Is it safe to take reta bought online for weight loss?

[Harriette678]

a friend of a friend has lost a lot weight, and found out she is taking Reta which she says isn’t approved yet but has got it via online.

she told us all during a catch up and seems to be going well for her, and she knows a lot of other people taking it.

I’m a bit worried for her, it’s only in clinical trials isn’t it? Does that mean it’s ok? Is this safe? I started looking at Reddit and there’s a community of thousands of people taking it.

really confused, I’ve got a few stone to lose and looking at glp
options. She’s paying 1/4 what Mounjaro would be.

looking for neutral views as I’m feeling a bit judgey. Is it as concerning taking this reta, where does it even come from as I assume not Eli lily?!

Im not sure what neutral views you want, its not licensed in the UK for anything and is still under limited controlled testing - if you want to obtain it the you will need to source it from a random Internet contact, this means you could get anything and there is no come back - i believe most of it is manufactured in China. As you will know, the sensible people on reddit club together and buy a bulk amount then get it independently tested

Stop being tight, if you want to take it then go down an official route and pay the money - risks are involved as it is so you may as well remove the risk of it being whatever by using a proper product from a reputable supplier

Im interested in it too but no way would I inject substance from a random

Oh no I’m certainly not getting it. I’m too scared and wouldn’t know where to get it anyway unless i ask her and that feels wrong. I’m just confused how so many people are getting it. Don’t even know what I’m asking but I find it all strange as this Reddit community is extremely positive so wondering is it really actually ok?

I think they are mainly American but don't be fooled, a lot of them are posting as they are 'dealers' and want you to contact them so they can supply you - its all black market currently

Yeah it's not safe in the UK because there's no safe way of getting it. It's big in the bodybuilding community, and in martial arts gyms - where many of the guys take steroids or peptides, also sourced from a 'grey market', so they've already made that step, if you see what I mean.
The actual drug sounds very promising but until it's licensed it's very risky as you couldn't know what you're actually getting.

It is not legally available here or the USA, it's still undergoing trials.

Any product sold online or on social media claiming to be retatrutide is completely unlicensed and illegal and definitely not authentic, god only knows what people are pumping into their bodies

Sorry, just to add as I can't find the edit button - when I said above about going through an official route i meant for the licensed GLP1s

I find it fascinating that everyone on reta is anti-vax because "you don't know what you're putting in your body".

No, it's not licensed and not safe. Wait for it to be licensed and buy it from a licensed pharmacist.

It could have literally anything in it.

I mean it will be a Chinese copy so that’s why it’s cheap. I wouldn’t take the risk. I take mounjaro and I make a pen last 8 weeks (stored in fridge). The risk of that seems acceptable to me. The risks of injecting an unknown substance do not.

It’s still in phase 3 clinical trials so data is limited and it is currently illegal despite all the hype and discussion. Just because it is a “peptide” doesn’t mean you can use it safely. Alpha-amanitin is a peptide but you wouldn’t inject it since it is the toxin contained in the Death cap mushroom.

30-50% of all drugs fail at phase 3 and aren’t approved. Even drugs that are successful can be withdrawn after being in general use for years if long term side effects are reported.

There are problems with clinical trials such as use in pregnant women. It is wholly unethical to include pregnant women in the trial so any effect on an unborn child is unknown. So for women of childbearing age many drugs are contraindicated.

This is what’s confusing how do they know it’s actual Reta?

They don't. The guys I know who take it, along with whatever other peptides/stacks/PEDs etc are all convinced that they've done enough research to get a 'legit' source. But really, anything can be faked well enough to seem convincing.

I have just had a call with a family member who has just found out a colleague in their 30s died yesterday. The cause is as yet unknown, it was sudden and at home.

She never told me before that the colleague started taking illegal WLI obtained from a friend of a friend a few weeks ago as she knows it winds me up. She also said her colleague had been complaining about bad stomach pains the last 2-3 days.

