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Madison Burgess
A Mounjaro user who's been on the injectable weight loss drug for just under six months has hit back at the stigma surrounding it.
While the GLP-1 medication was originally designed to help treat people with type 2 diabetes, it has since been utilised by many as a weight management tool.
If you're unfamiliar, the weight loss medicine works by making users feel fuller for longer and therefore less hungry, and it comes in the form of a once a week injection.
In June, Mounjaro became available on the NHS for a limited number of patients in England and in August, it was reported that there are thought to be a whopping 1.5 million people on weight loss drugs in the UK.
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Christian, 29, is part of that statistic and decided to make the leap back in June, in an effort to lose weight ahead of his sister's wedding.
He started injecting Mounjaro on 7 June after being signed off on the drug by a private clinic and is approaching half a year on it now, after initially feeling like 'he typed in a cheat code'.
Now, speaking exclusively to Tyla, he's given an update on what life has been like since, including the most prominent symptoms and the reaction he's got from others.
Christian revealed he's lost three stone in the six months since starting on the drug and recently upped his dose to 7.5mg per week, which sets him back £275 a month.
He weighed 17.5 stone back in June and his weight has now dropped to 14.4 stone, with Christian hoping to lose one more stone before setting the drug aside.
Usually, Mounjaro users up their doses every month, however, the 29-year-old opted to take it a little slower than most people, hence why his side effects weren't as dramatic.
He's experienced mild waves of nausea, constipation, acid reflux, dry mouth and other gastrointestinal side effects.
But one of the bigger issues Christian is faced is actually the reaction from some people, who are questioning why he wouldn't just 'go to the gym' - a query that I'm sure many other Mounjaro users may have been asked.
Explaining how it's changed his life, Christian said: "As someone who's always been big, I have like the slowest metabolism in the world. I could eat a slice of bread and put a stone on.
"It's changed my metabolism, which is amazing. I don't have to worry about stepping on the scales.
"I'm not like, 'Oh God, I've gained five or six pounds from that weekend'. I won't have. I've just maintained the weight. That’s the best thing about it."
However, when he attended his sister's wedding earlier this year, he found himself in an awkward conversation with someone from his hometown.
One huge misconception around Mounjaro and other weight loss drugs is that you don’t have to do any exercise, you can just take the medication, sit back, and the weight will fall off by itself.
It's not quite that easy, and in actual fact, as much as people think it’s a ‘magic’ injection, the drug should be used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity to maximise the benefits, which Christian has been doing.
He recalled: "So I was at my sister's wedding in the summer and we got chatting with this guy in my hometown. And he was just like, ‘I don't get it, I don't understand why you're on it. Why can't you just go to the gym?’
"I was like 'not everyone's going to think like you think,' and I sort of went a bit in on him. I was like, ‘Not everyone has the same brain, patterns and stuff like that.' A lot of people can go to the gym and it's very black and white for them and they can smash it and they can do very well."
He added: "The gym for me personally, it's boring. I hate it. I'd go and I'd go with friends and stuff like that but it's not for everyone. It's this idea like ‘that person's fat, go to a gym lose weight'. It's not as simple as that. People also have health issues and stuff like that.
“So I think like there is this bit of stigma with Mounjaro at the moment because of that. Then also with people in the public eye hiding it, it’s like, don’t hide it? But they can do what they want. It’s a tricky one.
"I can see where people are coming from when they think it’s cheating but then it’s so much bigger than that.”
Tyla has contacted Eli Lilly for comment.