Anyone using a weight loss clinic for mounjaro or just irdering online?

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Last week i signed up with a weight loss clinic, run by a doctor, initially I've been prescribed phentermine, but on my second day i had palpitations so stopped taking them. I'm calling today to switch to mounjaro, i will be paying full whack for it, one of the more expensive prices I've seen £219 each for the lower dose pens. But i do get full access to the doctor and can see her weekly with that if i want to.

If you are buying from online pharmacies are you able to stay on a lower dose for an extra month if you need to? I know its cheaper also, but I'm not sure whether to stick with getting the help from the clinic or go it alone.

And now I've posted i notice the typo in the title. That's meant to say ordering 🙈

Which clinic?

If you're going to be paying I'd go with one of the cheaper providers unless you feel that there would be a benefit to the clinic?

Any decent provider will let you remain on whatever dose works best for you.

@itwasnevermine its one thats in South Wales, where I actually go in to see them.

I guess the benefit of the doctor is being able to access them for support and monitoring. She has told me that the directors have decided their pricing is going to be reduced over the next month or so, and go to a tiered pricing system. The less contact the cheaper the pens, but they won't be able to compete with some of the cheapest ones out there.

Hmm

If you think you'd benefit from the support then it may be worth it, but people like Boots do some online support and they have benefits like collecting advantage card points on your purchases. Voy have a full support program but they're expensive.

It's much safer using a clinic, if you had palpitations with another drug I would definitely want a doctor monitoring that there are no problems with this one. It can be quite a dangerous drug, which many people seem to ignore and are using it self prescribed with no medical supervision. I can see this being another scandal in the future mis-prescribed or too freely available and causing bad side effects, hope I'm wrong.

The only benefit of Drs at a face to face clinic (for me personally) would be if they were taking regular blood tests as that is the one thing I feel is missing.

Some providers give extra support , mine does live Q&A, and some guest lives - we have had guest lives with Q&A to talk about in MJ and nutrition, exercise, and later this month menopause. They also have a support fb page they are active on and a WhatsApp for questions. Three of the fb page members are organising a step challenge for everyone interested October. We can pay for one off consultations with the prescriber if needed and (I think) the cost is deducted from your next pen (I've never felt I needed one yet).

It is all very personal though, if you feel the clinic is going above that to drive your success long term and you can afford it, go for it.

Personally don’t see the value in having full access to a doctor for mounjaro side effects.

If you have other medications and health conditions then fair enough. I haven’t needed medical assistance regarding mounjaro, I haven’t had any side effects really. The main things I have messaged my pharmacy about are issues with the injection or the pen, and they have responded the same day - that’s good enough for me.

I found this quite confusing. I thought you can only access the medication with a prescription? Therefore it’s not self prescribed and it’s not without medical supervision. The medication is designed to be injected at home, but many other standard medications are like that - that doesn’t mean it’s self prescribed with no medical supervision.

Yes be getting a prescription online after filling in a form isn't really the same as medically supervised with regular follow ups.

Your only have to read these threads either people messing about with dosage and stuff to see it's not really "medically supervised"

@hopeishere it's not just filling in a form.

I would also point out that other prescriptions such as those prescribed face to face by a GP and fulfilled by a high street pharmacy are also not "medically supervised" once the prescription is in the hands of the patient. No one actively checks that you are using the medication in the way intended. It's no different with an online doctor prescribing.

I don't advocate for anyone using these injections in a way not intended, and people should absolutely be contacting their prescriber to ask for advice if they feel they want to do something different to what was intended.

You have a consultation with an online or face to face prescriber/pharmacist who is fully qualified to prescribe these medications within prescribing guidelines the same way they are qualified to prescribe many other medications.

The consultation will ask for your medical history and if there is anything concerning in there at all you will be rejected. Even if these were prescribed by a Dr, due to the type of medication it is, it is very unlikely the NHS would do a full medical exam before prescribing as it is not necessary unless there are other health conditions.

Anyone who takes prescribed drugs home can mess about the with dosage, you are very naive if you think they don't. My mum was a nightmare for doing it with all her different medications because she would in her mind link them with headaches, or cramps, water retention etc and some of them were much more serious drugs than MJ.

Patients are accountable for the consequence of their actions if they take any medication against prescription instructions.

Why would/should MJ be treated any differently? Are you suggesting it is treated the same as something like methadone where the patient needs to be given their dose weekly by a HCP? 🤔

I think a lot of people get confused/concerned by the fact it is an injection which must mean it is a higher risk that taking a pill. It is a subcutaneous injection, it is not that much different from taking a pill, it is only in injection form (currently as trials are taking place for oral medications) because the slowing of the digestive system would impact effective absorption.

I use Chequp, they have great online support and it's £149 a month

I had an appointment today with them, and have decided for the first 2 months I'm happy to pay the higher price and have access to the doctor, she also said any medication to combat nausea/heart burn/constipation are also included in the price should i require them. She did say these tend to be the side effects that occur the most and can occur each time you increase the dose. She has also created a tier system which is being introduced so theres options available depending on the level of contact you want. So once I'm comfortable with the medication i can drop down to a 'digital' subscription where contact will be via email unless she's concerned and then will ask you to come in to be seen face to face. Apparently this price will be more inline with the majority of online prescribers.