The long term effects of Mounjaro…

[letmeask]

I’m not asking about the long term effects here, I want to ask those who trot this line out across the WLI threads, what sort of long term effects do you think would be present in those who use MJ etc short term? Not everyone plans to stay on the meds long term, so if no damage is done to them whilst taking it, what damage do you think will be done in the 10/20 years after? And for those who do remain on maintenance why do you think they will be badly affected in years to come, but not now?

I think it is absolutely ok for Sue to say they have concerns about potential or unknown long term side effects, whether Sue is a WLI user or not.

Of course Sue cannot tell us what unknown side effects they are concerned about as they are, well, unknown.

Sue voicing her concerns allows others to consider their own thoughts and risk assessment for taking the medication. Not a bad thing.

What is not ok and should be questioned is if Sue comes with an attitude, or goady defensive posts to say you are all mad because you are not thinking about the potential or unknown long term side effects - a bit like yours, name calling and demanding proof of the unknown 🤔 . It is not constructive or helpful at all.

I wasn’t demanding proof of the unknown though. The thread was written with a touch of sarcasm that had clearly missed the mark so I apologise for that. I was quite clear in the first line though that I was not asking about the long term effects, I was asking what the people who jump on every other thread to mention it, to come talk about it here. Expand on their thoughts, they cannot of course as they have no further thoughts. They simply like to say how good they are as they would never use WLI because of ‘what about’ - o have acknowledged more then once my poor communication of that though.

not too sure I have been name calling, other than to take a comment calling me daft and quote it back and apply it to Sue

It’s far as I know, it’s not again MNHQ guidelines to speculate on long term side effects of WLI

so they wouldn’t remove
it just seems irresponsible to me to give these ignorant people a platform 🤷‍♀️

Is Sue the new Karen?

You know I was just thinking that myself. I used the name as someone else had and I was just sitting wondering if that was an awful thing to do. I conclude it definitely is and shall just refer to ‘posters’ in future

Without the respect I offered earlier, I don’t care what you think. For someone who has no interest in the drug or who takes it you sure have a lot to say.

Bizarre

I haven't eaten upfs for nearly 2 years and exercise plenty. But i have/had metabolic syndrome (on most of the 5 markers), and started with a bmi of nearly 35.

I won't pretend that the skinny culture doesn't get to me, but that's not why I'm taking mounjaro, it's so that i don't have a stroke or heart attack and leave my 7 year old without a mother.

I couldn't care less if you consider it a "trend' or "policing of bodies" it is a medicine and a powerful one at that. Just because some people abuse it for aesthetic purposes don't assume it is the case for everyone.

Well they have been used for twenty years already… that counts as long term to me.

Hi Op. Well, I read your op just as you intended it! And was interested enough in the question to keep reading the replies. The posters who talk about the long term health risks may have read or heard something, or spoken to health professionals, and may contribute sonething others don't know. So it's always an interesting question.

My own opinion, is similar to my outlook in other areas too. I always like to weigh up the risk versus health benefit. An increase in risk is far from a guarantee of anything. There are long term health risks from obesity too. Possibly many more. I think about the risks certainly, but currently I am thinking seriously about going for it. My bmi is 32, and I have about 3 stone to lose to reach the ultimate healthy bmi ideal. However, I am tall, and athletic (muscly legs), and look and feel pretty slim at a bmi of about 27, so for me, even a couple of stone loss would be amazing. I've stalled after losing some with intermittent fasting. I plan to try to try a low dose for about 6 months, and see where I'm at. There are risks to my future health both with or without this medicine.

The potential serious side effects are currently known to include (cut & paste from medical website):

^Severe digestive problems.
Acute kidney injury.
Gallbladder problems.
Pancreatitis.
Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), if Mounjaro is taken with certain other diabetes drugs.
Boxed warning: Risk of Thyroid cancer.
Severe allergic reaction^

With the exception of allergic reaction, I would assume the risks of these occurring increase the longer you take the medication.

As pp have said there are obviously many health risks from being obese. These may well outweigh the above risks. However the less overweight you are, the more chance there is that the risks of WLI will outweigh the risks from being that weight. Hence comments such as thinking WLI shouldn’t be allowed once you reach a healthy BMI.

Your OP seems to suggest that the posters who talk about long term risks are just talking out of their arses and can’t point to any such risks?? Which is bizarre given there are definitely some recognised risks (and as pp say, more may emerge as usage grows). If there weren’t any risks they’d be available to anyone even slightly overweight, surely?

But if the medication was stopped when users reached a healthy BMI, they would simply regain all the weight and be back exactly where they were before. Certainly for the majority anyway.

It’s like saying that antidepressants should be cut off to people whose mental health has now stabilised, or HRT should be discontinued once symptoms have subsided.

It just doesn’t make sense. If you need a medication to stay healthy, you keep taking it.

Exactly. Should drugs for epilepsy, Parkinson’s, asthma, psychiatric illnesses or diabetes be stopped once people’s conditions are stable?

