Both Mounjaro and Wegovy failed me and now I’m using this black market ‘Godzilla’ jab to shed the pounds. I know the risks… but the weight loss is staggering and it’s cheaper than the rest

When Erin suddenly found herself a single mother of three in January, she decided once and for all that it was time to lose the weight she’d struggled to shift for years. 

The 29-year-old, tempted by weight-loss jab success tales plastered over social media, opted to try out semaglutide – the powerful drug in Ozempic and Wegovy. 

At 5ft 8in and nearly 15st (95kg), her body mass index (BMI) score was budging 31 which is, according to the NHS, obese.

She sourced the jab online instead of opting for a High Street pharmacy, starting on the lowest dose possible, and worked her way up to the highest.

Yet the new mum from Dartford, Kent, was left ‘defeated’ after her weight failed to budge during the three months she was on semaglutide, so she switched to Mounjaro, bought via a friend.

Five months later, she hit the same hurdle. 

Online, however, she had seen murmurings of a ‘miracle’ new weight-loss drug – and then, videos recommending an injection, known as retatrutide, began to flood on to Erin’s TikTok feed. 

Users on the powerful slimming drug, stronger than anything else on the market, promised it would shift weight in a way Wegovy and Mounjaro couldn’t. 

But there was a catch: The injection manufactured by Lilly – the maker of Mounjaro –has not yet finished clinical trials. 

In fact, the earliest it is set to hit the global market is late 2026, but experts say it’s more likely to be 2027. 

Erin, however, was offered a work-around – one which doctors uniformly urge patients not to follow, due to grave risks.

Indeed, many would brand her decision breathtakingly foolish.   

She purchased it from friend who works as a beautician who claimed she could source the drug – also known as ‘Reta’, ‘Ret’ or ‘Triple G’ – from ‘contacts’. 

Erin told the Daily Mail: ‘The fact it isn’t clinically approved yet in the UK or US did worry me. 

‘If I was buying it myself online, I’d be worried about what was in it, but I trust my friend. We know each other well, our children go to the same school.

‘I didn’t suffer any real side-effects on semaglutide or Mounjaro – no cramps, nausea or headaches.

‘I’d purchased them through non-official channels so wasn’t particularly worried about retatrutide side-effects. I’d heard so many good things about it online, watched so many videos and it sounded exactly like what I needed.’

She added: ‘People who’s circumstances were the same as mine and couldn’t lose weight on semaglutide or Mounjaro were having real success. I was just so eager to try.

‘I wanted to feel good in my body for once. I’ve tried so many different weight-loss techniques over the years, but nothing has really helped shift my weight.  

‘I’ve never really been slim; I’ve always sat around the size 16 to 18 mark, but when I had twins last October, things really went south.

‘Then my partner and I split up in January and I decided I had to do something.

‘I’m a single mum of three, I haven’t been able to go to the gym – it’s difficult to completely change your lifestyle.’ 

She purchased a bundle of four injections – one for each week – for just under £100 at a ‘mates rate’.

By contrast, Mounjaro and Ozempic or Wegovy are available on prescription in pharmacies for between £125 and £200 per month. 

Side-effects logged on clinical trials so far show retatrutide may be similar to other GLP–1 drugs, with nausea, diarrhoea and constipation among the most common complaints.

‘After my first retatrutide injection I suffered severe cramps, to the point where it woke me up while I slept,’ Erin said. 

‘Two days after that first injection I developed a really bad headache but it eventually subsided and I haven’t had anything like that since.

‘I didn’t want to go to my doctor because I thought I’d  just get told off so instead I kept an eye on it. And since then, I’ve not had any further side effects.’ 

She added: ‘I’m really scared of needles so I have to get other people to help me inject it. I usually go for the stomach as that’s where other people online inject.

‘I definitely eat less and have less cravings the first few days after taking the injection.

‘But by day four, five and six, I’m eating more as it wears off.

‘I have already seen a difference. When I started on Reta a month ago, I was 14st 12lbs (94.4kg). 

‘Last week when I weighed myself I was down to 14st 6lbs (91.6kg)’—a loss of about 6lbs (2.8kg), just under half a stone.

She added: ‘Once I’ve taken it for a couple of months I should be able to increase my dose. 

‘I’m really looking forward to be able to fit in old clothes I haven’t been able to for some time now.’

