May 2025 Starters Thread 5

[FlorenceNightshade]

I noticed we were almost full (again!) so took the liberty of starting thread 5 now so I don’t get confused on nightshift and can’t find you all!

Like everyone else, am a bit nervous about the increas3 in price in UK. Have ordered a 2 pen bundle as was due to anyway. Hopefully that will keep me going for a while as I still haven't made it to 5mg a week yet, as been increasing super slowly to minimise side effects.

Because of that, even with ordering each month as expected, I actually have 3 pens in the fridge (2x5 and 1 x 7.5) and have been using my pens past the 30 days anyway without issue, so another 2 should keep me going for quite some time.

If prices do rise in line with EU, I'll just get my pens in France in the future, which will save me having to do trips back once hubby retires in January (he currently works in UK still and brings my pens over when he comes to visit as the price is so much higher here).

But it is so frustrating that these drugs are so expensive anyway, even before the price rises. It really makes it had for anyone with low income to get them as it is, especially with NHS guidelines being so strict (here in France, though you can get it prescribed by GP now, you still have to pay full amount for the drug even with mordbities, there is no contribution towards it at all). You'd think that health services would jump at the chance to prevent severe obesity-related outcomes, it will surely save them a fortune, but it seems that they are very resistant to using GLP-1s unless you are already so sick that the only other option is drastic surgery (or that they would prefer you have surgery!)

@Gingercar which supplier would let you order a bundle? I’m slightly freaking out as had been moving around suppliers for a cheap dose so haven’t really got a permanent supplier. Thank you.

My bundle of three pens is still under review. I probably placed it too late (8pm yesterday) for it to be honoured. They have not taken any money yet either.
i have received a shipping notification from pillsorted though and i placed my order this morning at around 9am for a 5mg pen at £139. At least i will have one pen so i dont have to stop just yet!

Just noticed my provider Medino has snuck prices up by £15 overnight after I ordered yesterday. I wonder if others are upping prices greedily knowing many are panic ordering now...

It was Chemist4U. It hasn’t been approved yet though.

@stripesdotsdashes - Oooh, that’s a bit sneaky of them !
@SussexLass87 - Just looked at the Asda Pharmacy website , nothing on there about the coming increases . My order hasn’t been approved as yet , but they do take a while.

Very snarky assistant in my ( not very) local Asda just now when I collected my order.
Several people at the counter , when she brought the bag out she said (loud enough for other customers to hear ) “ They’re going to be tripling the price of this, you know, so that’s going to put a stop to all this carry-on “.
I was speechless !!!
Never mind the patient confidentiality aspect, she was positively gloating .
Bitch! 😡😡😡

Oh wow Elsie!! That's atrocious behaviour from the assistant.

@notgonnafail how much is it in france? I was going to do a consultation but realised they charge you 30 euros for it!! I saw a deal on zaba 50% off but i couldnt find the price so it is meaningless.

Gosh @ElsieJay that's horrendous. The spite and vitriol! WHY does it give people the rage?! I'll never understand it.

@tostaky Last time I enquired, before I started, it was 230€ - almost 400€ a month, depending on the dosage I think.

I dithered when I started this between trying the jabs, or Elcella, and it was price that swung me to the jabs. If my current order gets approved, I'll have enough to last me until March if I stay on 5mg or less, and then may switch to Elcella if I still need to lose anything, or to aid maintenance if I've reached goal.

Just been on my Asda website and it says my orders pending approval from last night (a two pack of 7.5mg and 10mg). So fingers crossed. There’s also a message saying all new orders (new customers) for 5mg and above are currently blocked so only option for a new customer is 2.5mg pen. Nothing else about prices yet…… how annoying this all is! I’m hoping to get near to goal after these pens ! But I’ll still need to taper off, dreading it running out and going cold turkey 😱

@ElsieJay What an awful, hateful person that assistant is.. I don’t get why people have to be so nasty.
I wish I wasn’t such a plodder but there it is! I have just taken my 14th jab and down 9.1kg so only just over 0.5kg a week! At least it does keep going down, but I was worried this morning as I realised it could be Christmas before I reach goal.
I have just returned from seeing my pharmacist and was really worried as I am going away for nearly 10 weeks, and he had agreed that I could have 2 more pens to take away with me as well as the one I have yet to finish and wasn’t sure if he would have them.
There wasn’t a problem so I got 2 more 7.5mg for the same price as the last one. He said his group of Pharmicists had a meeting this morning and they are going to keep the price the same for the foreseeable future for his existing clients. His thought was I should be able to get to the stage when I could titrate down to a lower dose for maintenance without a large increase in the price.
He did mention that a huge problem was that some companies have been selling wholesale into Europe and making a massive profit, which hasn’t helped the situation. Make of that what you will!
Any way I am just so happy that this thread is so supportive for us all, it is lovely thinking you have friends that have your back without any nastiness.

