A mother who suffers hair loss while using a weight-loss drug says it won’t stop her taking the jabs after losing more than two stone in four months.
Rhiannon Anne Griffiths-Bowen was losing a “handful of hair” in the shower after taking Mounjaro, which she ordered through a monthly prescription from an online pharmacy.
When brushing her hair after drying, so much hair would fall out that she would have to empty her hairbrush at least three times.
She sought help from her doctor and other Mounjaro users, who advised her to take a vitamin B7 supplement for hair growth and skin called biotin. And although it has decreased the hair loss, the side effect remains.
In its patient booklet, Mounjaro manufacturer Eli Lilly says hair loss is a common side effect that impacts up to one in 10 people, and social media groups feature many users who complain of losing their hair while taking it.
But the issue has not stopped the 26-year-old from upping her dosage of the weight-loss drug.
Ahead of a price increase next month, which will see the cost of Mounjaro triple in the UK, the mother-of-one from Swansea, South Wales, spent £450 on a three-month supply of a 10mg weekly dosage, increasing from the 7.5mg weekly dosage she is currently on.
“It [hair loss] is one of the cons to the pen, but the benefits outweigh it,” she told The Independent. “I’m like ‘okay, that’s fine, I’m taking stuff now to reduce it’, I know now it’s coming from the injections.
“It’s not dramatically impacting my life. I’m lucky, it’s not thinning my hair, and I don’t notice it in the mirror. At the moment, it’s not really impacting me to the point where I’m like ‘right, I’m going to have to stop this now’”.
Ms Griffiths-Bowen weighed 18st 6lb when she began taking Mounjaro, after her weight increased due to medication for a disability in her foot and complications in childbirth.
Since starting on the injections at the end of April, she has seen her weight fall to 15st 10lb. Her Body Mass Index (BMI) has also gone down, from 41, in the severely obese category, to 35, in the obese category.
The jabs, she said, stopped her cravings for junk food, while she was able to focus on making healthy food and swapping carbonated drinks for sugar-free diluted squash.
She is one of an estimated 1.5 million people taking weight loss jabs in the UK, with most paying for them privately.
“My medication was making me put on weight, no matter what I walked or how often I went to the gym,” Ms Griffiths-Bowen said. “You can only battle so much against something you take religiously, and then I had a rough recovery from pregnancy.
“Mounjaro has been so beneficial for me. The difference in comparison pictures of me has been crazy, and it’s helped my mental health a lot.”
Hair loss isn’t the only issue she faced after taking the weight-loss drug.
She became ill with an upset stomach only weeks after beginning to take the jabs. But an increase in eating fibre – through fruit and nuts, and breakfast cereal – has helped improve her health.
Ms Griffiths-Bowen said more clinical support was needed for people purchasing weight-loss drugs.
Although side effects are given in leaflets when buying the jabs, she said some pharmacies could be better at listening to customers’ feedback and then following up with advice.
She said: “Anything that the manufacturers or the pharmacies know could be linked to the drugs as side effects, then they should offer better support on how people can cope and then follow up after taking advice.”
She also believed the drug should be more widely prescribed through the NHS, as opposed to people resorting to buying privately from online pharmacies.
In June, Mounjaro was made available through GP surgeries for those with the “greatest need”, which includes those with a BMI of over 35 and a weight-related health condition. Those unable to get a prescription are able to buy through pharmacies privately, but some have reported shortages ahead of the price increase.
A spokesperson for Eli Lilly said: “Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority. We take any reports regarding patient safety seriously and actively monitor, evaluate, and report safety information for all our medicines.
“The Mounjaro Patient Information Leaflet warns that hair loss is a common side effect in patients treated for weight management.
“We encourage patients to consult their doctor or other healthcare professional regarding any side effects they may be experiencing and to ensure that they are getting genuine Lilly medicine.”