I am so angry at the people who sell this shit and prey on vulnerable and desperate people. I hope for her colleagues partner and children those drugs did not contribute to their death, that would be so difficult to process on top of an already huge loss.

They may have had nothing to do with the death, but illegal drugs are surely never worth the risks.

This is the point - it’s not retatrutide. It’s a “copy” made in a lab, probably in China, with no traceability and the potential for goodness knows what contaminants in it - and that’s before we ask if it actually is a copy of the retatrutide molecule.

Some of the illegal WLI have turned out to be insulin, insulin mixed with other unknown compounds or very high strength semaglutide being sold as other strengths or as Tirzepatide for example.

It isn’t. The only company who are able to produce ‘Actual Reta’ are Eli Lilli and they are still in clinical trials and are not selling it. So what is being sold is a best estimate copy of the recipe (best case scenario) or something else entirely like insulin or another semiglutide.

Im sure some users are getting something that is effective and likely not actively harmful, but they’re getting that by chance not good judgement. They honestly could be buying anything, the one thing we know for sure is that it’s not the Reta that’s actually being tested for efficacy and safety.

It's impossible for it to be genuine retatrutide

2. Steer clear of fake weight-loss meds
If you’re not eligible for a prescription for weight-loss medicines, don’t be tempted to buy them from unregulated websites or social media sellers. GLP-1 medicines authorised in the UK have only been shown to be safe and effective for people with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 27 or more. Buying from rogue sellers is a huge risk. You can’t be sure what’s in the product, and some fake medicines are contaminated with toxic substances.

Don’t be tempted by the online hype around retatrutide. It has not been authorised for use in the UK, meaning anyone selling this product is doing so illegally. These products haven’t been tested for safety, quality or effectiveness and there’s no guarantee that they even contain retatrutide. You could be putting your health at serious risk.

www.gov.uk/government/news/no-summer-shortcut-for-safe-weight-loss

You can't possibly know that "everyone on reta ..."

I personally wouldn't take anything unregulated.

It's not impossible for the medication you buy on the grey market to be exactly the same medication. It's reverse chemistry to find out what's in it and you only need one dose to do this from someone on the trials.

It is impossible for me as a layperson to know what I'm getting is the same medication so until retatrutide is available to me through a regulated market I wouldn't consider it.

There is a truly bizarre Venn diagram between people who pursue health and fitness goals, and anti-vaxxers.

Chia seeds & kettlebells aren’t much good to you when you’re got whooping cough or measles.

Simplest answer is anything bought on the grey market cannot be labelled safe as it may not be what you think you are buying. When grey market mounjaro was tested last year it was found that sometimes it was actually insulin, sometimes semaglutide, sometimes random compounds. Even when it was actually mounjaro it often was a different strength to what was advertised. The same would apply for reta. If you are lucky, you buy a much lower dose of the actual product you expect to buy - if you are unlikely you could have a significantly higher dose (thus increasing risk of serious side effects), or you could be given a completely different drug or mix of drugs (thus risking serious medical harm or death). The compounds sold on the grey market are usually manufactured in legit chinese labs with sterile conditions for research, but are then imported into the UK and repackaged / reconstituted in non sterile conditions by untrained people (often via criminal organisations who don't care if people get hurt by their product).

I can understand why people are tempted by the grey market price, but it takes two minutes googling to see the risks and real harm people have suffered by taking them.

Also, as a cautionary note, often people use these threads on Mumsnet to PM people with links to their "trusted and tested" grey market options - these are just as risky.

I’m on MJ and even though it’s expensive, there’s absolutely no way I’d inject myself with something unlicensed. It could literally be anything.

my partner my mate and her husband. they all take it. they are fine. it will be approved late this year or early next year then all the prices will go up!

I personally wouldn’t buy any drug off some random internet site.

But you can’t be buying genuine medication, as it’s only available through clinical trials?