The risk of low blood sugar due to insulin or sectetagogue co-administration is managed by reducing the dosage of the diabetes medications. No dose adjustment is required for renal disease.

In SURMOUNT gallbladder disease was recorded by 2% of mounjaro patients and 1.6 % of those on placebo. Obesity is a significant risk factor.

The positive association between GLP1 and WLI has not yet been established as causative and appears to be lower for Mounjaro than other medications. (FAERS).

Read the patient information leaflet hat comes with ibuprofen - you’ll probably never take it again!

I think the main risk is the people who lose v quickly without resistance training and end up with sarcopenia (frailty).

It was very clear to me what you meant OP, and I thought the point about not giving people a platform was poor. Because they've already got one.

That being said, the people creepily and hopefully throwing that in from the sidelines won't have a coherent explanation. They never do. They also won't have given any thought to the possibility of long term other benefits we don't yet know about.

I’m always a little bemused when people post about long term effects, these drugs were first discovered in the early 70s and been used for well over 20 years, trials were extensive lasting 15. I think when people say “we” don’t know the long term effects, they mean they personally don’t, and haven’t taken any time to read up, the surmount trials data is readily available.

all drugs come with side effects, luckily these drugs are very low risk,with rare complications, and things like thyroid cancer have to go on the box as it was found in early trials in mice, but not since the drugs were tweaked. Everything we take can have a negative effect, red meat and cancer,for example, and of course so many issues with obesity, the biggest killer in our society, it’s the leading number one cause of cancer, and that’s before we discuss heart attack, stroke, diabetes, joint degradation, fatty liver and the impacts of visceral fat around our organs.

the global health authorities tightened everything up post thalidomide, and they didn’t just tick a box and approve , these drugs are approved by all health authorities in first world countries, and the who will endorse come sept, and likely put it on their essential medication list, meaning all countries with a functioning health care system need to offer to their population.

the same people withering on about long term impacts happily pop nurofen , where 2000 people die a year from taking.

Yes, definitely, and i think it is worth noting that if you are in your 20s/ early 30s, whilst not ideal, this loss of muscle mass and bone density is something that can be dealt with and reversed after weight loss, but if you are perimenopausel or post menopausal you are screwed!

@Periperi2025 @MeridaBrave agree with both of you www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2025/jun/experts-warn-of-osteoporosis-risk-after-research-finds-weight-loss-jabs-cause-loss-of-muscle-and-bone-mass.html news.liverpool.ac.uk/2025/01/02/weight-loss-drugs-help-with-fat-loss-but-they-cause-bone-and-muscle-loss-too/ ...anyone eating a low cal diet long term combined with taking something that can impact digestion and absorption of nutrients needs to be mindful as to how they can eat a nutrient dense diet. anyone reading the "what i ate today" threads shows how some people are really not acheiving this. That is one useful function of chat boards is that it gives people ideas and advice how to maximise this (something NHS will struggle to do ). if you are taking something that will vastly improve your health outcomes by reducing obesity, nobody wants to end up with another condition that can then stop you maintaining your fitness!

You can still gain muscle post menopause but it’s harder and does require enough food as well as resistance training ! So I guess i am most worried about this who take a maintenance dose longer term to stay very thin…

That doesn't mean that maintenance doses are wrong, it just means we need to be sure to educate people, have good governance in Mounjaro pharmacies/ clinics and accept that anyone with mental capacity is perfectly entitled to make diabolically stupid decisions, should they wish to.

But preventing others who will need ongoing maintenance due to metabolic syndrome, like me,from accessing it, because some people are idiots is not okay or justified.

I agree but I think some more safeguards are needed. For starters some of the maintenance pharmacies will support down to a BMI of 19 which I am not convinced is a good idea, perhaps 21 is a better cut off?

Perhaps require an dexa scan every 5 years to demonstrate not at risk of sarcopenia?

With respect though I am suspecting no one needs to convince you it is a good idea, and they have convinced the relevant authorities, I think that’s what matters, these drugs are available globally, nearly 20 million in the USA alone on them, close to 50 million across the world. The authorities speak to one another, share data, they know what they are doing. As does the world health organisation who will be approving next month and likely putting on their essential medication list. So unless you’re in some global health authority role, wanting a higher cut off or more checks is like hoping to sprout wings and fly. The bmi cut off will be down to the invidual and their prescriber. And for many ethnicities 19 is very good.

In an ideal world yes we would all get extra tests for any potential side effect for every medication, but that isn't realistic. You take the medication for the disease/condition and if you report side effects only then they are looked at and treated.

For example, the NHS don't do any monitoring when they prescribe PPIs long term where there are well documented risks of B12 deficiency, magnesium deficiency, osteoporosis. They don't even warn you this is a risk. If they did I wouldn't be trying to reverse nerve damage done by them now.

A dexa scan is OTT for the majority of WLI patients. BMI 19 may naturally be a healthy weight for many patients.