Prozac (fluoxetine) went off patent in August 2021. In July 2000, FDA approved Sarafem (fluoxetine) for use in Pre-Menstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD). In June 2010, Lilly stopped marketing Sarafem. In August 2023, Lilly informed FDA they wished to Withdraw Sarafem and its PMDD indication. It is not exactly clear what withdrawing its PMDD indication means. Presumably all use of generic fluoxetine for PMDD is now off-label rather than PMDD should be removed from DSM-whatever.
Trick or Treat?
Now in 2024, in the week leading up to Halloween, we get the withdrawal of Prozac. There is no indication Lilly are also withdrawing the indication Depression. It would be fascinating if they could do this and make all prescribing of generic fluoxetine off-label.
There are complications linked to current laws around generics. Generic companies have to take over the branded label. What happens when the branded drug disappears and no updates to the label are possible?
Who is going to add fluoxetine-induced alcoholism to the Labels, fluoxetine induced infertility or even a clear statement when the time comes that fluoxetine can cause suicide?
The Zyprexa Interlude
After Prozac went off patent, Lilly fished Cymbalta out of the discarded bin/filing cabinet – See Prozac Era – and in a marvellous example of company abilities to get you voting Trump today when you had been a passionate Harris supporter up to yesterday (or vice versa), they were able to make a failed drug into a blockbuster earning double what Prozac had been making.
But Cymbalta paled in comparison to Zyprexa. A drug that everyone knew you were taking because it was obvious you had become a Michelin man, and knew that taking it meant someone thought you were crazy, Zyprexa had years before quickly out-stripped Prozac’s profit rates.
It became a best-seller even though it appears in the trials used to get it licensed to have had the highest rate of suicides and suicide attempts in clinical trial history. No Black Box warning here. Why not – well not letting FDA or anyone else see the data helped.
FDA were scorched by their antidepressant and suicide experience and opted not to put Black Box Warnings on a wide range of drugs such as anticonvulsants – which across a range of indications from epilepsy to migraine to mood stabilization had clinical trial data showing increased rates of suicidal events comparable to rates on antidepressants.
Very early on, there were indications that Zyprexa caused diabetes. How did Lilly handle this? One of the tactics was to wheel out the single nineteenth century quote linking mental illness to diabetes – the only quote there is – to claim a link between the two disorders has always been known about and Zyprexa wasn’t causing the problem schizophrenia is – Diabetes and Psychosis.
Back in 2008, before Type 2 Diabetes had become the epidemic it now is, we found a doubling of the rate of T2D among patients treated with antipsychotics compared with population norms,
Lilly were among the companies most aggressively pushing their antipsychotic for Bipolar disorder – creating the epidemic we now have, This marketing went hand in hand with a marketing that created Adult ADHD to boost Strattera sales. The epidemics we now have unquestionably come from laboratories rather than fish or other markets – company laboratories.
Back to Basics
Lilly became better known outside Indiana a century ago, when in 1923 they were the first company to produce commercial insulin, with sales ramping up in 1924.
They have since been involved in a series of Insulin controversies with moves from porcine insulin to human insulin. Human insulin sounds better but it was genetically engineered and initially there were a range of complications linked to dose leading in some cases to hypoglycemic comas.
More recent controversies have linked Lilly and Novo-Nordisk to Insulin Price Gouging.
It is now fascinating to see Lilly and Novo-Nordisk scrapping over Ozempic for diabetes, aka Wegovy for weight loss and Mounjaro for diabetes, aka Zepbound for weight loss.
For all socialists out there, this image will be appealing. It shows senior figures in Germany’s social democratic party figures with shovels in hand – Olaf Scholz’s bald head in the middle – a suitable image for a working people’s party – see Scholz and Lilly for more on this story.
What’s the celebration? Lilly are investing in a tirzepatide producing plant in Germany rather than taking it to Asia as they had threatened to do if the German government didn’t change their laws to allow Lilly to hide their price gouging (negotiations) with health services and government. The factory hasn’t it seems gone to Asia.
In Britain, when the first NICE Guidelines for Schizophrenia were being produced, Lilly threatened to pull out of Britain if Zyprexa did not feature as a first line treatment for the condition. The threat appears to have worked. At the time, Lilly were dealing with a working people’s party.
After a long hiatus, Lilly are now again dealing with a working people’s party in Britain, whose Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, is talking about getting everyone who is not working on weight loss drugs drugs to get them fighting fit and able to get back to work – Embracing Healthcare Opportunities.
See Harriet Vogt’s comment on The Prozac Era post. In it she cites Kathleen Stock’s Unherd article on Wes and his dealings with Lilly and potentially with pharma in general that risk becoming ridiculous.
When it comes to health technologies that are billed as innovative – the Left have always been suckers. This goes back over a century to left wing endorsements of eugenics. If we can’t persuade society to change, perhaps we can inject some common sense into it.
This image is scrambled. It’s got it’s drugs and companies mixed up.
Treat
Having made these points about governments and how readily they will sell their soul, everyone taking semaglutide or tirzepatide has access to a scientific and clinical goldmine. These drugs likely have extraordinary effects other than the ones their companies want you to hear about. It would be great to get Reports to RxISK – outlining interesting and even beneficial things they are doing.
The interesting angles are they can almost certainly trigger suicidality in some. What do they do to libido, alcoholism and other problems?
The beneficial is they are likely a treatment for PGAD, PMDD and all kinds of conditions that are linked to akathisia – Antidotes for Akathisia and Dysregulation.
Be the first to report a breakthrough. We need more people to celebrate along with Anne-Marie and others – see Getting a Juggernaut to Stop and Think.
‘the trial would test the long-term effectiveness of the drug in the “real-world”.
Investigate Europe
For Eli Lilly, however, the deal is likely to be worth its weight in gold. This is because the company launched a weight loss injection at the end of 2023. With a similar drug, its competitor Novo Nordisk has just become the most valuable company in Europe.
Weight loss jabs like Ozempic linked to TEN deaths, officials confirm
https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/other/weight-loss-jabs-like-ozempic-linked-to-ten-deaths-officials-confirm/ar-AA1tlBa5?ocid=BingNewsSerp
The medicines watchdog has received reports of ten deaths linked to the use of weight loss jabs, it has revealed.
