BMI 25 have I got any chance of being allowed to buy weight loss injections?

[Contraversialcatergory]

That’s my question really - would appreciate any advice. For context I am 43 yo mother of three with my youngest 3 yo. I weigh 75 kg and want to try to about 70 and I am struggling to shift the dial via fasting and exercise.

the Boots website says you have to be BMI 27 or 30’eithout conditions to be allowed to start but wondering anyone else has managed it with a slightly lower BMI?

It’s ok you can stand down, no one nominated you to be socially resonsible for the prescribing of medication, 😂

What like the patriarchy doesn’t exist? All of this is in a vacuum? There would not be the level of vitriol against GLPs if it was for the fact it’s related to weight. Women have been conditioned to correlate value to body image. I do not believe for a minute any of the so called social justice crew here are not influenced by that in some way.

Someone has linked to a thread I started a few days ago for those of us who have a BMI of under 27 and want/need to lose weight for a variety of reasons. Please join us for non-judgement.

Weight is a very complex topic. Many of us at a lower BMI have tried the usual ‘just lift weights’ and ‘eat more protein’, but it doesn’t always work, especially when we are in our 40’s and 50’s. A BMI of 26 is still overweight and if you carry it around your abdomen, as I do, it can also be dangerous.

Anyway, anyone who is looking for a non-judgy space and is curious about WLI, come and join.

Absolutely, this is all about women getting slim and thus more conventionally attractive and the utter fury jealousy and resentment some other women feel about it, I think we all know it’s about the feelings about their own bodies. But spamming chat forums angrily, hurling abuse and pompously declaring you’re in a position of social responsibility beggars belief.

And thankfully medical professionals are, by and large, regulating it appropriately due to all those factors, rather than letting ignorant MN forum posters advise lying on pharmacy prescription forms or going 'off label' to unregulated sources.

Yikes – this is such an embarrassing take. Declaring women jealous and furious of other women's conventional attractiveness? Talk about misogyny.

Oh how ironic. I’m sure you spend a lot of time worrying about all sorts of medications that are prescribed off label, or is it just the weight loss ones?

Sure, they are all spamming the internet about all manner of prescription meds lol.

How tall are you
OP?

A woman can feel social pressure to be conventionally slim and be against medicating non-medical issues – both can be true, and it might be wise to start believing women have the capacity for sophisticated thought processes.

There are many more instances than GLPs where over-medicalising non-issues is also a social problem – over-use of antibiotics, opioid painkillers, anti-depressants, over-diagnosing SEN, steroid use.

If you've never heard or cared about these either, then that's lazy thinking.

Until you can provide evidence that the people that care about over-prescribing GLPs also don't care or remark on the over-prescribing of other medications, then we'll have to leave your argument as rather weak and incomplete, I'm afraid.

Go read a forum topic on the demand for antibiotics for viral infections or gaining antibiotics off-prescription, if you must.

But “non issue” is subjective. My extra 17lbs of weight was not a non issue. It might not have killed me, but it impacted my day to day life. It made me unhappy, I struggled to make good food choices.

On WLI I am eating better food, I’m not craving crap food, I’m drinking less, and look better. These are reasonable outcomes and not superficial. And the best bloody thing is for the first time in my life I am not obsessing over my diet and my body. I might not be fat; but like a lot of women I have had the pressure of how my body looks impacting me for decades. They are all, directly and indirectly, improving my mental health and thus quality of life. There are plenty of medications out there, that are solving issues that aren’t directly life threatening or harmful. Roaccutane and acne for example, horribly strong drug, but an outcome deemed worth it to millions of people and medical professionals.

Who are you or anyone else here to say that’s not appropriate?

WLI are being explored for use against addictions and ADHD, they are tapping into something that could change a lot of people’s lives.

I don’t buy into this faux social concern at all.

Noom worked for me. I was a normal BMI but wanted to drop 6-8kg. I am 2 months in and am 6kg down. The first month is tough. You need to log every bit of food. You weigh in daily. But it clearly works. The scales go up and down daily (which I knew would happen and I don’t beat myself up).

I could have done it for free I guess but I find the daily weigh in, the logging, etc has helped.

