Secret users - how many people do you think are taking MJ

[LeanneJP]

I’m a November starter and haven’t told a soul, not even my DH. I may do at some point, I just want to see how I go for a while. I’m just wondering how many other people may be taking it that we all know in real life but have no clue. On another thread someone said her beautician said almost everyone is secretly on it! Do you really think that’s the case?

How are they getting it, though, in the UK? I thought there was a BMI threshold that was quite high and once you fall below a certain BMI you can't get it any more. Are private prescriptions more flexible?

I'd honestly love to try it for other health conditions, but I don't think I'd qualify even privately because my BMI isn't high enough and I don't have diabetes.

I don't think almost everyone is on it.

But equally I don't think it is something people shout about. I think people would prefer others to think they had naturally lost the weight but I don't really know why

I was also talking to a friend who is a nurse the other day and she doesn't understand why the media is not talking more about the people who end up desperately ill from taking it. She says she has had to treat quite a number of people who have been made dangerously ill. And that's just in one hospital

But we thought maybe people don't want to talk to the media about this , perhaps out of embarrassment or something?

Half of mumsnet it seems. I don't get not telling your OH. What if you have a bad reaction or an accident and he needs to supply a list of medications. I think if diet after diet has failed then people will be thinking weight loss injections.

@WinterCrow if you have a BMI of 30 or over (or 27 for some ethnicities or those with other weight related health conditions - high blood pressure etc) you are eligible to buy privately.

Once you have been using the medication and (hopefully) reach a healthy BMI you could still be eligible for a maintenance plan as those who were obese are more at risk of returning to obesity and the associated health risks.

Whose getting desperately ill? There's so many threads on here!/elsewhere so very many people must be taking it.

I want to do it but I need a more secure job first. It's a bit cyclical as I don't think being huge is helping the jobs either....

I am a secret user have not told a soul even my DH. I hide mine under the onions in the salad drawer. I am 53lb down and no one has directly asked me re injections either.

Clearly, not "everyone" can be on it, as it's for obese people and/or diabetics. So I suppose the beautician meant that everyone who is obese and losing weight is "secretly" on weight loss injections, whether that's Mounjaro or Wegovy. I don't really think that choosing not to discuss your personal medical details with people is "keeping it secret", any more than any other private and personal information is "secret".

I have only told my DH, and the GP surgery knows as they have been notified. I don't discuss any other of my personal medical details with anyone else and this is no different.

Has she, or anyone in the hospital, told the media?

Are those people who've been buying it from unregistered sources?

Which ward is your friend on that she's dealing with so many patients suffering from Mounjaro injections?

This.

Also, beauticians aren't statisticians and her sample will be 'people who care more than most about what they look like'. Not really a good sample.

I've lost weight recently with low carb and exercise. I'm quite sure people think it's the jags. Don't assume.

I don’t care if people think I’m on it. I don’t shout about it because I don’t tell most people about my prescribed medication as that’s a personal matter. If someone asks I’ll tell them and I’ve told a few trusted friends and family.

For me it requires the same effort as to lose weight naturally just that this works whilst other methods didn’t.

I doubt almost everyone is on it, it’s very expensive never mind anything else.

I was at a family wedding recently & my Aunt looked amazingly thin. I have - in my whole life - never seen her so slim. I think she must be taking it.
I'm taking it but I'm also obese, but have lost a stone already without really trying.

Everyone is not on it.

Some of us are in the fortunate position that we can self-fund.

The NHS are just handing out slimming sweetie jabs to everyone. I did ask as my BMI was over 40 but doctor said I needed other things to be wrong as well but I was high enough to have a free Covid jab and that was it.

Some, what I would consider slim people are accessing it through non-reputable sources and that’s where there is a problem.

The system should be changed that the GP has to be informed that you are accessing MJ and that you should go to the surgeries weight clinic once every 3 months in order for treatment to continue. I gave permission for Lloyds to notify my GP as it should be recorded that I am taking it just in case.

That's because hardly anyone is getting desperately ill on it!
People are getting ill because they have stupidly bought a fake. Which is entirely avoidable quite honestly if they have any sense at all. Even today there is a BBC article claiming someone get ill on the drug. They didn't. They bought insulin instead.

I am just finishing 6 weeks on MJ. I told my husband after week 3 as I had a huge bruise on my abdomen and he commented. I am glad I told him as my side effects have been horrible. The second week on 5mg has been hell, constant nausea, acid regurgetation and horrendous constipation. He has seen me suffering and has been so worried (as have I)

Why do you think everyone has a GP?

No one in my social group or family has ever mentioned weight loss injections in real life, even to discuss the couple of stories on main news. Most work so don't watch Good/This Morning etc. I think I have only seen one news story myself, so if I wasn't on MN and/or taking the injection myself it wouldn't be on my radar either. I never saw it anywhere until I went looking for it a few months ago.

Even my hairdresser (where no topic is off limits!) hasn't mentioned it!

If you don’t have a GP I don’t think you can get it

Are you not registered with a GP?

I'll mention that to her. I guess patient confidentiality makes that tricky but it does sound like there needs to be more awareness

I am well aware the drugs I take can make some people desperately/fatally ill. So I don't know why people are uncomfortable about an honest discussion about risk. No medication is risk free

(And I am not judging people who take it, but personally I prefer to make informed decisions)

I haven't told anyone and family would not suspect, it just looks like I am being 'good'. I have no plans to ever tell anyone. I haven't had noticeable side effects though.

Mounjaro isn't making me lose weight, I am losing weight because I am eating more mindfully, fill full more quickly and am not snacking. Mounjaro is taking care of the fullness and removing the food noise. If I ate donuts all day I wouldn't lose weight Mounjaro or not.

So if anyone asks - I'm losing weight the same way everyone else does: energy in and energy out, being careful, hardly drinking alcohol etc . Do I think 'everyone is on it' - couldn't care, none of my business but I applaud anyone who is trying to lose weight if they are obese/overweight.

I don’t think I know of anyone taking it. I get that they might not tell me but I haven't noticed any obvious weight change in friends, family or colleagues. No one I know is talking about it IRL but I read a lot about it on here and occasionally see news articles about it.

@SweetSakura because the "discussion" about risks is usually very ill informed and discusses single incidents often of people not even taking the actual medication. That's not about being informed and making sensible decisions about risk. That's best done by reading the information available from prescribers about this medication rather than gossip from a friend or from reading sensationalist news stories.