What do we REALLY think about the weight loss jabs?

[Newbabynewhouse]

I've put this on AIBU rather than weight loss jab because I want a neutral audience rather than people who are all using the jab.
What are peoples thoughts on the jab? I'd love to hear from someone educated in the medical field about whether these are actually safe for people without diabetes.
I'm obese and I have lost a stone so far by dieting although it's taking me a long time! I know if I keep trying hard I can lose what I need to. Lots of people I know have started dropping weight from using the jabs and I am tempted however, can't shake a feeling that there's something not quite right.
What I mean by this is... these jabs have been around for years for diabetic people, so why have they only just been 'released' to people despite obesity effecting the NHS for years?
I know a woman who fainted in work the other day with gallbladder issues, she's on the jab.
Also, I'm going to sound a little conspiracy theorist now, but, isn't it odd these jabs became popular straight after people starting refusing to have more covid jabs..?.. I'd love to hear from people with a bit of background info or medical professionals to tell me whether I'm overthinking or if I'm onto something?

gosh. what an amazing person you are. Well done you.

Sigh.

If you're not a fan of the jabs, that's fine. However, scaremongering people into believing there's some massive thing waiting to happen isn't cool. The research 'is there' to have helped many people to choose a route that helps them and makes a huge difference to their lives.

J.e.a.l.o.u.s.y.

What’s ridiculous is thinking you know anything about it. What’s your area of research? Tons of medicines are used to treat other medical conditions that they were not originally licensed for. it’s nothing new 😂

hilarious. Why? Because they got thin?! And how would you know? I mean with me, 5 1/2 stone later when I take my clothes off, it's obvious something has happened. But how would you know I did that with injections rather than without?

Do you understand that some medications can be safely used for multiple purposes?

I can see on an individual level it's great, people making real changes to their health in ways that had evaded them for years of struggling with diets.

But I do feel uneasy on a societal/economic level that we have created an obesogenic society where companies made vast profits from selling us hyperpalatable foods that are designed to be hard to stop eating. And then pharmaceutical companies come along and sell us medications to deal with the inevitable consequences of that. Plus these medications are not just expensive but require people to take them for life - a drug manufacturer's absolute dream product! And of course then the food companies start selling us products to make sure people get enough fibre, micronutrients and protein when eating less.

It's a similar problem to the way in which we are constantly encouraged to buy products to make our day to day lives involve less effort and activity, and then encouraged to buy gym memberships and sports kit to make us exercise to offset the impacts of this inactivity!

Again and again companies get us to pay for the things that create the problem and then start selling us the solution. It all seems unnecessarily complicated and expensive as a society, signs of a system that is geared to maximise profit and not wellbeing.

I'd never criticise anyone for going on WLI if they need to lose weight, the harm of obesity clearly seems to outweigh the side effects of WLI. But as a society I do worry about how we've got to the point where so many people need this.

I will tell you about Mounjaro after spending a week in a local hospital as a in patient. I took Mounjaro very successfully, I lost 4 stone in just over a year. I felt great after losing all the weight. I finally decided to come off the jabs as i had reached my goal weight. This is when the problems started, I was rushed into A&E a week last Friday with Pancreatitis. The ward was FULL of women who had taken Mounjaro for weight loss, all waiting to have Gall Bladder removal. They didn't have them as the theatres were over run, so now they have to wait to have it removed electively. I'm at home now waiting for a date to have mine removed, in pain and off work as I am exhausted from the whole experience. I was nil by mouth and waiting to go into surgery two days in a row!! was the mounjaro experience worth it, I don't know!! Is there a link between Mounjaro and gall bladder issues who knows? Anyone I see now that is thinking of taking it, I would tell them DON'T DO IT!!! After spending a week in a NHS hospital with young ladies screaming in pain and then just been discharged into the community!!! Its not worth it!!!

I think they need regulation for people buying them rather than being prescribed through the NHS.

I know a couple of people taking them, one had to stop because they made her ill and she kept fainting and the other has ended up in hospital a couple of times because her bloods were all over the place.

She went up quickly to the maximum dose and pretty much stopped eating altogether. I don't think the NHS would have let this happen.

