I nearly died after buying skinny jab from friend of friend

Liverpool GP partner and obesity expert Nicki Mazey said the trend was becoming increasingly worrying.

"It's not safe. I'm aware that people have ended up buying steroids instead of Mounjaro. I'm also aware that some people are sharing pens, which is a huge infection risk for HIV and hepatitis," she said.

She said part of the problem was that people who could theoretically buy them legally were unable to afford them. Doses can cost up to £300 a month.

Both Mounjaro and Wegovy are available on the NHS but the criteria is currently very strict. In theory under NICE guidelines it can be given to people with a BMI of 35 or over and one related health condition (for Mounjaro) or a BMI of 30 and over with one related health condition (for Wegovy). The criteria for patients from some ethnic minorities is slightly lower as NICE judged that they were at higher risk for weight-related diseases.

NICE calculated that for Mounjaro alone 3.4 million people would qualify under these criteria. Modelling by the NHS concluded that this would cost billions of pounds a year with a high of £3.9 billion at the end of the second year.

The NHS decided that this cost was unsustainable and restricted it initially to patients with a BMI of 40 and four related health conditions from a list of five (37.5 BMI for some groups). In June the BMI requirement will go down to 35 but patients will still need the four health conditions.

Dr Mazey said she had even seen people with a BMI of 100 who had been unable to obtain the drugs on the NHS because they did not have all four related health conditions, and that she was having to regularly turn down patients who would benefit.

But she warned against buying cheaper drugs illegally, even if it turned out to be genuine.

"These pens have to be stored in certain temperatures. They can't be out for more than 30 days (once they've been opened)," she said.

The campaign group Save Face said the people selling these drugs illegally were largely getting away with it.

When these people are buying products from places like China and Korea and importing them, they literally have no idea what's in them" said director and founder Ashton Collins.

"In some cases they have no trace of the GLP-1 peptide in them. In some cases they have things like windscreen wash."

They want the law to be more tightly enforced.

"We need to see the regulators, the police, the MHRA (the government's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) really clamping down on these people, making real examples and punishing these people with the full force of the law," she added.

Chloe was off work for more than three months. Because she's got type 1 diabetes, the drug caused complications which may have led to long term liver damage.

She said the episode had an impact on the whole family, who worry that she may do something similar again.

"When I was awake, when I was thinking 'am I going to die', I was thinking, 'my kids, my kids, 'my husband'. I saw the devastation that it caused," she said.

"Just don't do it. It's not worth it. It's not doing it."

If you, or someone you know, have been affected by eating disorders, you can find help and support on BBC Action Line.

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