You shouldn't take weight loss drugs. Learn about healthy eating, eat less and exercise more.

[GapTshirtsAreShitQualityTheseDays]

This is like telling an insomniac "don't take tablets, just get more sleep"

I'm 41.
I have tried.

I KNOW all about healthy eating. Probably more than most slim people.
I don't have an emotional/binge eating disorder, I just have a bigger appetite than most people. I can only control it so long via willpower or low-carb diets. The drive to eat is the most powerful instinct known to man (except maybe breathing)

It's the weight loss medication that takes the edge of said appetite and ALLOWS me the space to make sensible decisions on food.

I've gone from 15 stone to 9 stone (I'm short). If these drugs had been invented 20 years ago, my life would have been much better.

And no, I didn't steal the drugs off a diabetic. I got private prescriptions for Wegovy and then Mounjaro which are only marketed for weightloss.

And yes I am quite prepared to take the drug forever if necessary.

And no, I don't care about the "potential unknown long term side effects" because they can hardly be worse than what I was facing with obesity.

And although exercise is beneficial for many reasons, it is a fairly trivial factor in weightloss.

@Pickingmyselfup thanks. Agreed. Funnily enough I did have a problem with alcohol as well. Maybe the "addictive personality" is real, I dunno. I just liked the high/warm fuzzy feeling I got from drinking. (I wasn't drinking to block out trauma or anything). I worked in a very "hard drinking" industry at that time so it was pretty normal to go to the pub at lunchtime and after work. Between age 18-31 I ended up drinking 100 units a week. I've not had a drink for nearly 10 years. It was a thousand times easier to quit alcohol than to lose weight permanently. Because there were no blurred lines. I'm an "all or nothing" sort of person so it's easier for me to have NONE of something than to try and moderate (especially alcohol whose very nature reduces your ability to make sensible decisions)

It's only the name that's posh, honest. But it irks me that some people are so determined to portray us as craven and pathetic, injecting junk into our veins because we lack self discipline.

Using Mounjaro just smooths the path of weight loss, that's all. Just makes a difficult journey more comfortable. And lilywhite1 still hasn't clarified why that is wrong.

Yes. I use an online private GP service and get all my medication prescribed by them. Never physically been in the same room as any of them. Just because they're online does this make them dodgy and their services a bit sordid?

Remember the shock and horror when people started doing their SHOPPING and BANKING online!!!

You have just contradicted yourself.

They will go to boots or the dark web.

If they can’t get it legitimately, they will get it illegitimately. Which is more of a risk. Because they won’t actually know what they are buying?

If a young person has the money to buy it from Boots they have the money to get from illegal sources.

is it not better if they are going to get it illegitimately, that it’s from a reputable source?

Or is it a case of lets only protect those with anorexia when it’s being used as an argument to make life harder for fat people?

No, It is suggesting there should be balance. An overweight person absolutely should have access to this drug if they need it and expecting them to be seen by a medical professional in person before being prescribed it and periodically throughout their journey will not prevent them from getting it, nor make it particularly difficult.

It will potentially prevent someone from being prescribed it who either doesn't need it or did need it but is now using it dangerously.

I don't understand why this is so controversial or difficult for you to understand?

Because it doesn’t make sense.

If someone who is anorexic needs protecting to the point you want things made harder for another people there has to be a benefit to the group with anorexia.

and there isn’t. You seem convinced that people with anorexia will be trying get hold of this medication in quite large amounts. Large enough to force a policy change. Thats how desperate they are.

But the simple fact is that if they are willing to lie to get hold of it from a pharmacy, they will be willing to get it from illegal sources if they have to visit a gp.

Which is more dangerous? For people with anorexia? Getting it by lying from a legitimate source. Or getting a knock off one when they don’t know what’s in it?

If they can afford to buy it from a pharmacist, then are forced to go see a gp tgey will have no issue going and buying a dodgy one.

Where’s the benefit? There’s isn’t one. So you aren’t that concerned about protecting them. Not sure what you aren’t getting.

