I think my friend is addicted to taking Wegovy

[Fairslice]

She started earlier this year. I know she 'cheated' by holding heavy weights to make the scales show a heavier weight.

I don't know her exact starting weight, but she is about 5.5 and was a good size 16.

I saw her in real life last week and oh my god, she's so thin. I was shocked. She's a size 8 she says although she looks thinner.

She's still taking Wegovy! She says she's taking it less frequently though. She's barely eating anything but drinking a lot😢

This post is not to judge anyone who takes wegovy etc, I know it's been brilliant for so many people. But I'm really worried about her. She says she gets it from super drug, but I have a horrible feeling she's getting it illegally online somewhere.

Just to reiterate she does not look healthy. She looks anorexic.

Is it safe to carry on taking it like this?

Is it possible she is a healthy weight but you are just not used to seeing her slim? When I was losing weight, even when still overweight people kept saying to me "you're getting too skinny, don't lose any more". They just hadn't adjusted to me looking slimmer

At 5ft5 I was officially obese at a size 14, are you sure she didn’t meet the weight requirements?
And I agree with the PP. After losing 2 stone people were telling me I was ‘too thin’, and that I shouldn’t lose any more weight, but I was still in the overweight category.

I don't know what she weighs. Her size 8 trousers are hanging off her.

Whatever she weighs, she's not at a weight where she should be taking an appetite suppressant!

OK.

She told me that she used the weights. I have no idea whether she was obese or not.

She looks really unhealthy.

Well in that case all you can do is tell her that you’re concerned about her.

I have.

Is it easy to get if you are using it when you shouldn't? If she is still getting it then there must be loads of people with eating disorders taking it.

If what you say is true and she is smaller than a size 8 and looks severely underweight to you then of course it's not safe to continue taking a weight loss injection. Surely you don't need anyone else's opinion to work that out?

As for what you can do, well tell her that you're concerned about her and are worried that she is severely underweight. As she's an adult, you can't actually intervene in her life and choices.

I'm quite surprised at the prickly responses on here.

If you’re buying it from a reputable, registered pharmacist then they will work with you on deciding when you should stop taking it, or whether you would be better with a long term maintenance plan. Having reached a healthy weight does not automatically mean that you can no longer take it, it’s entirely dependent on your personal circumstances and medical history. The prescriber will be best placed to work with you on that.
I don’t know how easy it is to get hold of it illegally without a prescription, I haven’t tried, but I’m sure people will find a way, in the same way that people manage to get hold of all sorts of illegal drugs.

Well what do you want people to say? We don’t know her, we don’t know if she’s obtaining it legally or not. All you can realistically do is tell her your concerns.

Does she have any family? What do you mean she drinks a lot, alcohol or soft/hot drinks instead of food?

Even if your friend is buying it online, the pharmacy has to disclose this to the patient's GP. If the GP has concerns, they will act on this.

Can you email Superdrug and let them know your concerns? They won’t tell you anything obvs but they may look at her more closely?

Because there's a good chance you're just not used to how she looks, rather than her looking genuinely gaunt and unhealthy.

This happens all the time. A friend of mine lost weight a few years ago (keto). He started out at 20st, dropped to about 17st and suddenly all his friends are telling him he looks too 'skinny' and not to lose any more.

17st isn't skinny, but you could see he had lost weight from his face. He still had a big belly, but strangely no one 'noticed' that. Anyway the word 'skinny' got in his head and now he's put the weight back on and more.

It's a shame when so called friends interfere and judge. Depending on where she's got her 'size 8' clothes (m&s for example), it's quite possible she's nowhere near underweight.

In any event, there will come a point where what she's eating will match what she's burning, as your TDEE drops the lighter you get, so she'll stop losing, even if she doesn't stop taking it.

Stay out of it.

🤔 I don’t see any responses I’d consider prickly?

Your question was ‘is it safe to carry on taking it like this?’ we don’t really have long term studies done on these drugs as weight loss tools. In general, it’s not safe to be extremely underweight. It’s also not healthy to eat nothing but drink a lot.

A size 8 does not sound unreasonable at 5’5, nor does a size 6 really. Her weight might just be an adjustment for your eyes, but her behaviours may well be disordered.

Look at some of the other popular posts in here about these jabs lately, people are being attacked for taking them.

If she lied to obtain the medicine, that's on her. If she continues to take it and makes herself unwell, that's on her. It's up to her to make those choices and all you can do is be a listening ear if you're concerned that she has an eating disorder

It's very easy to get out of control when losing weight, injections or not. I got very obsessed when on WW in the past and definitely displayed unhealthy behaviours.

This is a risk regardless of weightloss method.

I think all you can do it's keep talking to her and he there for her.

As others have said,she may not be as unhealthy as you fear.

As for your comments about this being a common problem - I highly doubt that it's common. But yes it's a risk.

Hopefully responsible prescribers will start insisting on video calls and photographic ID. It might be good for local pharmacies to offer a (paid for) weigh in service that can be verified in some way and submitted to our prescriber - I would be very happy to have to do so if it made the system safer overall.

Getting thin and being thin can be incredibly addictive for some people. It's disordered eating and/or an eating disorder.

She is probably getting loads of "omg you're so tiny..." comments and she is loving it.

She will not want to stop Wegovy as she will gain weight. She will be terrified to stop taking it. Like an alcoholic doesn't want to stop drinking...

Been there. Got the T-shirt. Now got fucked up digestion and need medication to poo / not to poo.

Size 8 or even size 6 is not necessarily too thin. We have vanity sizing now. I’m 5ft 10 and 11stone and can wear an 8 pair of jeans. My bmi is bang smack in the middle of the healthy range. A lot of people take that medication for maintenance. I’ve lost 2 and half stone on mounjaro. I’ve been told by my family I look thin and gaunt, my mum called me haggard at the weekend. Frankly it’s annoying.

OK well its not because I don't know what a size 8 looks like. My dd is a size 6 and looks healthy. I'm a size 10.

She's clearly addicted to them and terrified to come off. Maybe this was the wrong board to ask for support.

What indication has she given that she's addicted?

@Fairslice "Maybe this was the wrong board to ask for support." Yes, it definitely is. I don't know anything about the psychology of someone who isn't obese fraudulently obtaining prescription medication and developing some kind of addiction or mental health issue. I can talk to you about the process of genuinely applying for weight loss medication, being extremely obese, using Mounjaro weekly as directed by a doctor and pharmacist. But that's not what's happening here.

Is there an addictions board, or an eating disorder board, or perhaps a mental health board you could post on?

What do you need support with? Surely you just let her know you're concerned? Why do you need support with that?

You can tale a maintenance dose for life if you want/need to, so just because she's a healthy weight now does not mean she's abusing them.

She could well have been obese at size 16 (I am) and you can continue taking a maintenance does once you reach goal, so there isn't necessarily a problem here. Op should probably find out a bit more before overreacting.