
I have to tuck my belly into my pants after fat jabs made me tiny but other crazy side effects will cost me £9K to fix
Wearing her form-fitting exercise kit, the mum-of-four has a svelte size 10 body that women half her age would be envious of.
8
8
8
But as Tracy, 47, peels off her leggings, she reveals a secret - her jelly belly - five pounds of loose and wobbly skin.
'I have lost seven stone in just eight months using fat jabs, ' she says.
'I used to weigh 20st and now I tip the scales at just 13st.'
However, while Tracy is thrilled with her new physique, she admits her weight loss has come with plenty of unwanted side effects.
'Topping the list is my jelly belly and it has to be packed into my knickers and trousers every day,' she says.
'I have learnt no amount of exercise will make your body's skin shrink and ping back to normal.
'Now I have five pounds of loose skin on my stomach. The top of my thighs is also covered in flabby folds despite running eight miles a day, three days a week and working out at the gym.'
But it isn't just her loose skin that is causing an issue for Tracy.
'I've also seen my feet and hands shrink dramatically and I now have a turkey neck, ' she adds.
'To fix these side effects, I'm planning on forking out more than £9,000 on plastic surgery, including a tummy tuck, face lift, liposuction, as well as filler and Botox.
'No one tells you about these side effects.'
Regional childcare manager Tracy is married to Ian, 50, a postman and lives in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex. The pair have four daughters aged 30, 25, 21 and 14 and three grandchildren aged between three and five months old.
Growing up, Tracy was slim but after she had her first child in 1995 she saw her weight creep up.
'I went from a svelte size 12 to an uncomfortable size 20,' she admits.
'I ballooned during pregnancy and couldn't shift the weight.
'After each child, I'd diet and exercise, but the weight never seemed to shift.
'If I did lose a few pounds, I'd pile it back on again.
'The food noise in my head was overwhelming, and I couldn't find an eating plan that worked for me,' she says.
8
8
Over the past 25 years, Tracy tried milkshake diets, low-fat eating, calorie counting, soup diets, juicing, even the Atkins eating plan and Keto diets to lose weight.
'I managed to lose five stone on the Cambridge Diet, but I couldn't control the food noise long enough and the weight piled back on again,' she says.
'I have been on a diet, or thinking about what diet to try next, for the past 25 years. It's been overwhelming.'
At her biggest, Tracy was a size 20, tipping the scales at 20st and had a BMI of 45.4, making her obese and at risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
'My family and I would spend £350 a month on greasy takeaways, I loved kebabs, burgers and curries,' she says.
'But I was covered in stretch marks and hated myself and my body.'
Tracy admits her weight gain was also worsening her menopause symptoms.
'I couldn't sleep properly or get comfortable. I was constantly turning in bed.
'My husband made me sleep in another room, complaining that I was so hot it was like sleeping next to a radiator.
'Whenever I felt down, I was stuffing my face with McDonald's takeaways, Chinese and kebabs.'
However, last September when the couple celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with a vow renewal and a second honeymoon in Cyprus, it was breaking point.
'I looked back at the vow renewal photos and burst into tears.
'I just sobbed. I thought I looked like a whale.
'It was what I needed to make me determined to lose weight.'
That was when Tracy decided to take the advice of a friend who'd attended her vow renewal.
She recalls: 'When she arrived, I almost didn't recognise her. My pal had lost a huge amount of weight and was glowing.
'When I asked her what her secret was, she told me it was Mounjaro.
'So instead of relaxing on break in Cyprus, I ordered the weight loss jabs with a private prescription.
'The injections cost £170 a month and the month's supply arrived before we got home from our second honeymoon.'
Tracy started taking Mounjaro in September last year and says within 24 hours she felt the food noise in her head stop for the first time in almost three decades.
'I woke up and wasn't wanting to eat or obsessing about food,' she says.
'I went for a walk that day and signed up to a gym.'
'I was thriving'
Tracy lost a stone in the first month on Mounjaro and then each month after that the weight continued to drop off.