There have also been 7,228 reports of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea associated with the likes of Wegovy and Ozempic.
The medicines watchdog has received reports of ten deaths linked to the use of weight loss jabs, it has revealed.
There have also been 7,228 reports of nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea associated with the likes of Wegovy and Ozempic.
Of these, 68 patients were admitted to hospital, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said.
The numbers are based on users or healthcare workers informing the regulator of adverse reactions to the drugs, known as glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RAs).
A reported death or adverse reaction does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that someone had a suspicion it may have been.
An Open Letter From Eli Lilly and Company Regarding Certain Practices Related to Mounjaro® and Zepbound®
https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-details/open-letter-eli-lilly-and-company-regarding-certain-practices
How will weight loss drug trial for unemployed work?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crej4xpx2dvo
The first “real-world study” into the effectiveness of a weight loss drug is set to measure the impact on the job prospects of people living with obesity in Greater Manchester.
The five-year clinical trial was announced as part of a £279m plans by US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly to work with the UK government to address public health challenges like obesity.
The anti-obesity drug Tirzepatide, created by Eli Lilly and sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, will be used in the study.
Illnesses relating to obesity cost the NHS £11bn a year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said.
Who will be involved in the trial?
The trial will be run by Health Innovation Manchester in partnership with Eli Lilly, along with the University of Manchester and local digital trials company NorthWest EHealth.
The group of Greater Manchester health organisations behind the study have not revealed exactly who will be given the drugs.
But up to 3,000 people in the city-region will eventually take part, those behind the project have said.
They say the study will examine the “real-world” effectiveness of tirzepatide on weight loss, and on preventing diabetes and obesity-related complications.
Researchers will also measure how the drug affects the employment status of a patient, as well as the number of sick days they take.
Why is it in Greater Manchester?
The trial will make use of the Greater Manchester Care Record – an innovative joined up database of patient information from health and social care providers in the region.
About 600,000 adults live with obesity in Greater Manchester, according to Mark Fisher, chief executive officer of the NHS Greater Manchester Integrated Care Board.
He said the condition “reduces their quality of life and puts additional pressure on the health and care system” and welcomed the study in his region.
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, said: “Greater Manchester is world-renowned as a hub for innovation in health and life sciences.”
Laura Rooney, director of strategy at Health Innovation Manchester, said the announcement of the trials was a “huge achievement”, and testament to strength of the health and care and academic sectors in the city.
The researchers said the plan was to release more details about the study at a later date.
What will the results be used for?
All the evidence gathered from the five-year trial will be used to demonstrate the long-term effect of weight loss medication.
Those behind the study say the results could help develop the care pathways set by health services for treating people with obesity.
Martin Rutter, who is a professor of Cardiometabolic Medicine at the University of Manchester said the trial would test the long-term effectiveness of the drug in the “real-world”.
Prof Rutter, who is the lead investigator for the trial, said the the results would look into how the drugs works in “a primary care setting compared to usual care”.
Primary care is the first point of contact for health care for most people and is mainly provided by GPs, but would also include community pharmacists, opticians and dentists.
‘A reported death or adverse reaction does not necessarily mean it has been caused by the medicine, only that someone had a suspicion it may have been.’
‘After a long hiatus, Lilly are now again dealing with a working people’s party in Britain’ …
Sharp research, Annie. Of course, the real world evaluation of Tirzepatide was a competitive pitch – and Manchester won the handbag.
‘Laura Rooney, director of strategy at Health Innovation Manchester, said the announcement of the trials was a “huge achievement”, and testament to strength of the health and care and academic sectors in the city.
Lilly got NICE approval for Tirzepatide for T2D in 2023, I think it was, and for managing obesity this year. Not quite the bonanza they were hoping for – they pushed their luck and tried to include patients with a BMI 30 and above (est. 26% of our population), but got knocked back to BMI 35 and above, with one weight related comorbidity. You can’t really go wrong there – research estimates vary but, for starters, the prevalence figure for comorbid hypertension in this cohort is est 35-40% .
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8019280/
I’ve skimmed the NICE draft guidance – health economic modelling without pictures is hard going for some of us. But it was significant that, to avoid obvious health inequalities creeping in, despite lack of evidence, the drug was to be available to ‘those having atypical antipsychotics may have increased risk of developing obesity’ – inotherwords, those suffering the metabolic syndrome caused by ‘antipsychotics’ – and others similar for whom, ‘a history of significant active or unstable major depressive disorder or other severe psychiatric disorders’. Drug ‘em – and then drug ‘em again.
The NICE draft guidance is turgid reading. But one thing that emerges clearly is that there is no real interest in or concern about the complex of psychological, socioeconomic and physiological factors that cause individuals to become obese. It’s botland again – calculations with no human beings.
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/GID-TA11156/documents/draft-guidance-2
The Trump victory may be a turning point. As an American in self-imposed exile, from a ‘Dems forever’ family, I’m sure we can all understand why he won. Democratic elitism only sits well with democratic elites. Robert Kennedy Jr’s whole pitch has been that of – cleaning up corruption – in pharmaceutical corporations, public health agencies and publications. Whether he believes it or it’s a positioning to blur his own and the men in his family’s ethically unacceptable past vis-a-vis treating women like trash, who knows. I gather from an American friend, his appointment may need to be approved by the Senate (no idea why). But if, as he promised, Trump gives him the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) mandate, then could we be looking at an ethical earthquake in the world’s largest drugs’ market? How far might it reverberate globally? Could this be one reason why, thinking well ahead, Lilly is buying into the UK market?
There have been some very amusing memes on X – viz ‘Pfizer’s Headquarters right now after realizing RFK Jr. will soon control the public health agencies.’
https://x.com/jkramlich/status/1854015988141814226
Speaking as one who has dug actual foundations, I find groundbreaking ceremonies — in which senior officials scoop up a shovelful of earth and throw it into the air for the cameras — a bit distasteful.
Each of us has his job to do. If it’s not your job to dig the foundation, fine. But why pretend that it is?
The spectacle of drugmakers threatening to close manufacturing plants if their wares were not touted as first-line treatments reminded me of the modern-day conundrum: what does gross domestic product even mean when so much of what is produced — cigarettes, internet porn, time-sucking video games, and poisonous psychiatric medications — is inimical to human life and works?