@ElsieJay I think I would have very obviously have made a note of her name badge. 🧐

I have had a dispatch email from iq doctor for the pen I ordered two days ago, but nothing from last night’s bundle order yet.

Hi
Thought I'd share. I'm in this for the long run and had just received my fifth pen yesterday. I decided to bulk buy this morning.
I did an order with Chemist 4 you and my order has been approved this afternoon which I'm hoping is a good sign that it will be dispatched.
I also ordered a bundle from Asda and haven't heard anything from them.
Pharmulous, my regular provider have said they will start bulk orders on Monday.

I feel bad bulk buying but I still have about 5 stone to loose and it's been really working.

I've lost 23.4kg so far, just taken my 16th shot on Wednesday, and have 29.5kg to get to the top of my healthy BMI (although 68kg seems very hard to imagine right now).

Wish we didn't have this additional stressor. X

Thank fuck - my final pen has been dispatched. I’m going back down to 2.5mg for my last few jabs. Medino seem quick if anyone’s having bother. They do request photos of previous prescription and I don’t think they let you bulk buy.

I do wonder what the true market place is going to look like come September/October. The big chains such as Boots, Tesco and Asda will still not be paying Eli-Lilly’s published prices, and depending on what is agreed in their existing contracts, may be able to continue to buy at their current price for at least a short while.

It is the smaller providers that don’t have the buying power that will struggle. They will also be most affected if customers are priced out and some may struggle with cashflow if they are needing to pay higher prices to maintain stocks. I actually hope that the market doesn’t end up being dominated by the big chains because I don’t think that is good for us as pharmacy customers.

It’s interesting that Oushk appear to be offering to support moving to other GLP1s, presumably to try to keep their customer base.

@BluNavy you dont need to feel bad! My personal opinion is that people need to do what they feel is right for them.

Some people feel uneasy about “panic buying” but the truth as I see it is if the system for ordering medication allows multiple orders then why wouldn’t people try and save some money? If someone doesn’t have the upfront cash to buy extra that is unfortunate but not anyone else’s fault. We all met the prescribing criteria so in my view we all have equal need and an equal “claim”.

The only person you have to square your decisions with is you, I don’t think it’s for anyone else to judge or comment. Try the other threads if you want that - I don’t think it’s our style here ✌️

Totally agree with no judgement. I am concerned about bulk ordering, but mainly because I can see the pens being sold on which could put people at risk. I don’t think you can blame prescribed users for ordering extra to preserve their own supply, and if I’d known it was a thing, I’d probably have tried to do exactly that.

I admit I have done a bit of bulk buying myself. x 1 5 and x 2 7.5. I will also visit my local pharmacy where I normally get my prescription from and just buy one from him.

The problem is that it's difficult anticipating what level you want to order as well. I am really hoping that the use by dates are quite long as well.

I know on some of the other threads that there is some anti sentiment towards bulk buying which I do understand, but if you can afford to do so it makes sense to get a few orders in prior to the price rises.

Medino has despatched my 5mg at least, but they've put their prices up again since this morning's rise. Now at £149!

Bloody cheek. They can’t have been hit with the increased cost yet! That makes me angry

I definitely went i to panic mode last night and this morning but tonight i am quite relieved that my bundle of three pens has “disappeared” from my profile (i had bit pay so its ok). Not only it would have cost me a fortune but it was also dearer than the three separate pens i did pay for this morning. I took from my saving account to buy the three pens and i will make sure i’ll put that money back in the next three months.
Amongst all this i have been feasting on my mum’s delicious cooking and having a glass or two of rosé both for lunch and for dinner…. I am not looking forward to the scales next week…
my throat is still hurting a lot and i have a runny nose but with temperature around 33-35 degrees outside it is hard to feel like this is a serious cold…

Hi all!

just back from a weeks holiday in Devon and caught up with the thread - argggghhhhh! I’ve been buying mine from my local pharmacy who are already expensive so I’m now freaking out about the increase and I’m not already with an online supplier and it’s disorientating to go through them all now. I might just try my luck with Asda? I tried medino but don’t have an existing prescription.

I also have a ways to go. Before my holiday I had lost 25lbs and I have another 45 to go so I was planning on being on MJ for a while longer. I haven’t dared weigh yet after hols but all looking a bit despondent right now. I won’t be able to afford any big increases as I’m trying to afford therapy at the same time (trying to sort mind and body!).

Thank you for all the solidarity on here. What a lovely bunch of humans you all are!