Munjaro and pancreatitis

[50shadesofknackered]

Has anyone who has previously had an acute episode of pancreatitis taken Munjaro? I had pancreatitis caused by gallstones 9 years ago and subsequently had my gallbladder removed. I have been prescribed Munjaro by a very competent diabetes specialist nurse (I don’t have diabetes) who has said that if my gallbladder has been removed, the main risk of pancreatitis reoccurring with Munjaro has gone. I know that rapid weight loss can cause inflammation of the pancreas, however I plan to lose slowly and consistently. I went to the GP today to run it past them and to get advice but I can honestly say she was completely useless and was not as positive about taking it as I expected. She echoed what had already been said to me about the lower risk as I do not have a gallbladder but I am worried. I really want to start taking Munjaro, I am sick of the struggle of trying and failing to lose weight and it’s particularly hard now I am in the menopause. Has anyone here taken it with a similar history?

I had exactly the same issue as you and had no side effects regarding pancreatitis.

I had my gallbladder removed 13 years ago after an attack (100 stones!) which was caused by losing 50lbs in 6 months (very low calorie diet).

I've taken my 4th jab today and have not had any issues

That’s reassuring, thank you

Do you mind me asking how you were prescribed Mounjouro if you don’t have diabetes?

its a private prescription, I wouldn’t be eligible on the NHS

Thank you. I just wondered as you mentioned a diabetes specialist nurse. I hope you have success with it.

Thank you, fingers crossed

No personal experience but this is one of the medical situations where I would absolutely take the advice of a specialist nurse over that of a GP. Her knowledge of this specific area will be much more in-depth and up-to-date and I know that my GP friends would tell you exactly the same!

It's clearly quite a nuanced situation at the moment and there seem to be gaps in the evidence for clinicians to be advising you with.

Stating the obvious, the best solution would clearly be for you to lose weight without taking a GLP-1.

If more people had any idea what a devastating disease acute Pancreatitis can be I suspect there might be less people inclined to start a GLP-1 rather than making some sustainable long term dietary adjustments.

DP developed pancreatitis from his first jab, and he was advised that he should not resume taking mounjaro.

He was given the statistics on recurrence of pancreatitis, also the statistics for severe complications which was around 20% in all pancreatitis cases, and was told that it isn't just mounjaro he should be avoiding, but plenty of other things can trigger pancreatitis too. Medications, foods, etc.

I don't know if the advice has changed, but his "acute" pancreatitis took a long time to recover from and his consultant told him that pancreatitis can be so mild you can't always tell you've got it, and then become intense, debilitating and fatal with no warning signs.

I think moujaro has it's place and I've used it, and was quite happy with it, but if you've had pancreatitis in the past, I definitely would not be taking mounjaro.

I personally would want to speak to an endocrinologist (or similar specialist) directly before initiating treatment to find out, given your history, clearly what the risks and/or get reassurance.

The nurse may be the right person to support and monitor you but I wouldn't think they are qualified to assess complex risk factors and make the final prescribing decision because of your history. What type of setting are you seeing the diabetes specialist nurse in? Is there an endocrinologist/gastro doctor (not sure what they are called!) available?

So who exactly is your prescriber? How is a diabetes nurse giving you a private prescription? How does this work?

Are you outside of the UK?

Sorry, so many questions.