Englishman Georgie Aldous warns against buying weight loss drugs from Mounjaro “King Kong”

A man who “thought he was going to die” after using the “King Kong” of weight loss injections is warning others of the dangers.

Georgie Aldous, 26, is calling on online pharmacies to carry out stricter checks when issuing prescriptions for weight loss drugs – despite losing 49 pounds.

Georgie, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, England, said her concerns followed her own experience of buying Mounjaro on the internet.

It was announced earlier this month that the drug – also known as Tirzepatide – would soon be available on the NHS in England.

The beauty influencer has previously struggled with binge eating and ‘yo-yoing’ between diets, but decided to try the drug in March this year.

He paid almost $1.26 for lots of the drug at online pharmacy Lloyds over a five-month period and suffered tachycardia and panic attacks.

Tachycardia is a rapid heartbeat, disproportionate to age and activity level.

Georgie said: “I would rather have weight than feel what the injections made me feel.

“I have never felt such a feeling of emptiness since I have been there.

“I’ve always had problems with food and everyone knows what Ozempic is because it’s everywhere – on social media and with celebrities.

“I wish I’d ​​never done it.”

In March this year, Georgie ordered Mounjaro to show his ID and submit a video of him standing on a scale.

He chose not to tell the provider about his binge eating – and five hours after the request began, his request was approved.

Over the next five months, Georgie received weekly injections of the drug with her first dose of 0.07 oz on March 5 costing her $239.08.

Georgie said: “It’s something I’ve been looking into because when you search for weight loss online the injections come up.

“The risk to my health initially put me off because my mother died of cancer a few years ago.

“I decided to give it a try because I was lucky enough to be able to afford it. I didn’t know what to do because I was skinny, I gained weight but that’s the mental aspect.

“It’s kind of an addiction and I’m not going to say it didn’t work because it did. But there are side effects.

“I wasn’t hungry at all. My sugar cravings were gone. I didn’t need it medically, but I was still able to buy it and that’s what I don’t think is right.

Georgie, who weighed about 238 pounds, continued to take the drug until August, losing 50 pounds and dropping to 188 pounds.

The price of the injection has fluctuated, with Georgie paying $251.69 in April for 0.17 oz, $289.63 in May for 0.33 oz, and $277 for 0.42 oz in July.

However, Georgie began to feel fragile and said he regularly skipped breakfast, stuck to a flat white and a banana for lunch, then ate just 600 calories for dinner.

He explained: “I have suffered from anxiety in the past, but I have never had a panic attack before this medication.

“I was sweating, I looked pale and I couldn’t concentrate.”

Georgie had a massive panic attack in August and called for help – and said he thought he was going to die. His heart rate exceeded 140 beats per minute.

The next day he went to the emergency room at James Paget Hospital and they said he had tachycardia.

Georgie said he was shaking, crying and having heart palpitations – and went to A&E several times over the following days.

Georgie said: “I think it should be a last resort to go on Mounjaro and people should treat him like that.

“It left me with panic disorder and health anxiety.

“You should go through the NHS or speak to your doctor. I would never have done it if I had known.

“People shouldn’t hate themselves so much about weight because we’re only in a small chapter of our lives.

“Try calorie deficit or therapy before injecting yourself with anything. You don’t want to end up in A&E or leave feeling the same way I did.

A spokesperson for Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company that makes Mounjaro, said: “Mounjaro should only be used as prescribed by a licensed healthcare professional and prescriptions should be filled and supplied by pharmacies and providers reputable.

“Regulatory agencies conduct thorough independent assessments of the benefits and risks of each new drug.

“Lilly is committed to continually monitoring, evaluating and reporting safety data to ensure the most up-to-date information is available to regulators and prescribers. »