The amount of cheating the system is scary

[Adultautismdiagnosis]

I find it so concerning how many people on here and beyond are perfectly happy to cheat the system to get MJ e.g. people taking photos of their scales while holding a weight behind their back so they look heavier. Another example is a friend of mine who knows someone finishing MJ so she's going to buy her remaining pens off her. She only needs to lose a stone and is on no way in need of weight loss injections.

It's also concerning the amount of people giving medical advice on here when they are in no way qualified or experienced e.g advising people on supplements to take, advising people to count clicks etc.

Then those that are in 1000+ calorie deficit a day.

It's all just so completely unregulated and rather worrying.

I know I'll get slated. I'm on MJ legitimately myself and need it. I just worry that the more this stuff happens the more likely it is that people will get seriously ill. I also worry they'll make the process so difficult that it'll put off people who genuinely need it.

Do you find it bizarre when people with high blood pressure medications continue to take them when their BP comes down to normal? Do you think those with normal BP should be able to take it because those other people are allowed to stay on it?

It has actually been researched and the fact that you think you know better than the doctors is hilarious.

Yes but the difference between 27.5 and 30 in terms of BMI is negligible. I understand there has to be a cut off but there will always be exceptions of benefit vs costs for those just outside the parameters.

where i am you can just walk into a pharmacy and buy it over the counter so not overly concerned to be honest

@BlackCatGreyWhiskers I think that balancing of benefit versus risk should be done by the pharmacy or doctor that's prescribing, with a full understanding of the person's medical details. Not decided on by the individual by providing false information to the prescriber.

Where is that @anikarice ? No prescribing guidelines at all for it, so sold to anyone at any BMI just on request?

I've lost less than two stone - about 24 lbs, and with another two pounds I'll be normal BMI.

I was BMI 29.2, now it's 25.4. I got Mounjaro legitimately because I have PCOS and endometriosis, and my blood pressure was starting to creep up when all my life it has been on the low side of normal. Also I'd started to get joint pain when exercising. I have spent 16 years while post partum, through perimenopause and now menopause aged 49, trying to just get to normal BMI, Also my waist was 34" - and in the diabetes risk range and now it's 31" and in the healthy range. At my heaviest in 2017 I was in the obese range.

My GP is delighted - she can see all my weight records going back to 2006.

People can get it legitimately when their weight is in the "overweight" range. Having less to lose doesn't make it any easier and being even in the overweight zone, and particularly when you have fat on your middle can mean more risk of cancer, diabetes and heart problems. . My uncle had a heart attack aged 46 and died. My mum had a heart attack at 53 and survived and then got diabetes. My friend's husband just died of cancer aged 50.

Hoping to avoid these things or certainly to live healthily for as long as possible, and also that I'm saving the NHS money. I've had very few side effects. I personally think it should be available to anyone who has struggled with their weight and is the overweight range. It's far from a mere cosmetic issue.

No but it is up to the medical professionals.
If people are cheating the system to get the medication inevitably it will become harder for people who are genuinely eligible to get it.

middle east, also majority of europe sell over counter as does turkey. i was in turkey last week and every pharmacy had posters up for it.

not just wli but also tretinoin, viagra, hrt, antibiotics….just go to pharmacy and ask for what you want basically

And re calorie deficit.

Take calories with a pinch of salt. My average calorie burn is 2276 according to FitBit. So I should be able to lose weight averaging 1700 calories a day. But I wasn't losing weight. With mounjaro I eat 1400 a day and lose 1lb a week. Some day will be a 1000 calories deficit "on paper" - but I'd suggest that calories burned exercising and overstated and calories eaten underestimated at times - as they are only ever a guess even if you weigh and track everything. And I can't weigh everything I eat.

@anikarice the majority of Europe seems unlikely, certainly France, Germany, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, etc it's prescription only like in the UK. Where in Europe did you mean?

@SilenceInside she said it was Middle East

But why not maintain on the upper end of the healthy BMI range, why strive beyond what’s strictly necessary for health?

