I've lost 21st on Mounjaro after spending £600 on takeaways a month – but I was left with a frustrating side effect

The Sun

2 days ago

JOANNA Higgenbottom spent almost £600 ($800) each month on takeaways, before Mounjaro helped her shed 21 stone.
The 60-year-old had struggled with her weight, with her first memory being her aunt calling her "fat Jodie".
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At her heaviest, the medicare affiliate, from Columbia, North Carolina, US, was 490lbs (35 stone) and was a size US 32 (UK 36) after years of daily takeout.
And after trying "every diet in the book" she went to her doctor, who recommended weight loss jab GLP-1.
Joanna said she noticed a change in two weeks, and now weighs 164 lbs and fits into a size 12 (UK 16).
However, she was initally left with lots of excess skin, that she would fold into her clothes to keep out of the way.
Joanna credits the injections alongside walking 21 miles a week - including 10k steps a day - and lifting weights twice a week.
She said: "I would spend lots of money on fast food.
"Then DoorDash became an option, and I didn't even have to leave the house.
DoorDash is a US-based food delivery platform, similar to Deliveroo or Uber Eats in the UK, that lets you order meals through its app or website.
"I was able to stay at home and save the embarrassment of being looked at by people due to my size," she explained.
"I would order from DoorDash daily and spend around $600 to $800 (£470–£625) a month."
Joanna said one of her earliest memories growing up was her aunt calling her "fat Jodie."
She said before her mother, Mary Jenkins, passed away at age 88, she had promised to lose weight.
Joanna said: "I became a caretaker for my mother; she struggled with weight later in life, and it bothered her that I was going through the same thing.
"It got to the point where I could not walk through the grocery store without having to stop and catch my breath.
"I made the promise to my mom before she passed that I would get my weight under control."
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In June 2022, Joanna decided to go on a keto diet - a very low- carbohydrate, high-fat diet - and lost 250 lbs (17 stone and 11lbs).
But sadly Joanna started to gain weight again and went up to 386.8 lbs (27 stone and 6lbs).
A year later, on June 6, 2023, Joanna, a type 2 diabetic, was put on GLP-1 by her doctor.
Joanna said: "It was a last-ditch effort. I had tried everything.
"Nothing would work for me. I tried Weight Watchers, I tried Overeaters Anonymous, and nothing would work for me.
"I had always come back dependent on food."
Now weighing 164 lbs (11 stone 7lbs), Joanna has lost 21st or 294 lbs.
She has deleted the DoorDash apps and eats high-protein vegetarian meals - including tofu, cottage cheese, and eggs.
'I feel cute'
Joanna has slimmed down to a size 12 and says she now feels comfortable going clothes shopping.
She said: "I am so much more confident now. My daughter said this is the first time in her life that she has seen me so confident.
"For the first time in my life, I feel cute and confident - I have never felt this way.
"Before, I would hate going clothes shopping and buying clothes that would cover me up the most.
"Now I wake up ready to go. I am happy and ready to go."
Joanna said she is happy with her weight now, and that she doesn't want to become "obsessed" with losing weight.
As well as taking four GLP-1 injections a month - costing $500 (£371.48) - Joanna will work out most days.
Joanna said: "At first, I started going on 10-minute walks around the house.
"Now, on the weekend, I will walk around six miles, and I will try to walk two to three miles a day.
"I try to lift weights three times a week, too.
"I am happy with where I am, I don't want to get bigger, and I don't want to get to the point where I am obsessed with losing weight."
'I had to tuck my skin into my underwear'
In July 2025, Joanna underwent skin removal surgery to remove 8 1/2lbs of excess skin.
She said this has allowed her to become much more confident in herself.
"My skin hang was so severe it hung so low, I had to tuck my skin into my underwear to even be able to go walking.
"It was so frustrating to lose all that weight and have a constant reminder of how big I used to be.
"Now I have the confidence to try new things, I went to an aerial workout class, and I would never have done that before now."
Are you eligible for weight loss jabs on the NHS?
By Sam Blanchard, Health Correspondent
THEY are arguably the biggest medical breakthrough of recent times.
And now, so-called ' fat jabs ' are available to many more Brits on the NHS.
In what marks the dawn of a new era, GPs have begun prescribing the weight loss jab Mounjaro in the first anti- obesity rollout of its kind.
More than three million people are thought to be eligible for tirzepatide - the active drug in Mounjaro - the strongest jab on the market.
Health chiefs hope it will turn the tide on England's obesity crisis which has seen rates double since the 1990s.
Injections including Ozempic and Wegovy have previously only been available for type 2 diabetes or through specialist slimming clinics.
Family doctors will now be encouraged to prescribe them in a bid to get more people on the meds.
Experts hope widespread use will slash work sick days and boost the economy, while reducing rates of cancer, heart disease and dementia.
But demand for the drugs is already huge and NHS clinics cannot dish them out fast enough.
Who is eligible in the new rollout?
The new rollout allows GPs to prescribe tirzepatide for weight loss, starting with those patients whose weight places them at greatest health risk.
Top of the list will be those with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher (or 37.5 if from a minority ethnic background) and four weight-related health conditions.
A BMI of 40 is roughly equal to weighing 16st (102kg) for an average height 5'3' woman, or 19st 6lbs (123kg) for an average 5'9' man.
Weight-related conditions include high cholesterol, high blood pressure, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea and heart disease.
Patients will likely be expected to have tried diet and exercise first before being offered a jab.
Many are likely to miss out, as some 13.5million adults in England are obese but only 3.4million are estimated to be eligible in the rollout.
Professor Kamila Hawthorne, chair of the Royal College of GPs, said: 'Currently only patients who meet certain criteria - those who could benefit most - are eligible to be prescribed weight loss drugs on the NHS, and GPs will also need to follow local guidelines when prescribing.
'If your practice advises you that they won't be able to provide weight loss medication, these will likely be the reasons why.
'We appreciate the idea of weight loss medication is an attractive prospect to many patients - and they do have a lot of potential benefits for patients and may be a valuable tool as we try to tackle obesity at a national level – but it's important these medications aren't seen as a silver bullet.
'Weight loss drugs do not come without risk, they can cause side effects which range in seriousness, and they won't be suitable for everyone.
'It's important we don't lose sight of the role lifestyle factors play in achieving a healthy weight.
'The roll out of weight loss medications as a treatment for obesity must not come at the expense of other weight loss services.'
If you are eligible but your GP denies you a prescription, you may be able to ask for a referral to specialist weight management services.
Known as tier 2 and tier 3 weight management services, they may prescribe the jabs after other weight loss attempts.
Many people are expected to find it easier to go private, with the injections widely available from high street pharmacies like Boots, Superdrug, and even Asda.
There are also numerous online pharmacies offering the drugs.
Buying the drugs online might seem like the faster fix – but buyer beware.
Slimming success stories are everywhere but so, too, are tales of horror.
Many patients have been duped by dodgy sellers, suffered severe side effects or even died after taking jabs they bought online.
Bargain prices, easy tick-box applications, or prescriptions with no follow-up, should all be red flags to online shoppers.