To wonder if there will be any fall out from skinny jabs?

[TheLemonGuide]

Everyone I know is now suddenly very slim. Okay, im exaggerating slightly, but genuinely, most of my friends who were previously overweight are all now slim thanks to skinny jabs. I am delighted for them! It seems unbelievable to think that a jab can cure this obesity crisis, but I am so pleased my friends and a couple of family members are able to live a healthier life thanks to this.

My only slight concern is, is this something that is going to be too good to be true? Do you think there will be any long term repercussions, or are we right to just celebrate this medication as a cure for something that so many have been battling for so long?

This will go well.

Oh you and your faux concern! 🙄

This isn’t meant to cause offence. I am just curious as it’s something that has very quickly become so mainstream and has helped so many, if people think there will be any downsides long term.

I am slightly overweight myself, and would consider taking it (if I’m allowed to, as I’m not sure if you need to have a certain bmi to start). That’s part of the reason I’m curious.

Unless you're taking them or considering doing so I wouldn't worry

As with any medication, if used correctly and responsibly there is no reason to worry about it.

I agree - I don't think 'faux concern' aka jealous of my skinny friends comes in to it.

You're injecting yourself with no training or real medical supervision. Vague online questionnaires with no proof of answers actually required. Getting cheaper by the day.

Don't get me wrong, a literal cure for being overweight sounds great, and something I would definitely consider, but I do wonder whether the rush to market/increasing options/minimal supervision etc will eventually come back and bite us.

Injecting yourself is not a big deal - lots of conditions require this.

There are some people who will experience significant side effects that are more dangerous than remaining obese/overweight with qualifying condition. As the numbers of people taking them grow, so will be the number of people whom they really don't agree with.

It's possible there could be some issues with them we don't know about yet. It's also possible there are more benefits we don't yet fully understand.

At the moment, some of us are more aware of the risks and issues with the jabs than of the risks and issues with remaining obese.

First of all ...Calling them “skinny jabs” trivializes a medical treatment and reduces a complex health issue to appearance—it frames it as a quick cosmetic fix rather than something that should be approached carefully, with proper medical context and respect for people’s health.

I’m actually really worried that there will be long term repercussions which in a country with socialised medicine means potentially a cost to us all not to mention additional pressure on our medical services. I’m overweight but will not take a medication which my dr hasn’t prescribed and no proper oversight

They do. And the NHS already relies on people to do a loooooot of self reported things with no/minimal supervision. Many of us have experience of being asked to take our own blood pressure, weight and the like. If that's a risk, it's one that goes well beyond merely WLI users.

Although I can't see that we've anything like enough HCPs to stop being able to take people's word for a lot of things in healthcare.

All medication has side effects. It's about whether the benefits outweigh the side effects.

Tell me you don't know about WLI, without telling me you don't know about WLI.

Well, we know from the current data that people regain the weight plus some when they stop. It’s always going to be short sighted thinking a medication can magically fix what is a behavioural problem. If people have made lasting lifestyle changes, possibly, but they’ll have to sustain those lifestyle changes even when their hunger comes back and they want to eat everything in sight.

I take a medication that suppresses my appetite (as part of my cancer treatment). The difference between being on it and not is huge. I’m not trying to lose weight. But it’s very easy to eat a small portion or pass on cake or ice cream because I genuinely just don’t want it. When I’m off my medication, it’s not so easy.

People will have to be prepared to live without the injections. There are medication stock outs. I have a medication for my pancreas that I haven’t been able to get since about 2023/4. 🤷🏻‍♀️ There must be stocks out there somewhere in the world, but they are so limited that no normal community pharmacy can get it. It’s hospitals only and I’ve just had to get on with it. I think it may come as a big shock if people need to suddenly stop because they can’t access it or afford it anymore.

Well a lot of people at work have been on them a while and packets of rennies have started to show up on desks. So I'm wondering who's going to be the first to get booked in for gallbladder removal.

Not that I'd say that out loud. It's an interesting private experiment.

If only that were true. Lots of medication has unwanted effects, and for many of us it’s a choice between the devil and the deep blue see, however scrupulously we use as directed.

@TheLemonGuide I wondered the same too as I saw recently people can access the medication with a bmi of 25 (instead of 27 +) and would be very handy to lose a few pounds. But worried about any longer term implications so back to low carb and HIIT I go

Beat me to it!

You're injecting yourself with no training or real medical supervision.
I've had friends need Warfarin jabs for DVT. They did it themselves or in one case asked me to do it for them. How much training do you think any of us had? Zero. It's not rocket science.

Vague online questionnaires with no proof of answers actually required.
It would be crazy if that were true. Of course it isn't.

Getting cheaper by the day.
I wish! It's gone the other way, sadly.

One of the side effects is that GPs will have to stop blaming everything on weight and start actually treating the conditions people have. So that should be interesting.

I’m more concerned with how we ended up in the first place with most of us being overweight / obese and unable to shift it without drugs. The sort of food we have to consume due to very poor oversight (I’m not talking about UPF only but the general quality of food out there), the lifestyles we lead etc. I hope we manage to address the root causes although I’m not optimistic. But there’s always hope

Oh fgs. YABU to start a "concern" thread about weight loss injections.

@TheLemonGuide the decision making process by those with access to the evidence, the MHRA in the UK, is that the benefits for people who are obese/overweight with a weight related health condition outweigh the possible risks. What part of that decision making process do you think is wrong, flawed or somehow misguided?

You don’t need to celebrate the medication or be concerned about long term repercussions. You can just be indifferent, unbothered or not interested. No need to form an opinion at either extreme.

And what of those who are only marginally overweight without a weight related health condition? Like me! They seem much more accessible now. No bad thing, but I think OP has a valid question. There aren’t any long term studies yet, are there?