Experts warn others against following Erin’s lead, as it risks exposure to contaminated or counterfeit versions of the drug.

Buying weight-loss jabs online has already led to seizures and even comas, with much of the supply thought to be fake. 

Tests last year found black-market versions of Mounjaro and Ozempic laced with rat poison and even cement.

Border officials also intercepted hundreds of dangerous ‘DIY’ injection kits destined for the UK, part of a wider crackdown on organised gangs trafficking unlicensed medicines. 

These kits are often mislabelled and potentially lethal—one woman was left seriously ill after injecting herself with chemicals bought via social media.

The real retatrutide, manufactured by Lilly, is still in clinical trials, which means the results and risks are not yet fully known.

It works by targeting three hormones involved in eating and weight regulation—GLP, GIP and glucagon—which, say its makers, not only suppress the appetite but also boost the metabolism so the body burns calories faster.

By contrast, Ozempic targets one hormone pathway, and Mounjaro, two.

Doctors and researchers are already jokingly calling retatrutide the ‘Godzilla’ of weight-loss drugs because early trial results suggest it can rival weight loss surgery. 

In a phase II study, patients on the highest dose lost an average of 24 per cent of their body weight in under a year—more than has been seen with any other drug to date.

By comparison, tirzepatide, marketed as Mounjaro, produces up to around 21 per cent loss over 72 weeks, while semaglutide, sold as Wegovy and Ozempic, typically achieves about 15 per cent. 

Retatrutide also appears to help preserve lean muscle, a common problem with other jabs. 

While the results are eye-catching, they have also sparked alarm among doctors. 

Reports emerged earlier this year of patients in clinical trials losing so much weight, so fast, that researchers were forced to lower their dose or ask them to eat more calories to slow the decline.

One participant dropped almost a third of their body weight in eight months and went on to develop a kidney stone. 

Another said they were told to add high-calorie foods like peanut butter to their diet to keep from wasting away. 

‘It’s odd to be in an obesity trial and try not to lose any more weight,’ the volunteer told US pharmaceutical website Stat News.

Experts say weight loss on this scale brings its own dangers, including malnutrition, loss of lean muscle, gallstones and kidney problems. 

Such risks are also seen after bariatric surgery, where rapid fat loss can strain the body. 

Retarutide’s apparent ability to preserve more muscle than rival jabs may help reduce some of these harms, but doctors warn that much more data is needed before it can be considered safe.

The concern is that, amid the race to market new weight-loss drugs, there is pressure to push doses to the limit to show dramatic results. 

Eli Lilly insists it is closely monitoring trial participants and adjusting treatment as needed, but critics argue the leaked cases show how easily patients could slip into dangerous territory if the drug is not carefully controlled.

And yet, over the past year, retatrutide has been gaining traction on TikTok, YouTube, Reddit, and Instagram, particularly in fitness circles. 

People chasing chiseled physiques buy powdered forms of what is reported to be retarutide online, they say from ‘research labs’, which are legally allowed to manufacture compounds.

The packaging often states ‘not for human use’.  

Reddit threads, meanwhile, are filled with questions and advice on which labs to purchase the drug from and how to dose the drug depending on your goals. 

Others, like Erin’s friend, sell it in person on the black market. 

There are crackdown efforts: The MHRA, FDA and Lilly itself, have repeatedly urged people against purchasing illegal rretatrutide, and only obtain medicines from licensed pharmacies, with valid prescriptions. 

TikTok has also recently started banning videos that promote retatrutide and doctors say they are warning their patients that they have no idea what they are getting. 

But Erin says she’s seeing more and more talk of it online.

‘I’m not sure how my friend sources it but when it arrives she mixes it up,’ Erin told the Daily Mail.

The powder is mixed with water, making up a syringe of medication by hand—a practice widely discouraged by experts. 

‘Then she puts each injection together for each batch that I buy. There’s four injections in a batch, one for each week, just like you’d get in a pharmacy,’ she said. 

‘She had tried it before she gave it to me. She didn’t want me to be a total guinea pig.

‘She takes it as a maintenance weight loss practice herself. If she’s come back from an all inclusive holiday, for example, and feels like she’s put on weight she’ll take a dose.

‘If my experience is anything to go by, retatrutide is only going to get more popular.’