A Welsh mother-of-three who ‘played Russian roulette’ by buying £80 slimming injections on Facebook was left hospitalised after the jabs caused her to ‘vomit blood’.
Jodi Jones, 37, turned to the ‘magic injection’ last month in hope of dropping from a size 14 to a size 10.
She contacted a beautician via the social media site and asked to buy four injections from her, to be taken weekly over the course of a month.
Ms Jones paid £20 for each jab and said there were ‘no questions asked’ when she picked them up from a beauty salon in Merseyside, Liverpool.
But after taking the second dose on July 25th, she was left in ‘excruciating pain’ and began vomiting froth, bile and blood, she said.
Jodi Jones turned to the ‘magic injection’ when she struggled to lose weight due to degenerative discs in her spinal cord that means she’s unable to exercise
The 37-year-old contacted a beautician, recommended to her by a friend, over Facebook and ordered four injections to be taken over the course of a month
Unable to get out of bed, Ms Jones’ teenage kids took it in turns to sit with her and look after her through the night.
Two days later, she had been unable to stop vomiting, prompting her 18-year-old daughter to call an ambulance.
Paramedics took her to Wrexham Maelor Hospital in North Wales, where medics prescribed anti-sickness medication and gave her urgent fluids via an IV drip.
Now Ms Jones, who says she was ‘selfish’ to use the jab, is urging people not to touch them without speaking to health professionals.
She said: ‘It was just horrific. I’ve never been so ill in my life and I’ve had sepsis before.
‘This felt worse because of the constant vomiting.
‘I was in excruciating pain. It was absolutely agonising.
‘I took the first one and felt really sick and had hot flashes and just felt really rough.
‘That did subside within a day or two. That week I couldn’t stomach certain foods but I thought, “great it’s working”.
‘When I took the second injection I woke up in the night vomiting and couldn’t stop.
‘All day Friday I continued vomiting. I have teenage kids so they were bringing me water, every sip was coming up to the point where I was vomiting froth, bile and blood.
‘My son Harry looked after me all night until about 2am but fell asleep. I had to ring my eldest daughter as I couldn’t shout or get up.
‘I was completely out of it at that point, I was just so dehydrated. She phoned an ambulance and they came and I went to hospital on Saturday morning.’
She paid £20 for each jab and says there were ‘no questions asked’ when she picked them up from a beauty salon in Liverpool, Merseyside
Although it is unknown what was in the ‘fake’ weight loss jab provided to Ms Jones, some fake injections may not contain semaglutide at all or others may contain other medications, such as insulin
Doctors were unsure exactly what the weight loss jab contained, but Ms Jones, who doesn’t work due to ill health, said they were ‘convinced’ it was counterfit Ozempic because they had seen patients come in with similar reactions before.
The once-a-week jab, which contains the drug semaglutide, is offered on the NHS to help type 2 diabetes patients control their blood sugar levels.
Also known by the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy, it triggers weight loss, earning it praise as a ‘miracle’ slimming injection.
The drugs mimic GLP-1, a hormone made naturally in the body that helps slow the passage of food through the stomach — which makes people feel less hungry.
As a result, people don’t eat as much and lose weight.
In June the World Health Organization (WHO) announced three counterfeit batches falsely claiming to be manufactured by Ozempic-makers Novo Nordisk had entered the market.
The UN agency detected the fake injectable pens, which could prove ‘life threatening’, in Brazil and the UK last October, and the US in December.
Although it is unknown what was in the ‘fake’ weight loss jab provided to Ms Jones, some fake injections are known to contain the diabetes medication insulin.
This can lead to ‘unpredictable’ effects, according to WHO, including blood sugars dropping to dangerously low levels, which can cause nausea as well as fainting.
The mum-of-three from Eryrys, Denbighshire, Wales, says that after the second dose on July 25th she was left in ‘excruciating pain’ and began vomiting froth, bile and blood
Ms Jones revealed her severe spinal problems prevent her from physical exercise and she sought out the jab because she was ‘self-conscious’ about her stomach fat
Ms Jones said: ‘I had to have full blood tests and everything because they were worried about my kidneys. My blood sugars dropped dangerously.
‘I had to tell them the truth of what I’d taken, I felt so ashamed.
‘I felt awful, I’ve put all this stress on the NHS just for this. I felt so embarrassed.
‘I ended up having four bags of fluid [delivered via IV drip] throughout the weekend.
‘The doctors said I’m not the first and probably not the last. At one point they were considering testing [the jab] because of how ill I was.
‘I was finally discharged on Sunday evening and managed to eat a yoghurt. I didn’t eat properly until Wednesday night.’
Ms Jones revealed her severe spinal problems prevent her from physical exercise and she sought out the jab because she was ‘self-conscious’ about her stomach.
She said: ‘I was self-conscious. Because I can’t physically do much and I’m slower because of my pain, my weight is all around my tummy area.
‘I was just trying to shift that weight, I just can’t seem to get rid of it.
‘I’ve tried personal trainers and it nearly killed me off. I just physically can’t do it, I’ve tried dieting and it just doesn’t seem to work.
‘I’ve lost a stone since all this started probably because I was so ill. I only lost a few pounds before I was ill.
‘Having a “magic injection” that loses pounds without doing anything was a seemingly good idea. It was too good to be true.’
Wegovy and Ozempic work by triggering the body to produce a hormone called GLP-1 that is released naturally from the intestines after meals
Ozempic is available on the NHS as a treatment for managing blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes. In May, it was also approved for weight loss under the brand name Wegovy and launched in September on the NHS for weight loss for patients who are overweight or obese with weight-related health problems
Now Ms Jones, who says she was ‘selfish’ to use the jab and allow her kids to see her like that, is urging people not to touch them without speaking to health professionals
Despite losing around a stone, the mum says she regrets using the ‘dangerous’ weight-loss jab and feels ‘really lucky’ to be alive.
She said: ‘I was really lucky, if I was on my own at home it could’ve been fatal. I couldn’t lift my head off the pillow.
‘Imagine being a single mum with young kids that don’t understand what’s going on and you end up stuck in bed like that, who would know?
‘It’s just so dangerous. It’s just playing roulette with your life.
‘I feel mortified that I even put myself through that because of my kids. That they have to see me like that just because I wanted to lose weight. It was selfish.
‘I just didn’t know the risks. I should’ve done the research. I trusted a beautician because she’s got a Facebook page.
‘She’s selling to hundreds of people. You think when you see that “it’s okay”, but it really was not.’
Ms Jones believes weight loss jabs have become ‘too easily accessible’ and urges others to get them through the NHS if necessary.
She said: ‘They’re too easily accessible. It makes me worried for my kids.
‘Go to a GP and do it properly through a dietician. If it’s something you’re really interested in, do not do it through a beautician after all.
‘After my experience I wouldn’t even risk it. Why pay for it when you can go through the NHS if you need it that badly?
‘There are some women out there using it who don’t even look like they need it. Don’t. It’s just really not worth it.’