‘The interesting angles are they can almost certainly trigger suicidality in some. What do they do to libido, alcoholism and other problems?’ – maybe we should be warning Wes and doctors of these possibilities? They’re not likely to hear such news elsewhere are they!
‘The beneficial is they are likely a treatment for PGAD, PMDD and all kinds of conditions that are linked to akathisia – Antidotes for Akathisia and Dysregulation’. The idea that this is likely to be greeted with open arms by those attempting to withdraw from psychotropic drugs, is misguided if those who meet with us by zoom are anything to go by. When it was shared with them that there may be some antidotes that they could try to, possibly, make matters easier, all hell broke loose! There is no way that they will let any such suggestions pass their lips! Once bitten twice shy – indeed, but what a waste if their very reaction to an antidote could help others in the future? Their fear, absolutely understandable of course, seems to block a possible source of, – dare we dream? – a way forward tin understanding akathisia and other ailments.
Such a difficult challenge!
Being once bitten and twice shy is understandable and one reason for not trying something else. But an unwillingness to try an antidote is a side effect of a belief in hyperbolic tapering whose advocates tend to figure there is no proper way to stop other than hyperbolically.
Peter Groot with his tapering strips is much more pragmatic and open to the idea that there may be steps that will help some other than just tapering
D
New Drugs.
This is all very interesting, and, dare I say, hopeful? I do believe that some form of relief will be found for those who are suffering from Akathisia and related phenomena. I believe the relief, or panacea, will probably come from medication.
History.
Why do I believe this? Maybe it’s due to a faith in medicine and discovery, as has been demonstrated throughout history.
Untenable Situation.
However, I am under no illusions about where things have gone so wrong with drugs, and am horrified by the way some people have been both disbelieved and profoundly damaged by certain prescribed drugs, or by the results of wrong-headed medical advice to taper off swiftly.
Incidentally, I have no idea what ‘hyperbolic’ means (in the context of tapering), but I will find out.
Prescription Motivation.
I do not believe that doctors generally, or psychiatrists especially, are deliberately or recklessly prescribing benzodiazepines or certain antidepressants with the intention of causing an iron grip of physical dependence and effects such as dysphoria, akathisia, suicide, or even homicide, in those vulnerable.
So many doctors themselves are suffering in this manner, eg from withdrawal, (whether inter dose, tolerance, or protracted withdrawals), so I don’t think it’s a medical conspiracy per se.
Looking Closer.
I do believe that a lot of healthcare practitioners (as Dr Healy writes elsewhere) cannot seem to perceive or apprehend the ‘look’ of someone who is under the influence of a given drug, yet patients could tell which staff were taking certain medications (as part of a drug trial).
Who can we trust if we feel unwell?
Analogous to Breaking of Bread or Eucharist: Sacraments (Dr Healy’s Analogy).
Somebody somewhere has to do something about the situation where innocent supplicants are being proffered a Sacrament by our contemporary ordained pastors (medical practitioners), and things go very wrong as a result for some.
This Sacrament, (some forms of medication), for some of them, will always be taken ‘wrongly’. I think it was Peter in the Bible who warned folk then (and perhaps now) that taking Communion ‘wrongly’ is why some ‘sleep’ (die). This is why some Churches ‘guard’ the Communion Table, (although they don’t believe in the Real Presence, they do believe that partaking in the breaking of bread can be very dangerous for some).
If the religious analogy is stretched, we could argue that non medical prescribers could be akin to the current breadth of pastors or ordinary people dispensing the Sacrament.
Some very perceptive individuals might of course be better, but the situation overall would not be if undue reverence is given to ‘the facts’ as related purely by the big pharmaceutical companies. This would be more like a cult, with the truth of the patient’s agonising predicament caused by the drug being constantly downplayed (ie it must be the illness not being adequately treated, or resurfacing upon withdrawal)..
NEETS* and The Party for Working People.
*Not in Employment, Education or Training: – How many members of this sad, disadvantaged and expanding cohort are suffering social isolation and rejection as a direct result of lifelong injuries and harms caused by mainstream psychiatry’s misdiagnosis of AKATHISIA, disinhibition and emotional blunting; followed by unjustified incarceration, cruel and sadistic actions of “nursing” staff and forced, contraindicated drugging with fluoxetine, olanzapine and a cascade of other toxic, psychotropic drugs?
Each withdrawal syndrome and each deluge of drug-induced, multiple, psychotropic drug Adverse Drug Reactions – (serially misdiagnosed as ‘Serious Mental Illness’) – exacerbates the iatrogenic NEET Syndrome.
Unforgivable diagnostic and therapeutic incompetence.
Time for personal, professional accountability for grievous bodily, economic and emotional harm: –
(GBEEH, or simply Grievous Bodily Harm – GBH)?
The commitment to “Saving the NHS” is welcomed by one who afforded a lifetime of commitment to this treasured institution.
However, Is it really possible to save the NHS without having the courage to identify its failures?
Of these, the forty years of failure of drug-dependent, biological psychiatry must have cost £billions with such terrible outcomes, patient harms, injuries and deaths.
Predictably, those in power will be convinced by psychiatry’s “Defenders of The Faith” that all will be well with enough additional expenditure.
Looks like the DM are on a roll, the Evening Standard does much better
Eli Lilly might cheer, from the sidelines…
What’s the difference between Saxenda and Ozempic?
Ozempic and Saxenda have different active ingredients but both work to mimic a hormone, GLP-1, which controls appetite and blood sugar.
Ozempic, which uses semaglutide, is primarily used to treat type 2 diabetes but is often prescribed for its ‘off label’ weight loss effect.
Saxenda, which uses liraglutide, is primarily prescribed for weight loss.
Ozempic requires weekly injections while Saxenda is injected daily.
Both are owned by Novo Nordisk, founded in Denmark.
My dad died after 19 days on a miracle weight loss drug: Grieving daughter reveals the first sign something was terribly wrong – after he blamed his symptoms on burnout
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-13696067/Ozempic-Saxenda-death-Australia.html
Evening Standard
Sound research from this reporter
Ozempic, Wegovy or Mounjaro: the battle of the weight-loss injections
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/ozempic-wegovy-or-mounjaro-the-battle-of-the-weight-loss-injections/ar-AA1t3KrP?ocid=BingNewsSerp
At the moment, only Wegovy is available on the NHS in England, Wales and Scotland, but Mounjaro – nicknamed the “King Kong” of weight-loss drugs and manufactured by Eli Lilly – will soon be available too. 1.6 million people are set to be offered the jabs over the next 12 years as part of a phased rollout.