Great parody 👍

Life changing for me. I have PCOS (now it’s called PMOS) and have had a HUGE appetite ever since I was a baby, so it’s nice for that to be controlled. Not constantly snacking or thinking about my next meal. I could out eat most people (and not from greed)

I’ve lost a stone and a half in about 10 weeks, but I’ve started exercising too. I do wonder about coming off them in the future as I know my appetite will return. Also PCOS makes it hard to lose the weight too!

it’s not an easy way out, not at all. People should not be so judgemental.

Thinking of using the drugs as "cheating" is part and parcel of the irrational thinking of the eating disorder. In reality what you eat and what you weigh isn't a measure of your ethical purity and whether you value and love yourself is not measured in the number of chocolate biscuits you eat. Eating disorders create irrational linkages between food intake and emotional state. WL meds are of course totally unsuitable for anyone with an ED because whichever direction their ED takes their food intake will end up making them very ill.

Quite. I look older - it has been quite upsetting for me if truth be told. But I guess the fat was filling my face out! I can look at myself in the mirror in a way I couldn't because I am a whole person, not just a face. I look my age. I love the photos we're taking and no longer avoid being caught on camera. I am wearing fab clothes which are constantly commented on - one of my young colleagues called me trendy the other day which at 56 is quite something! My blood sugar is in range. My blood pressure is own. And so is my cholesterol. I don't understand the haters. It works.

This is a weird take. You seem to see 'natural' weight loss as some kind of moral strength. I'm obese and have yoyoed all my adult life, from 9 stone up to 20 stone and other stops in between. I'm currently 17 stone and if I could afford to take them, or qualified to be prescribed them by the NHS then I would.
I've lost huge chunks of weight in my life by following various diets (SW/calorie counting/Rosemary Conley etc) but never manage to keep the weight off for long as the food noise is overwhelming. Just to quieten that noise would be bliss.

Gallstones are incredibly common and have plentiful causes even without MJ.

Tell me you’ve never had a weight issue and resolved it without telling me you’ve never had an issue!

It’s not WLIs alone it’s losing weight quickly that causes the gall bladder issues. Another reason is recent pregnancy. That’s what happened to me. But anyway there are trade offs for reducing other health related issues. So while gall bladder issues were horrible- and I also had pancreatitis- it’s surely better than other obesity related illnesses like breast cancer.

I’d be more concerned with my thyroid, my endocrinologist says anything over 3.5 is suboptimal , yet some guidelines still say 4 which is it too high for females.

the problem is, if you stop private prescribing then many of us (and I would guess, the majority) who are able to take it sensibly and use it correctly wouldn't ever get near it. Unfortunately I agree that the private system is very much open to abuse and that there is sod all to stop me using my real details and buying pens from multiple sources and selling them to friends/family/colleagues who couldn't get them prescribed. I suspect that there is some of that going on. Does that mean that people like me who are in genuine weight loss need shouldn't be able to get them?

Personally Ive found the weight loss and healthy bmi to have been worth the government tracking chip that must have been implanted with, it’s also quite handy to spontaneously have become fluent in Russian.

“ I can’t really understand why people choose not to use them.”

Really? Well just one obvious one - cost, unless you qualify on the NHS.

😆 🤣

I was also going to recommend this series. It’s eye opening in a very helpful and interesting way, especially I would say to those of us who dont seem to have an off switch (but you know, we aren’t stupid!)

Just to repeat the info in case others would like to listen as it helped me in a way make some peace with myself:

”The BBC Radio 4 documentary series exploring the weight-loss drug revolution is called THE HUNGER GAME and it is presented by molecular biologist and obesity researcher Professor Giles Yeo”

For me they have been life changing. I had been bullimic for 20 years. I've now been on Mounjaro for 2 years privately and no longer binge and purge, now on a low dose. I haven't gone super skinny I'm a healthy weight. I also tended to binge on alcohol and it killed that desire too. Something I did not expect but there seems to be some evidence for it also seemed to help with my very painful endo pain which has reduced massively. But all of this is anecdotal; but to get passed by UK regulators there is so much research and red tape. PS it would be a pretty rubbish way to get the COVID jab out there!

Can I ask how you came off the jabs? Did you do it suddenly or titrate down the doses? If this is correct it’s very concerning.