'Within a month, I was back running, slowly building up the distance day by day,' she says.
'I started going to the gym and training for a half marathon, my energy levels were through the roof.
'I was thriving, exercising. I was eating smaller portions. I no longer wanted a glass of wine, and I was only craving healthy foods like lean protein and vegetables.'
However, in the last two months, Tracy admits she started noticing the unusual side effects while using the jab.
'As I lost the weight and was rapidly dropping dress sizes, I noticed my stomach was still flabby and floppy,' she says.
'It's when I hit the five-stone weight loss mark, I realised the skin wasn't going to ping back into shape even though I was running 24 miles a week and working out.
'Since then, the more I shrink, the more flab folds develop on my so-called 'Ozempic jelly belly'.
'It has to be packed into my tummy control knickers.'
Tracy admits that her loose skin has put a stop to her wearing certain items of clothing.
'I can't wear a bikini until I have my 'Mounjaro plastic surgery makeover',' she says.
'I will have to wear a full swimsuit with tummy control pants to keep my belly folded into place.'
Tracy is now planning on spending more than £9,000 on plastic surgery to iron out the side effects of her fat jabs.
'I know I need a tummy tuck liposuction, a breast uplift, and a thigh lift to deal with the loose skin left from the jabs,' she says.
'I tell people losing weight is only half the journey you have to start saving now for plastic surgery.'
Everything you need to know about fat jabs
Weight loss jabs are all the rage as studies and patient stories reveal they help people shed flab at almost unbelievable rates, as well as appearing to reduce the risk of serious diseases.
Wegovy – a modified version of type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic – and Mounjaro are the leading weight loss injections used in the UK.
Wegovy, real name semaglutide, has been used on the NHS for years while Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a newer and more powerful addition to the market.
Mounjaro accounts for most private prescriptions for weight loss and is set to join Wegovy as an NHS staple this year.
How do they work?
The jabs work by suppressing your appetite, making you eat less so your body burns fat for energy instead and you lose weight.
They do this my mimicking a hormone called GLP-1, which signals to the brain when the stomach is full, so the drugs are officially called GLP-1 receptor agonists.
They slow down digestion and increase insulin production, lowering blood sugar, which is why they were first developed to treat type 2 diabetes in which patients' sugar levels are too high.
Can I get them?
NHS prescriptions of weight loss drugs, mainly Wegovy and an older version called Saxenda (chemical name liraglutide), are controlled through specialist weight loss clinics.
Typically a patient will have to have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, classifying them as medically obese, and also have a weight-related health condition such as high blood pressure.
GPs generally do not prescribe the drugs for weight loss.
Private prescribers offer the jabs, most commonly Mounjaro, to anyone who is obese (BMI of 30+) or overweight (BMI 25-30) with a weight-related health risk.
Private pharmacies have been rapped for handing them out too easily and video calls or face-to-face appointments are now mandatory to check a patient is being truthful about their size and health.
Are there any risks?
Yes – side effects are common but most are relatively mild.
Around half of people taking the drug experience gut issues, including sickness, bloating, acid reflux, constipation and diarrhoea.
Dr Sarah Jarvis, GP and clinical consultant at patient.info, said: 'One of the more uncommon side effects is severe acute pancreatitis, which is extremely painful and happens to one in 500 people.'
Other uncommon side effects include altered taste, kidney problems, allergic reactions, gallbladder problems and hypoglycemia.
Evidence has so far been inconclusive about whether the injections are damaging to patients' mental health.
Figures obtained by The Sun show that, up to January 2025, 85 patient deaths in the UK were suspected to be linked to the medicines.
One side effect which shocked Tracy was just how much her feet changed on the fat jabs.
'I went to put on my work sandals a month ago and they are too big,' she explains.
'I thought I was seeing things, so I pulled out a similar pair and my feet were too small for them as well.
'The weight loss jabs caused my feet to shrink and go down a shoe size.