Other drugmakers are working on versions too. Israel’s Teva Pharmaceutical Industries, the world’s largest generic drugmaker, launched a generic version of Victoza (used to treat type 2 diabetes) in the US in July. Among others in the arms race are Pfizer, AstraZeneca and London-based Novartis, who are exploring various innovative approaches to obesity treatment.
How effective a long-term obesity strategy weight-loss injections will be remains to be seen. But what is clear is that they have already shaken up the pharmaceutical industry, and are here to stay.
Us, lightweights, can look at this realistically- as so much attention is drawn away from the deadly ADs
Throwing good money after bad has never, ever been a good idea has it. Throwing psychotropic prescriptions at those who are more in need of a “listening ear” than taking a ‘happy pill’ isn’t either. Just because doctors are short of time during an appointment with a patient does not justify that prescription either.
Throwing Ozempic, or one of the other weight-loss prescriptions, at the NEETS group would not only be cruel, it would also throw that group into utter despair. They already feel almost invisible due to all that’s happened to them. Rather than these suggested prescriptions, how about spending the money on creating many more short-working-day slots, often created by local councils, for the purpose of giving these people some dignity in life. The feeling of “earning your own crust” is far reaching – and possibly exactly what is needed to support many of them to eventually progress into full time work.
To my mind, Wes Streeting’s thinking would be acceptable if he was opening up a route out of the over-prescribing of these powerful drugs for the thousands who certainly don’t need to be on them. Has he thought through the fact that a high number have gained many extra pounds in weight simply because they have followed their doctor’s instructions and swallowed their pills?
I certainly hope that he rethinks the position of the NEETS in a more acceptable and confidence-boosting way,
There will always be a group who are far too ill to entertain the idea of even part-time or voluntary work, of course. Tim, you have rightly described such a case. They must never be made to feel that they are a drain on society – we should be proud to carry their needs at all times…….especially when they belong to a group who took on trust the words and actions of their doctor. Neither accidental nor self-inflicted injuries – simply caused by mis-management and greed. No-one, in or out of parliament, should ever begrudge this group their Benefits but should rather count ourselves so lucky that we were not one of their number.
Thank you Mary H.
Planned gentle societal re-integration and possible tiny incremental steps in returning to even a limited time working and contributing to society could begin to alleviate rejection, isolation, loneliness and economic destruction.
However, this would require realistic, collaborative political and medical planning and commitment.
Specialist Social Workers designated for Societal Rehabilitation After Medical Injury may be helpful?
To be acceptable, they would need to be designated to actively protect against any further unnecessary exposure to psychiatry/psychotropic drugs.
Without that ‘ring-fencing’, the terror of further psychiatric injury and abuse would prevent success.
This would also be dependent on my profession recognising and providing documentation of the diagnosis: Iatrogenic NEET Syndrome.
This feels like an impossible aspiration, yet it might begin to restore failing trust in medicine, and
also restore the once therapeutic Doctor – Patient relationship?
Tim
You are pointing to a number of paradoxes. One is many old timers like you and me mention the importance of continuity of care but in this case continuity of care has become a problem.
We assume seeing the same human face rather than a different person each time will be a good thing but in these cases its not. Continuity of care needs reformulating as Continuity of competent care – with the emphasis on a competence or capability to see and hear the person seeking help and to learn from things not turning out the right way.
As things stand now, there is a greater threat from good doctors who are keeping to the work of the guidelines – called standards of care in the US – rather than infused with the spirit of seeking to provide the best possible care for this person in front of me rather than a non-existent average.
It is difficult to see a way back
D
Thank you for this insight and clarification.
It is indeed difficult to see a way back to those good doctors who were genuinely “infused with the spirit of seeking to provide the best possible care for this person in front of me rather than a non-existent average”.
As I read your words I recalled the faces and compassionate voices of colleagues who lived up to and beyond that ideal.
Sadly missed.
Time
Patients Are Suing Over Alleged Side Effects of Weight-Loss Drugs
https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/patients-are-suing-over-alleged-side-effects-of-weight-loss-drugs/ar-AA1tuPGx?ocid=BingNewsSerp
It’s not unusual, he says, for new safety concerns to bubble up after a drug is already on the market. If a side effect is rare, it may not arise even in a large, well-designed clinical trial. But once a medication is prescribed to millions of people from all walks of life—not just those who fit the specific patient profile required to participate in a study—it’s likely that some of them will have the misfortune of experiencing a rare complication. Post-approval safety issues arose for a third of novel drugs approved from 2001 through 2010, leading a small number to be pulled from the market and many more to be labeled with additional safety warnings, research shows. Only time will tell if GLP-1 drugs are headed for those fates, Palakodeti says.
—–
As one executive at a competing drug company put it this week: “You don’t get into a fight like a head-to-head 3b trial of your showpiece product unless you’re pretty confident that yours is the dog which is going to win.
https://inews.co.uk/news/mounjaro-ozempic-inside-race-reveal-best-weight-loss-jab-3328864?ico=in-line_link
Analysts have pointed out that as recently as 2009 shares in Eli Lilly were at an all-time low after the expiry of patents on its then blockbuster anti-depression drugs, including Prozac. Similarly, Pfizer, which rode high during the Covid-19 pandemic with its pioneering vaccine, has of late suffered a reversal of fortunes after failing to capitalise on its coronavirus windfall and finding itself targeted by an activist investor.
As the pharmaceutical company executive put it: “Boom and bust is the curse of this industry. It would be good to see someone actually break the cycle but I’m not convinced even once in a lifetime drugs like Zepbound and Wegovy are going to move the dial. The trouble with fighting giants is that they tend to tire each other out.”
Miranda Levy, journalist –
My experience of a weight-loss drug was hell – I felt like I was being poisoned
Story by Miranda Levy
• 1d
https://www.msn.com/en-gb/health/other/a-constant-low-level-feeling-of-being-poisoned-my-experience-of-weight-loss-drugs-was-hell/ar-AA1tufZv?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Quite possibly, but once I’d decided I was “going ’Jaro”, nothing was about to stand in my way.
