The new miracle weight loss jab taking social media by storm may also be causing baldness and ‘sulphur burps’.
Mounjaro users have reported a string of unexpected and nasty side effects, similar to ones caused by rival injection called Wegovy. These include diarrhoea, vomiting and even hair loss.
Landmark trial data yesterday revealed that overweight people taking tirzepatide — the powerful ingredient behind Mounjaro’s jaw-dropping effects — lost, on average, 34.4lbs (15.6kg) after 72 weeks. They all adopted a healthier lifestyle while taking the once-a-week jab.
The results led manufacturer Eli Lilly and Co filing to get the jab approved as weight loss option in the US. A similar application will be made in the UK later this year.
But some Americans are already taking it as weight-loss drug ‘off-label’.
Scattered among numerous accounts of amazing weight-loss transformations of up to 100lbs being shed, people have complained about hair loss, rashes and digestive issues after taking it.
Emily, a 31-year-old, from North-East Indiana has had one of the shocking weight-loss transformations, originally weighing in at 352lbs (159.7kg) before starting on weight-loss injections, and has now lost a whopping 140lbs (63.5kg), she lost about 50lbs (22.7kg) since switching to Mounjaro last August
According to the latest data digestive problems were the most commonly reported side effects of tirzepatide, the active ingredient of Mounjaro. These included about one in five participants suffering from nausea and diarrhoea, and about one in 10 reporting vomiting or diarrhoea
Amanda Staffor from Kentucky posted on TikTok that she had lost 50lbs (22.7kg) whole taking Mounjaro and said the vomiting she was experiencing was ‘worth it’.
However, in a separate clip she reveals that she is losing fist-full clumps of her hair while on the medication.
‘One of the really bad side effects I’m having is hair loss when I take a shower,’ she said.
She then proceeds to hold up a fist-sized bunch of hair to the camera and adds ‘as you can imagine, that adds up.’
Ms Staffor then asks for any advice other people taking the drug have regarding this side effect, saying ‘Somebody help me. I don’t want to lose all my hair’.
Another woman, Ali Owen from Las Vegas, who said she lost 36lbs (16.3kg) using Mounjaro also reported a digestive side effect she labelled ‘sulphur burps’.
In a TikTok video the dental practice manager said: ‘It literally woke me up in the middle of the night and I thought we had a gas leak because it smelt so bad, like eggs, it’s so gross.’
Other people using the drug have reported other side effects like rashes at the injection site, as well as dizziness and dry mouth.
All medications, from common painkillers to specialist drugs, have potential side effects which vary in frequency and severity.
According to the latest Lilly trial of tirzepatide, a study which involved over 900 obese/overweight with type 2 diabetes, digestive problems were the most commonly reported side effects.
These included about one in five participants suffering from nausea and diarrhoea, and about one in 10 reporting vomiting or diarrhoea.
Lilly said the side effects were most commonly reported during the dose escalation period.
Hair-loss was not included in this side effect breakdown but similar reports have emerged on other weight-loss jabs designed to help people lose weight like Ozempic and Wegovy.
The study, which tested two maximum doses of the weekly injections, had 4 per cent and 7.5 per cent of participants, in the 10mg and 15mg cohorts respectively, quit due to side effects.
Despite the side effects hundreds of Americans think it’s worth the risk with dozens posting jaw-dropping Emily, a 31-year-old, from North-East Indiana has had one of the shocking weight-loss transformations, originally weighing in at 352lbs (159.7kg).
In a video detailing her experience, she revealed she has now lost a whopping 140lbs (63.5kg) since startling on weight-loss injections 21 months prior.
Kelsey, from California, said she lost 37lbs (16.8kg) in 100 days since she started on Mounjaro in September 2021. Before starting her weight-loss journey, she weighed in at 250lbs (113.4kg) and described herself as ‘struggling’.
While having taken multiple brands of hormone mimicking weight-loss jabs in her journey, including Ozempic, she has lost about 50lbs (22.7kg) since switching to Mounjaro last August.
