Last week, I made the tough decision to share in The Mail on Sunday my own terrible experience experimenting with the weight loss jab Wegovy.
While recently over at a friend’s house, I was convinced to have a go on ‘The Pen’ – which is what women my age are calling the injectable drug.
At the time, it felt like a bit of fun. Everyone seems to be doing it these days.
Plus, while I am by no means overweight – I have a BMI of 21.7 – I figured it could help me once again fit into my pre-baby jeans.
It was a huge mistake. Within days of taking Wegovy, I was vomiting and wracked with a debilitating migraine. At one point, I really thought I might die.
Within days of taking Wegovy, the Mail’s Charlotte Griffiths was vomiting and wracked with a debilitating migraine
Richard Madeley, left, called Ms Griffiths, second right, an idiot on Good Morning Britain
These drugs have undergone years of trials which show they are safe and highly effective treatments for those who need them.
The injections mimic the natural ‘appetite hormone’, called GLP-1, which sends signals to the brain that the stomach is full. This also brings down blood sugar levels, which is why diabetes patients are given them.
Studies show that obesity patients who start taking GLP-1 injections see their risk of heart disease and cancer slashed. Not to mention the fact that many lose as much as 15 per cent of their body weight.
For these patients, these drugs can be life-changing.
But for healthy patients like me, there is no evidence that they are safe – or even work.
I still don’t know what I was thinking when I decided to try it.
So when, two days after my article was published, I was asked by ITV’s Good Morning Britain to come on the show and talk about my failed experiment, I was in two minds.
To tell you the truth, I was embarrassed about how silly I’d been. Not only had I taken someone else’s prescription drug without thinking about my safety – it also turns out I’d done four times the dose you are advised to start on – meaning I essentially overdosed.
And I did this just because I wanted to be a bit thinner, despite the fact that I am already fairly slim.
I wasn’t sure I could face the further embarrassment of going on live television in front of millions of viewers and recounting my foolish decision.
I knew that the presenter Richard Madeley – who is not known for his natural sympathy – would take a dim view of what I did. I was also told that the doctor I was due to appear alongside, Dr Vicky Price, would likely criticise me for my actions.
However, one thing swayed me to swallow my pride. Since writing the piece, I’ve been struck by the horrifying number of women who have got in touch to tell me about their own experiences of Wegovy.
Many of them are already thin and healthy. Several had a horrible reaction to the drug like me.
Our Editor at Large wanted to warn as many people as possible that the weight loss drug was not something they should be experimenting with
I wanted to warn as many people as possible that this was not something they should be experimenting with.
The interview went exactly how I expected. Within 30 seconds Richard Madeley had called me an ‘idiot’.
I felt this was somewhat harsh. After all, Richard doesn’t know what it is like to be a 39-year-old mother of three, who came of age in the 1990s, the era of ‘heroin chic’, when every woman wanted be stick-thin.
Nor, I presume, does he get targeted adverts promoting these weight loss jabs whenever he goes on social media as I – and so many other women – regularly do.
But I was a little taken aback when even his lovely co-presenter Kate Garraway called me a ‘buffoon’.
Even Madeley’s lovely co-presenter Kate Garraway called Ms Griffiths a ‘buffoon’
However, it wasn’t all bad. Dr Hilary Jones, the TV show’s resident GP, said that I was ‘brave’ for speaking about my dreadful experience.
Dr Vicky Price – who I had expected to be scathing – was mercifully kind, and said that she was simply concerned at the number of people showing up at NHS hospitals with ‘incredibly similar’ stories to mine.
She also mentioned that some people experimenting with these weight loss drugs were experiencing pancreatitis – inflammation of the pancreas – a serious condition which could be ‘life-threatening’.
This reinforced for me the importance of speaking out on this issue. It terrifies me that young women are putting their lives at risk simply to lose a few kilos.
After it had ended, Madeley apologised for his strong words, but the truth is that he was right.
I was an idiot for taking Wegovy – and I think anyone else who is thinking of taking it just to fit into a new bikini or dress is foolish too.