Sky News discussion about weight loss pills this morning

[ffsarewedoingthis]

They’re going through the daily papers and as per usual, three thin women are saying the same things, “there’s no long term data” (incorrect, these drugs have been in use for decades), “people who don’t need them use them” (very rare, and we don’t ban things like alcohol because kids sometimes get hold of it), “there’s a pressure to take them” (no, there’s not, if anything it’s the opposite).

AIBU to be utterly fed up of this discourse? I’m on WLI and have been for the last two years. I’ve lost ten and a half stone. It has quite literally saved my life.

Why, when they’re having these discussions, do they never discuss the fact that being obese is much much worse than any potential side effects of these drugs? Why don’t they discuss that almost every study coming out has been overwhelmingly positive, with noted positive cardiac benefits? The benefits in terms of addiction etc., are known as well.

The news trying to put people off these drugs is scary, especially when it’s three women who have obviously never experienced what it’s like to be morbidly obese and feeling like you’re suffocating in your own body.

Have they been in use as a weight loss drug for decades?

Regardless, the discourse has never been about "banning" them. The concern has only ever been with the way in which they have been marketed in a manner that often distorts and undermines the normal constraints associated with dispensing prescription drugs. That seems a legit concern. It is cpompletely possible to have that concern while also acknowledging and appreciating how hugely valuable they have been for a lot of people

Look at: Charlize Theron, Lily Allen, Kelly Osborne, Davina McCall etc etc and you can see that weight loss drugs are causing previously normal sized women to look frail, unwell and extremely gaunt. This cannot be ideal for them in the long term. A weight loss drug for obese people is fair enough, a weight loss drug that is taken by perfectly normal sized women to remain super skinny (as this generation of weight loss drugs are) is obviously not a great idea. That’s not to take away from the fact that, like any medication, the drug has uses for those who are so overweight it is impacting their health.

Yes but look around normal high streets - this is not happening to normal women. Why on earth would we let a few celebrities with eating disorders influence how normal women access life saving medicine?

The long term effects will be the same no matter what they’re injected for. The studies have been positive so far.

There is no concern. If there was, they’d acknowledge just how awful it is to be obese and the damage it does to your body.

They’re super rich women with eating disorders who have access to anything they want. If it wasn’t this, they’d go back to cocaine or whatever it was that kept them skinny in the 2000s. Look around your normal high street, this isn’t happening there.

The long term effects will be the same no matter what they’re injected for. The studies have been positive so far.

It's not as simple as that. There is often a lot of research needed when a drug used for one purpose starts being used for another. The risk/benefit profile will be different.

The benefits are overwhelmingly documented and doctors sing their praises.

If it’s about concern for health, why does nobody acknowledge that it’s much much worse for you to be morbidly obese?

It isn't just celebrities that have eating disorders. This is a very uncaring caricature of the abuse potentials of WLI. You don't have to be rich to buy misappropriated or knock-off meds, or to abuse the online consultation system.

How many people actually do that, though? Compared to how many millions of people who are saving their lives, and saving the NHS a ton of money by losing weight and getting healthier?

Everybody "acknowledges that it’s much much worse for you to be morbidly obese". The concern isn't about their existence and use. It is about their misappropriation via a stretched and cynical online sales process.

Congratulations OP - what a success story. I do disagree with the notion that ordinary people aren't being impacted negatively. I've got people in my circle who initially benefited from the medication but are now looking frail. It's very wide spread use. But that's not to say that it's not an amazing medication break through despite this.

Of course there is concern OP. Denying that is completely burying your head in the sand. There are pros and cons to these injections just like most things by s in life. They are not all sweetness and rainbows.
Yes sure for very obese people who are more at harm from obesity than the side effects it’s a no brainier. But that’s not what many people on the opposing side are worried about.
There are side effects some of which can cause long term damage and illness.
Some people are using them who shouldn’t be. This number will only increase the more mainstream the drugs are. Measures need to be in place to stop this.
These needs to be heavily regulated and monitored so that only those who the benifit outweigh the risks take them.
Weight loss is so so revierred in our society that there are many people who would take great risks with their health to ‘be thin’. This includes people who were not overweight to start with.
We are at the foothills of this medicine for weight loss. It’s only just begun to be mainstream this past couple of years. Of course we need to be cautious. (I mean the drug for weight loss NOT the drug in general)

At the heart of it, people believe that if you’re obese it’s because you’re just ‘fat and lazy’ or sit around all day ‘stuffing your face’.

The reality is, for many overweight people, it’s been a lifetime of struggle, of being on a diet, off a diet, being defeated by life circumstances and that’s before we even get to insulin resistance and ‘food noise’.

I’ve lost 4 stone with MJ and for most of my adult life have lost and regained the same 2-3 stone. As a very petite person, in order to maintain my weight I can only eat about 1400 calories a day. It’s just about manageable but it’s mostly a life of restriction, of never being able to really relax and just eat without worrying. Over the years my weight gradually went up and up but then in order to lose weight, I’d have to restrict down even further and of course was totally miserable, consumed with obsessive thoughts about what I wanted to eat and eventually caving in, only to be mercilessly hounded by shame and regret.

