A woman from Nottingham has described how she was left collapsed on her bathroom floor, vomiting blood, after buying weight-loss injections online with no medical checks. Emma Dyer, 40, paid £85 for the treatment but said it was the “worst decision” she has ever made.
Emma, who works for a cleaning company, said she found it “shockingly easy” to order the jabs online, with no requirement to provide proof of identity, weight, BMI or medical history. “I just thought, everyone’s doing it. It felt safe because it’s so normal now,” she said.
When the medication arrived, the instructions were unclear and poorly printed, leaving Emma confused about how to take it. She resorted to watching YouTube videos to work out the dosage. She believes the lack of clarity led her to take the medication incorrectly, including not starting on a low dose.
After initially feeling fine, Emma’s condition rapidly deteriorated on Easter Sunday. “I became violently ill. I couldn’t keep anything down. I was throwing up constantly. I collapsed on the bathroom floor and was covered in vomit,” she said. She was bedridden for five days, unable to eat, drink or lift her head. The situation became even more frightening when she began vomiting blood. “I honestly thought that was it,” she said.
Emma, who had previously experienced anorexia, said she was too ashamed to tell her family the truth and initially claimed she had a stomach bug. She believes she should never have been able to access prescription medication without proper checks. “I was probably about ten stone. I didn’t actually need these drugs. But I just wanted to lose weight so badly,” she said.
After contacting the provider, Emma received no support or refund. “They didn’t want to know. No refund, no responsibility. It felt like they just wanted a sale,” she said. She now urges others to only access such treatments through regulated providers with professional oversight. Her story follows a survey by Well Pharmacy which found nearly half of adults prioritise speed over safety when losing weight, and nearly four in ten would accept disruptive side effects for quick results.