Psychiatrists sound alarm over the thousands hooked on the anxiety drug they call ‘Valium on steroids’ as a top magazine editor reveals her battle to kick pregabalin
By Miranda Levy For The Mail On Sunday
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-8653937/Psychiatrists-sound-alarm-thousands-hooked-Valium-steroids.html
And that was my own experience. I didn’t notice any specific difference in my condition when I started taking it – I was on antidepressants, and sleeping tablets too. It was just another medicine I took dutifully because I was told it would help. I was so deranged from insomnia, if it had any other side effects I didn’t really notice them either.
Professor David Healy, a psychopharmacologist and the author of 20 books on psychiatry, says: ‘I’d rather be on Valium. It’s easier to get off. Pregabalin is Valium on steroids.’
Because of my experience on Valium – which, as I said, was hellish to quit – I vowed to be extra careful with this new drug.
Miranda is an intelligent woman, she has written a book The Insomnia Diaries, she currently writes for The Herald Scotland about the NHS.
Why would Miranda get drawn in again?
Correction to Miranda’s CV
Miranda Levy
Journalist, author, content creator – Telegraph, Daily Mail, Independent, GH – and more. Visiting Lecturer, City University Journalism MA (from Jan 2025)
London, England, United Kingdom
I’m a features writer, editor, copywriter, and author, with more than 25 years’ experience as a journalist for national newspapers and magazines.
During my career I have created and edited content across many subject areas for national brands, from the Daily Mail to Cosmopolitan to the Independent, the New York Post and the Telegraph, where I most recently worked on staff.
As the editor of Mother & Baby, I was twice shortlisted for a British Society of Magazine Editors award.
I have delivered copy/ marketing material for healthcare providers and other businesses, given training workshops in professional writing and journalism skills, and have experience of live broadcasting.
From January 2025, I will be teaching the Health Specialism on the Journalism MA programme at City University.
I’m the author of two books, The Rough Guide to Babies, and The Insomnia Diaries: How I Learned to Sleep Again.
Insomnia, and the dark places it took me, ruled and ruined my life for the best part of a decade. Much of this was down to my reaction to taking (and withdrawing from) prescribed psychiatric medications.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-9669355/How-insomnia-left-hooked-Valium-psychiatric-ward.html
There was barely any therapy, but there were lots of pills: antidepressants, antipsychotics, more benzos. When these didn’t work, psychiatrists upped the doses and added new tablets into the cocktail.
Eventually, I decided all my problems were down to my dependence on these drugs.
“going ’Jaro” …
Hello. This is Miranda Levy. Nice to see you. What point are you trying to make about me and my work, please?
Hi Miranda
On this blog we have been covering weight-loss drugs and antidepressants in some depth and so I was very interested to read your articles in the Daily Mail. I know of you because of your book, The Insomnia Diaries.
The pros and cons of these drugs are an important factor for anyone who is thinking about the issues relating to these two classes. Your own experiences, of both types of drug, shed a lot of light on the issues that I thought readers would be interested to learn about.
Good to see you on the site, always good to hear the downsides from one with published work who can eloquently describe quite detailed accounts.
Best wishes,
Annie
UK Government Declined to Comment
The death of a nurse from North Lanarkshire has been linked to the use of a weight-loss drug recently approved for use on the NHS.
Susan McGowan, 58, took two low-dose injections of tirzepatide, known under the brand name Mounjaro, over the course of about two weeks before her death on 4 September. Her death certificate, seen by the BBC, lists multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis as the immediate cause of death – but “the use of prescribed tirzepatide” is also recorded as a contributing factor. It is thought to be the first death officially linked to the drug in the UK
Ms McGowan worked as a nurse at University Hospital Monklands in Airdrie for more than 30 years.
The popular bed manager had often discussed her weight loss attempts with close friends, but the emergence of new weight-loss jabs seemed to her to offer better chances of success. After researching Mounjaro and seeking medical advice, she purchased a prescription via a registered online pharmacy.
The drug typically costs between £150 and £200 for a four-week supply and can be purchased from any registered pharmacy in the UK.
Days after her second injection she began experiencing severe stomach pains and sickness, so she went to A&E at Monklands – where her colleagues battled to save her life. Jade Campbell, Ms McGowan’s niece, was with her when she died. She said: “Susan had always carried a wee bit of extra weight but there were never any health concerns. She wasn’t on any other medication. She was healthy.” “Susan was such a bubbly person. She was really generous, she was really kind and she was the life of the party – a huge personality. They said she had the biggest laugh in the hospital.”
Ms Campbell was told by doctors that her aunt’s kidneys were not functioning properly. Days later she went into a coma, and her organs began to fail. “It was so quick,” she said. “I still find myself thinking, ‘has that actually happened?’”
Tirzepatide is one of a group of weight-loss drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which work by making the patient feel fuller for longer. It was approved for use as a weight-loss aid in the UK in 2023 by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). That included use on the NHS, although the drug is currently only prescribed by the NHS for a small number of patients due to factors like cost and availability.
The MHRA runs the yellow card scheme, where any member of the public or health profession can log reports of suspected side effects of drugs. Public data is only available up to May this year, but between January and May 2024 there were 208 reports about tirzepatide on the yellow card scheme, including 31 serious reactions and one suspected death of a man in his sixties. Ms McGowan’s death is too recent to appear within this data.
Dr Alison Cave, MHRA chief safety officer, said that new medicines, such as tirzepatide, are more intensively monitored to ensure any new safety issues are identified promptly. She said: “Our sincere sympathies are with the family of individual concerned. Patient safety is our top priority and no medicine would be approved unless it met our expected standards of safety, quality and effectiveness. “We have robust, safety monitoring and surveillance systems in place for all healthcare products. “On the basis of the current evidence the benefits of GLP-1 RAs outweigh the potential risks when used for the licensed indications.”
Mounjaro manufacturer Lilly said patient safety was the company’s top priority. A spokesperson said: “We are committed to continually monitoring, evaluating, and reporting safety information for all Lilly medicines.
“Mounjaro was approved based on extensive assessment of the benefits and risks of the medicine, and we provide information about the benefits and risks of all our medicines to regulators around the world to ensure the latest information is available for prescribers.”