"middle east, also majority of europe sell over counter as does turkey." was the bit I was responding to. I understand that she is in the Middle East, it was the claim that the majority of Europe sells it as in OTC medication that I was questioning. @Crikeyalmighty

She said also the majority of Europe. I don't know if that's correct but I'd be very surprised

@anikarice the absolute opposite of when we lived in Denmark - you simply couldn’t buy ‘anything ‘ hardly ‘off the shelf’ - we used to stick up at Boots when we came back to UK - wasn’t great in Sweden either, it was nuts, even painkillers off the shelf were restricted to unbranded paracetamol, ibruprofen and codeine.

I dont think we are many yeras off anyone being able to use them whatever BMI you are as long as you want to lose weight. The lack of food noise is brilliant and most people would like that.

My BMI was 28.6 when I started. I’d have needed to gain 9 pounds to qualify as obese. As I was plenty fat enough already, I knocked two inches off my height.

It’s my decision, and one I’ve not regretted for a second. I wasn’t a thin person with an eating disorder, nor body dysmorphic. I was fat. My BMI was in the overweight category. I was losing and gaining the same 10 pounds every year. I am now thin and I feel so much better. No faux concern needed for me.

@Pinty ah see my just posted about Denmark - sorry I missed her saying that about Europe. Denmark was another world- !!! Virtually all has to be asked for behind the counter.

Not sure I understand? People can maintain wherever they like, but often will still need WLI to do that if previously obese. It's not always about continuing to lose weight. I think your confusion on that matter proved that you don't understand how WLI works or why (previously) obese people need them more than those who aren't.

@NeverTrustTheScales I’m not sure about that - plenty of people don’t get that - I don’t and I’m overweight through ‘too big portions’ when I do eat at night and liking wine every weekend - not through constantly thinking about food. I think it’s easy to think nearly ‘ everyone’ has ‘food noise’ if you do - they don’t -

Leave them to it. The injections have become so normalized that people have forgotten they are medicines prescribed to an individual. If they are happy to take drugs not meant for them, let them.

I support sensible controls, I worry about people with eating disorders using MJ to control their appetite when they are already at a very low weight.

However I've had great effected with MJ beyond appetite reduction. I've a low metabolism and historically had to drop below 1200 cals a day to lose weight consistently historically and once my thyroid packed in I was putting on weight at that level of cals.

MJ appeared to impact my thyroid positively. I lost weight rapidly from week 1 but felt a bit heart racy. My GP reduced my Levothyroxine and I felt better, and continued to lose weight at a reasonable rate but able to eat more cals than I previously could.

I am apparently a super responder, losing weight on 2.5mg and never getting beyond 5mg for the 3 1/2 stone I lost to get into healthy BMI category.

The formal maintenance dose is 5mg but that's too high for me, as I continue to lose weight on it. I'm taking a lower dose than the maintenance dose, with a view to tailing off over time, but am nervous about the impact to my thyroid condition when I stop. The lower dose decision is one I've taken, not the prescribing org but has been discussed with a doctor and they supported the approach. They are hoping to do some research on lower maintenance doses in the future. At the moment most research is on diabetic patients and they need a dose sufficient to manage blood sugars, others may not need as much GLP1 to maintain the benefits

I've been on a 1400 calorie diet for the last six months lost 5 stone on MJ best I've ever felt!

Your user name op, would suggest that you are like me and don't like it when others break the rules. However I wasn't at the prescribing level so bent the rules for myself, 😂it has had added benefits to my audhd, quietened my mind took away an unhealthy relationship with alcohol and the 3 stone weight loss has almost been an added benefit, hardly any side effects, I'd carry on forever if I could afford it. People should make the decision for themselves, and unless there's some sort of eating disorder involved you should be able to get these drugs if you need to lose a stone or 10 stone imo. I don't know anyone irl who has had serious side effects, and I've also done the counting clicks and extra dose 🤷