of help for heart conditions.

That aside, I am an advocate for the NHS to offer paid for clinics in order to ensure the right people are getting the drugs. 99% of people who take it are doing it right, the 1% is more interesting and going to be in the news.