A woman is contemplating divorce due to her husband's increasing reliance on weight-loss drugs, which she believes has destroyed their intimacy, altered his personality, and triggered her own past struggles with anorexia.
Alice Jarvis-Jones (a pseudonym) described her husband, David, as having developed an addiction to Mounjaro, a GLP-1 weight-loss injection. David, who previously sold his insurance business for a seven-figure sum and experienced an identity crisis, began using the drug in April 2023. He has since lost three stone, dropping from 14st 7lb to 11st 4lb, and now presents a more chiseled physique. However, Alice states she has never found him less attractive and that their sex life has been nonexistent for 18 months.
Alice likens the presence of the GLP-1 pens in their home to an alcoholic keeping a bottle of wine in the fridge, describing it as triggering and terrifyingly vulnerable. She has a personal history of anorexia, having suffered from the condition from age 15 to 24, at one point weighing as little as 6 stone. She fears that readily available weight-loss drugs like Mounjaro will create a new generation of people with eating disorders.
David initially used the drug secretly, but after Alice discovered the parcel containing the pens, he admitted to using them for a month and experiencing side effects such as headaches, stomach cramps, nausea, and dizziness. Despite Alice expressing her distress, particularly given her history of anorexia, David refused to stop taking the medication, stating, "Well, I'm not going to stop taking them."
Alice also believes the drug has triggered an eating disorder in David. While he had previously struggled with emotional eating, he now makes himself sick if he inadvertently eats too much. She notes that he was not clinically obese, with a BMI of 25, and obtained the prescription through an online clinic by providing false information.
Their family life has undergone a significant transformation. David now eats pre-portioned, bland meals from a specific food delivery service, often at irregular times. He no longer cooks or eats with his family, and Alice is often unaware if he has eaten at all. Their previously active social life, which included hosting dinner parties and dining out, has ceased.
Alice describes their home as quiet and miserable, lamenting the loss of David's former easy-going nature, replaced by a highly strung and controlling demeanor. She feels his obsession with weight loss has not only removed his desire for food but also his desire for life. The strain has pushed their nine-year marriage to the brink of divorce.
Despite her husband's transformation, David remains a devoted father to their four-year-old son. However, Alice finds this painful, as his affection is reserved for their child, not for her. She also notes that while David's confidence has increased with the compliments he receives about his physique, she mourns the loss of the man he once was and the marriage they shared. Alice is currently considering divorce but faces financial realities that make leaving difficult, given her part-time work and their separate finances.