Would you stay on the jabs for life if you didn’t have to pay?

[PuzzledObserver]

Just that, really.

When you reach your goal weight (maybe you already have) would you want to get off GLP-1’s even if you didn’t have to pay? To put it another way - do you feel there is any benefit in NOT taking them, other than saving money. Assuming you’re currently paying privately, of course.

Hi, can you explain what a split dose is please and how does this work. I have not heard of this before.

It just means ordering a larger dosage pen than you need and taking out smaller amounts. I take 2.5mg a week, instead of paying £149 a month for a 2.5mg pen I order a 5mg pen every other month for £169 and then count clicks to take the 2.5mg. Same dosage, almost half the cost.

Mj worked brilliantly for me but I couldn't afford to continue post price rise, so had to stop. I have put on 20lbs over a year which I cannot shift and my joint pain is back with a vengeance. I'd be on it if I could but unlike a pp, "only a few hundred" is totally unmanageable.

I'm hoping to stay on them for life even though I'm paying a small fortune!

I'm almost at goal weight, I've lost 5 and a half stone which is almost 40% of my body weight and they've absolutely changed my life.

Not just weight loss but so many other benefits aswell, it's absolutely a miracle drug for me.

I'm on 15mg and pay £270 a month and it's alot of money but I honestly think it's essential medicine for me.

I looked up the biggest study to date (Impact of Preoperative Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist on Outcomes Following Major Surgery) of 138,980 patients which initially appeared to show that complications were higher in GLP users. Once researchers compared similar patients with similar health risks, the association disappeared completely. In other words, the higher complication rate was due to other differences between the groups—such as obesity, diabetes, age, or other health conditions—rather than GLP-1 use itself.

But you know who have significantly higher rate of complications in surgery? Obese people.
For example, a 2025 meta-analysis of pancreatic surgery found that compared with patients without obesity, patients with obesity had:

• 69% higher odds of overall perioperative complications
• 85% higher odds of serious complications
• 70% higher odds of surgical-site infection
• 45% higher odds of postoperative death

So if you are obese and have upcoming surgery, it seems you should get ON those drugs.

I’m paying and I’ll stay on as long as I can still pay.

Thank you for explaining, never heard of this but it is good to know.

I'm assuming you have a trustworthy link to back this up?

There is, I suspect, more evidence that obesity causes complications

There we go. Thank you @HeidiLite

What kind of complications?

The only thing I've seen in stuff published online is an increased risk of general anaesthesia/inhaling stomach contents from the nil by mouth period not being long enough (as motility is slowed by the medication), solved by either extending the period or missing an injection, along with a slight risk of the patient being dehydrated from not drinking enough, so feeling sicker afterwards and if they are actually suffering from malnutrition.

Nothing about any actual surgical complications that I could find.

@NeverDropYourMooncup thank you. I’m on it currently and awaiting biopsy results, wondering if I should be coming off it to prepare for the worst. Can’t remember how long MJ takes to leave the system.

I have stopped the jabs to see how I go on my own. I was fully prepared to be on them long term or even forever so if I need to go back on then I am ok with that but so far so good ☺️
If I didn’t have to pay I would have definitely just continued and not stopped them.

Im on it for life. Gp prescription.

No, I reached slightly under my goal weight on MJ and am currently nearly 18 months off the jabs, with recent blood tests showing that all the markers that spurred me onto losing weight through the jabs, have gone down to normal range. The bone-weary tiredness side effect was enough to not stay on them for me.

When I started last year, I used the jabs for 6 months and stopped due to the financial outlay. I carried on calorie counting and am now at target having lost six and a half stone. Most of the weight has come off since I stopped the jabs too! I have completely overhauled what I eat and generally have a much healthier lifestyle. The jabs helped me initially to curb my appetite but wasn’t sustainable due to the cost but it was sufficient to get me kick started. I am now wearing a size 12 and am 5’5” and am extremely happy!

There is a risk of aspiration whilst under GA if on GLP-1s, hence the need to come off them in the weeks prior to surgery.

I would stay on them for life if not for the cost. My weight gain came from menopause affecting my hunger hormones, and I've a feeling that will still be an issue when I stop.
I've been on Mounjaro since Feb; lost five stone. Still another stone or so to go.
I'm actually only half a stone heavier than I was prior to gaining weight, and I was happy at that weight, but my body doesn't carry the weight so well, now I'm menopausal, so it looks like I have to lose a bit more to look the same - possibly to do with muscle tone rather than weight. I have chronic fatigue so can't exercise, beyond what work involves, to tone up the flab.
Because of the fatigue, I've just had to reduce my hours, hence money is going to be a bit tight, but I'll carry on as long as I can!

Yes as do help with pain and also too scared to stop and gain weight as a few I know this has happened to

if i have to jab once a week like I take other medication then so be it

obv would prefer cost to drop as on 10 so £200

I’m staying on despite having to pay.

I'll stay on them for life and happy to pay. The last 5 years my weight has been stable on Saxenda/wegovy/mounjaro I've maintained my healthy weight for the first time in my life. I've spent 40 years yo-yo dieting. This has been a miracle for me

What was it prompted you to move to a different medication each time?

How do people split dose. I don't seem to maintain very wrllmon 2.5mg but do if I take 5mg every 10 days. The issue is I now have extra pens as if I don't order every month I struggle to get more sometimes as they think there's been a gap and my BMI is now normal. How do people order a pen every 2 months?

I have been on MJ since the end of January 2025. I did about 4 months on WG, but didn’t get the same benefits (reduced inflammation and menopause symptoms, just feeling ‘well’ and stable blood sugar) so switched back. I am on 5mg and sit just above the lowest possible BMI before they make me stop taking it (20.2) having lost 115llbs, and my weight has been stable for a while now. I will happily stay on it for as long as I can!

I started MJ in March 2024 and have been at goal weight for more than a year.

I am trying to wean down doses but have no intention of permanently stopping. I know it’s an annoying cost but the benefits for me on this drug are enormous and well worth it.

If it didn’t cost me anything there would be no question at all. I’m really hoping that as patents expire and GLP1s become more mainstream I will be able to get it on the NHS. I genuinely don’t see it as any different to a diabetic needing insulin or a heart patient needing statins.

The way my body responded to the meds is proof that I had a medical condition that these drugs have resolved. It wasn’t just willpower or gluttony.