Are weight-loss drugs safe?
Semaglutide, known by the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic, are also GLP-1 receptor agonists. There have been 23 suspected deaths linked to semaglutide in the UK via the yellow card scheme since 2019. These drugs have passed the clinical trials needed to be approved for use in the UK and have been cautiously welcomed by those working to tackle obesity.
Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow and chairs of the UK government’s obesity mission, said it was difficult to establish “cause and effect” in single cases where patients die after taking the drugs. Prof Naveed Sattar says many people could benefit from approved weight-loss drugs
He said: “Trials are very robust in trying to establish safety, that the drugs generally have substantial benefits that outweigh the risks. “There’s enough evidence available that these drugs have strong meaningful weight loss, that the side effect profiles are generally ok for the vast majority of individuals.
“The reality is we have a big need to help many people living with extreme levels of high BMI to help lose weight with these drugs that will give multiple benefits and for many years we haven’t had such tools. There are many individuals, roughly speaking one in four to one in five adults living in the UK, who could benefit from these drugs.”
Tirzepatide became the subject of national debate recently when the UK government announced plans to roll it out to unemployed people to help them back into work. The government is partnering with the Mounjaro manufacturer to run a five-year trial in Greater Manchester. Nearly 250,000 people are expected to receive the jab over the next three years as part of the trial and Health Secretary Wes Streeting has hailed the jabs as “game-changing”.
But Ms Campbell believes it is not the right time and hopes the UK government will reconsider the decision.
She said: “I think anything that’s backed by the government, you would trust. I would ask you to speak to your GP about things like this first, there might be another option for you to consider before you jump on the weight-loss injections.”
BBC News asked the department of health and social care if it would review its decision given Ms McGowan’s death. The UK government declined to comment.
BBC News – Nurse’s death linked to weight-loss drug Mounjaro approved on NHS – BBC News
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cz6jg6nw2zeo
‘I’m terrified someone is going to die’ – Wes Streeting demands tighter regs around Wegovy after C+D story
https://www.chemistanddruggist.co.uk/CD138280/Im-terrified-someone-is-going-to-die–Wes-Streeting-demands-tighter-regs-around-Wegovy-after-CD-story/?utm_source=onesignal&utm_medium=web-push&utm_term=CD138351
Wes Streeting has revealed plans for “much closer clinical oversight and regulation” around accessing weight loss drugs from online pharmacies, after C+D exclusively revealed that increasing numbers of people were turning up at A&E needing treatment after taking weight loss drugs.
Additional reporting
Deaths in America linked to semaglutide and tirzepatide by year.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14058411/Nurses-death-UK-NHS-weight-loss-jab-Mounjaro.html
Meanwhile, weight loss shots like Ozempic have been linked to 162 deaths in the US, DailyMail.com revealed.
One of the victims was a 45-year-old woman who choked on her own vomit while on Mounjaro, a rival drug that works the same way.
Another involved a 23-year-old man who died from vomiting, nausea, and a rapid heart rate after taking Wegovy.
BBC R4 Today covered the story.
DM – ramps up investigations
Mounjaro WRECKED my health, I wish I’d never taken it – patients reveal disastrous side effects of jab as UK reports first death from weight loss drugs
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14059075/Mounjaro-health-never-taken-patients-effects-UK-death.html
Meredith Hotchkiss, a nurse from Meridian, Idaho in the US, said she will now likely be tube fed for the rest of her life, after taking the injection for just a matter of weeks.
The 56-year-old who said the jab had ‘devastated’ her life is one hundreds of patients who have joined a a multi-state US lawsuit against the drugmakers of Mounjaro and another weight loss jab Ozempic.
Thousands more patients who also suffered extreme side-effects are expected to join the legal action as it progresses, lawyers say.
Pharmaceutical firms PharmEli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are accused of failing to warn patients or physicians about certain side-effects caused by the drugs.
Both companies have said they will ‘vigorously defend against these claims’ and deny the allegations in the lawsuits.
“Her death certificate, seen by the BBC, lists multiple organ failure, septic shock and pancreatitis as the immediate cause of death – but ‘the use of prescribed tirzepatide’ is also recorded as a contributing factor.
“Mounjaro, alongside semaglutide — known by the brand names Weogovy and Ozempic — have passed the clinical trials needed to be approved for use in the UK.
They have also been cautiously welcomed by those working to tackle obesity.”
“some impurities.” – going that way again…
Pfizer drug Champix, was taken off the market, now offered ‘improved’
NHS offers ‘improved’ stop smoking pill
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq520wy6nplo
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “The rollout of this pill can save the NHS millions of pounds, save appointments to help other patients be seen faster and save lives.”
https://news.cancerresearchuk.org/2024/11/12/nhs-england-offers-new-stop-smoking-pill-varenicline/
As a ‘generic’ or unbranded drug, varenicline (made by the pharmaceutical company Teva UK)
Varenicline and risk of psychiatric conditions, suicidal behaviour, criminal offending, and transport accidents and offences: population based cohort study
https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h2388
After varenicline’s introduction on the market, reports of suicidality and depression emerged in post-marketing surveillance and eventually led to warnings issued by regulatory agencies in Europe and a black box warning in the United States.7 8
Furthermore, varenicline has been reported to increase the risk of traffic accidents,9 and it has been restricted or prohibited in several transportation industry professions, including pilots, air traffic controllers, truck and bus drivers, and certain military personnel.9 10
Some weaker evidence also suggests an increased risk of violence and psychosis.10 11 12 13 14 15 However, these increased risks are based on post-marketing surveillance and case reports,9 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 which are not consistent with observational data and randomised controlled trials that have found no association between varenicline and depression, suicidality, or violence
https://www.bmj.com/content/350/bmj.h1168
Results from a new meta-analysis seem at odds with patients’ real life experiences
The safety of drugs for smoking cessation, in particular varenicline (Chantix, Champix; Pfizer) and its effects on mental health, has been debated by regulatory authorities, researchers, prescribers, and patients since varenicline was first marketed nine years ago. The debate is likely to be sharpened by the linked paper by Thomas and colleagues (doi:10.1136/bmj.h1109), a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo controlled trials that found “no evidence of an increased risk of suicide or attempted suicide, suicidal ideation, depression, or death with varenicline.”1
This finding seems to be at odds with many patients’ experience of psychiatric adverse effects associated with varenicline, recently summarised in a citizen petition to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).2 It is timely to assess where the balance of evidence lies so that patients struggling to stop smoking can be advised about the risks of varenicline and consensual decisions about treatment can be made.