I genuinely believe that for some, it’s almost like a form of OCD and for me, MJ instantly stopped all of that. I could eat normally for the first time in my life, not overthink about food, not overeat, just eat, sensibly and stop obsessing about it. Absolute miracle really.

I’m still on MJ but I think it’s given me breathing room to build new habits (lots of protein, fluids and weight training) and I am slowly tapering down. I’m not naive and know the craziness might return but at least now I have some defence and strategy against it, whereas before I was trapped in a doom loop of obsessive thoughts and shame. Awful.

I don’t expect anyone who’s not experienced it to understand. I don’t understand how someone can get so trapped in drug addiction that they’d sell their granny for a fix but that doesn’t mean it’s not real. I’m just glad if they get the help to get free of it. And for some reason, people seem to hate the fact that overweight people are ‘taking the easy way’. Well why shouldn’t I? Why is that anyone else’s business? No one criticises smokers for using patches or for using tech or other medications to help make life easier. But nope, fat people must struggle and sweat to get their victory.

Well done on your amazing weight loss OP!

But if they did that, why is it never mentioned in this news coverage?

Very few people are abusing it, really. It’s just another thing to try and deny people medication that saves lives.

It is, absolutely. But I think the point is that, despite you being entirely right that it's possible to have concerns whilst making that acknowledgment, the second part quite often doesn't happen. The fact that it's so easy to do and the one thing doesn't in any way cancel out the other makes it more stark when it's left out.

I've not seen the segment OP was talking about. But it doesn't surprise me to hear of media coverage that manages to leave out the fact that obesity is dangerous and an already obese person has no risk free options open to them. It's never a surprise.

However, the media aren't daft and they know what sort of story works. In the same way that, for example, when the BMJ published the review earlier this year, the headlines and clickbait were about the WLI users having put weight back on more quickly rather than them having lost more of it in the first place. That's what gets interest. There's a context.

Celebrities abusing prescription drugs is hardly a new phenomenon.

I usually find that people acknowledge that with morbid obesity. The more common criticism is self appointed experts talking about how people at the lower end of obesity should do some variation of eat less and move more, obviously with no evidence that this is going to make someone with a 32 BMI lose the weight and keep it off. Also with frequent appearances from people who don't realise their size 14-16ish looking mate who they'd characterise as a bit chubby quite likely does have a 30+ BMI.

How is this any different than highlighting the side effects of OTC medication? For example, liver damage and GI as a result of ibuprofen or the link to Alzheimer's where certain allergy/hayfever medications are concerned.

Just because we all get relief from a certain medication, due to a certain condition, doesn't mean we shouldn't be made aware of potential side effects and how these could manifest in the short or long term.

I completely agree. I’ve lost seven stone on Mounjaro and the gym. Best decision I ever made.

It’s because the “concerns” don’t tend to come from a genuine concern for people’s health. You don’t see anyone who actually cares about it - because if they did, they’d also admit that the drugs are, largely, a good thing. It’s also the fact the criticisms come from people who have obviously never had a weight issue.

I don't rely on news headlines for this. There's a leaflet in every box listing side effects and my prescriber emails me and checks if there's any changes every time I order. It's just the way people dress up the fact they'd rather I was punished for obesity than successfully losing their licence weight and now maintaining. Well they really hate that I'm now size 8-10 but they can't say that so instead the faux concern comes out. Although luckily now it's been so long the 'caring comments' have receded.

Oh, that's too bad. I don't know why people pass judgement about things like weight loss. You are damned if you do and damned if you don't. I wasn't sure how many people read inserts with medication. I must admit, I never knew how ibuprofen could be damaging until I had gastritis and was advised to not take ibuprofen, throughout. That's what instigated my curiosity about side effects of it and other medications. Maybe some just take for granted there are no side effects, like me, and so I assumed that's why they were being highlighted.

Oh, okay, I understand. If that's the case, then that's not on. I remember a lot of judgement about gastric bypass being a 'cheat code' for people. Diet pills were frowned on in the early 2000s but were all the rage for decades. I understand now, OP. Thanks for clarifying.

I’m size 14 bmi of 26 and feel immense pressure at the moment to loose weight - that I have never felt before.

I’m getting targeted ads (more probably due to age as nearly 50). I’ve even had WLI ads* on podcasts on Spotify.

The threshold bmi needed to access the injections has gone down significantly and the checks are few and easy to circumvent.

Then you add in people congratulate/ say well done to people who have lost weight. You wouldn’t say well done to someone undergoing other medical procedures so people are still attaching a moral value to weight loss.

*The ads don’t mention wli but do mention medication to aid weight loss from a well know wli supplier

The threshold BMI hasn’t changed at all for private supplies.

On the NHS it’s gone from 40 to 35, but there are specific health conditions needed.

For private suppliers it’s still 30, or 27 with health conditions.

Those adverts won’t be targeted to you. They’re just generic ads.