Potential patients are warned GLP-1 drugs can cause side effects including nausea, diarrhoea, constipation and vomiting, and lead to more serious problems such as kidney damage.
Melody Ewert from Minnesota, US, has been taking GLP-1 drugs for nearly a year and is also spending more on clothes as her size decreases.
She took the Wegovy pill for three weeks but says she did not feel like herself and her period stopped, so she switched back to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound jabs at a monthly cost of $450.
“I have been shopping mostly at thrift stores and the sales racks for clothes,” says Melody Ewert, 45, from Minnesota.
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“I am still actively losing weight so I don’t want to buy a whole new wardrobe until I’ve reached my goal of 150lb (68kg).
Bras and underwear are something I’ve had to buy most often because I can wear a shirt a bit big but wearing undergarments big doesn’t work.”
She adds that she wears more colours now, rather than black, and more layers as she feels less hot.
The Retail Landscape Recalibrates
Wegovy led to an average 21kg (46lb) loss over 72 weeks in a medical study, which equates to four dress sizes.
Even a more conservative estimate would significantly lift sales at clothing chains, helping struggling high streets and malls.
“There are predictions that 10-15% of the UK population could be taking these drugs by 2030,” says Stephen Fitzgerald, a former commercial director at M&S.