Like I said, only concerned if you can use it to make life a bit harder for fat people. But not really concerned.

I thought it was difficult for people with extremely low body weights, like those with anorexia often are, to obtain it from a legitimate source anyway. Usually they need pictures and scales etc, as well as contacting your own GP. I think those online companies who prescribe without these safeguards are few and far between. And as others have said, fat people shouldn’t have to sacrifice it just because there’s a chance an anorexic person might get their hands on it.

NICE says there are 260k people over 16 with anorexia in the UK.

2/3 of people over 16 are overweight or obese. That's 2/3 of about 60 million people so 40 million people.

So the typical person is 153 times more likely to be overweight or obese than have anorexia.

(I've assumed people under 16 are unlikely to be able to access money to pay for these drugs and would be unable to show evidence online of being old enough to purchase)

That's 153 people lining up to be weighed by their GP or pharmacist (how often?) to avoid 1 person with anorexia getting hold of the drug. Is that proportionate?

I'm not even convinced the drug would be much use to an anorexic. It reduces the appetite and cravings but it doesn't enable you to live on say just an apple a day.

I do suspect the "oh but anorexics might get hold of it" is a convenient excuse for people who, for whatever reasons (that they probably can't admit to themselves) just don't want fatties to get a helping hand.

Thank you for sharing. I was never smug about being slim, I just never gave any thought to my weight as I was 8 and a half stone. Extremely active. Had an accident and had to have spinal surgery and was bed bound. My only comfort….food and sugar. Fast forward four years as I’ve never regained my active lifestyle and put on so much weight I simply couldn’t. I’m 15 stone and 5’3. Really want to give wegovy a go. I feel in a place to really commit.

However, I am terrified. Literally terrified as I’ve never lost weight that I’m going to be left like a deflated balloon with loose skin. I can’t tell you how reading that you haven’t been left with loose skin has comforted me. I don’t want to effectively climb Everest, then get there and need a tummy tuck. That would deflate me. If you have any more tips or encouragement I’d love to hear

@CareerChange24 you're welcome, glad it's helped. Sounds like you have a similar amount of weight to lose as me. (15 stone to 9 stone ish). I have the tiniest amount of loose skin but a plastic surgeon would laugh in my face if I said I wanted a tummy tuck! I think it was caused by yoyo dieting hundreds of times over the years rather than this (hopefully last) diet.

Those horrible pics you see on the internet with folk needing full body lifts and the like are not from folk who have lost a few stone but from folk who were candidates for My 600lb Life. It's repeated weight loss/gain and/or massive changes, especially rapid ones which fuck the skin I think. A one-off loss of 6 stone at 1-2lbs/week which is what you will be doing... I highly doubt you will have a problem. But won't do any harm to keep your tummy moisturised as if in pregnancy. Skin elasticity/stretch marks etc is genetic tho so everyone will be a bit different.

Tips: Mounjaro is better than Wegovy. Slightly cheaper as well. Expect to feel a little sick at first and when you increase your dose. Some people say they have "sulphur burps" or constipation but I've never noticed these things. As far as I'm concerned I've had essentially no side effects.

Be careful with exercise at first as you can feel low blood sugar at times. Once or twice at the beginning I even felt a little faint standing in the shower. But these things are utterly, utterly trivial and fleeting in comparison to being fat for the rest of your life.

You will only want small portions of fairly light food so make sure you go shopping - yoghurt, fruit, chicken, that sort of thing. In a weird way, I suppose it IS like having a gastric band!

Good luck, I hope it works for you if you decide to go ahead!

*there is a specific "weight loss injections" forum on here now.

GapTshirtsAreShitQualityTheseDays,
I'm ill so probably not reading properly, apols in advance.

1. how long ago did you start taking the weight loss drugs? I'm curious how long it took you to go from 15 stone to 9 stone. Do you consider 9 stone your maintenance weight?
2. I'd be keen for updates if you have patience, let us know how it's going in 1-2-3 years time. If you continue to find this medication suitable & well-tolerated.

