Jump to: What is Mounjaro? | How do you get a prescription for Mounjaro? | Can I get Mounjaro over the counter? | Does Mounjaro have side effects?
A private prescription of Mounjaro starts from £229 a month with Second Nature’s Mounjaro weight-loss programme.
This includes access to our award-winning weight-loss programme alongside the 1-1 support of a registered nutritionist or dietitian.
Mounjaro is now available to purchase from Second Nature and we currently have all doses in stock.
It’s worth noting there are strict eligibility criteria. You can explore whether our Mounjaro programme is right for you by completing our health quiz.
What is Mounjaro?
Mounjaro is a dual-function medication for individuals living with type 2 diabetes and obesity. Its active ingredient is tirzepatide.
Tirzepatide is sold under the brand name Mounjaro in the UK, or Zepbound for obesity in the U.S., and manufactured by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
Tirzepatide mimics two hormones in the body: GLP-1 and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP).
When we eat food, our gut releases a hormone that helps the body regulate hunger and blood sugar levels. This hormone is called GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1).
The actions of GLP-1 are the target of Mounjaro and other medications like Wegovy, Saxenda, and Ozempic.
This class of medications are known as GLP-1 receptor activators (GLP-1s). They mimic the actions of the hormone GLP-1 to activate the GLP-1 receptors.
GLP-1s improve insulin function to lower blood sugar levels and delay gastric emptying, decreasing appetite. GLP-1s also communicate with the brain’s appetite control centre, the hypothalamus, to reduce food-seeking behaviour.
Separately to GLP-1s, the other hormone that Mounjaro mimics is called GIP.
GIP is a hormone released in response to food that helps regulate blood sugar levels and helps our fat cells ‘absorb’ more excess energy, preventing fat from being stored in the liver or pancreas.
GIP also has receptors in the brain, similar to GLP-1, and scientists believe it’s also involved in regulating appetite.
The medications that mimic GIP are known as GIP mimetics. These additional actions are the target of Mounjaro.
So, tirzepatide has a dual function that mimics two hormones in the body that support blood glucose levels and weight loss.
How do you get a prescription for Mounjaro?
For Second Nature’s Mounjaro programme, you’ll qualify for Mounjaro if you have a BMI of over 27 and also meet other eligibility criteria.
However, we’re unable to share this information online, and you must complete our health quiz first for us to check your eligibility.
If you’re living with type-2 diabetes, to receive a Mounjaro (tirzepatide) prescription via the NHS in the UK, here are the eligibility criteria confirmed by NICE:
- Triple therapy with metformin and two other oral antidiabetic drugs is ineffective, not tolerated or contraindicated, and
- they have a body mass index (BMI) of 35 kg/m2 or more and specific psychological or other medical problems associated with obesity,
- or they have a BMI of less than 35 kg/m2, and:
- insulin therapy would have significant occupational implications, or
- weight loss would benefit other significant obesity-related complications.
Lower BMI thresholds (usually reduced by 2.5 kg/m2) apply for people from South Asian, Chinese, other Asian, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean family backgrounds.
Can I get Mounjaro over the counter?
Mounjaro will not be available over the counter in the UK; it will only be available with a prescription.
Does Mounjaro have side effects?
All medications have potential side effects, and Mounjaro is no different. The most common side effects of Mounjaro are nausea, constipation, vomiting, and other symptoms affecting the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, like diarrhoea.
You might also experience less common side effects like tiredness or headaches.
These symptoms most commonly occur around the time of the injection, during dose escalation, and are typically transient and will ease after you’ve adapted to the medication.
However, everyone responds differently to these medications; some people won’t experience any side effects, while others will have to discontinue their medication due to the discomfort the side effects cause.
Not a magic pill
Weight-loss injections are designed as additional tools for healthy lifestyle change and shouldn’t be considered as lifelong medications.
Instead, they should be used to help you kickstart your weight-loss journey whilst you focus on building new, healthy habits.
Consider the use of antidepressants for people living with depression. They’re not designed to cure the condition. Instead, they’re designed to allow room for therapy to treat the condition’s underlying cause.
Mounjaro is similar. It can help silence food-related thoughts and also give you a boost of confidence with more immediate weight-loss results.
This helps to buy you the time and headspace to understand why your body may have struggled to lose weight previously, and to build new long-term healthy habits.
The core focus of our Mounjaro weight-loss programme is to calm down the feeling of food noise, lower your cravings, and to allow you to build healthier habits to keep the weight off for good.
The ultimate goal is to make losing weight feel second nature.
Second Nature’s medication-supported programmes
Second Nature has two medication-supported programmes: a Wegovy weight-loss programme and a Mounjaro weight-loss programme.
If you’ve decided to try Wegovy or Mounjaro (assuming you’re eligible), why should you choose Second Nature over other medication providers?
For peace of mind.
Second Nature has worked with the NHS for over 6 years providing weight-loss programmes across the UK.
Whilst our Wegovy and Mounjaro weight-loss programmes are private and not currently used by the NHS, we’ve built the programmes with a focus on scientific evidence, patient safety, and data security.
We hope that our 6+ years of working will the NHS and building a track record of effective weight-loss results will give you peace of mind to give us a try.
