I was 20st with crippling self-hatred and £600 booze and shopping binges… life-changing solution proves there’s hope

IT’S been two and a half years since Grace Parkin decided years of weekend takeaway and alcohol binges had taken their toll. Tipping the scales 19st 11lbs, a size 26 making her BMI severely obese, Grace admits she would spend the evening “filling a void” – whether it be with booze or online shopping, spending hundreds a go. In early 2024, Grace Parkin was fed up with her weight and knew she needed to overhaul her lifestyle Credit: SWNS Pictured, Grace Parkin, after she lost eight stone Credit: SWNS For Grace, a mum-of-one, weekends were a chance to relax. The 34-year-old would stick to a strict healthy diet during the week, but drop £100 each weekend – £400 a month – on takeaways and alcohol binges. Sign up for the Health newsletter Thank you! Opting for bottles of lager or vodka, lime and lemonades on nights out, she estimates she was sometimes drinking up to 10 drinks in one go. “By Monday, I’d hate myself and be back to the diet,” Grace says. READ MORE ON WEIGHT LOSS JABS On top of that, she would spend hundreds online shopping, just to feel good. “I wasn’t getting into debt, but if I was bored in an evening – I’d buy from Boohoo, PrettyLittleThing, Shein – any brands that did plus-sized clothes,” Grace says. “I’d spend anything from £50 to £300 a night. “Any disposable income would go on anything relating to pleasure. I was void filling – looking for that adrenaline.” Most read in Health Then, in early 2024, the manager from Sheffield, suddenly spotted an advert online for the “King Kong” of weight loss jabs Mounjaro. Grace spent £150 per month on the drug privately. She lost a staggering 8st, but never imagined this would be only part of her success story. Within weeks of starting the jab, her binge drinking stopped for good, no longer able to stomach alcohol. “I’m not interested in it whatsoever,” Grace says. “I started Mounjaro in May 2024 and in June went out to watch the Euros and ordered a beer out of instinct. “I only got a third of the way down it and thought ‘oh god, not for me’. It wasn’t nice, it made me feel bloated. “I’ve just completely lost any appetite for alcohol. Now it’s very rare that I even fancy drinking.” Grace believes Mounjaro has fundamentally “changed” the way her brain works. Experts now say Grace is right. The jabs really can rewire the brain – and may even revolutionise how we treat alcohol addiction. The drugs, known medically as GLP-1s, cannot currently be prescribed on the NHS to treat addiction. But some doctors, so confident in their effectiveness, are already prescribing the jabs off-label to patients with alcohol use disorder and binge drinkers. Grace said she would spend up to £400 per month on her weekend binges opting for bottles of lager or vodka, lime and lemonades on nights out Credit: SWNS Grace believes Mounjaro has fundamentally “changed” the way her brain works Credit: SWNS They believe it has created a “whole new paradigm”, a game changer among the current limited options to treat patients with alcohol problems. This is because GLP-1 drugs 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. Dr Maurice O’Farrell, a Dublin-based GP and weight management specialist, believes it is time the jab was rolled out far more widely for this purpose. “The reality is that a lot of people don’t want to stop drinking. They want to control their use of alcohol. And that’s completely unique to this medication because it allows people to do that,” he tells Sun Health. “It really is a whole new paradigm and a completely different approach to what’s been available until now. “This medication stops that runaway effect where people just go out for a few drinks at a Christmas party and get completely carried away. “It really has a protective effect for those people that would never be identified as ordinarily having an alcohol problem.” Confident at last Pictured, Grace before and after she took Mounjaro Credit: SWNS Grace had struggled with her weight for years. In 2009, aged just 18, she had a gastric balloon but quickly regained the three stone she’d lost. Now, after two years on the jabs, she says she is the most confident she has felt. “I would say this is the most like myself and most confident I’ve been,” she adds. Not only has her alcohol tolerance plummeted, she’s also slashed her spending on clothes, groceries and eating out by £600 per month. Studies involving thousands of people also show that the jabs could tackle hard-to-kick addictions like drinking, drug taking and even shopping. Last month, one British study 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. This was the equivalent of slashing five daily glasses of wine to one, according to the Danish scientists who published their work in The Lancet. And last month, a survey of 11,000 British households with at least one jab user, found they were now spending an average of £418 less on groceries in the first year of starting the jab, including less alcohol, crisps and chocolate. The findings come as a growing number of Britons are drinking excessively. 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. Pictured, Grace before Mounjaro. She recently underwent private skin removal surgery to get rid of 7lbs of excess skin Credit: SWNS Concerned by this, a growing number of specialists are now prescribing the jab off-label to combat binge drinking and alcohol use disorder. Dr O’Farrell says: “Yes, the use for alcohol use disorder is off-license. But doctors prescribe medication off-license all the time. “You’ve got to make a decision yourself based on the patient in front of you. “There’s so much damage being done by alcohol, I believe the evidence, actually, is adequate.” Other experts, however optimistic, are cautious about prescribing just yet. “I’m a big believer in it, but we need definitive evidence first,” says Professor Ashwin Dhanda, an expert in liver medicine at the University of Plymouth. The liver specialist, who is set to launch a trial later this year assessing the jabs effectiveness in tackling addiction in hundreds of UK patients, adds: “We want it to be used for alcohol use disorder if it is proven to help.” According to Dr Tony Goldstone, a clinical associate professor in brain sciences at Imperial College London, licensing the drug for alcohol use on the NHS is realistically just years away “if things continue on the trajectory that we’ve seen with studies to date”. He adds: “The other thing that’s on the horizon is oral drugs, like the Wegovy pill. So in the future tablets could also be a possibility. It’s a rapidly moving area.” As for Grace, she recently underwent private skin removal surgery to get rid of 7lbs of excess skin, the result of her dramatic weight loss on Mounjaro. She still goes to the pub so she doesn’t “miss out” on social occasions, but doesn’t spend her summers bingeing in the sun, as she used to. “Before, I used to say yes to everything and every event, now I can take it or leave it. I maybe go out once a month,” she adds. “A beer, I can maybe have one and think ‘actually that’s enough now’. “I’m still on Mounjaro for maintenance and taking it as normal. But I’m not planning on losing any more weight. I’m never coming off the medication. It’s changed my life.” 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. Comment now