1-2kg to go and I’ll reassess how I feel/look each week.

Its cheaper than injections and hopefully will last longer as you reset portion size etc. I haven’t cut anything out but if I had birthday cake at a friends - that would be lunch with a cup of tea - not pudding. I found zero calorie drinks make me hungry. I avoid now. Instead I have rooibos tea. It also helps me plan ahead when I eat out as I know what calories I have left.

I doubt it would work for everyone but I am pleased so far.

I also found dark chocolate has helped as it stops sweet cravings. A bar lasts me about two weeks as a break off small bits and eat with a cup of tea!

It used to that. Now they're medication for weight loss too. It does both jobs very well, why not use it as such?

Of course it's subjective – no one said it wasn't. Your opinion that your 'issue' needed medicalisation is also subjective (but one thankfully more regulated than that).

And where did I say the outcomes are only superficial? I didn't. Still doesn't mean over-medicalisation is recommended or socially responsible. Over-medicalisation is indirectly harmful – that's my whole point.

You don't have to 'buy' someone's social concern – your opinion of it doesn't make it not true.

Roaccutane is a very weak comparison. It is regulated to be prescribed by specialists only after other standard therapies have failed and where acne is resistant. It is a highly regulated drug and NOT easily handed out.

If you recommend people lying to pharmacies and GPs or going off-label to gain Roaccutane too, then that's a whole other issue.

I’m sure there are ways and means, but are you sure you want to? They are quite hard core drugs with side effects, and as soon as you stop taking them the effect wears off and the majority of people regain. I have been on them for 2 years and have BMI of 26, which I’m sticking at, as I feel healthier and I don’t think any lighter would look good on me especially the face

i find it really interesting when people with high BMIs say to those with lower BMIs “just diet and exercise”. Didn’t you get hacked off with people always saying that to you? If it’s that easy, why are you still so overweight?

Of course it was subjective, but it was my choice. People keep trying to justify not allowing lower BMI people to not have them because the risk is “too high” and yet I haven’t seen a single piece of evidence that this is correct.

My point with roaccutane is that it fixes something that doesn’t impact your physical health, it’s a strong drug that can detrimentally impact to people, and yet fixes a largely visual issue. It’s highly regulated because it is a dangerous drug, WLI drugs simply aren’t! That’s why their use is getting relaxed and not locked down further.

You keep using the term “over medicalisation” but what do you even mean in this context? What is it that concerns you about high volumes of people using them?

FGS, of course it isn't none.

Here is the product leaflet extract for you:

1. Possible side effects

Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Serious side effects Uncommon (may affect up to 1 in 100 people)

• Inflamed pancreas (acute pancreatitis) which could cause severe pain in the stomach and back

which does not go away. This is a serious, potentially life-threatening condition. You should see a doctor immediately if you experience such symptoms. Stop using this medicine and seek urgent medical help if you experience:

• Severe, persistent pain in the stomach area (abdomen), with or without nausea and vomiting.

This could be a sign of acute pancreatitis, which is serious and potentially life-threatening. 5 Rare (may affect up to 1 in 1 000 people)

• Severe allergic reactions (e.g. anaphylactic reaction, angioedema). You should get immediate

medical help and inform your doctor if you experience symptoms such as breathing problems, rapid swelling of the lips, tongue and/or throat with difficulty swallowing and a fast heartbeat. Other side effects Very common (may affect more than 1 in 10 people)

• Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) when tirzepatide is used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes

with medicines that contain a sulphonylurea and/or insulin. If you are using a sulphonylurea or insulin, the dose may need to be lowered while you use tirzepatide (see section 2, ‘Warnings and precautions’). Symptoms of low blood sugar may include headache, drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, feeling hungry, confusion, irritability, fast heartbeat and sweating. Your doctor should tell you how to treat low blood sugar.

• Feeling sick (nausea)*
• Diarrhoea*
• Being sick (vomiting) – this usually goes away over time1*
• Stomach (abdominal) pain1
• Constipation1

. *These side effects are usually not severe. They are most common when first starting tirzepatide but decrease over time in most patients. 1Constipation, abdominal pain, and vomiting are very common in patients treated for weight management, but common in patients treated for type 2 diabetes. Common (may affect up to 1 in 10 people)

• Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) when tirzepatide is used for type 2 diabetes with both

metformin and a sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitor (another diabetes medicine). Symptoms of low blood sugar may include headache, drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, feeling hungry, confusion, irritability, fast heartbeat and sweating. Your doctor should tell you how to treat low blood sugar.