'In the past my old shoes were tight due to my feet swelling but to realise my feet have actually shrunk from size nine to a size seven-and-a-half is jaw dropping.'
Tracy says she has had to spend hundreds replacing all of her old shoes.
'I knew I'd be buying new clothes because I was losing weight but buying new shoes because you have gone down a shoe size is unheard of,' she says.
'I sold my old plus-size clothes on Vinted and have made £800. I was going to use that for a weekend away. Now I have had to use it for new shoes.'
Tracy has had to have all her rings resized due to her shrinking fingers too.
'My engagement ring pinged off in the shower and I thought I'd lost it,' she says.
'Now after a seven-stone weight loss my husband has bought me a new wedding ring and engagement ring, and they are an entire size smaller.
'I didn't think the jab would mean I'd have to get new wedding rings, but it happened.'
Tracy is now experiencing turkey neck – another side effect of the jabs.
'I noticed a month ago my neck skin stretches out and my under-chin skin is floppier,' she says.
'I have added that to my list of cosmetic surgery makeovers.'
But even with the various side effects, Tracy says it was all worth it.
"I feel amazing as thin Tracy,' she says.
"I am more in control. I am addicted to Mounjaro. I don't want to stop the jabs as I know they are helping me so much," she says.
"I know many people would complain about these weird effects.
"For me it was a shock initially.
"But I'd rather experience the odd shrinking foot and jelly belly to be half the woman I was.'
8
8
8

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


BBC News
24 minutes ago
- BBC News
Nurses' views should be heard - Jersey's health minister says
Nurses should have more say over the future of the health service, Jersey's health minister has said. Deputy Tom Binet said that nurses have an important contribution to make as the "people who are hands-on". It comes after he met with Nicola Ranger, chief executive of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), who visited the island on Wednesday and said it was "vital" for nurses to sit in during senior to her comments, Binet agreed, stating: "As a principle, I think it is extremely good and I think it's something we should be adopting even more than we are doing already." Ms Ranger described her visit and meeting with Binet as positive, adding that she felt her "message was really heard".Binet said: "I've been in business for many years, and I've found as the organisation gets bigger, by going back to the ground floor, you can often find out where the problems are."


Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
We'll use AI to spot more prostate cancer, says Science Secretary
Artificial Intelligence will be harnessed to find hidden cases of prostate cancer, the Science Secretary has said. Peter Kyle told The Telegraph that the Government is investing £168m on initiatives to use public data better and one major goal is to improve cancer screening on the NHS. A world-leading initiative led by Cancer Research UK has been given £10m in funding to improve cancer screening methods by identifying the most at-risk people and offering them personalised tests. The funding will 'develop AI-powered tools that can predict cancer risk', Mr Kyle said, and could save thousands of lives a year. The Telegraph has launched a campaign calling for a targeted national screening programme for prostate cancer, which focusses on men who are at the greatest risk. This includes men over 50, black men, whose risk is twice that of white men, and those with a family history of prostate cancer. Steve McQueen, Bob Willis and Chris Hoy are some of the high-profile British men to be recently diagnosed with the condition. Around 55,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer annually in England and around 33 men a day die from the condition. Writing for The Telegraph alongside Stian Westlake, the executive chairman of the Economic and Social Research Council, Mr Kyle said: 'This funding will support work on a project linking health records to demographics, family history and behaviour to identify those at higher risk of this devastating illness, so that it can be treated early – potentially saving thousands of lives every year.' The plan is to create flexible national screening programmes which can pick up more cases in individuals who may otherwise be missed and diagnosed only when the cancer was incurable. Officials are hoping to replicate the success of BRCA1 genetic screening. Around one in 400 people has faulty BRCA genes, which give women a 60 per cent chance of developing breast cancer. This received widespread attention and became known as the 'Angelina Jolie gene' after the Hollywood actress underwent a double mastectomy after finding out she was a carrier in 2013. The NHS now offers genetic tests to high-risk groups, such as Jewish women, to catch as many cases early as possible. Mr Kyle said: 'Just as BRCA gene screening, heroically brought to the fore by campaigners including Angelina Jolie, revolutionised how we understand and manage the risk of hereditary breast cancer, this next generation of data-driven screening could do the same for more cancers, including prostate cancer.' Scientists running the scheme hope it can enable the NHS to offer more frequent cancer screening sessions or screening at a younger age to those at higher risk, while those at lower risk could be spared unnecessary tests. People identified as higher risk could also be sent for cancer testing faster when they go to their GP with possible symptoms. The wider Administrative Data Partnership will last until 2031 and try to repurpose data that already exists to make improvements to the judicial service, education, health and other public sectors. Combining, standardising and interpreting different datasets simultaneously is a daunting challenge for scientists owing to decades