Cravings ‘like heroin withdrawal’: what happens when weight-loss drugs don’t work?

Clinical trials suggesting GLP-1 drugs can help participants lose an average of 15% to 20% of their body weight. Photograph: UCG/Universal Images Group/Getty Images

When Mercedes was told by her doctor that she could be prescribed GLP-1 weight loss jabs in 2024, she broke down. “[When] she said yes, I cried in her office. And I didn’t really stop crying for a week,” she said.

“Finally, after being overweight my entire life, this was going to save me. My struggle, my burden, my shame was finally going to come to an end.”