Half a million on weight loss jabs

[Sadteacher]

Front page of The Times today! I wonder if we will be asked more how we have lost our weight now it is becoming more common! My friends still talk about them like they are something only celebrities use.

There is an issue with shortages of some, but not others. MJ is not an issue:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/about-us/news-and-views/our-response-serious-supply-issues-drugs-people-living-type-2-diabetes

I agree, the NHS should ring-fence what's needed. I thought they did - this was always the case when I worked with NHS tenders for pharma products, though it was a long time ago.

FWIW, although of course there has to be priority for some, many of those on weight loss injections are acting preventatively; they're taking them because they don't want to develop diabetes. Personally I'm taking them because an x-ray last year showed a suspected enlarged heart, which I can't have getting any worse. Every day I can reduce the load on it is important. I won't be the only one.

That article is about semaglutide and even states there is good supply of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) so I won't be stopping thanks.

@LLaneylane81 hi I'm 1 of those desperate I need spinal surgery but need to loose weight to get it so it's safe to do so yes I use them as i can't excersize at all and there working well

@Snozzlemaid it won't stop me either doesn't matter what anyone says

I think it's good that people are paying for it themselves, given the state of the NHS. If they can afford slimming pills, weight watchers etc then why not pay for this too (excepting those needing for diabetes and other valid medical reasons).

I really do resent the accusation that I'm directly responsible for diabetics and kidney patients being unwell or even dying just because I personally have had a private prescription for Mounjaro for 6 months plus. Because I'm selfish enough to have wanted to lose weight to go from being morbidly obese with a BMI of 50 (!!) to a healthy weight.

@Laneylane81 I'd really appreciate you responding to the questions put to you, and for you to defend your accusations here.

Yes, not to mention the diet industry, e.g. Slimming World etc.!

They are the diet industry @Tusktusk !!

Don't guilt people like this. Several members of my family have died of cirrhosis after fatty liver disease, one from liver cancer, two of heart attacks. Obesity kills too.

I don't think SW etc will be that badly affected as I think the majority of overweight people will still try weight loss clubs first rather than going straight to medication.

im prescribed MJ by my GP for nedical reasons. im overweight but not obese (BMI about 27). Obesity kills and I don't have any problem with obese people buying the medication privately. However, I know a few people who are using it when they weren't at all overweight to start with. One of my colleagues has used it to get from a Size 12 to a Size 8. Goodness knows how she managed to get a prescription, presumably by lying.

@ILoveAnnaQuay maybe she's got a medical condition much like yourself?

How did you get into that state and what were you doing about it before the weight loss jabs?

Sorry but I personally think that those with kidney disease and diabetes should be given priority.

Won't someone please think of the imaginary supply issues and feel guilty for taking control of your own health- the inhumanity! Honestly, yes when Ozempic was emerging from Hollywood for weight loss there was a flurry and it was clear demand was outstripping supply; that isn't the case for MJ (and possibly not ozempic now).

@Jabbabong how do you imagine that people become obese? Do you really not know?

And like the majority of morbidly obese people, I have been up and down in weight like a yo you over my lifetime, with the overall long term trend being upwards.

Diabetics and kidney patients are not being denied a drug they need because I have a private prescription for Mounjaro.

I get that you find me disgusting and that you think I don't deserve to have a prescription that has massively improved my health. Do you judge diabetics and kidney patients too if you feel their condition was self inflicted through diet?

Given priority for what exactly? Maybe educate yourself before posting?

it begs the question though, how on earth did you get into this state where you post like that?

@Jabbabong given priority in what sense? There is absolutely zero relationship between the availability of GLP-1s to NHS patients and the supply of those same medications to patients privately. Is this a crisis you have invented in your head?

Most people paying privately are on Mounjaro. There's no shortage of this.

My Rheumatologist suggested I try them back in 2023 but at the time there were supply issues. My very good friend is lead diabetes nurse at our local hospital and was having problems with supply for her patients so I obviously wasn’t going to take them at the time.

I have been losing weight on my own since then but as I am aware that they have anecdotally helped reduce joint pain in some patients with my condition and given I was advised medically to consider them I have just started taking them having checked the situation with her first that supply was now OK. I have checked again with her this morning in case things had changed in the last few weeks. Her reply is that there are no supply issues with Mounjaro or Ozempic at the moment.

@Laneylane81 , where are you getting your information from re your post yesterday at 17.51 please? I would be grateful if you could link it to me so I can forward it to her as there will have been a clear failure in the communications she has been receiving which she will need to urgently investigate as she has now got around 200 patients on it and it will obviously have wider implications trust wide for the patients at other hospitals and the issue of failure in communication within our local area will need investigating. Many thanks in advance 😊

I can only speak from personal experience. I am a kidney patient and have diabetes caused by the transplant therapy and have been on Ozempic for glucose control for 3 years. Supply was always a tricky, then eased as manufacturers got on top of things briefly. In the last 6 months pharmacies have again stuggled to fulfil prescriptions and it is stressful for me. My kidney function is affected by poor glucose control, and dialysis looms.
I do not have a problem with people using it to tackle real obesity, or other medical problems, but it has become so trendy for people who don't qualify for NHS prescriptions to get it under the radar. I sympathise with anybody wanting to lose weight but until supply is assured they should consider how they are depriving people who need it more.

Which drug is it you’re on please that’s in short supply? This isn’t reported anywhere.

I don't deny that obesity is a real problem with real medical impact. NHS prescribing should not be an issue really, although a huge upswing in prescriptions might impact availability, but so many people are getting private prescriptions, either because they can't wait or because they don't meet NHS criteria.
Also, many people are taking Ozempic rather than Mounjaro.

I don't understand how everyone else is able to find the drugs except kidney patients and diabetes patients. I think that should be NHS supply problem because they're available everywhere.

Besides, Mounjaro isn't as widely prescribed for diabetes as Wegovy/Ozempic. Most people on weightloss medication are taking Mounjaro.

All of the main sites have ozempic in stock, if the issue is NHS supply chains (perfectly possible) then that means it's separate to private stocks

She specifically said pharmacies, and plural struggling to get supply. It’s very odd.

I specifically acknowledged that obese people need semaglutide. It is available on the NHS if you meet the criteria, as it should be. So I was actually appealing to someone like you - although I still say that diabetics and kidney patients have a greater and more immediate need because there are no alternative ways for them to cope.

Mounjaro is Tirzepatide. Wegovy/Ozempic is Semaglutide. Most obese people getting private prescriptions aren't competing with other patients for Semaglutide as there's no shortage of Tirzepatide. So this Semaglutide shortage claim has to be for a different reason, not because of those on Tirzepatide WLI.