OK I'm convinced, weight-loss drugs are Incredible and will change the world

[AliceAbsolum]

DH has been on them for a couple of months and they've changed our lives for the better. He's an over eater/ mild binger and generally quite obsessed with food. Never managed to keep weight off.

Now he's happy, calm, doesn't think about food, eats like a 'normal person' and it's freed up so much space and joy in our lives.

Apparently in the future it'll be a pill you can either take that day or not, e.g. Most days but not Christmas day. Incredible!

Yes I know people get side effects and they don't work for everyone, etc. But I'm very impressed.
Apparently they also help alcoholics and other addicts as they work on the reward centre's of the brain. Amazing.

But you can buy antidepressants online if you want. You can literally buy any medication you want. There are hundreds of websites selling prescription-only meds. People who are willing to lie to get meds will continue to get the meds no matter how tight the regulations are. There are people on MN who buy vials of Mounjaro from nurses on FB. Making legitimate people jump through even more hoops and sit on a waiting list for 3 years won't stop these other people from buying it from other sources.

I think people forget these drugs are available globally. There must be at least 5o million people on them. The data is huge. And they’ve been around for over 20 years. For weight loss the USA is way ahead of us. It’s what 5 years now. It’s not just the uk, the regs are based on experience and hard facts.

People lie everywhere to get drugs illegally. It’s a small percentage but it happens. For many drugs, that aren’t even controlled like this.

honestly sick of this faux concern, the bingo card, as people just resent folks losing weight.

Anyone can lie, at any point about anything.... Go to your GP, cry a bit, tell them your in pain and can't walk and you'll prob get some good pain meds....if you then drop dead after taking them.....is it the drugs fault? Is it the GPs fault? Or is it your fault for lying???????

She died from the online ones. There are questions about whether the compounded tirzepatide and semaglutide sold online is really identical to the branded versions.

and yes, many of these online pharmacies will prescribe it to people who don't meet the guidelines. Journalists have successfully done it. If you have enough money to pay cash (and this is VERY expensive in the USA) you can have the branded one right from your local pharmacy. There will always be doctors willing to prescribe if you can pay enough. This is how you get the Kim Kardashians of the world using it to lose less than a stone.

This makes no sense? It is not controlled at all. Maybe some people don’t care about others or young easily influenced people?
I have no idea why some people are getting so
wound up. It’s simple, used correctly these are ground breaking drugs but anyone being able to order it online is a concern.

Are you thinking these young people are getting the drugs legitimately? As in they are filling in their correct weight, medical history, uploading real photos of themselves, and then being prescribed the medication? If so, no, that's not what's happening. They are giving false information and fake photos because they know they are not qualified to take the meds. There is a strict criteria for who can be prescribed WLI. Normal-weight healthy 18 year olds don't meet that criteria. Any of them taking the drugs have obtained them by deception.

She died because she had gall stones which she did not declare - ie she lied to get medication she should not have been prescribed. Tragic, but not the drug or the prescribers fault. As others have said, you can lie to obtain pretty much any drug.

As a taker of mounjaro (and previously ozempic) I’ve lost 6 stone and my health has not been as good as it is now for 20 years. My blood tests for thyroid are better; and for choesterol etc are better than most people 10 years younger than I am. It took me 18m to lose the weight that near fasting and exercising had failed to do in the preceding 3 years. As a hypothyroid/PCOS sufferer I’ve battled to manage my weight all my life through diet and exercise, but menopause and a very bad case of covid meant my weight suddenly spiralled. My 16yo son is also on these meds (under an endocrinologist/GP, not through a diet company I hasten to add, he’s autistic and had covid 4 times seriously and gained weight suddenly) and has also lost 2 stone in 3m and reversed early fatty liver issues and is growing in confidence.

These drugs when overseen by ethical practitioners are life changing. Individuals who lie and use backstreet providers should not impact the access to them by the rest of us.

Are you seriously suggesting pharmacists in the UK who stock and deal with some of the most heavily regulated drugs every single day would prescribe illegally and put their licence, reputation and income at risk if you bung them a few quid?

Are you confused? It is tightly controlled. You need to send pics, weight, doc usually notified for reputable suppliers.

the only way to get it without doing that, is to submit someone else’s picture, a fat person, and lie about your weight, and chose someone who doesn’t notify a doctor.

No shedidnt, it appears she had a signficant gall bladder issue which was undiagnosed, as well as another signficant health issue.

And this is what the OP and her husband do buy it online? Lots of people up the thread asking where and how much. That’s not illegal no idea where that’s come from?
You can’t just get it from a GP it has to go through an NHS weight loss clinic where your individual BMI and health will be monitored. Getting it online and winging it is what I have said I personally would be concerned about. No issue getting it via the NHS where you are monitored and have someone to go to with any concerns.

Are you not even reading the responses? Either you’re completely clueless or so resentful you’re doubling down.

That is 100% not true. I have seen a family member get Mounjaro without any pictures what so ever. Yes they lie about BMI. The issue is that any underlying health issue cannot be taken into account nor does the online pharmacy have access to someone’s medical records so they have no idea of contraindications. Lots of people don’t understand the interactions between medications because they are not medically trained.

Can you imagine the uproar if everyone who qualified got it funded by the nhs? They're having to take 12 years to extend its provision as it is. There's not enough GPs in the country!

Can you elaborate? What exactly am I missing?

from who? The fact you know someone who got it from a shonky supplier does not change the fact millions and millions of people across the world are reducing their risk of heart attack stroke, cancer, diabetes, joint replacement, etc by these drugs.

it doesn’t change the fact that the issues are minor to date. It doesn’t change the fact the nhs and chemists do not have the infrastructure to deal with millions of people turning up weekly.

the fact you know someone (aye) who bought when they shouldn’t, is totally irrelevant to the bigger picture.

Please go back and read the posts. None of us are here to spoon feed you.

@AccountDeleted you're missing the fact that it's absolutely legal in the UK to be prescribed weight loss injections by online pharmacies. It's approved and regulated, and not illegal at all.

None of us? Assuming you are right and everyone agrees with you is childish it’s a forum for debate. You are adding your own interpretation here. No where did I say is was a bad pharmacy? It was the very one everyone has spoken about. I work in healthcare and have seen it first hand. You are making a lot of assumptions yet a quick google will show you plenty of people caught out by severe side effects.
I have no idea why some posters are getting so upset? It’s a great drug when used correctly but to be able to buy it without a prescription is a concern

Where have I said it’s illegal? I haven’t

Apologies, misread.

You can't buy it without a prescription. It's prescribed by a pharmacist if you meet strict criteria

The pharmacist has no access to medical records that’s the problem. If it were prescribed by a GP either a private GP or your own then there would be a greater level of safety for the person taking it.

If you are not honest when completing a medical questionnaire to obtain something.....again crack on, don't whine if you get ill.
The lady that died, very sad, from what I read noone knew she had an underlying illness, if prescribed via a GP, the GP wouldn't have known either....
I honestly do not care about the idiots that lie to get the meds and then get ill. They shouldn't have lied in the first place. It's their fault, not the drugs or pharmacists.

I will re read the bingo card to see if "what about the kids" is on there!!!!!

Whenever you do an update please add "what about the 18 year olds" 😘 Thank you