is taking weight loss medication cheating?

[theweightlossqueen]

i used to be a super sporty child and then life happened. i've put on a few pounds and my food (mainly snacking) choices aren't the best...

i feel like if i just dedicated time to exercising then i'd get fit but i don't want to keep the current relationship that i have with food, you know?

is taking weight loss medication cheating, really?

It's virtue signalling, nothing more.

I don't believe for one minute these posters are genuinely concerned about people with type 2 diabetes potentially not getting the drugs, it's just clutching at straws.

Come back and talk to us when there's an actual shortage and people who need it aren't getting it.

Was going to say this too.

Many people with type 2 diabetes who lose weight then get rid of the diabetes too.

People who take the mounjaro before getting diabetes are simply taking control themselves and stopping it before it gets to that stage. It's a win win in my eyes.

Patients travelling abroad for major cosmetic surgery are currently swamping the NHS services because they are discharged too soon

I thought it was those pesky immigrants doing the swamping.

No. Wait a minute. It’s those on WLI who are swamping it.

It was the desperate give them all mounjaro and stop fat people getting it thay amused me,

Personally I like to rely exclusively on a retired dentist for all medical decisions pertaining to my metabolism and endocrine issues.

Don’t we all?

@Angrymum22, you shouldn’t play the HCP card to try and muster credibility when talking about things that are completely out of your field of expertise. It’s bemusing to see how vehemently you argue against WLIs, while at the same time justifying yourself taking Metformin, blood thinners, thyroid function drugs etc - as long as it’s a condition you have, it’s not cheating, right?

In the same post, you write you had to take Metformin to get pregnant, but also that your motto is that you shouldn’t take a drug unless it is to save your life. Do you see the contradiction here? Infertility/PCOS isn’t a life threatening condition. You really have different yardsticks for yourself and the rest of us.

You have come up with so many different random objections, on a number of threads, but in the end your true colours always shine through. We’re all just greedy people with psychological issues, not medical ones; with no self control; who are determined to sink the NHS (by paying privately for our treatment); and who are stealing the medication away from the truly deserving people. Whatever point you think you are making, we all get it.

She's been approved by med express so how is she misusing it? At that weight she could easily have a BMI of 27 (and you have no idea of any other health conditions she may have) or even higher if she's very short. You are absolutely not qualified to say she's misusing it.

OK but the misuse of a drug is not the fault of the people who have a legitimate medical need for it. Should we not give morprphine to a patient who genuinely meets it as it may be misused in another population?

Should we not treat ADHD because the medication may be misuse?

Should we not offer benzodiazapan to patients with a clinical need in case of misuse?

Should we not prescribe anabolic steroids to those with medical need in case they are misused?

Telling those with a medical need they shouldn't take a clinically prescbed MRHA approved drug because another population may misuse it is ridiculous. (Although I can see an argument to tighten regulation surrounding prescriptions)

Would you tell a patient with major depressive disorder their use of benzos is unnessesary and they should just try being happy as someone else may misuse their medication?

She's also assuming the person doesn't fit the criteria for the drug based on nothing at all.

@Angrymum22 How can you be so confused, she clearly will have a 27 bmi and will have accompanying health conditions.

look we all hope whatever issues you’ve got with your weight and other women’s, you can come to peace with, but this silliness needs to stop, for your sake.

Did you mean to reply to Angrymum?

Yes I’m sorry, I’ve edited to show that..

I’m 163 cm. At 73kg I would have a BMI of 27.5. I have high cholesterol so would meet the criteria for starting Mounjaro.

@Angrymum22 are you maybe getting confused with what the criteria will be for people to be able to get Mounjaro on the NHS for obesity when it is rolled out in England and Wales? That will be a higher bmi than is required for people to have a private prescription to take it for weight loss purposes which as others have said is BMI of over 30 or BMI of over 27 with a qualifying health condition.

I just don’t understand why you think the person you linked to on TIkTok isn’t getting it legitimately as you put it and I suggest you consider asking for your post to be deleted.

