'It's changed my life 100%' - weight-loss jab Mounjaro helps north Derbyshire mum lose 7st in eight months

“I asked the doctors for help so many times,” she said. “They put it down to my underactive thyroid; I also got diagnosed with fibromyalgia and was struggling to exercise. I said that I’m trying to eat healthily and it’s not working. They put me on a list for a gastric band four years ago and I’ve not had one appointment.”

Natalie, who lives in Tennyson Avenue, Grassmoor, with her husband and their two children, was 23st when she first sought medical help. She said: “I’d not been able to get out of the house, go for walks and fitting into clothes was a nightmare.”

Efforts to tackle her problem included a plea to doctors to put her on a course of the weight-loss jab Mounjaro. Such jabs work by producing more insulin when it’s needed and reducing the amount of glucose produced by the liver which slows down the pace at which food is digested. Natalie said: “They wouldn’t give me it because I didn’t have diabetes or high blood pressure.”

When her weight rose to 24st 4lbs this year, Natalie took matters into her own hands. She said: “I was spending £150 a month on McDonalds and the snack van at work, on food that I knew I shouldn’t be eating such as chocolate and cakes. I worked out that to cover what I’d been eating, I could buy the Mounjara jab instead for £140. I went to a registered pharmacy online who asked a range of questions and I had to have a video call because I’ve got an underactive thyroid. They said: “You’re safe to go on it, you just have to have your bloods monitored every three months’, which I’ve done. ”

Side-effects of Mounjara include feeling sick, indigestion, constipation, diarrhoea and the risks of high or low blood sugar. Natalie, 36, said: “In the first couple of weeks I was on it I did have a headache the morning after the jabs but nothing else. I’ve been lucky because I know a few people on it who have been really poorly.”

Natalie said the benefits she received from the jab outweighed her initial slight discomfort. She said: "In the first week I lost 11lbs, then I’d lose between 4lb and 6lbs a week. It’s slowed down a bit now and I’m probably losing between 1lb and 2lbs a week.

"It’s changed my life 100%. My confidence is so much more – I was quite a loud, confident person but I think that was a mask for how I really felt about myself. Now I can be me again.

"I really struggle with fibromyalgia where it would floor me for days. I still struggle with it but walking up stairs is easier now, I’m not out of breath and having more energy means I can do a lot more than I’ve done before.

"Sleeping was a struggle because of snoring. My husband, Chris, said after losing the first stone I’d stopped snoring so it’s having a massive effect on my whole body.”

Natalie currently weighs 17st and has slimmed down from a size 28 to being able to fit into clothes nearly half that size. She said: “I take all my clothes to Ashgate Hospice and breast cancer charity shops. I’ll go in with a bag of clothes, look round and re-buy while I’m there. I don’t want to pay hundreds of pounds on a new wardrobe which lasts only a few weeks.”

Having smashed through her target of 18st, Natalie’s goal is to lose another one and a half stone so she can fit comfortably into size 14 clothes. She said: “I’ll stop my jabs but keep on trying to lose that little bit extra weight monthly if I can do it through my own mindset.

"It’s looking back at the photos that really does it….I’ve got a photo on the fridge which makes me stick to what I’m eating now, portion control and not overeating. I’ve always liked my salad, veg, meat – but I was overeating. Before I’d have no self-control over the portion size which would have been huge whereas now I will probably eat the same amount as my seven-year-old.

"Before I’d have a hot chocolate with a brownie and probably a bag of crisps in a cafe. Now I’ll go and have a skinny coffee and the puddings don’t bother me. I’ve not touched chocolate, crisps, cake or fizzy pop for eight months. I’m not giving in to hunger or temptation….I don’t want to go back.”

Natalie, who works in customer care at vehicle dealer JCT600 at Sheepbridge, said weight-loss jabs such as Mounjara should be prescribed to more categories of NHS patients. “They really do need to roll it out,” she said. “It would have a massive effect on people’s mental health.

"This was my last resort before going back to the doctors and saying ‘you really need to give me this gastric band or I’m going to be really ill’.

"I’d recommend it to anybody who’s struggling. If you can get it from your doctor, try it. If not, it is worth the money for what you’d spend on a food shop. As long as you go to a registered pharmacy, you’re getting the proper stuff.”