No worries. About 15 months to go from 15st to 9stone (I started in June of last year). I'm probably going to take off another 5lbs or so.

Yeah I'd be happy to update.

Here are some before and after pics.

I’m sure you know this but sadly all the research to date suggests that the majority of people,put the weight back on ( and more) once they stop the injections…so it’s whether you are truly going to be able to “stay on them forever” .

I think in the "before" picture I was probably "only" just over 14 stone. I was only 15 stone for quite a short time before I was "enough!" plus I obviously avoided the camera.

The "after" pic I was about 9st 4. That was just a week or two ago.

@untiltheend yep. But I can't see any reason why I would not be able to take them forever. Indeed, they will probably come out with better and better versions of these drugs. Not to mention cheaper!

@GapTshirtsAreShitQualityTheseDays the legal and insurance companiesare gearing up so please don’t bank on it being your option for life…for now ,great ,but not everyone will be able to stay on them and there’s nothing worse than regaining weight after massive weight loss. www.rpclegal.com/thinking/medical-and-life-sciences/weight-loss-jabs-a-litigation-time-bomb/

Thanks. There will always be lawsuits for every drug. The absolutely ASTRONOMICAL profit to be made though outweighs any claims. (And quite rightly so, if it had been ME who discovered a cure for obesity, damn right I'd want some financial recompense for that!)

It's the junk food companies who will be trying the hardest to get people not to take these drugs.

But the genie is out of the bottle. These medications (and hopefully improved versions of them in future) are here to stay imho. (Much to the disappointment of the puritanical teeny-tinies!)

Totally agree with you. I get fed up with the pious attitude of some people towards these weight loss drugs. I too have struggled with my weight for years. I finally managed to lose 7 stone over 3 years (without weight loss drugs) but got stuck at 14 stone. No matter how hard I tried,I just couldn't shift any considerable amount. In desperation,I tried Wegovy. And it has been brilliant at curbing my appetite. I've been on it for 4 weeks and I've lost 10 lbs so far. It would have taken me 4 times as long to lose 10 lbs without Wegovy. I have found that it quietens the constant 'food chatter' that I had in my head before. I'm nowhere near as interested in food as I used to be,and find sticking to 1000 calories per day quite easy.
I think some people regard using weight loss drugs as 'cheating',the same as they would regard someone who'd had a gastric bypass. It's a case of 'You got yourself in this state by being a glutton,now you have to pay the price and be punished. Why should you have it easy?'.

Good to see it's working so well from your pics op

I really think it is a gamer changer and over time they will become more ubiquitous. Given the obesity issue many countries have I think it sounds ok

I get the stay on them forever thing, but maybe that's fine too

Oh the horror of having to inject something for the rest of your life. I have to have B12 injected into my arm every 12 weeks. For the rest of my life. Because my body doesn’t absorb it as well as most people. This thread is the equivalent of someone telling me I shouldn’t get the injections, I should just eat more eggs.

Ah I see someone complained about the thread and had it moved to Weight Loss Injections. Yet again, we fatties are to be shamed and hidden.

The whole point of the thread was to address an audience who DON'T know anything about weight loss injections. If someone didn't want to see it, they could always have hidden the thread.

Thanks a lot MNHQ.

I haven’t ignored you- just had a lot of people to reply to.
Because I strongly believe that for this particular issue losing weight without drugs for most people is better than taking drugs for life. For some people I can see they would be benificial but for people who just can’t be arsed to put the work and thought in to lose a stone or two I don’t think it’s right to be taking drugs- as PP have said, there are side effects, lots are not to pleasant.

@GapTshirtsAreShitQualityTheseDays you’re very welcome 🤗 as an ex eating disorder clinic worker, it is absolutely nothing to do with “shaming and hiding fatties” but perhaps have some compassion for all those people who really don’t need to have yet another method to abuse themselves pushed down their throats.

@untiltheend glad you are an EX eating disorder worker. The sarcastic response tells me everything you need to know about you. I hope you are no longer in a caring professional AT ALL.