JENNI MURRAY: The side-effect that hit me after a year on Mounjaro

It was at the beginning of October that I began to complain to friends and family about a strange and rather scary feeling in my feet. It felt as if I had puddings attached to my ankles, by which I meant I didn’t seem to have any normal sensation there at all. They were completely numb.

I’d just come back from a short holiday in Italy, become terribly ill with what turned out to be Covid and the consensus among those to whom I complained appeared to be that the virus was the most likely explanation. Everyone assured me it would get better once I did. No such luck. I’m unfortunate enough to be suffering, according to my doctor, from post-viral fatigue. Most of the time I am exhausted but the lack of sensation in my feet continues to be worrying no one but me.

My mobility since my accident nearly three years ago, where I broke my vertebra, has been poor, but this new and peculiar foot affliction is holding me back even further.

Now I’m barely able to drag myself from the sitting room to the kitchen and I crawl upstairs on all fours. My feet and the lower part of my legs and ankles have become very heavy. Getting into bed is an effort. I find myself lifting my legs up with my hands and it’s hard.

The fatigue, or long Covid as it’s known, continues, but I’ve not heard other sufferers talk about numbness and heaviness in their feet. No one seems to be able to explain what might be going on.

Then earlier this week I read about a leading orthopaedic surgeon talk about something called ‘foot drop’.

Tim Sinnett, who specialises in foot and ankle surgery, says he has observed in the last few months a devastating new side effect in weight loss jab users.

He says it means some patients using GLP-1 drugs such as Mounjaro or Wegovy cannot lift their limbs due to nerve dysfunction. He says the sudden loss of weight associated with this medicine is what is causing the problem. ‘All nerves have a natural rim of fat around them. Suddenly losing weight, and the fat around the nerves, can cause this nerve dysfunction in the foot and ankle.’

He’s observed that patients with foot drop can have difficulty lifting the front part of the foot, causing it to drag on the floor.

He acknowledges that losing weight is generally good for the feet and ankles because it reduces the force on the joints, but it seems to be the speed of the weight loss that causes the nerves to malfunction.

It sounded eerily familiar. Could it be that my year on Mounjaro had given me foot drop? A bit of nausea maybe or diarrhoea or constipation, but finding walking difficult? I certainly hadn’t anticipated that.

I think perhaps too many of us have gaily bought into this seeming weight loss miracle. Most of us get our drugs at considerable cost directly from reputable chemists but without any medical monitoring looking for side effects that, for all we know, might be more dangerous than being a bit fat. I began this trip just over a year ago at 16 and a half stone. My target weight was the 12st I’d achieved after my weight-loss surgery more than ten years ago. I’d felt quite comfortable with my size then.

I’d ordered the Mounjaro from a respectable chemist, paid a colossal £200 for it, put the pen containing four doses of the drug in the fridge and took it out every Sunday to give myself one jab.

I didn’t feel sick, no constipation and managed first on the 2.5mg, then just a couple of months on the 7.5, but mainly staying on the lowest dose which seemed to be doing its job. Oh the joy of silencing the food noise and seeing a few pounds disappear every month.

By the end of September this year, I had slightly exceeded my goal weight. I’d gone down to 11st 10lb, just a little less than the 12st I’d intended.

With the prospect of a lovely holiday in Italy round the corner, I decided to give up the drug. I could afford to put on a couple of pounds consuming my favourite spaghetti alle vongole. Why go to Italy and starve yourself?

I was astonished to discover I was hardly ever hungry even with the prospect of the best Italian cuisine. I ordered my spaghetti and ate maybe a quarter of it. I could eat only a slice of pizza from one of my son’s plate.

I was not getting fat on the Amalfi Coast. Quite the reverse in fact. At home, at the beginning of October, as Covid began to do its worst, I weighed only 11st.

My appetite has not returned. Now, at the start of December, with no fat jabs since September, I weigh just 10st 2lb.

Being lighter feels good. People telling me how much weight I’ve lost feels like a stream of compliments – but they don’t see the wrinkled skin on my arms, my stomach or my thighs. The face too is beginning to look older.

I saw my doctor yesterday about another matter and she rather pooh-poohed the idea of foot drop.

But my weight loss has been rapid and my symptoms certainly match those described by surgeon Tim Sinnett when voicing his fears over the condition.

Fortunately Sinnett says the nerves for foot drop sufferers are not damaged beyond repair and physio can help.

So my physio has given me a whole new set of exercises to try to stimulate the nerves in my feet. I’m not taking any chances. I need to regain my balance, my mobility. Living alone, I can’t risk falling over.

Cover that bump, Sienna!

Forty-odd years ago when I was pregnant and presenting television in very respectable maternity wear, there was a lot of disapproval of me being in public in ‘your condition’.

I hoped that one day a pregnant belly would not be frowned upon.

But, really, Sienna Miller, you’ve gone too far. Announce your pregnancy by all means but, please, not in a see-through negligee, white knickers and fluffy slippers (even if it is all by Givenchy).

On the Fashion Awards red carpet. No, no, no!

Blocked for being a feminist?

David Lammy, the Justice Secretary, is threating to abolish some jury trials, which is a shame because it narrows my chances of being on one. I’m rather insulted I’ve never been invited.

Was there some prejudice against openly feminist outspoken women judging their peers?

I do hope not.

Teacher, leave that kid alone

Lucy Connolly said a stupid thing about how migrant hotels should burn down. She was punished for it – jailed no less.

Now her daughter has been barred from her chosen school because of what her mother, left, said. A child should not be made to suffer for the crimes of their parent.

I resisted Openreach and its superfast, full fibre broadband and then gave in. Big mistake. Since last Wednesday I have had no internet. What a nightmare for a writer who works from home. 

My neighbour, Victor, a tech genius, full of sympathy, said he couldn’t understand why anyone invaded a country any more. Far more effective to simply disable the Wi-Fi.