Mental health effects of varenicline—including depression, suicidal behaviour, and psychotic reactions—have been reported worldwide3 4 5 6 and are documented on the product information, including a “black box” warning on the Chantix label.7 Since the addition of these warnings in …
‘Ozempic for Smokers’ – there is a breed who go all out for the magic cure – advertising by the back-door – without a shred of journalistic inquiry as to the safeguards for these products…
Dame Murray, DBE is an English journalist and broadcaster, best known for presenting BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour from 1987 to 2020.
JENNI MURRAY: There’s a new Ozempic for smokers that’s free on the NHS. Here’s why I’ll be first in line…
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-14078669/JENNI-MURRAY-Ozempic-smokers-free-NHS.html
After a year of allegedly becoming a non-smoker, I have to admit I am in no way free of the shackles of nicotine. In fact I’m still loaded with the stuff via patches and gum which I chew all day, every day until my jaw aches.
Every morning, I wake up and the first thing on my mind is still a good cup of coffee with a cigarette. And I still suffer from bad temper and anxiety over the fear I’ll never be allowed to hold my comforting little friend again.
I know only too well the power of nicotine addiction. Having smoked my first cigarette at the tender age of 14, it has held me in its grip for 60 years. At my worst, I smoked 20 a day.
So my reaction on hearing the news of a daily pill, to be handed out free on the NHS, that will help you stop smoking, just as Mounjaro, Ozempic or Wegovy help you stop eating? Yes please, I’ll have some of that!
Varenicline (sold under the brand name Champix) promises to increase people’s chances of quitting and will, potentially, save thousands of lives every year.
The NHS is super-keen to offer it to 85,000 people a year in England, addicts whose smoking-related illnesses are a huge drain on its meagre resources.
Amanda Pritchard, the chief executive of NHS England, says the pill is a potential ‘gamechanger’ in the fight to tackle smoking.
It works, apparently, by reducing cravings for nicotine and blocking its effect on the brain (goodness knows how) as well as easing the withdrawal symptoms – the familiar sleepless nights and uncontrollable temper.
Do I really need another drug to help me do something I should be able to control with willpower? Am I really so weak that, already on Mounjaro to lose weight, I now need varenicline to liberate me from the grasp of nicotine?
I am not ashamed to say I think I do.
It’s exactly a year since I smoked my last cigarette. Last November, I was in hospital, lying in bed in terrible pain with a broken vertebra. I couldn’t get up and take myself out of the hospital for a sneaky fag. None of my family or friends was prepared to wheel me outside into the fresh air to indulge myself. I had no choice but to give up.
I thought it would only be a temporary period of denial. I could go back to normal once I got home, meanwhile I would plaster myself with nicotine patches and ensure a plentiful supply of nicotine chewing gum.
Unfortunately, what I hoped would be a short period of abstinence stretched and stretched. My two sons, insistent that I needed a longer period of rest and recuperation, booked me into a care home. No smoking there.
I sat for hours in my room in the home in Poole, Dorset, gazing out into the garden, watching endless queues of the nursing and care staff wander up the garden path to spend their half-hour break in the smoking hut. As they walked, they were carrying their packets, opening them, taking out the longed for cigarette, putting it into their mouth and lighting it as they approached the designated smoking zone. How I longed to be with them.
Nicotine addiction is pernicious. The two men to whom I was closest were my father and my grandfather. I learned to love the smell of nicotine on their clothes. I would sniff at their brown fingers, stained by the consumption of untipped woodbines. It was a vicarious pleasure, and I couldn’t wait to try it myself. Everyone at school thought smoking was elegant and cool.
Soon after my 14th birthday, left alone when Grandma was out shopping, I stole one of those untipped Woodbines from Grandpa’s pack. I lit it in the garden and puffed just as they did. I’ve never felt so sick and dizzy in my life, but I was not going to give up. I worked hard, with lots of practice at home, to be proficient enough at smoking to join the cool gang at school. I succeeded.
My father tried and failed to give up a million times. His lung cancer was discovered soon after his 80th birthday and I managed to find him a place in a hospice where he had wonderful palliative care. Some of the last words he spoke to me, just before he died, were: ‘Have you got a fag on you, love?’
I understand that need, that craving – even when it’s killing you. Smoking is the way I always used to start my day and a square of chewing gum is no replacement.
I tried a vape on the recommendation of a friend but hated it. It tore at my throat in a way no cigarette had since that Woodbine all those years ago.
Meanwhile, celebrities seem to be glamourising cigarettes again in the way Bette Davis did in my youth.
The singer Rosalia gave Charli XCX a bouquet of cigarettes on her birthday and the actor Paul Mescal says he refused to give up smoking when getting into shape for Gladiator II.
The ‘cigfluencers’, as they’re known, are leading young people in entirely the wrong direction. The young are taking up smoking because, they say, ‘It’s just what everyone does.’
Do we never learn?
They’ll cough and they’ll splutter and regret the day they ever allowed nicotine to take a hold. I remember many years ago being told by a doctor that nicotine was as powerful a drug as heroin for some people. I’ve no doubt I’m one of them.
If this new pill can stop nicotine controlling me, I will be on to my doctor tomorrow. I’ll be medicated for weight loss, for smoking and if anyone can come up with a pill to make me love doing exercise I’ll be the happiest woman hoping to stay alive!
The ‘Scandal-hit’ drug released with obscure evidence of success
Breathtaking bias towards psychiatric patients, inferring a ‘psychiatric malaise’ in the general population of people who pop outdoors for ‘a smoke’ …
She added: ‘Patients with psychiatric disorders, particularly those that have been hospitalised for their illness, are often quite heavy smokers so smoking cessation aids are often prescribed in this population.
Varenicline linked to more than 25,000 adverse reactions since 2007
Revealed: Terrifying side effects of Champix, from seizures to suicidal thoughts – as NHS relaunches controversial stop smoking drug
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14077581/side-effects-Champix-seizures-suicidal-thoughts-NHS-controversial-stop-smoking-drug.html
A ‘game-changer’ anti-smoking pill set to be rolled out on the NHS has been linked to more than 25,000 reports of alarming side effects including seizures, personality changes and suicidal thoughts.
