AN EMBARASSED mum says she played Russian roulette with her life after skinny jabs she bought on Facebook left her hospitalised.
Jodi Jones, 37, a Welsh mum-of-three was left so ill from the jabs, which cost £20 each, her teenage daughter had to call an ambulance.
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On Friday July 25, after the second dose of the Facebook-advertised quick fix, Jodi experienced ‘excruciating pain’ and started to vomit constantly.
She said: “It was just horrific. I’ve never been so ill in my life – and I’ve had sepsis before.
“I have teenage kids so they were bringing me water, every sip was coming up to the point where I was vomiting froth, bile and blood.
“I was really lucky, if I was on my own at home it could’ve been fatal. I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow.”
Concerned son Harry, 16, stayed up to check on her in their Eryrys house, Denbighshire, before falling sleep at 2am.
At this point Jodi rung her eldest daughter who rushed her to Wrexham Maelor Hospital early Saturday morning.
Despite being humiliated about how she’d become so ill, a guilt-ridden Jodi fessed up to purchasing the weight loss drugs online.
“I had to tell them [the doctors] the truth of what I’d taken, I felt so ashamed.
“I felt awful, I’ve put all this stress on the NHS just for this. I felt so embarrassed.”
At the hospital Jodi was put on a drip and subjected to blood tests due to her dangerously low blood sugars.
Doctors were convinced she was sold a fake injection and told her that she was probably not the first to fall prey to this online weight-loss scam.
Weight-loss jabs, which contain the ingedient semaglutide, can be prescribed. But due to their high demand and difficulty to access, they are also sold on the black market.
Without regulating bodies ensuring they are safe standard, these jabs can have disastrous consequences.
No medicine is completely risk-free, but by making the decision with a qualified practitioner, you are far more likely to avoid harm.
The mortified single-mum is angry for letting her teenagers see her in this state, all in an attempt to lose a couple of pounds.
She warns others who might be tempted by the injection to avoid it all costs: “It’s just so dangerous. It’s just playing roulette with your life.”
In her past Jodi struggled to lose weight due to degenerative discs in her spinal cord, a condition leaving her unable exercise.
She turned to the ‘magic skinny cure’ to after a Facebook beautician was recommended to her by a friend, and hoped to reach a size 10 from size 14.
When picking up the mysterious drug from a beauty salon in Liverpool there were ‘no questions asked’ when she paid £100 for all four jabs.
There were warning signs from first dose when she felt ‘really sick and had hot flashes’.
However, since these symptoms subsided within a couple of days, with Jodi being unable to stomach food, she assumed they were working and moved on to the second injection.
Upon reflection, she believes the jabs were far too accessible and now has concerns for what her kids might get themselves into.
Despite losing an entire stone throughout the ordeal, the remorseful mum confirms it’s not worth the risk.
She warned: “Go to a GP and do it properly through a dietician. If it’s something you’re really interested in, do not do it through a beautician after all.
“There are some women out there using it who don’t even look like they need it. Don’t. It’s just really not worth it.”
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EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WEIGHT LOSS JABS
What are they?
Weight loss jabs are a hot media topic at the moment, with hundreds of success stories sharing how they helped them shed the pounds.
In March, the NHS announced it would make Wegovy, a drug made by Danish firm Novo Nordisk, available on prescription to thousands of obese Brits.
It contains the drug semaglutide, which is said to have helped reality star Kim Kardashian and Twitter boss Elon Musk lose weight.
Wegovy, which helped a third of people reduce their weight by 20 per cent in trials, will also be available from pharmacies like Boots.
Meanwhile, pharma company Eli Lilly last month announced results for its own weight loss drug tirzepatide.
The weekly injection helped overweight people drop more than two stone in 18 months.
How do they work?
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less calories and therefore lose weight.
To do this, an ingredient found in the fat-busting drug, known as Semaglutide, mimics the role of a natural hormone, called GLP-1.
GLP-1 is part of the signalling pathway that tells your body you have eaten, and prepares it to use the energy that comes from your food.
London GP and founder of wellgoodwellbeing.com, Dr Zoe Watson, said: “Your body naturally produces an appetite regulating hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1.
“These jabs work by regulating your appetite, which can lead to eating fewer calories and losing weight.”
Aren’t they diabetes drugs?
Both Wegovy and tirzepatide stem from drugs originally designed to treat diabetes.
Semaglutide, the active drug in Wegovy, was originally sold under the name Ozempic specifically for diabetes patients.
But they started noticing it helped suppress their appetites, stopping them eating as much and helping them shed the pounds.
So Novo Nordisk developed Wegovy, which contains the same chemical but at higher doses specifically to aid weight loss.
Wegovy is not prescribed for diabetes patients.
Tirzepatide is sold under the name Mounjaro for diabetes.
Can I get them?
Wegovy is offered on prescription to obese adults given specialist weight loss treatment.
The NHS currently also offers a similar drug called Saxenda, or liraglutide.
Both are only available on Tier 3 and Tier 4 weight management services, which means you have to be referred to weight management clinics led by experts.
GPs can’t prescribe them on their own either, Dr Watson said.
The jabs have to be taken as part of an overall programme to help with lifestyle changes and psychological support to get the best effect from the medication prescribed.
But despite being approved for use, supply of Wegovy on the NHS has been postponed indefinitely because of a surge in worldwide demand.
Supply was also halved in the US because of the skyrocketing demand.
Eli Lilly said it will apply for a UK licence for tirzepatide soon, which could make it available to the NHS.
Are there any risks?
Like all medicines, the jabs do not come without side effects.
Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at patient.info, said: “One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.”
Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, thyroid tumours, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia.
