'I lied to buy weight-loss jab from an online pharmacy and spent 24 hours on the loo'

Weight loss jab Mounjaro is big news at the moment, with reports of users shedding 20 per cent of their body weight and the NHS planning a phased rollout of the drug. Currently only available with a private prescription, it can be accessed by people who are obese (with a BMI over 30) or who have a BMI over 27 with additional weight-related health problems such as prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart problems. 

Increasingly, however, there are reports of people accessing weight loss jabs via online pharmacies despite being too slim to qualify, with Professor Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, expressing alarm at reports of the medication being "inappropriately used" as "quick fixes for those who are otherwise healthy, who just want to lose a few pounds."

Sarah*, 45, a mother of three who lives in the Scottish Borders, admits lying to access Mounjaro from an online pharmacy.  “Clicking ‘Complete’ on my online pharmacy order for the weight loss drug Monjauro, I felt a mixture of guilt and anticipation,” she says. “Guilt because I’d lied about my weight and height to secure a prescription, and anticipation because I couldn’t wait to see what all the fuss was about when it came to this ‘wonder’ drug that’s been hailed as the ‘King Kong’ of weight loss.

“A month later, I’ve lost 8lb and have zero regrets about my subterfuge, particularly when I look at my increasingly svelte reflection in the mirror - but there has been a price to pay along the way.” 

Monjauro - or tirzepatide as it’s also known - is one of a class of drugs that regulate appetite and metabolism by mimicking two key hormones, GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) and GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide). Both play an important role in our bodies in regulating our appetite and glucose metabolism. 

In simpler terms, it leads to users feeling full soon after eating, having less cravings for food and it slows down the emptying of the stomach so people feel fuller for longer and reduce their calorie intake. 

Also used to help manage Type-2 diabetes, it’s become the latest weight loss medication to hit the UK market and last week it was announced that NHS England plans to roll it out to a quarter of a million patients over a three year period.

“At 5’2 and 157lb before I started taking Monjauro, the NHS BMI calculator placed me in the ‘overweight’ but not ‘obese’ category. Currently it’s only people in the latter group who can legitimately pay for a private prescription of Monjauro. That wasn’t going to stop me though. 

“A mum of three under 10, I’ve never lost the baby weight since my third was born and in fact, have only added to it thanks to a large appetite and little opportunity to exercise. A potent combination especially as, aged 45, I’m hurtling towards perimenopause when women’s metabolism slows and weight increases.

"I’ve tried to cut calories and forked out for an expensive gym membership but have never managed to get my weight down lower than 151lb before falling off the wagon and piling it back on again.”

A size 12-14, no one would look at Sarah and describe her as ‘fat’. “I carry all my weight around my middle, a classic ‘mum tum’, and dress very carefully to conceal it, but I know it’s there and have grown increasingly unhappy with my shape and worried about the impact of carrying these extra pounds around on my long-term health,” she says.

Studies have shown links between belly fat and cancer, as well as an increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and strokes. So, "both for vanity and health reasons", Sarah says she was desperate enough to see if Monjauro would work for her that she was willing to lie to obtain it. With Monjauro available through a multitude of online pharmacies, and delivered directly to your door, she found it wasn’t difficult to get a prescription without ever coming face to face with a healthcare professional. “I simply tweaked my height and weight to ensure I fell in the ‘obese’ category, answered a list of questions about my general health and any other medication I take, and submitted an incredibly unflattering full length photo of myself, pushing out my tummy to look as flabby as possible,” she explains.

Within days of her request being approved, her first ‘pen’ which contains four weekly doses arrived in the post, along with instructions on how to use it. “Costing £180, it wasn’t cheap but I hoped it would be a worthwhile investment,” she says.

Since then, every Sunday morning, Sarah has jabbed herself in the thigh, administering a 2.5mg dose of the drug. “Within hours of the first dose, my appetite had all but vanished,” she recalls. “Out for lunch, I picked at the club sandwich I would normally have devoured, preparing the children’s tea I had no interest in wolfing down a few of their chicken nuggets and a spoonful (or three) of pasta, and I was very content with an evening meal more than half my usual portion size, without my nightly sweet treat of a chocolate bar afterwards.

“It felt surreal but brilliant to have silenced the ‘food noise’ that I know rages in so many people’s heads, including my own.”

A month on and Sarah says adjusting to life on Monjauro has been a learning curve. “I quickly realised that with young children, a hectic lifestyle and still trying to exercise a few times a week, it doesn’t matter if I’m not hungry, I need to eat for energy. “It’s easy to go until two or three in the afternoon on an empty stomach, but then I feel weak or woozy which is no good.

“I’m sticking to salads, soups, eggs and fruit by day and a normal evening meal with my husband, but a much smaller portion than I would previously have had. And I have no cravings for something sugary while we watch TV in the evening. 

“My 2lb a week weight loss is modest compared to some on the drug, but it’s better that I eat for energy and lose more slowly.

But that isn’t to say there haven’t been some very unpleasant side effects along the way. “Another lesson I’ve learned the hard way is that Monjauro and rich, high fat food, plus sugary drinks and alcohol, are not a good combination. 

"Three weeks in, I had a very sociable weekend involving a wedding, then a day out with friends, when it was very difficult to avoid indulgent food and drink, despite having no real desire for either. I paid the price with painful stomach cramps and diarrhoea for 24 hours afterwards, the only side effects I have experienced. It’s certainly one of the downsides of the drug - you can’t switch its effects on and off depending on your social calendar.

It hasn't put her off for long though. “I’ve just taken delivery of my second pen, which is a 5mg weekly dose. A further 8lb weight loss would see me having lost 16lb in total and anything more than that will be a happy bonus. I’ll still technically be ‘overweight’ but I know I’ll feel and look better at the lightest I’ve been in years.

"After that, I plan to stop taking the drug and maintain my weight loss myself, through diet and exercise, but starting from a healthier point on the scales, and with a renewed mental determination not to go back to where I was.

“Time will tell if I can manage that, but I firmly believe, two months on, that Monjauro will give me the very best chance and I have no regrets about lying to get my hands on it.”

*Sarah's name has been changed