• Allergic reaction (hypersensitivity) (e.g., rash, itching, and eczema)
• Dizziness observed in patients treated for weight management
• Low blood pressure observed in patients treated for weight management
• Feeling less hungry (decreased appetite) observed in patients treated for type 2 diabetes
• Indigestion (dyspepsia)
• Bloating of the stomach
• Burping (eructation)
• Gas (flatulence)
• Reflux or heartburn (also called gastroesophageal reflux disease – GORD) - a disease caused by

stomach acid coming up into the tube from your stomach to your mouth

• Hair loss observed in patients treated for weight management
• Feeling tired (fatigue)
• Injection site reactions (e.g. itching or redness)
• Fast pulse1
• Increased levels of pancreatic enzymes (such as lipase and amylase2

) in blood

• Increased calcitonin levels in blood3
• Gallstones3

1Fast pulse is a common side effect when used for type 2 diabetes and uncommon when used for weight management. 2 Increased levels of amylase is uncommon in weight management. 3 Increased calcitonin levels in blood and gallstones are common when used for weight management, but uncommon when used for type 2 diabetes. Uncommon (may affect up to 1 in 100 people)

• Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia) when tirzepatide is used with metformin for type 2 diabetes.

Symptoms of low blood sugar may include headache, drowsiness, weakness, dizziness, feeling hungry, confusion, irritability, fast heartbeat and sweating. Your doctor should tell you how to treat low blood sugar.

• Weight loss observed in patients treated for type 2 diabetes
• Injection site pain
• Cholecystitis (infection of the gallbladder) observed in patients treated for weight management
• Changed sense of taste
• Change in skin sensation
• A delay in the emptying of the stomach.

Reporting of side effects If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor, pharmacist or nurse. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme

I am on tnem. BMI 32 down to 20, maintaining on a low dose for a year, I’d thoroughly recommend tnem and if registered pharmacies are happy to prescribe to people with a bmi of 25 I think it’s a huge positive. Like any med people can make a decision on rare side effects v benefits, the drugs you can stop any given week, it’s a five day half life.

i find it interesting that this forum used to be littered wirh people taking issue with obese people taking tnem, now it’s all about being 25.

but there is a thread on here, the lady who eats half a kilo of cheese a day and is clearly obese and people are saying no no don’t take them.

it is utterly odd. Someone’s even posted the leaflet. How desperate do you need to be to do that.

Also in use for over 2 decades, over 50 million globally on now, not one death due to correct usage, not one case of thyroid cancer due to it.

but real life evidence now shows, from the last 20 years

reducrion in cancers
reducrtion in dementia, kidney, liver and heart disease, and curing of the latter 3
reduced inflammation causing anti ageing of our internal organs as the cells can now regenerate.

go for it op.

I find it so touching that random strangers are so concerned about what others do with their bodies.

Where I am in the EU we can get them over the counter at any local pharmacy.

So many use it to get ready for bikini season, including myself. Much like botox, it's fantastic and works. There is no shortage, and its paid for out of pocket.

@Contraversialcatergory go for it if you can. It is marvelous for taking off those winter kilos and well as encouraging a diet reset.

@Chewbecca you’ve listed side effects there, but I thought we were discussing long term risks? I’m well aware of the side effects, but have struggled to find any long term risks that were directly related to MJ and not rapid weight loss.

If you look back at my posts, my reasons do not include 'risk being too high' – that doesn't form pa

It’s highly regulated because it is a dangerous drug, WLI drugs simply aren’t!

There are dangerous drugs in terms of physical risk and there are dangerous drugs due to medicalising 'normal' into 'undesirable' socially. Cosmetic or non-cosmetic. You don't have to think that's a problem – I do think it's an issue. A big one.

You can read my post on page 2 regarding the concerns of over-medicalisation of normal human bodies.