Anyone worried about this in the news?

[bookworm1982]

Weight loss jabs study begins after reports of pancreas issues https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4ged0r1n3w

Nope. In fact, the tiny number of reports of pancreatitis is very reassuring, given that the incidence is given as 1 in 100 in the patient info. With around a million people taking WLI you’d expect there to be thousands of cases of pancreatitis being reported.

Ok 👍🏻 reassuring post thank you xx

Top 2 causes of pancreatitis are gallstones and drinking, one of the top causes of gallstones is weight loss. I developed them years ago after losing weight the old fashioned way by cutting my calories and feeling starving and miserable for several months.

It is completely expected that some people using WLIs will develop gallstones and some of those people will develop pancreatitis. Those same people would likely have the same outcome if they lost weight without WLIs.

The really fun thing about gallstones is that they are cause by weight loss AND by weight gain, so you really are damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

Balanced article here

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-we-should-heed-warnings-about-weight-loss-jabs/

@NoelFaradaycould you explain why you think that article is balanced? It’s also from February and so doesn’t mention the comments reported today.

No, I'm not worried. I'm pleased that the Yellow Card reporting system is operating as it should and feeling very fortunate to live in a country with such robust controls for the safety of prescription medication.

Agreed. The pancreatitis risk was already well known, and is in the leaflet, and this report suggests that in reality far fewer than 1/100 are getting it.

Some people will unfortunately be predisposed to developing gallstones whether they lose weight naturally or with WLI.

What we can do is reduce our risks, one way is by the rate of weight loss. Rapid weight loss, especially over an extended period, can increase the possibility of these side effects - accept this weight loss may take a long time and be patient.

Eat a balanced diet rich in protein, fiber, healthy fats and low in sugar helps to keep the gallbladder working well. Stay hydrated.

One thing I have noticed, and really appreciate, is how the WLI community both here and on any surviving facebook groups are (mostly 😂) incredibly informed and supportive and they are actively sharing this knowledge more than any weight loss group I had ever been in before - gallbladder and pancreatic health was never mentioned in weight watchers or slimming world when I went to them!

Other ways to reduce risk include respecting the medication and don't play about with risky changes to dosing schedules and educating ourselves for the signs and symptoms of gallstones and pancreatic issues so we can react quickly and get early help.

We are learning as a community and the more we talk and share that knowledge the safer we will all be.

Also, the Americans have apparently already done these studies so I think it’s important for us to know if the Brits have a different scope for theirs. Are they only looking at those with type 2 diabetes or in a specific age range?

Listened to a news report on this earlier on the radio. A Dr said they were more concerned with the impact on those who were not obtaining correctly or from recognised sources.

As @WeAllHaveWings says follow correct dosing etc. After all this is a pharmaceutical medication we are taking and not a packet of Malteser’s. Far too many threads are about how can I get MJ without meeting the criteria or can I do micodosjng or how can I avoid my GP knowing etc

I’m never worried about what the newspapers or social media say. I don’t take any notice.

I looked into this before I started and decided I was comfortable with it.

There’s a well-documented link between losing weight rapidly and gallstones (which can then cause pancreatis) so this study will be helpful in figuring out who is susceptible. Eating something fairly early in the morning, spreading food through the day and drinking plenty of water seemed to be helpful in keeping bile flowing and hopefully avoiding gallstones. I looked at a few sites, this was one that had some helpful advice https://www.cuh.nhs.uk/patient-information/dietary-advice-for-patients-with-gallstones/
I believe there is also a chance of WLI directly causing a problem with the pancreas, again the study sounds helpful. Finally, as has already been commented there are far more people on WLI so there are bound to be more problems in users and these may or may not be caused by the injections.

Pancreas issues are caused by (rapid) weight loss in general so could happen without the injections. Pancreas issues are also caused by obesity. I'm not worried that they're exclusive to or that he risk is increased by WLIs. It's right that people are reporting any side effects or medical incidents though and it's right to investigate it.

The study is looking to see if some people are genetically predisposed to developing pancreatitis. Having such a potential large cohort of patients that they can collect data from is likely why they have decided to do it now.

It seems like it's a slightly low number of cases? The general population rate is 560 per million and about 1.5 million people are on the jabs. I would have expected it to be a lot higher because people actually lose weight on the jabs.

The numbers here are fuzzy. Either way, I'm glad they're doing the research. More research is usually a good thing for us.

I’m not concerned by this. I spent months looking into WLI before finally deciding to do it. The path I was on, being horribly overweight and with significant health history on both sides of my family, scared me a lot more. I picked a reputable supplier, I follow the guidance, drink plenty of water and keep to a calorie deficit so that I’m losing steadily (around 1-2lbs per week) but not drastically quickly. No medication is without risks but for me, it was worth doing instead of continuing as I was with all the risks that involves.

I don’t intend to stay on it long term as I don’t think there’s enough evidence around that so far but I’m going to use it to get to where I need to be.

I’m also very aware that much of what we consider ‘news’ (up to 60%!) is PR generated. There’s some very powerful lobbying groups who will absolutely be highlighting these figures and then newspapers are reporting them as ‘shocking facts’. Often when you drill into the detail past the alarming headlines, you see it’s not what the headline said it was.

I’m not worried. The warnings and what to look out for are all over the information that you receive with the prescription and when ordering.

The weightloss medication can be stopped at any time.

I'm also not worried.
Interestingly the last time I lost a lot of weight I did it via very low carb and some intermittent fasting and ended up with some very troubling digestive problems.
I had quite bad gall bladder pain and fully expected to need to have it taken out. I was the classic 'fat, female and fourty' demographic. So I knocked the diet on the head and felt better quickly.
So, when starting Mounjaro I have been very much on my guard looking out for similar symptoms.....and nothing! I've lost more weight than I did then and have probably had better digestive health throughout than I have for years.

i'm in the not concerned camp too, there's 1Mil plus using WLI per month according to recent press, so there's bound to be more picked up who are using BUT, that doesn't prove causation, as yet.
Monj have done a post about it, my current BMI puts me in the highest risk category for 'everything' anyway, so I'm cracking on with MJ!
https://monj.co.uk/pancreatitis-mounjaro-facts-about-and-real-information/

Not worried, as others have said those numbers are lower than predicted in the known possible side effects info.

Plus for me personally I am in thr morbidly obese BMi range so I'm far more likely to die of or develop lots of other nasties if I DONT lose the weight

Nope.