Weight loss drugs. Actually no, it's about perimenopause.. and being tired... and fed up as well....

[LankylegsFromOz]

I dont want to offend anyone, although I'll put money on someone on MN getting offended regardless 🙄

Just 4 years ago, I was incredibly unhealthy and a heart attack waiting to happen. Then, I pretty much gave up drinking, took up exercise and managed to loose 20kg over 2 years. I've maintained this over the last 2 years and I'm happy. I sometimes have nightmares that I'm overweight again (I had the same after giving up smoking), then wake up so relieved that I still fit in my brand new wardrobe.

But recently a few things have happened.

Firstly, my already hectic life, with working full time, sick parents, sick husband, kids (thankfully healthy, but 1 with SEN), got even more fucking busy! Next up.. I am unable to continue affording my PT sessions and I'm struggling without this motivation. And now (of course it happens now).. perimenopause has smashed me in my face and I am starving all the time. I cannot control my appetite, it's scary and I'm worried. I've put on about 5kg recently and it's not water weight!

Yes I'm going to get my hormones checked etc (more time I dont have!)... But what really pisses me off and the reason for this thread, is why do people have to wait until they are obese, in order to be eligible for weight loss drugs? Why do people (particularly former chubby people like me), have to wait until they are fat and unhealthy (again) to get them? Even when I was 20kg heavier, with sky high blood pressure, I still wouldn't have qualified! It doesn't make sense, to start already on the back foot? Why can't we get prescribed low doses, to avoid an unhealthy future?

Yes, I know what the hoards will say to me, when they descend! But I've already done the fucking hard work!! Now it's biology, sociology and all other 'ologies' that are against me! I'm fighting a losing battle and I'm tired, yet apparently I need to prioritise my sleep?!

And I quite enjoy exercise, but I don't have time to exercise 4 hours a day to maintain my weight. So, give me a pill for that, please?! And while I'm at it, I don't have time to eat 5 fucking steaks a day either... so give me a pill for that as well (or invent one... I've already asked).

I know there is a billion variables, including people with eating disorders etc. But this is about me (and middle aged people like me, or you dont even need to be old).

AIBU? If heaps of people agree with me, I'll take this rant to my Dr. Heck even if no-one agrees with me he's probably going to cop an ear-full anyway.

Apologies for all the swearing 🙂

OP just get Mounjaro online - it's easy to say you're whatever weight you need to be to qualify.

I think you're misinformed OP - you can get them at BMI 25 and you certainly would have qualified at 20kg heavier than now.

I don’t understand why you’d want life long medication when you don’t need it? You aren’t obese and putting yourself on a drug for life that you don’t currently need seems extreme to me. Should the nhs fund bp tablets for everyone just to stop us getting high bp?
5kg is easy to lose, you’ve done it before but right now you have life stresses which is normal, we don’t all need medication every time that happens, we have to learn to adapt and deal with things without expecting others (nhs in this case) to be the fall back. If your desperate for WLI find a provider that’ll take you at a lower bmi - they do exist

I totally agree! I’m a stone overweight and stuck due to perimenopause and hrt. I eat protein and walk about 12k steps a day. I want to do something now, not in another 2 stones time.

meanwhile lots of people I know who were bigger than me are now smaller and still being prescribed weight loss drugs. (They look great. That is not my issue!)

I am really hoping that they get a new micro tablet out so you can just tweak your weight when it starts to rise

You don't have to wait till you're obese, Voy will prescribe off label (low doses only I think) for BMI 25-27. You do have to have a video consultation with a clinician. I've been prescribed them at BMI 26 - regular gym goer, always trying to eat 'right' but appetite/weight/waistline has been increasing year on year and it seems the amount of calories I actually need keeps dropping (thanks peri menopause!)

Your poor GP. It’s hardly his fault. Obviously you will not get them on the NHS but you can pay for them privately if you want them. There are providers with very relaxed criteria these days and most people who want to and are willing to pay seem able to get them that way.

Thank you, but I can't afford that. But there were earlier drugs like Duromine etc, I'd be happy to take.

Yes, I had a period of severe stress combined with peri-menopause. My BMI had crept up to 26. I wasn't 'obese' but I didn't feel myself. Cholesterol had also gone up with the weight gain. Now BMI is 21. All my clothes fit again. Cholesterol right down too. That's was just 7 months on the very lowest dose. Now I've been off it for 9 months and maintained the BMI 21 weight (which was the weight I'd always been before menopause anyway). Feel great and started running again.

Here it's BMI 27-30. I am 6ft and all my weight is in my middle.

My BMI was 27.5. I got Mounjaro by judicious lying. But this was a couple of years ago. I think I’d qualify to get it via a private prescriber now without fibbing if my BMI was that high.

Please don't lecture people that 5kg is easy to lose. It might be for you, your experience is not universal.

I had been trying to lose weight for the last two years. I strength train 2-3 times a week, I get my steps in, I do a sport on top, I eat mainly whole foods, I get my 5 a day fruit and veg and I eat high protein. I lost and regained the same 2lbs over and over. No matter what I tried my appetite overtook me.

Lol, I'm not actually going to abuse my GP. I will rant though, but we have that type of relationship and I'm sure he won't take it personally.

What country are you in OP?

Do you mean can't get NHS to fund or can't get them full stop?

What is your BMI? I found the Mounjaro also helped with hot flashes and mood swings during menopause. I don't know how, but it did, it just seemed to regulate me all round! Maybe ask your GP anyway - especially if you have other issues related to menopause or your weight etc. Get some blood tests - high cortisol can cause weight gain.

I heard WL meds may soon be available in tablet form. They might become cheaper then.

And see your GP about HRT if you think you’d benefit. If you’re over 45 there should be no tests.

I'm in Australia.

Both. In Australia you can't get PBS for Monjaro unless you are diabetic (which is understandable) and I can't afford it anyway. But there are other drugs surely.

If you're gaining weight around your middle, that sounds like typical menopausal weight gain which is hormone-driven, so not really a result of your diet or activity levels. High cortisol also causes that pattern of weight gain. It's really hard to shift without WLI - that's the truth of the matter.

Thanks, I will ask him but he is very reluctant to prescribe me anything without jumping through a billion hoops (that I don't have time for). I know he's doing what he thinks is right but I think I know myself better.

It has only recently that the drugs have been prescribed off label (for lower BMIs) in the UK, and the vast majority of all the prescriptions are people paying privately - most who meet the high thresholds (BMI 35+ and FOUR comorbid health conditions) don't get it in on the NHS because of costs and waiting lists.
However in a few years some of the drugs will be off patent so I think that will change things a lot. Hopefully it'll be easier to access where you are in a few years.

Not being arsey.. but are you 53 yet?

Its just rubbish when you cant afford it though

You can't get mounjaro on the PBS, only ozempic.

Thank you, your username suits you and I appreciate the honesty!