The UK’s drug watchdog has warned that the testimonies indicate ‘a suspicion’ the drug, called Champix, may be to blame for the ill-effects.
The daily pill was first marketed in the UK by Pfizer in 2006.
‘Mood disturbance and other psychiatric problems can occur as part of nicotine withdrawal when attempting — and succeeding — in stopping smoking.’
A blackmail for all, in the lost world of sanity versus pressure…
‘The recent volatility in key GLP-1 stocks has put the spotlight on the anxiety Wall Street has about the weight loss market.’
The weight-loss frenzy is making some pharma stocks much more volatile. Will the drama continue?
EXCLUSIVE One million heart failure patients set to get ‘King Kong’ of fat jabs – and Ozempic may soon be available as a patch
By BARNEY CALMAN
Published: 01:26, 17 November 2024 | Updated: 08:01, 17 November 2024
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-14090685/One-million-heart-failure-patients-set-King-Kong-fat-jabs-Ozempic-soon-available-patch.html
The UK has the highest obesity rates in Europe. The emergence of Ozempic has raised hopes of reducing the health risks associated with obesity such as heart disease and cancer.
The patch has been developed by researchers at the University of Connecticut in the US.
Tests showed it delivered a steady flow of medicine that lasted at least a month.
Scientists now plan to run clinical trials on obese patients.
—–
The recent volatility in key GLP-1 stocks has put the spotlight on the anxiety Wall Street has about the weight loss market. The market is huge — a potential $150 billion a year by the end of the decade — and any financial miss, or negative data of any kind, will trigger outsized sell-offs.
This past week, for example, Amgen (AMGN) lost $12 billion in market value. Hims & Hers (HIMS) lost 10% in a single day in October when the FDA ended the shortage designation of Eli Lilly’s (LLY) drugs. (Its worst day on record was Nov. 14, down 24% after Amazon (AMZN) launched a direct prescription service modeled after the company.)
Last month was the most dramatic, when Lilly saw more than $127 billion in stock value wiped out at peak loss in a single day. The company missed analyst estimates on its diabetes and weight-loss drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound. (Investors bought the Lilly dip and the loss was pared to $54 billion by market close).
The recovery in the stock came only after CEO David Ricks responded to an analyst question on an earnings call about the sales miss, saying that demand was up 25% quarter over quarter. The stock started to pick up right after that, according to Citi healthcare analyst Geoff Meacham.
Even the UK’s health wunderkind, Wesboy or bot, seems to be having some self-doubts. So, as some of you will have seen, he (or was this an order?) has called up Alan Milburn, erstwhile health secretary in the Blair government, to consult.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/nov/09/nhs-in-last-chance-saloon-says-former-health-secretary-alan-milburn
Milburn certainly understands the BUSINESS of health – instrumental in introducing decentralised Foundation Trust status – a good idea in theory – and outsourcing to private suppliers, Milburn himself has made a handbag full as a consultant to Price Waterhouse Coopers etc. I don’t blame him for this one bit. He looks fit and lean on it – the physical embodiment of success these days.
ttps://democracyforsale.substack.com/p/private-healthcare-millions-starmer-alan-milburn
In the Guardian piece on the heroic return of Milburn, to save the NHS, ‘drinking at the last chance saloon’, (he uses that slightly glib expression rather a lot), I notice on the shopping list, something I’d missed before – ‘bringing back the family doctor’. Um, and how precisely are you going to do that, boys – exhumation?
The party promised to cut waiting times by offering 40,000 more appointments every week, doubling the number of cancer scanners, employing 8,500 additional mental health staff, forming a new “dentistry rescue” plan and BRINGING BACK “THE FAMILY DOCTOR”.
Moving on to tirzepatide and other weight management medications. It’s perfectly obvious from reading the PR, that these drugs can cause suicidality. Apparently 2 cases of suicidality in Iceland triggered an investigation by the EMA, leading to this breath-taking example of self-invested risk comms:
‘As is the case with many other approved weight management medications, suicidal behavior is listed as a MAJOR DISEASE INTERACTION with semaglutide and its use should be “avoided in patients with a history of suicidal attempts or active suicide ideation,” according to its label.
Oh, wow, so that’s what it is – a ‘major disease interaction’.
Another confession emerged from this Fiercepharma investigative piece – certainly news to me:
‘In 2008, Sanofi’s Acomplia was pulled from the market in Europe—two years after its approval—when some patients suffered depression and suicidal thoughts. The drug, which was a cannabinoid receptor CB1 antagonist, blocked hunger signals to the brain. It was never approved in the U.S. GLP-1 treatments have a different mechanism of action.’
https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/novo-nordisks-glp-1-drugs-under-review-europe-after-suicide-flags-raised
Why isn’t it obvious that using poorly understood chemicals to tamper with our natural drives and instincts is high risk for humanity? A patient on reddit put it rather well:
‘With mounjaro I have some of these side effects of weight loss but the way I feel is a bit unfamiliar. I feel more anguish and sense of imminent distress. It might be part of my brain somehow realising i am losing weight and telling me to eat, and another part of my brain saying i am not hungry. I don’t know.’
And, yes, the evidence from listening to more patients on reddit, is that Mounjaro, just like Ozempic, can have both positive and negative effects on sexuality. It seems that for some, significant weight loss from a previous state of being dangerously obese and diabetic, has restored their sexual self-confidence and performance, notably blokes’ hydraulics. But, for others, desire and the ability to orgasm has tanked, viz:
‘Yes, mine has definitely decreased a ton. My hormones are all good and I’m healthy in every way, so it has to be the tirz.’
This comes up from time to time on here. Anhedonia and other mental/emotional changes are potential side effects for GLP-1 drugs, since they impact our pleasure centers. So it’s definitely possible’.
And if it’s not messing with the pleasure centres that puts Mounjaro patients off arguably the greatest delight of human existence, then probably the fatigue, an acknowledged adverse effect, as well as nausea, vomiting and a spot of gastroparesis, likely puts a damper on proceedings.
The answers lie in food poverty, diet, sustained emotional support and care. But whose got time for that? Certainly not Wesboy.