A MUM has claimed she was temporarily paralysed after using slimming jabs in her bid to achieve a post-break-up glow-up.
In an attempt to shed a few pounds before her , Jade Benton, from South Shields in Tyne and Wear, contacted a seller in April of this year.
The 33-year-old carer wanted to “feel her best” for upcoming holidays, after her long-term relationship ended and had been recommended them by friends of friends.
She had paid around £180 for a two-month supply of the “slimming jabs” in March.
After using the jabs for a couple of weeks, the 5ft 1in mum-of-one had dropped from 10st 5lbs to around 8st 9lbs and she came off the medication completely while on holiday in Ibiza and Cyprus.
Jade again started using jabs from the same seller in June, weighing just under 9st. The mum says she was given the jabs on a “buy now pay later” and “I owe you” basis.
But she began feeling seriously unwell, experiencing crippling stomach pains and nausea.
Feeling constantly sick, she barely ate for a week, even unable to face a cup of tea.
It was only after she felt too weak to stand, that she eventually called 111 on June 10 for advice.
She was assessed by paramedics and rushed to hospital. Here, she was told she had infections in her pancreas and kidney.
While in hospital overnight, Jade says she was unable to move and became “paralysed” on two occasions before regaining feeling in her arms and legs.
Jade doesn’t know if the injectables led to the temporary paralysis, but said she’d never experienced loss of movement before using them.
Jade, currently a size 8, is now urging others to only apply for weight-loss medication through the .
She admits she “didn’t fit the criteria for them through the NHS”, with a BMI of approximately 26.5, putting her just into the overweight category.
Under NHS guidelines, of at least 40 for Mounjaro or 35 for Wegovy plus weight related conditions such as high blood pressure or type 2 .
Jade says: “I’d first tried the weight-loss medication last year but I was only on it for a couple of weeks and I was fine.
“I’m not massively overweight but I had put on weight, I felt uncomfortable in my own body.
“[When I was in a relationship] I thought my partner didn’t like me because I’d put on weight. I thought he didn’t find me attractive.
“I was just so insecure about my weight, I felt self-conscious.
“We split up last November. Then with being single and struggling to exercise, I went back on the jabs again.
“I wanted to feel my best.”
“When I took them in March, I was fine. I had no symptoms. I felt a bit sick, which was fine. I was still eating, just very little,” she says.
“I’d easily lost 2st by the time I went to Ibiza. While I was away, I was fine.
“About a month later, I decided to go back on them because I wanted to lose a bit more, it was the same dose I’d been on previously.
“There was someone I knew who owned their own business selling them, I used to go to [their] house.”
Jade claimed she was told by the seller that they’d “been through specialists” so presumed they were safe.
“It’s like any drug – you’re going to take it knowing what could happen,” she admits.
“The second lot of jabs [they] let me have them as an ‘I owe you’.”
Jade says she took her first dosage on June 4 and “instantly felt sick”.
She adds: “I didn’t think much of it.
“But the next day I went to have my cup of tea and couldn’t keep that down.
“I was having one chip a day for a full week. I was too weak to stand, I felt horrible.
“I was having unbearable stomach pains and I couldn’t lift my head up because I was so weak.”
After ringing 111, Jade was rushed to hospital on June 10 due to having a high temperature and heart rate and was treated for a kidney and pancreas infection.
Infections, including of the kidney and pancreas, are a of .
In January, the UK’s regulator the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) of the rare but real chance of developing severe inflammation of the pancreas, known as acute pancreatitis.
Key include extreme pain in the stomach and back. Without treatment, the pancreas can rot and die and prove fatal.
Jade says: “When I was in hospital I started getting tingles from my feet, going up my legs, up my body, arms and fingertips.
Avoid 'quick fix' jabs
Ahsan Bhatti, pharmacist and owner of UK online pharmacy Quick Meds, warns that whilst it may be tempting to purchase these medications in a bid to save money or to gain access to medications you may not usually qualify for due to low BMI, falsified injections of any kind can pose a serious risk to health.
“The MHRA’s latest seizure figures are deeply concerning,” says Ahsan.
“These non-compliant injectables are a genuine risk to patient safety as we are unable to verify how they’ve been manufactured – whether they’ve been stored safely, let alone whether the dosage is even correct.”
“Ultimately, the only real way to ensure you’re in receipt of a safe and legitimate product is by ordering GLP-1 medication from registered, regulated pharmacy providers.
“Under no circumstance should you trust weight-loss pens sold on apps such as TikTok, messaging apps or via unverified websites.
“The results are simply not worth the risk of injecting unidentified medication into your body.
“No matter whether you’re eligible for weight loss jabs or are simply looking for a quick fix – it has the potential to cause no end of harm to your health.
“Anyone who suspects sellers of providing counterfeit goods, should report them immediately to the MHRA via its Yellow Card scheme.”
“My body started cramping. I could talk but I couldn’t move my body, I was basically paralysed.
“I was so frightened. I regained control of my body then a little while later it happened again.
“I couldn’t move, it was really scary. I was thinking the worst.
“The only thing I could think caused the infections was the jab. Nothing like this has ever happened before.”
She spent the night in hospital and was given antibiotics through a drip before being discharged.
Experts have repeatedly warned Britons and on social media or through unlicensed sellers, over fears they .
Brits have told how they have been left suffering seizures or even in comas after taking fake jabs.
Last year, Karen McGonigal, 53, from in Greater Manchester, died just days after of black market semaglutide, the ingredient in Wegovy and .
Border officials have also intercepted and dangerous “DIY” injection kits destined for the UK, part of a wider crackdown on organised gangs trafficking unlicensed medicines.
After her terrifying ordeal, Jade, who has not suffered any further symptoms, regrets ever touching a “slimming jab” and is urging others to avoid them completely or get them through the NHS.
Jade says: “I regret taking them. I tell people ‘don’t take them, it’s not worth it’. And if you are going to take them, do it properly through the NHS.
“You don’t know what’s going to happen.”
