06 Jul Mounjaro and Wegovy Side Effects: What They Don’t Tell You
My clients have been asking me about weight loss injections for a while now. So this blog explores Mounjaro and Wegovy side effects.
To be honest, for a long time it was more of a gut feeling that they weren’t good news. I couldn’t put my finger on the full picture, I just knew something didn’t sit right. Then I attended a webinar on the subject. And I was genuinely shocked by the physical risks involved, particularly for women, and particularly for people with existing health conditions that many of us don’t even know we have.
So if you’re considering Mounjaro or Wegovy, or you’re already on them and wondering about the side effects, I want to share what I learned. Not to frighten you. But because you deserve the full picture before committing to something that costs hundreds of pounds a month and carries risks that simply aren’t being talked about loudly enough.
I UNDERSTAND WHY THEY’RE SO TEMPTING
You’ve been trying for years.
You’ve cut the calories. You’ve done the diets. You’ve pushed through the cravings, the energy crashes, the mornings when the scales haven’t moved despite everything you’ve put in. And now everyone around you seems to be talking about these jabs like they’re the answer to everything.
I hear that. I really do.
When I started Pure Balance back in 2002, weight management was at the heart of everything I did. My very first clients came to me specifically for that. I worked with people one to one, every single week, and what I saw over and over again was this: the weight was rarely the whole story. There was almost always something else going on underneath.
That’s still true today. And it’s exactly why I want to have this conversation with you.
WHAT THE NHS WON’T TELL MOST PEOPLE
Before we get into the risks, it’s worth knowing this: the vast majority of people using these medications in the UK are paying for them privately. Around 95% are buying through private online pharmacies.
NHS access is extremely restricted. To qualify for Mounjaro on the NHS right now, you need a BMI of 40 or above alongside four weight-related health conditions. Even then, your GP practice may not be participating in the rollout, and waiting lists exist across much of the country.
So for most people reading this, we are talking about a private cost of somewhere between £130 and £330 per month, at the higher doses. Every month. Indefinitely. Because the moment most people stop, the weight comes back.
Research published in the British Medical Journal found that people who stopped taking weight loss injections regained weight at around 0.8kg a month, with most predicted to return to their original weight within 18 months of starting. The medication manages the appetite signal. It does not address the reasons the weight was there in the first place.
THE MOUNJARO AND WEGOVY SIDE EFFECTS THAT DON’T MAKE THE HEADLINES
The most talked about side effects of both Mounjaro (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide) are digestive: nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, acid reflux. For many people these settle after a few weeks. For others, they don’t.
But there are side effects that get far less attention. These are the ones that stopped me in my tracks at that webinar.
Gallbladder problems
Studies have shown a significantly increased risk of gallbladder complications in people taking these medications, including gallstones and gallbladder inflammation. If you already have gallbladder issues, that risk is higher still. We are talking about serious pain, hospital visits, and in some cases surgery.
This risk is notably higher in certain groups:
Women over 40
People with type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes
Anyone with an existing thyroid condition
If you fall into one or more of these categories, please have a thorough conversation with your GP before you start. This is not a small consideration.
If you have IBS or gut problems
If you already have IBS or a sensitive gut, these medications can make things considerably worse. They work by slowing digestion right down to suppress appetite, and for a digestive system that is already under pressure, that extra burden can tip things into real difficulty. Symptoms that were manageable can become much harder to live with.
Nutritional deficiencies
This is something very few people talk about, and it matters enormously.
When your appetite is significantly suppressed, you are eating much less. But your body still needs protein to protect muscle mass, vitamins and minerals to function properly, and the right foods to support your gut, hormones, and energy. When those aren’t coming in because you’re simply not hungry, deficiencies develop. Energy crashes. Hair thins. Muscle is lost alongside fat. Digestion gets worse. Over time, the body pays a price that isn’t always obvious straight away.
