Fat jabs didn’t touch my menopause weight – but an unexpected miracle effect has forced me back on them

AS Julie Lord went into menopause, she watched her weight slowly creep up to 12st. When a friend then recommended the injections, Julie, 56, began taking the weekly jab, Wegovy, in May 2026. Julie Lord says she had been drinking around a bottle of wine every day since retiring in 2017 Credit: SWNS She said she had struggled to cut back despite her GP warning she was consuming alcohol at harmful levels Credit: SWNS Unfortunately, the injections made little difference to her weight. But Julie, from Leeds, says they transformed her relationship with alcohol during the two months she took them. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! Now, six weeks after coming off the medication, she says the cravings have returned and she is now taking Wegovy again – not to lose weight, but to help stop drinking. Julie says: “I could not believe it. It virtually stopped me drinking within a week. READ MORE ON WEIGHT LOSS JABS “It was a miracle. I literally just stopped. I can’t explain it. “I stopped craving it, I stopped wanting it, I stopped buying it. I just didn’t feel the need anymore. “The cravings just all went.” Julie retired as a pharmaceutical worker in 2017 and saw it as a chance to relax. Most read in Health But it had an unexpected consequence – her drinking gradually got out of control. What started as a glass of wine while listening to music gradually became a bottle every evening, with alcohol becoming part of her daily routine. She said she never considered her drinking a serious problem because she had no underlying health conditions. Her GP, however, warned that she was drinking at harmful levels and offered support groups to help her cut back. After starting Wegovy to lose her menopause weight, Julie says her cravings for alcohol “completely disappeared” Credit: SWNS “I’d tried to stop drinking,” Julie says. “But I’d talk myself out of it. I’d think, ‘You’re going to die anyway – you might as well enjoy life’. “I didn’t have any health issues so I assumed it wasn’t really a problem.” But since giving up alcohol as a result of Wegovy, she’s been left feeling healthier, more confident and able to face appointments with her GP knowing she had made a positive change. She’s also saving around £70 a week she had previously spent on Sauvignon Blanc. Despite no longer drinking, she continued seeing friends and simply swapped wine for coffee instead. She adds: “I still go to the same places. “Instead of having two or three glasses of wine, I’ll have a coffee. “I drive more now because I’m not spending my evenings drinking. “I felt I could raise my head a little higher with my GP because I knew I was making a difference to my health.” Julie stopped taking Wegovy after two months because she had achieved little weight loss. But in the period between stopping the jabs, she says she was back to drinking a bottle a day – although that would last her several hours. So she has chosen to return to the jabs. Weight loss jabs, like Wegovy and Mounjaro cannot currently be prescribed on the NHS to treat addiction. But some doctors in the UK, so confident in their effectiveness, are already prescribing the jabs off-label to patients with alcohol use disorder and binge drinkers. Speaking to Sun Health last week, they said they believe the jabs are a game changer among the current limited options to treat patients with alcohol problems. During the two months she took Wegovy, Julie says her relationship with alcohol was transformed Credit: SWNS The 7 fat jab mistakes stopping you losing weight WHILE weight loss jabs have been hailed as a breakthrough in helping tackle Britain’s obesity crisis, some users say they’re missing out on their waist-shrinking powers – and it could be down to some simple mistakes… POOR PENMANSHIP Many people don’t correctly use the injection pen, according to Ana Carolina Goncalves, a pharmacist at Pharmica in Holborn, London. Make sure to prime your weight loss pen correctly, as per the instructions. If nothing comes out, try again, and if it still doesn’t work, switch the needle or ask a pharmacist for help. It’s also recommended to rotate injection sites between the abdomen, thigh and upper arm to avoid small lumps of fat under the skin. TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE Make sure you’re using the jabs on the most effective day of your schedule. For example, taking the jab right before a takeaway or party won’t stop you from indulging, says Jason Murphy, head of pharmacy and weight loss expert at Chemist4U. Weight loss injections need time to build up in your system, so if you’re planning for a heavier weekend, inject your dose mid-week. MAKING A MEAL OF IT You may not feel the urge to overeat at mealtimes due to the jabs. But skipping meals altogether can backfire, says Dr David Huang, director of clinical innovation at weight loss service Voy. If a person is extremely malnourished, their body goes into emergency conservation mode, where their metabolism slows down. FOOD FOR THOUGHT A key mistake using weight loss jabs is not eating the right foods. As well as cutting out sugary drinks and alcohol, Dr Vishal Aggarwal, Healthium Clinics recommends focusing on your protein intake. DE-HYDRATION STATIONS Dehydration is a common side effect of weight loss injections. But it’s important to stay hydrated in order for your body to function properly. Dr Crystal Wyllie, GP at Asda Online Doctor, says hydration supports metabolism, digestion, and can reduce side effects like headaches, nausea and constipation. MOVE IT, MOVE IT It can be easy to see the jabs as a quick fix, but stopping exercising altogether is a mistake, says Mital Thakrar, a pharmacist from Well Pharmacy. Exercise helps maintain muscle mass and help shape the body as you lose weight, which may be crucial if you’re experiencing excess skin. QUIT IT While there’s the tendency to ditch the jabs as soon as you reach your desired weight, stopping them too soon can cause rapid regain. Mr Thakrar recommends building habits like healthier eating during treatment for sustaining results. This is because GLP-1 drugs, as the jabs are known medically, are believed to trigger receptors that would normally be set off by food, tricking the brain into thinking it has eaten. In the brains of people with addictions, triggering this “fullness” feeling or switching off cravings could mean they no longer have the desire to drink, smoke, drink, shop or take drugs. Last month, one British study also found that Mounjaro could lower alcohol-related hospital admissions by up to as much as 65 per cent among obese people with alcohol problems. Another earlier this year also discovered that people with the condition who were given semaglutide jabs – the key ingredient in Wegovy, which works similarly to Mounjaro – cut their daily drinking habits by 70 per cent. Other experts, while optimistic about the impact the jabs have on alcohol cravings, have warned that it is still too early to prescribe them purely for alcohol use disorder and further research is first vital. On the NHS, Wegovy has strict criteria before it may be prescribed. It may only be given to those who are clinically classed as obese not overweight for weight loss. The criteria also includes having at least one weight-related comorbidity, such as high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease, and either a BMI of at least 35 or a BMI of 30 to 34.9. It comes as a recent survey found that almost a fifth of Brits admit to binge- drinking in the past week, defined as consuming more than eight units in a single session. More than 320,000 people are admitted to hospital each year with alcohol-related conditions, and more than 10,000 die – mostly from liver disease. Deaths linked to alcohol have risen steadily since the pandemic, reaching a record high last year. Comment now