of independent data collection and little crossover. However, the Government believes that vast data reserves, combined with the power of AI computing, could transform healthcare. The cancer screening project will build new models over the next five years to merge relevant data as well as creating algorithms which will process it and ensure the results are accurate and reliable. Antonis Antoniou, the programme director and professor of cancer risk prediction at the University of Cambridge, said: 'The UK's strengths in population-scale data resources, combined with advanced analytical tools like AI, offer tremendous opportunities to link disparate datasets and uncover clues that could lead to earlier detection, diagnosis, and prevention of more cancers.' Dr David Crosby, the head of prevention and early detection research at Cancer Research UK, told The Telegraph: 'The single most important thing we can do to beat cancer is to find it earlier, when treatment is more likely to be successful. 'With half a million cancer cases per year expected in the UK by 2040, we need a major shift towards more accurate diagnosis and detection of early cancer. 'The Cancer Data Driven Detection programme will link health data sources together and build the powerful new tools doctors need to identify those at highest risk of cancer and prioritise resources towards them. 'Moving towards a preventative approach to healthcare will not be easy and will take time. Cancer Research UK's investment in the programme is an investment in the future of cancer care.' Data is the key to changing lives for the better By Peter Kyle and Stian Westlake For much of our everyday lives, data is king – from digital maps getting us from A to B, to health apps keeping our fitness and sleep in check, to even streaming platforms suggesting the next drama we might want to get stuck into. For this government, making good use of data is the difference between successful policies that are rooted in evidence, and those that rely on hope, luck or intuition, which no minister, legislator or council leader wants to rely on. Ultimately data is the bedrock of decision-making, ensuring policies, programmes and funding are doing what they are intended to do – changing lives for the better. Linking data from across government to the national pupil database for example can help to really dig into the source of inequalities that trap too many Brits from childhood through to the labour market – helping us to take targeted action in boosting social mobility and shattering glass ceilings. Or by better applying it in the justice system, we can understand patterns of reoffending, stopping career criminals from inflicting more misery on the law-abiding majority. And it can forecast the impact that this government extending the national living wage has on younger workers, so that millions more who put the hours in take home the pay they deserve. What unites all of these examples is that they were all made possible by UKRI's administrative data research UK partnership. It works to connect, and make sense of, the huge wealth of data that is generated by government services, bringing it to our world class researchers securely and with the public's privacy at heart since 2018. In short it has been demonstrating the role data can play in improving lives in as many ways as we can imagine and more. But we know we can go further and too many social and economic researchers – many of the very best of whom are right here in the UK – simply can't access the data they need. It is fragmented and siloed, held in different datasets by different public organisations. That means too many rely instead on insights from abroad, which while offering much, simply can't tell the full story of life in Britain in 2025. Accessing the raw resource of all that data and translating it into a form that researchers can use is no easy task, and while we need to grow our data science expertise, we also need to build relationships and make the case to other organisations that secure data sharing has the power to change lives. That is why UKRI is investing a further £168m to continue ADR UK's programme of work through to 2031. This includes continuing our partnership with Cancer Research UK to develop AI-powered tools that can predict cancer risk based on health records, family history and behaviour. Just as BRCA gene screening, heroically brought to the fore by campaigners including Angelina Jolie, revolutionised how we understand and manage the risk of hereditary breast cancer, this next generation of data-driven screening could do the same for more cancers, including prostate cancer. This funding will support work with organisations and charities like Cancer Research UK for example, on a project linking health records to demographics, family history, and behaviour to identify those at higher risk of this devastating illness, so that it can be treated early – potentially saving thousands of lives every year. The ADR will also offer learnings for and help us shape our new national data library, a central government resource designed to bring together existing research programmes and make it easier for policymakers and public bodies to access and use data securely to improve public services. As the incredible opportunities and challenges of technology like AI advance at unprecedented speeds and as we grapple with the fate of our planet as our climate changes, using data to drive policy for the generations to come has never been more important. This government is driven by a plan for change that will transform the lives of the British people, from growing our economy so that our payslips go further, to unlocking opportunity for everyone regardless of background, and building an NHS that is fit for the future and makes the most of the opportunities in new technology. Data can play a huge part in getting that right and targeting government support where it is needed most.


