A mum was lucky to survive when she injected herself with a drug bought online for weight loss and collapsed in front of her children.
Michelle Sword, 45, self-administered a 'dangerous' weight-loss pen she bought on the internet in a bid to lose some pounds. The family of drugs, known as GLP-1 RAs, were originally developed to treat diabetes and are now used for weight loss as they were found to suppress a patient's appetite. However, 15 minutes after she injected herself, the mum of two felt confused and disorientated before collapsing on the floor and suffering a seizure in front of her daughter as her blood sugar dropped.
Michelle, from Carterton, Oxfordshire, said: "Doctors said they've never seen anyone survive 0.6 blood sugar levels and I was a miracle. I was told my children would've come home to a dead body if no one was in.
“When the jab arrived, it looked the same as before except the dial was different. Usually on a weight-loss pen, the click stops for you at 1ml and you take 1ml. I was turning the clicker and it wasn't stopping. I must've turned it 17 or 18 times and I thought if I need more I'll take it.
"I took some and thought I'll take some more later. I was getting my daughter's tea ready when 15 minutes or so later I started to feel strange. I felt disoriented and strange and unbeknown to me I was sweating.
"My daughter Cadie said at this point I was mumbling and my eyes looked different. She said I was slumped over, wide-eyed and unresponsive at this point. I didn't know what was going on. She phoned my best friend who lives a few minutes away. She came round and straight away thought this was incredibly serious. She rang the ambulance and they were with me within 12 minutes. I was fully out of it at this point, I had lost consciousness."
Paramedics quickly realised Michelle's blood sugar levels were dangerously low and medics began attempting to administer liquid glucose to help the mum regain consciousness. Michelle's health went from bad to worse when she began suffering a seizure in the ambulance on the way to John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
Michelle first purchased a 'skinny jab' back in 2020 after gaining a stone of weight during lockdown. The £150 injectable suppressed her appetite, causing the mum to lose a lot of weight. Three years later, she'd regained some of the pounds and decided to try the viral weight-loss drug once again in September.
Michelle added: "The first time, I lost a lot of weight - it worked amazing, I felt great. I had no adverse effects. I followed it to the letter.
"A few months ago I found myself in a bit of a slump again and found myself eating a lot more. I was very concerned about putting weight on again. I thought I need this weight-loss drug. I knew it was very popular now and would be harder to get. I contacted this one company and asked if it was the official weight-loss drug and they said yes. It looked exactly the same and two days later it was at my door.
"There was no questions asked about me - no medical questions. They didn't even ask me how much I weighed.I'm incredibly embarrassed I put myself in that situation.
"Nothing is worth losing your life over. I apologised to my kids and said I'm so sorry. I'm so angry and ashamed at myself. I will never do anything like this again. It's not worth taking a gamble with your life."