Dr C: “Skinny jabs can work but they aren’t magic”

High-street chemist LloydsPharmacy is the first to offer weight-loss jabs, at £260 a month. Dr C says that while they can help, there’s plenty you can do for less money

My first thought when I saw this headline was, “What the hell is this ‘skinny jab’?” But when I read into it, I felt reassured. It’s a known drug, and it looks like it will be pretty well regulated. It’s very expensive, at £260 a month, though, and a lot of appointments are needed, both of which could deter people.

DON’T BUY ONLINE

With LloydsPharmacy, people need a consultation to prove they have a BMI above 30, or above 27 with a weight-related comorbidity (so more than one health condition). That immediately makes it safer than “skinny jabs” you can buy online, because someone is checking your weight. That’s important, because you shouldn’t be having these injections if you just have a few pounds to shed.

My concern is that although the high-street chemist is selling these injections responsibly, people with weight issues or body image issues could become aware of these jabs because they’re on the high street. They might then go online to try to find them and come across people selling them irresponsibly. The jabs are actually a diabetes treatment, so aren’t suitable for everyone. You shouldn’t have them if you have certain conditions or take

40

particular medicines – plus, if you buy from a dodgy site, you don’t really know what you’re getting, which could be dangerous.

KNOW THE FACTS

The jabs work by mimicking the hormone GLP-1, which makes you feel full. But not all weight gain is thanks to not feeling full. It’s more complicated than that.

When it comes to side effects, some severe allergic reactions, such as anaphylaxis(allergic reactions) have been reported, and there have also been cases of pancreatitis. That sounds scary, but those are risks for pretty much any drug. Antibiotics can cause pancreatitis or anaphylaxis, for example, if you’re allergic to them. Unless you’ve had a particular drug or something similar to it before, you only find out you’re allergic by taking it. Drug allergies are not something we can predict.

CLOSERONLINE.CO.UK

RECOGNISE THE CAUSE

With LloydsPharmacy you also get in-app coaching.

I don’t know how involved that coaching is, but coaching is key. Just like with gastric bands, if you don’t get your pre- and post-surgery therapy sessions, they tend not to work. If you’re eating for emotional reasons – so you turn to food when you feel sad, angry, bored or stressed – you’ll probably still do that, whether a jab is suppressing your appetite or not.

BE AWARE OF SIDE EFFECTS

The very common side effects, which may affect more than one in ten people, are feeling sick, being sick, diarrhoea and constipation, but those should normally go after a few days or weeks. That doesn’t concern me, either – quite a lot of antidepressants will cause similar things, as does the contraceptive pill until things settle down. Those are all very normal for a new medication. The common side effects, which happen to up to one in ten people, are things like stomach pain, heartburn, bloating, wind, feeling weak or tired, a change in sense of taste, dizziness, sleep problems, gallstones and low blood sugar. Again, those aren’t surprising and, remember, people taking this drug are overweight, possibly not terribly healthy, and are probably making changes to their diet, so some of it may be directly caused by the jab, but some may be down to lifestyle changes. If you picked 100 random medicines, those side effects will be on most of them.

LOOK FOR OTHER OPTIONS TO TRY

We have a major problem with obesity in the UK, so anything that helps people get on top of their weight is a good thing. If you have £260 a month to spare and you’re really worried about your weight and health, it’s worth a try but, if you don’t, there are plenty of other things you can do and there is masses

of weight loss help available on the NHS free of chrge.

WORK OUT WHY YOU TEND TO OVEREAT

Often, people want doctors to solve it for them, but it’s a team effort – the doctor and you. We can biochemically help you to lose weight, but you need to work on the behavioural side of it. If you always eat because you’re sad or you’re tired, we need to change that, too, for the effects to last. It’s not easy, but it is totally doable. The main thing you need to do is identify why you eat.

Are you eating because you’re sad, angry, bored, tired? Or is the problem that you eat portions that are far too big?

Is it that you aren’t a confident cook, so you rely on takeaways and ready meals? Whatever the cause of you becoming overweight,it requires a different approach. The key is identifying it, because your weight problems won’t have the same cause as your neighbour, your sister or your friend.

KEEP AN HONEST FOOD DIARY

We’re very good at kidding ourselves – we all do it – so as soon as you stop the little voice in your head telling fibs, you can start to get on top of things. An honest food diary can really help, because you can’t ignore the fact you ate a packet of biscuits in a morning. Also, each time you go to eat, ask yourself ‘What am I feeling?’ and ‘What do I need?’ If you feel a bit low, you might instead call a friend, or if you’re a bit bored, go for a walk.

Write those questions out and stick them on the fridge to help you to reflect on your behaviour. That way you can become a bit more self-aware and start to come up with new strategies to answer your emotional needs. Then, if you need some extra help, when you go to your GP, you already have some insight, which will help them to help you.