Maybe, from the way you phrase your question are you saying that privately the criteria are different. If that’s the case I bow to the pile on because I was under the impression that the same rules applied whether NHS or private.

For what it’s worth I don’t think it’s cheating but I am concerned about the potential use by people with a few pounds to lose who do not understand the risks associated with the drug if you have no underlying health issues. Which is what I’ve been saying all along.

It’s a drug for diabetes which has been licensed for obesity. The way you have worded your answer suggests that the rules are less stringent privately.

Are you not even aware of the prescribing guidelines? You can be prescribed mounjaro for obesity if your BMI is 27 if you have certain health conditions or you are from some ethnic backgrounds. It has nothing to do with stringency. So this lady is being prescribed it correctly. Why are you searching tiktok to make your point? (Badly).

You are clearly very confused and know nothing about this subject, I can’t grasp why yours so obsessed but don’t even take time to educate yourself instead messing around on tik tok. Are you not in your 60s? Shouldn’t you know better.

the nhs has just approved mounjaro for weight loss, it will start in the summer, due to the logistics and costs involved it will only be available via tier 3 weight loss management clinics, and for the very heaviest of patients with health conditions,

the prescribing guidelines are something very different, what sort of hcp doesn’t know this. The roll out of the nhs and the prescribing guidelines for the drug itself are two different things,

Omg I started typing a reply but I can't even be arsed.

If you are in any way interested, are actually a medical professional with an understanding of how drugs are developed try reading the clinical trial data. Mabey focus on it's use in overweight patients with associated disease because you clearly aren't listening to the multiple people on this thread who are pointing out the multiple issues with the different shit you keep spouting

I have read the clinical trial data. Cholesterol reduction is moderate and in a person with high cholesterol and a BMI of 27-30 statins would be a better choice.
I also understand the prescribing criteria but I’m confused by one poster who has said that the private rules are not the same as the proposed NHS rules. So what is it are they the same or not.
How do the pharmacists prescribing privately check out a customers claims, do you send your NHS tests and records of bp drugs, cholesterol levels? Or is it a general set of questions and they rely on honesty.

I am genuinely interested because we see patients far more frequently than their GPs do and because we have to record every drug they take they often ask us questions about them. I’ve actually not had a patient who has been taking Mounjaro so have no idea if it interacts with anything we prescribe or use.

I’m presuming that if the drug reduces appetite and patients eat less carbs it will have a positive result in their mouths.

I can’t even

I’m confused by one poster who has said that the private rules are not the same as the proposed NHS rules. So what is it are they the same or not.

No! Because the NHS are not able to prescribe to every patient who would meet the prescribing criteria for the drug due to cost and administrative capacity. The NHS will be prescribing to people with a very high BMI and/or certain comorbid conditions. Why do you find this difficult to comprehend?

@Angrymum22 if you understand the prescribing criteria and the NHS rollout decisions then you don't need to ask people here about it. You will already know what the MHRA approval was for, and you will know what the NHS decisions on how to implement the rollout were. And it's been discussed repeatedly on this thread.

If you are a dentist, I didn't tell my dentist I was taking Mounjaro. Didn't see the relevance for a check up so omitted it from the form.

As others have said, who is it cheating? I’m not going to get a medal if I struggle with hunger for months on end to lose weight, so why should I have to put up with it if i don’t have to?

@Angrymum22 Oh my I’m scared for your patients if you genuinely are an hcp in charge of someone’s clinical treatment. I really hope that’s nonsense, to not understand how prescribing guidelines are determined, or understand they don’t vary based on who is prescribing, and that how the nhs choses to roll out and treat due to cost, is a totally different thing.

All drugs are relevant, what if it reacts with a local anaesthetic or an antibiotic you are prescribed.
I had a patient who didn’t think it was relevant to tell me he was on Warfarin. He ended up in hospital after an extraction. Even when I asked him, just before extracting the tooth, if he was taking anything that would thin his blood, he didn’t disclose.
Patients are often oblivious to drug interactions though.