Other side effects include, hair-loss, osteoporosis, pancreatis, permanent slow digestion, dizziness, fatigue, depression, hypotension, weak nails, dehydration & headaches.
If you are using the jabs, or seriously considering them, please don’t do it without proper nutritional support alongside.
WHAT IF THERE’S A REASON YOUR BODY HAS BEEN STRUGGLING?
This is always the question I start with. Not “how do we override the appetite” but “what is actually going on here?”
In my experience, when someone has been doing everything right and still can’t shift their weight, there is almost always something driving it. The most common things I find are:
Food intolerances. When the body reacts to certain foods, even foods people think are perfectly healthy, it creates inflammation. That inflammation causes bloating and fluid retention that looks and feels exactly like weight gain. Many of my clients have been genuinely astonished to discover that foods they were eating every day were working against them all along.
Blood sugar instability. When blood sugar swings up and then crashes, the body demands to be fed urgently. Those cravings that feel impossible to control, the desperate need for something sweet mid-afternoon, that is not a willpower problem. It is a physiological response. Address the blood sugar properly and the cravings settle right down.
A digestive system under pressure. A gut that isn’t absorbing nutrients properly leaves the body in a constant state of lack. It holds on to everything it can. Weight becomes very hard to shift until the gut is properly supported.
And it’s not only about food. Our relationship with eating is shaped by stress, emotion, habit, and patterns we’ve carried for years. That’s where hypnotherapy comes in, not as a last resort, but as a genuinely powerful tool for reshaping those patterns at a deeper level.
WHAT HAPPENS AFTER YOUR VEGA TEST
My food intolerance testing uses a Vega bioresonance machine, which gives a comprehensive and holistic picture of what the body is reacting to, what it’s struggling to process, and what it actually needs. It is not a postal finger-prick test. It is a detailed, personalised assessment that looks at the full picture.
After your test, I use everything we discover to tailor your nutritional advice specifically to you. Not a generic plan. Not a one-size-fits-all approach. Guidance that is built around your body, your intolerances, your blood sugar patterns, and your gut health.
From there, we work together on a plan that supports your body properly, addresses what we’ve found, and gives you a real foundation to move forward from.
A food intolerance test combined with follow-up nutritional support costs a fraction of a few months on a weight loss injection. And the difference is that we are actually getting to the root of what’s going on, rather than managing a symptom indefinitely.
THE BENEFITS OF TAKING THE NATURAL ROUTE FIRST
I am not anti-medication. What I am is pro-understanding what is actually going on in your body before making a decision that carries real risk and real ongoing cost.
Here is what the natural route offers:
- No side effects to manage or monitor
- No risk to your gallbladder, gut health, or thyroid function
- Muscle mass preserved because you are nourishing your body properly
- Nutritional deficiencies identified and addressed rather than created
- Blood sugar stabilised naturally, supporting your energy, mood, and sleep as well as your weight
- An understanding of your own body that stays with you for life
- A relationship with food that genuinely changes, not one that is paused while you are on medication
- Results that don’t reverse the moment you stop
BEFORE YOU COMMIT, LET’S HAVE A CONVERSATION
After everything I learned at that webinar, I feel it is my responsibility to make sure the people in my world have this information. Not to tell you what to do, that is always your decision, but to make sure you are choosing with the full picture in front of you.
If you have been struggling with your weight and haven’t yet looked at food intolerances, nutrition, and the deeper relationship with food, there may be more available to you than you realise.
I have been doing this for 24 years. Weight management was where it all began for me, and it remains one of the areas I feel most passionate about. I have worked with people who had genuinely given up hope, and watched them get their life back. Not through quick fixes, but through finally understanding what their body actually needed.
Let’s get to the root of it.
Ring me: 07807255921
Jackie Barber is the founder of Pure Balance, a complementary health practice with 24 years of experience in nutrition, food intolerance testing, and hypnotherapy. This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always speak to your GP or prescriber before making any decisions about medication.