A mother hospitalised after injecting £100 ‘slimming jabs’ bought off Snapchat has revealed how she thought she was going to die – and the terrifying warning doctors gave her.
Emma Williams, 23, from Wrexham, Wales, bought the slimming jabs – which she was told contained semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy – hoping for a ‘quick fix’ after seeing good results from her friends and amazing before and after pictures posted by the seller.
But her dream turned into a nightmare when she became weak, began profusely vomiting and was hit with migraines so intense they left her unable to stand up or keep her eyes open.
Emma told MailOnline: ‘I could barely lift my son up. I was getting up, and I was having to lie back down because I had this awful migraine. I could barely open my eyes. I just had no nutrients going into me. I couldn’t eat anything.
‘I thought, ‘I’m going to die from this. I need to go and get help’.’
She woke up in hospital with a doctor telling her she had narrowly avoided permanent kidney damage which would have led to kidney failure. She is still recovering three weeks after she injected herself.
Have YOU fallen ill after using slimming jabs? Email freya.barnes@mailonline.co.uk
Emma Williams (right), 23, pictured with her mother, Caroline (left), 50, who had to take her daughter to hospital after she fell sick from using slimming jabs she purchased over Snapchat
The seller, who also sells unlicenced tanning nasal sprays, posted a menu similar to this on their Snapchat story
Emma injected herself for the first time on September 10 and gradually began feeling sick throughout the day before throwing up later that evening (stock image)
‘My body was in ketosis when I went into hospital. The doctor said I was severely dehydrated and that if I didn’t go in I would have had permanent kidney damage leading to kidney failure,’ she said.
Nurses in A&E told Emma and her mother, Caroline, they have young girls coming in every day who have fallen ill after using slimming jabs they bought on social media and Emma has since seen posts from others who had bad reactions.
The mother-of-one thought she would receive an injection pen when she ordered seven to 10 weeks worth of the jabs but was instead sent a vial of powder, to be mixed herself with sterilised water, and a set of needles.
She injected herself for the first time on September 10 and gradually began feeling sick throughout the day before throwing up later that evening during a shift at the school for disabled children in Wrexham where she works.
Emma told MailOnline: ‘When I was in work I was sick a couple of times and I thought it was just me getting used to it.’
But she still felt queasy the next day whilst on a trip to Chester Zoo with her mother, Caroline, 50, and her 21-month-old son, Max, and had to vomit in some bushes nearby.
The nausea persisted the next day before slightly easing on September 13 with Emma deciding to limit the amount of food and water she had out of fear she wouldn’t be able to keep it down.
Following the instructions given to her by the seller, Emma decided to inject the second dose on September 15, still attributing the vomiting to her body adjusting to the jabs.
Although Caroline understood her daughters wish to get thin with a ‘quick fix’ she admitted she was ‘fuming’ with her and the sellers
Emma was hoping for a ‘quick fix’ after seeing good results from her friends and amazing before and after pictures posted by the seller on their Snapchat story (stock image)
She said: ‘After that one, I literally haven’t stopped being sick.
‘I could feel myself getting weaker and weaker every day, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I tried loads of stuff. I tried eating baby food. I tried those Ensured recovery drinks. Nothing worked.’
Caroline said her daughter was eating ice lollies to try and get some fluids in her system but she couldn’t keep anything down and began throwing up stomach bile.
She said: ‘Emma is epileptic, so she takes tablets daily to control her epilepsy. She couldn’t keep those down either, so nothing was staying down. And I said, ‘If this carries on Emma, we’re going to have to take you to hospital.’
The seller did not ask Emma if she was taking any other medication or had any health conditions but a Google search told her that the jabs would have no interaction with her epilepsy medication so she went ahead with them.
She had to be kept in hospital overnight and was given three bags of fluid and anti-sickness medication through an IV. She also had to pay for her son, Max, to go to nursery on days he would usually be at home with her because her mother had to work.
Doctors discharged Emma the next day but she continued to throw up even when she got home. She is still on anti-sickness medication and is beginning to feel better but does not feel fully recovered yet.
After not eating anything other than three slivers of apple for 14 days, she is finally able to keep down small amounts of food despite still experiencing bouts of nausea.
Although Caroline understood her daughters wish to get thin with a ‘quick fix’ she admitted she was ‘fuming’ with her and the sellers.
‘I was fuming with Emma for doing it in the first place and I was livid with the people that are just selling it willy-nilly to anybody that can pay. It’s scary. I can’t believe there’s no repercussions for them. Somebody is going to die,’ she said.
The slimming jabs Emma purchased are advertised as containing semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Ozempic (pictured) and Wegovy
Emma and Caroline are now warning others to stay away from slimming jabs bought over social media and to visit a doctor if they are struggling to lose weight with a healthy diet and exercise.
Both of them agree that the people flogging these unregulated and unlicensed slimming injections are preying on young women and girls and taking advantage of the societal pressures on them to be slim.
Emma said: ‘They’re adding young girls onto their social medias and they’re posting all these good results. They’re doing flash deals on them, like ‘if you buy it now you get 20 pounds off’. They are preying on young girls and their insecurities.’
Caroline added: ‘It’s horrendous the amount of pressure that girls are under to be thin. Even when I was young and I was in school being thin was all anybody ever wanted. I think it’s even worse now because of social media.
‘It’s diabolical and they are absolutely manipulating people by selling them a dream that they are going to get thin and actually it’s nearly killing them.’
Have YOU fallen ill after using slimming jabs? Email freya.barnes@mailonline.co.uk