Telegraph
24 minutes ago
- Telegraph
‘One tiny scratch from rabid puppy killed mum'
The daughter of a British woman who died of rabies after she was scratched by a puppy on holiday in Morocco has revealed the 'horrendous' symptoms she suffered. Yvonne Ford went months without realising she had been infected by a puppy that was underneath her sunbed in February, said her daughter Robyn Thomson, 32. Ms Ford, 59, from Barnsley, started suffering from a 'horrendous' headache and was admitted to hospital four months later. Within days, she could not walk, talk, sleep or swallow. She started hallucinating and developed a fear of water, classic symptoms of rabies. The grandmother of four was transferred from Barnsley to Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield where she was eventually diagnosed with rabies. She died on June 11. Her daughter, a neonatal nurse, said: 'There was no blood and no evidence of the dog being unwell. 'It was such a mild scratch and it never got infected so we just thought nothing of it at the time. Mum came home and everything was normal. We went to Florida as a family and she went fishing with my dad.' In June, the symptoms began and she 'came down with this horrendous headache'. She added: 'Soon, she couldn't sleep, she couldn't walk, she couldn't talk. She was hallucinating and had a fear of water. 'She couldn't swallow. She was choking on her own saliva. So doctors put her in an induced coma.' The UK Health Security Agency has warned that holidaymakers should exercise caution around animals in countries where the disease is present. Egypt, Turkey and Albania are among the destinations that the Government has ascribed as 'high risk'. It advises that all visitors to rabies-affected countries 'should avoid contact with dogs, cats and other animals wherever possible, and seek advice about the need for rabies vaccine prior to travel'. Costa Rica, Bali, Mexico, Vietnam and South Africa are also rated 'high risk'. It took a week for Ms Ford to be diagnosed. 'There's only one outcome for rabies once symptoms develop and it's death every time. So we had to turn off her life support,' said her daughter. Ms Ford's family later found out that it normally takes a few months for rabies symptoms to show – but the disease can incubate for up to two years. She added: 'Mum was the most loving person imaginable. She was a huge animal lover so for her to have died of rabies, it is just particularly horrendous.' Now, Ms Thomson wants to spread awareness and help stop it at the source via a charity mission in Cambodia. She is flying out to the south-east Asian country this October to volunteer with Mission Rabies – an award-winning charity that leads mass dog vaccination campaigns, rabies surveillance and vital community education across Asia and Africa. Their goal is to vaccinate at least 70 per cent of the dog population to achieve herd immunity and stop rabies at its source, while also educating children on how to recognise rabid animals and stay safe. To volunteer with Rabies Mission, Ms Thomson needs to raise money to cover the cost of travel, accommodation and project fees. She said: 'This is something I need to do. If I can save even one life through this work, or spare one family from going through the pain we have experienced, then it will be turning a terrible negative into something positive. 'I'm determined to transform my grief into action – helping vaccinate dogs, support surveillance efforts and deliver life-saving lessons in schools.'