A mother from the UK who used weight-loss injections in an attempt to shed pounds has disclosed how she became "addicted" and is warning others. Hayleigh Davis, who stands 5ft tall, weighed 14st 2lbs and wore a size 20 when she initially tried slimming injections in November 2024.
In only a month, the 37-year-old lost more than a stone and dropped a dress size, with her appetite vanishing almost completely. As the pounds continued to drop off, Hayleigh became obsessed and started raising her dosage, occasionally injecting herself two or three times weekly rather than once. The official advice is not to do this and everyone should seek medical advice before using jabs - which can have a number of side-effects and must be used with caution.
"I was overweight and the hate comments I received on my weight were wearing me down," Hayleigh, from Tidworth, Wiltshire, said. "People would comment on my social media saying I looked chubby and it really got to me. But I had a very active lifestyle and I'd been on so many diets but nothing, truly nothing, helped.
"So I decided to try weight loss jabs. When I started the injections, I didn't think I'd lose all that much. It felt like another fad and something to try.
"But the weight kept falling and then when it started to stay the same I would take another jab, often jabbing two or three times in a week. That was my first warning sign that I didn't pick up on. The scales and my clothes were visibly showing I'd lost weight but in my head and eyes I was still big.
"I thought I was in full control to begin with. It's when you stop seeing what other people see, the jabs call to you, they are your best friend and if I didn't take them I would automatically hate myself and be paranoid that I've put weight on.
"I had my friends send me photos of them on their scales so I could keep getting them and I gave my friends the money to purchase them for me."
Hayleigh shed eight stone, but it was only when her family noticed her bones were visibly protruding that she made the decision to seek help. She received an anorexia diagnosis in November 2025. The mortuary technician said: "When I was diagnosed, I didn't believe I had it, I still don't.
"When I was diagnosed, I was told to stop the jabs immediately. I was in a very poor way physically, I collapsed, fainted and was sick.
"Mentally, I'm confused as people say I'm slim but that's not what I see. It's hard and it's brutal."
Hayleigh has also endured severe hair loss, agonising gallbladder flare-ups, and recurring urinary tract infections so debilitating that they have impacted her kidneys. She is now receiving treatment at an eating disorder clinic, and is gradually recovering while rebuilding her relationship with food.
A significant part of her recovery centres on confronting her own self-perception. Hayleigh is now speaking out publicly to caution others about the dangers of misusing weight-loss injections.
She added: "I'm learning not to be scared of food, also looking at my clothes size to tell myself that this time last year I would have been like 'wow that's small'. It's about changing my mindset.
"I want people to do their research. Yes they work, yes you will lose weight but check in with your GP and once you reach your goal weight, stop."
