A calm and supportive thread to discuss the Price Increases: Mounjaro

[TryingAgainAgainAgain]

For anyone who would like a calmer place to share support and information about the price increases.

I think it's absolutely fine, @Col28. Please do share any worries.

Thank you so much, you've all been so kind.

Don’t apologise! This has become a lovely space, and everyone is just happy to help!

Thankyou

Another interesting article here: https://www.ft.com/content/d939392a-173f-4976-9a6b-660a3425d3b2

It's paywalled but the nub of it is: Putin has declared it legal for pharmacies to make copycats of MJ and sell them in Russia for about $50 a pen. Trump has authorised this and Eli Lilly agreed (presumably under pressure).

Doesn't that just take the biscuit?

I saw a Tiktok page last night. This person has thousands of followers and was proudly displaying her MJ stash which was 8 pens. In all fairness she has had this displayed before today, it's not newly ordered but in the comments below there are people claiming to be relieved that they have up to a years supply so it does just show how some people are misusing the system by ordering from multiple places.

Ain’t that a kick in the head 🥴

Although I’m not sure I’d trust some random pharmacies to make the correct stuff. The meds are patented so do they even know the full contents to replicate!

Bizarre, @CoverMeInMarmalade!

See I don’t think it’s misuse unless they’re using it to do stuff like take 30mg a time. I see it more as like what my dad has done. He’s got ahead on his prescriptions because it’s common for them to sell out, they mess around with his medications all the time and can mess with when he gets them, he’s ordered 3 spare lots for holiday (to have them with the written prescription and in the box, not his pill case), just for the holidays to be cancelled. That type of thing happens a lot with prescriptions

I can't read the article, but many drug companies pulled their products from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. This allows Russia to develop & manufacture generics and this can well be with the agreement of the drug companies who are not interested/cannot be seen to be involved in the Russian market. There are a few other countries where the manufacture of weightloss generics does not seem to be an issue for eg Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilley.

I don't think it is a case of Trump 'authorising' this in the way you imply? Trump did very much put economic pressure on Russia following the Ukraine invasion however.

The article doesn’t actually mention trump doing this with MJ it’s just about Russia and ozempic not even MJ.

One of my mums neighbours has lost about 4stone in 10 weeks. My mum thought she was poorly and asked her if she was ok. Turns out she’s double dosing mounjaro 😬

Can I ask what are the grounds for the increase?

See I think that’s stupid. But people do build up stocks of prescription medication all the time. My nan’s repeat prescriptions continued when she was on end of life, despite us telling her doctor not to send them, because they “couldn’t” stop them. It happens

4st in ten weeks is madness, surely? I’ve just posted a new thread about maintenance after watching the biggest loser documentary and freaking out about metabolic adaptation and messed up hormones following fast weight loss. That level and speed of loss will just not stick unless she stays on the medication and she must be on some level malnourished?

Oh yeah my Nan had loads of meds we found when she died. If people have the money then it’s up to them what they do with it. I was just saying there are people out there properly abusing the meds.

100%, but I’d bet a lot of them don’t buy it legitimately either

Insane to do it so fast, just massive health risk no matter which way you look at it.

i saw this - or another similar one. This is totally the fault of (mostly MedExpress) referral codes before the rules were tightened up. The girl I saw openly admitted she got £££s of credit in referral codes and was worried about losing it if she didn’t use it, so every time she was allowed to reorder - with ME that’s every 2 weeks and they prompt you -she did. If she also used the golden dose it’s not hard to see how a person could build up a significant stash ordering every 2 weeks but using each pen for 5.

forforksake, I was concerned as well but wasn’t there a bit in the credits that said the Dr had successfully sued the authors of the article? Or am I getting confused?

I didn’t see that, but I have googled and although the study was small there does seem to be some evidence that crash dieting does long term damage. I’m hoping we’ve been slow enough that we will be able to maintain, but I’ve lost and gained before so I’m very aware of it.

Such a shame it's going up so much, particularly as the NHS is starting to prescribe it. If you're paying for it yourself though isn't the cost balanced by what you save on food?

I spend about £350 per month on food for a family of 4. The jabs are going up to potentially £300 per month. That definitely doesn't come close to negating my share of the food bill, even if I ate nothing at all.

Nope. I’m spending a fortune on fruit and veg! I am able to eat fairly normal portions on it. Which is good really as it’s allowing me to retrain my eating habits. The drug mostly just gives me a boost to my willpower.

I think you’d have had to be eating a heck of a lot of food, or alcohol, if you can save £300+ a month on food.

One thing that I’ve thought over the last few days is that there needs to be greater controls. I’m new to Mounjaro but I had no idea that you could buy this, a prescription drug, from multiple suppliers with very few questions asked and very flexible answers. Yet when I tried to buy 2 packets of senna laxatives in Boots yesterday to alleviate the side effects I wasn’t allowed to!