Navigating this as a beginner… Help please

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Hi all

Apologies for posting but I’ve had a cursory look and couldn’t quite see the information I’m after (please signpost to me if it exists)

Im after some guidance for my lovely mum. She’s awaiting a hip replacement and it’s looking like it won’t be before the new year. Because of this she’s been quite immobile and put on a lot of weight. She’s been told she needs to lose it but is struggling without being able to get around.

She does not meet the nhs criteria as she’s got BMI 36 so I wanted to explore paying for it.

Im trying to find costings for her but can’t seem to get to that without filling out lots of questions on her behalf… ideally she only wants to be on them for a month or two to ‘kick start’ the weight loss but I worry if she comes off, it’ll all pile back on again as I don’t think she can afford them ongoing.

She has some heart issues but her consultant has said she’s happy for her to on injections

Can anyone give me an ‘idiots guide’ and walk me through how to get this started for her?

much appreciated

Have a look at http://monj.co.uk for a price comparison site to get an idea of costs. The two injections you can choose from are Wegovy and Mounjaro, Wegovy is cheaper at the moment but a bit less effective and a slightly higher chance of side effects.

"she only wants to be on them for a month or two to ‘kick start’ the weight loss " - this is not really a sensible plan. They are designed as a long term approach to losing weight. 2 months would be a weight loss of around 8 to 16 pounds on average, at 1 to 2 pounds a week. That's unlikely to get her BMI into the healthy range. If you stop, then the effects stop, and you need to be prepared to continue the diet and lifestyle changes unsupported. That is hard if you have only been doing it for a few weeks. Better to plan for 6 months minimum and budget for that.

Really appreciate your very balanced and helpful reply @SilenceInside. I’ll have a look at the link you’ve posted and interesting about price vs side effects

I’m so sorry to come back quickly and ask another question. The table shows (for example) 2.5mg £167. Is that per dose? And is it taken weekly/daily or monthly?

im so sorry, complete novice here

The price is given for a month, but you take it weekly. So for that £167 you get 4 doses at 2.5mg each, to cover a month.

The later months may be an increased dose (and usually an increased price) depending on if you are thought to need a bigger dose and how side effects have gone etc

Note that lots of suppliers do a first month discount, watch out for the ongoing price not just the starting price.

Yes, agree with @minipie , the price is for 4 weeks medication. The medication comes in an injection "pen" that contains 4 doses, one dose per week.

The prices on the comparison site will include an initial discount. It can be useful to look at the retail price list to see the non-discounted prices to check what you would pay for subsequent months. But, you can fairly easily change suppliers though, in order to take advantage of new customer discounts, which can help to make it more affordable. I have used 5 or 6 different pharmacies so far, and will change again if it makes it cheaper.

There is a book you could read. Food Noise by Dr Jack Mosley. It has facts and advice about weight loss injections and is a very good place to start.

I agree with all of the above, WLI's are a longer term strategy, and one must be prepared to take them for more than just a couple of months. The first month alone is just at a starting dose, so that one gets used to the medication. Many people lose weight immediately, but others lose when they have moved up the doses, which you do every 4 weeks if you need/want to.

The medication will help your mother to lose weight but she will still have to follow a healthy diet and do what little exercise she can, even arm-chair exercises can be beneficial.

I agree 2 months kickstarting is not realistic.

In terms of cost, some people choose to do an extra dose with Mounjaro. This is because although the pen is only meant to have 4 in it, there's also some extra in there. Pros and cons to doing this, worth having a read around. It tends to be referred to as a golden or bonus dose and there are a lot of threads. You'd have to buy extra needles. Eli Lilly, who make Mounjaro, have said they're redesigning the pens to prevent this but as things stand it's still possible.

She might also consider Wegovy, which is cheaper than Mounjaro. Less effective on a population level but some people get the same or better results than MJ.

Many people find they save on groceries when they're on WLIs. Does your mum drink? If so, there's a decent chance she'll not want to do that on the injections. Same if she has takeaways now. So it's worth thinking about this not just as the cost of the medication but the overall financial impact.