A PETITE 8st mum’s “ridiculous” bid to banish her belly fat almost killed her after she used a ‘skinny jab’ she bought online.
Lynsay McAvoy, 42, suffered a severe allergic reaction and passed out at home as her organs shut down.
The mum-of-three had been using the pens for two months, first purchasing them on the internet in April 2022.
The family of drugs known as GLP-1 RAs, originally developed to treat diabetes, are now often being used for weight loss as they were found to suppress patients’ appetites.
The beautician claims the medication helped her drop half a stone in a few weeks.
But one morning, after injecting herself with the cheap jab, the mum-of-three went rapidly downhill, with itchy skin, bloodshot eyes and a swollen tongue.
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She then fell unconscious, dislocating her jaw as she collapsed into a wall.
Thankfully, Lynsay was rushed to hospital where doctors said she had suffered an anaphylactic shock and that her organs had started shutting down.
Looking back at her near-death experience, Lynsay said she feels “ashamed” and now warns others to steer clear.
Lynsay, from Bo’Ness, near Edinburgh, said: “At the time I was looking to lose a bit of weight on my stomach, which is ridiculous because I didn’t have weight to lose.
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“I was 8st at the time but I was unhappy with how my body looked.
“I bought them through someone online. I didn’t look into it, I just trusted this person.
“They were about £50 for two week’s worth and you would jab yourself every day.
“It had been working well. I’d done it for two months and it worked in suppressing my appetite; I wasn’t eating as much and I lost about half a stone.
“There was one time I did it where the palms of my hands were very itchy but it passed with an antihistamine.”
Shock within seconds
After seeing quick results from the first batch, Lynsay decided to place another order.
The injectables appeared the same as usual and the single mum jabbed herself in the stomach before setting off for work.
However, within a matter of seconds, Lynsay began suffering an adverse reaction.
Lynsay, who is mum to Rowan, 17, Fern, 16, and Noah, 10, said: “I was in the house by myself and was getting ready to go to work, it was very early in the morning.
“I was rushing about and jabbed myself in the stomach.
“Within seconds my tongue was really itchy – it was swelling up.
“Then my eyeballs began to burn. I could hardly open my eyes, they hurt so much.
“I looked in the mirror and you couldn’t see any white in my eyes, they were completely bloodshot.
“I started to get itchy all over my body again, the palms of my hands were so itchy.”
I was terrified, I felt ashamed. I’m a single mum with three kids, I should’ve known better.
Lynsay
She added: “I knew I was having some kind of reaction so I took an antihistamine.
“Then my heart started beating really fast and sweat was just pouring off me.
“I remember being on all fours and my heart felt like it was about to explode.
“I knew something wasn’t right. I thought I was dying.”
After falling unconscious, Lynsay then woke up on the bathroom floor, with no memory of moving rooms.
The mum had unknowingly hit her head against a wall, leaving her unconscious and with a dislocated jaw.
“I had no idea where I was. I couldn’t remember lying down and I didn’t know what was going on,” Lynsay said.
“The next thing I remember is waking up on the living room floor then the dining room floor and having no memory of getting between the rooms.
“The last time I woke up I managed to get my phone and ring the ambulance and my mum who lives on the next street.”
Lynsay said she left a “big dent” in the hallway, which was “covered in makeup and handprints”.
‘On my way out’
“I had face-planted into the wall and knocked myself out but have no memory of it,” she added.
“As a result of that, I had a really bad concussion and actually dislocated my jaw as well.
“I went in and out of consciousness about four times.
“I really thought I was on my way out.”
After being rushed to hospital, medics told Lynsay she was in the latter stages of an anaphylactic shock and the next stage would be death.
“I was terrified, I felt ashamed,” Lynsay said.
“I’m a single mum with three kids, I should’ve known better.
“I wasn’t setting an example I wanted to set for my kids.
“I don’t touch anything now.”
Dodgy jabs
Despite undergoing tests, Lynsay said doctors told her they couldn’t discover what ingredients were contained in the ‘skinny jab’ and said she was lucky to be alive.
Lynsay said: “I was led to believe that it was for diabetics but we have no idea what was in this.
“The doctors said the antihistamine I took at the very start could’ve saved my life, I feel lucky to be alive.”
Now, Lynsay is warning others to steer clear of the ‘dangerous’ jabs that nearly killed her.
Lynsay said: “It makes me angry when I see people taking them or talking about them.
“Everybody is so obsessed with their body appearance and I definitely fell into that category, and they’re completely taken advantage of.
“Absolutely do not do it, there’s nothing positive that can come out of it.
“It’s a quick fix but it’s dangerous – the injection is meant to be used for diabetes and it’s being used for the wrong thing.”
Lynsay did not give the name of the jabs she used, but there are numerous unregulated companies selling injections with potentially dangerous or deadly consequences.
GLP-1 drugs include semaglutide – the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy jabs – which the NHS says can help with weight loss.
The former, however, is only given to patients with type 2 diabetes.
Saxenda (liraglutide) weight loss injections are also available on the NHS.
You can only take liraglutide or semaglutide if they’re prescribed for you by a specialist weight management service, the NHS says.
However, the drugs are being bought online from unregulated sources.
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In November, another mum nearly died in front of her children after injecting herself with a “counterfeit skinny jab” she bought online.
Doctors told Michelle Sword she was very lucky to be alive after self-administering the “dangerous” weight loss pen in September, which she says she was able to buy “very easily”.
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Vanessa Chalmers