‘The incredible amount of joy that is in me when I look in the mirror now is insane,’ she said.
‘I used to cry at myself in the mirror. Now I feel like one of the cool kids.’
Another TikTok user called Kelsey, from California, said she lost 37lbs (16.8kg) in 100 days since she started on Mounjaro in September 2021.
Before starting her weight-loss journey, she weighed in at 250lbs (113.4kg) and described herself as ‘struggling’.
The latest trial results for tirzepatide found participants lost 16 per cent, about 34lbs (15.6kg), on average, over 72 weeks when also adopting a healthier lifestyle.
Results of the huge tirzepatide trial also suggest that it’s marginally more powerful than its main rival Wegovy, produced by Danish firm Novo Nordisk, which studies suggest can help people lose between 12 to 15 per cent of their body weight. Liraglutide and Orlistat are already available on the NHS
The above graphic shows how weight-loss drug tirzepatide works. It works to suppress hunger by mimicking hormones indicating that the body is full. It also shows the passage of food through the stomach by reducing the production of stomach acid and contractions of the muscle
A trial has shown the diabetes drug, tirzepatide, sold under the brand Mounjaro led to participants, who were obese or overweight losing an average of over 34 pounds (15kg)
Critically this was far more than the people taking who only adopted the healthier lifestyle who only lost 3.3 per cent of their weight in 72 weeks.
Currently, tirzepatide has only been given the greenlight for type 2 diabetes.
However, some Americans are already achieving unbelievable transformations by getting doctors to prescribe them the tirzepatide ‘off label’.
Results of the trial also suggest that it’s marginally more powerful than its main rival Wegovy, produced by Danish firm Novo Nordisk.
Both jabs work in a similar way, using an artificial hormone to trick the body into thinking it’s already full by suppressing appetite.
But tirzepatide, branded as Mounjaro and offered to patients with type 2 diabetes in the US, differs from Wegovy because it mimics the effects of two hormones, instead of just one.
Doctors have said it is unclear on exactly what is causing hair loss in some patients who take these types of jabs, but some say this can be triggered after rapid weight loss by a condition called telogen effluvium.
A temporary thinning of the hair can be triggered by the rapid weight loss disrupting hormones or leading to resources being directed away from the hair, they have said.
On reports of hair-loss among people taking the Mounjaro a Lilly spokesperson said: ‘Hair loss is a side effect that has been associated with significant weight loss in many previous clinical trials for obesity treatment.’
They added that hair loss among participants had been recorded in clinical trials of tirzepatide before.
The rate of hair loss was one in 20 among participants on the drug, compared to almost one in 100 on a placebo.
‘While the exact cause is not known, the effect was generally transient in this study,’ the spokesperson added.
Similar to other weight-loss jabs, people on tirzepatide are given an initial dose of 2.5mg once a week.
This then gets increased every four weeks until the target max dosage is reached.
Participants in the latest trial also had to stick to a 500kcal per day energy deficit and perform 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week.
Lilly has said it expects a decision by US regulators on approving tirzepatide for some weight-loss patients by late 2023 and told MailOnline a submission to UK counterparts would be made this year.
Mounjaro was first approved to treat diabetes last year.
Rival jab Wegovy made headlines earlier this year by being the first jab of its kind to be given the greenlight by the UK’s health watchdog.
But it is expensive, estimated to cost about above £1,000 (about $1,500) per month.
Similar estimates have put the cost of tirzepatide at about £900 per month (about $1,000).
Health chiefs have hoped more weight loss jabs coming online could drive the price down putting them in greater reach of more people.
NHS figures show that 64 per cent of British adults are overweight, with more predicted to grow fatter in the future.
Obesity doesn’t just expand British waistlines but health care costs, with the NHS spending an estimated £6.1 billion on treating weight-related disease like diabetes, heart disease and some cancers between 2014 to 2015.
In the US about 42 per cent of people are obese.
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk