A woman was forced to remove an organ after a year of using the weight loss drug Mounjaro, which she believes exacerbated her pain.
She started taking it in August 2024
Julie Reilly, 57, started taking the weight loss drug in August 2024 and was able to drop four stone (14lb / 6.3kg) over the past year.
Before she began taking Mounjaro, she had been experiencing occasional stomach pains, which were dismissed by doctors as symptoms of ‘menopause’.
She explained what doctors told her
The mother from Birmingham said, “Everything that you get gets blamed on menopause symptoms. That’s what they told me at first when I started getting these pains in my stomach.”
“In August of last year, I decided to go on Mounjaro. I think it exacerbated it.”
The drug made her pains worse
“I’ve never experienced pain like this,” Reilly said of what came with taking the injections. “I was literally rolling on the floor, couldn’t stand up. Stabbing pain, violent fatigue.”
She was rushed to A&E in January of this year when the pain got too much to handle.
An ultrasound showed she had gallstones
A referral for an ultrasound later revealed several gallstones in May, which caused a series of infections that resulted in Reilly having to remove her gallbladder in August.
Although she had symptoms before taking Mounjaro, Reilly believes it made her condition worse, as she has since learnt it can cause gallstones.
The medication’s leaflet warns against this
The information leaflet that comes with Mounjaro warns that gallstones are a ‘common’ side effect of using it, and may affect ‘up to one in 10 people’, adding that an infection of the gallbladder may affect one in 100.
Despite this, Reilly claims that if it had been explained to her more clearly, she wouldn’t have taken the drug.
She said it wasn’t explained to her
“They don’t ask if you have any gallbladder issues [before you take the jab],” the mother said.
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“When you take medication there’s everything on there [in the information leaflet], reactions and things like that, I think there’s not enough of those on there if I’m honest.”
A doctor told her this was because of weight loss
“When I asked one of the doctors they said it [illnesses like this] is caused by rapid weight loss. In proportion to my body, I have lost a lot of weight because I’ve lost four stone,” she said.
Reilly said she’s still using the jabs even after losing her gallbladder.
She wants to complete her last few weeks of the course
“I have four weeks left on this last one [of Mounjaro] and then I’m coming off. I’m only small so being a 12 stone woman was a lot. People say I don’t even look like the same person,” Reilly said.
The manufacturer of Mounjaro gave a statement
A spokesperson for Lilly, which manufactures Mounjaro, said, “Patient safety is Lilly’s top priority.”
“We take any reports regarding patient safety extremely seriously and actively monitor, evaluate, and report safety information for all our medicines.”
The drug is originally made to treat diabetes
“The Mounjaro (tirzepatide) Patient Information Leaflet warns that gallstones is a common side effect when used for weight management, and an uncommon side effect when used for type 2 diabetes,” the spokesperson added.
“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.”
