Jen Thomas
It can sometimes feel like everyone you see online is taking a weight loss jab, as TikTok and Instagram are overrun with videos sharing tips and tricks to shed the pounds quickly.
You might have seen an influencer or a friend talking about a so-called 'golden dose' of a weight loss jab too, but doctors are warning against the practice.
One Redditor shared their confusion, writing: "Second week newbie here. What the hell is a golden dose I keep seeing all over TikTok? Am I missing something?!"
As well as seeing cottage cheese in nearly every recipe video along with fibre and hair gummies and people warning of side effects, the 'golden dose' has become a buzzword in the weight loss jab community.
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One doctor has warned against the misuse of GLP-1 medications, like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy.
The medications were originally intended (and still used) to treat Type-2 diabetes, but have soared in popularity thanks to the weight loss they can cause.
They work by slowing down digestion and increasing a sense of fullness.
The 'golden dose' is sometimes also referred to as the 'fifth dose', which refers to the small volume of leftover medication at the bottom of each injectable pen.
This leftover amount is not intended to be injected and instead, should be disposed of. But it seems users haven't been doing this and instead, have been trying to get as much of the medication in their bodies as possible.
Dr Hussain Al-Zubaidi appeared on This Morning to warn anybody thinking of doing this to be 'careful'.
He explained: "The golden dose you talked about is utilising the buffer fluid that's in the injection. So, in order for the injection to give all of its doses and to make sure that every dose contains the full dose, there's a little bit extra, that's there to be wasted."
"People try to utilise that, and there is no evidence base that is somehow a 'golden dose' or going to bring about anything. So be careful."
Presenter Alison Hammond asked the doctor to explain more, to which Dr Hussain said: "Essentially, squeezing it out with the final click which isn't there if that makes sense.
"Which just isn't something I would do, because you're now changing the dose and there's a reason why we give those set doses. Because they've been studied, they've been looked at, whole ranges get explored and then specific ones get used.
"And there's a reason why specific doses get used."
One person wrote on Reddit: "Thanks for this, I’ve just gotten to my fourth week and was slightly confused and worried as to why there looked like there was another full dose left in the pen still!"
Another user wrote: "TikTok created the term, along with 'magic dose', and neither of them makes any sense and just leaves people confused. We regularly have people ask this question, and I don't blame you. It's the 5th dose in the pen, because there's usually enough left in the pen to inject another full .6ml of medication."
They added: "Someone seems to think we aren't priming our pens properly if it's there: I definitely do. I prime every time I inject, 2 clicks just as the instructions say.
"There is always at least .7ml left in the pen, which I extract with a syringe and use because I've never been able to break the pen the way some people have."
The manufacturers of Ozempic, Novo Nordisk, said in a statement regarding the 'golden dose': "Novo Nordisk does not condone, suggest, or encourage misuse of any of our medicines outside of their approved indications.
"It is important to note that the decision to prescribe these medicines in any dosage should be made by a healthcare professional.
"The approved doses of semaglutide are the only dose strengths that have been studied as maintenance doses in our phase 3 clinical development programs. Whilst there may be a residual amount of medicine left, this does not correspond to a full dose. Any excess solution in the pen should be discarded."
Elsewhere, Elli Lily, the makers of Mounjaro, said: "The Mounjaro (tirzepatide) KwikPen is designed to deliver a fixed volume of Mounjaro solution at each dose.
"The KwikPen contains sufficient solution to allow for the necessary priming before each injection and the delivery of a total of 4 doses (one dose given weekly for a 28-day supply of medicine).
"Medication will remain in the KwikPen cartridge following the delivery of the 4 fixed doses, however, an additional complete dose cannot be dialled. The KwikPen must be discarded after 4 doses or 30 days after first use."