A woman who shed two stone with the help of weight-loss injections has shared the unexpected way the treatment also changed another part of her life.
On Wednesday’s episode of This Morning, presenters Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard covered a variety of issues during the daytime programme.
Among their guests was Vivienne Joy, who revealed she had built up £250,000 in debt through spending on clothing, gambling and takeaway food.
Vivienne explained that she had faced several forms of addiction over the years, telling the hosts: ‘The first addiction started with food, so I feel like it’s finishing with food as well.’
She spoke candidly about being severely bullied during her school years, saying she turned to food for comfort before later becoming fixated on dieting after gaining weight.
Vivienne also said gambling had been part of her family environment, explaining that her parents played bingo and that she began going along with them once she turned 18.
Vivienne Joy (pictured), who lost two stone using weight-loss jabs, has spoken about another issue she says the treatment helped address
Wednesday’s edition of This Morning featured co-hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shephard (pictured) discussing a range of topics
Ordering from catalogues from age 16 also spiralled for Vivienne and later on in life, when the pandemic hit, her shopping addiction went even further.
Eventually Vivienne built up £250,000 in debt, part of which was through building a house.
However, it wasn’t until she lost her job that Vivienne felt things got ‘out of hand’ and the ‘debt started to pile on’ as ‘all of the addictions went off the chart’.
Vivienne’s life changed drastically when she decided to take a weight loss jab after being recommended it from a friend despite saying a ‘big no’ to it originally.
‘My friend, who I trust dearly, started to take the jabs and I saw him on social media sharing his journey, getting really slim and looking really happy,’ Vivienne explained.
‘And then he posted to say – he has ADHD, and I have ADHD – that all of a sudden he has no ADHD, it’s almost like someone switched everything off in his head, and I thought ‘Oh wow, that sounds amazing’.’
Vivienne decided to try the jab for a week and was amazing by the changes she experienced very early on.
‘How quickly did you notice the noise stopped and you suddenly weren’t spending all this money and you weren’t shopping?’ Ben asked.
The pair welcomed guest Vivienne Joy who racked up £250,000 of debt after spending on clothes, gambling and takeaways
She had struggled with different kinds of addiction throughout her life and admitted: ‘The first addiction started with food, so I feel like it’s finishing with food as well.’
She said: ‘9pm on the Sat night, 22nd of feb, it’ll be in my brain forever, took the jab, I woke up the next morning with no noise.
‘I woke up the next morning like ‘There’s no noise in my head’.’
Dr Zoe Williams explained how this might have happened for Vivienne.
The resident TV doctor said: ‘There is science that supports this and backs it up. It’s important to understand a little bit about a chemical called dopamine.
‘It’s a chemical that’s active in the brain and is responsible for our rewards system in the brain and also motivation and impulse.’
She added how addictions ‘hijack this dopamine pathway, so that reward that you get is what makes you want to do it again and again, it can be quite compulsive’.
Dr Zoe revealed that the effect Vivienne had experienced has been recalled by others too.
‘People do report this, they take a weight loss jab and on day one the noise goes away and that’s because it interferes with this dopamine pathway,’ she said.
Vivienne’s life changed drastically when she decided to take a weight loss jab after being recommended it from a friend despite saying a ‘big no’ to it originally
Vivienne decided to try the jab for a week and was amazing by the changes she experienced very early on
‘So what it does is, it reduces the pleasure that people get from whatever people are addicted to, so it reduces their desire for it.’
However, not everyone seems to respond in the same way and Zoe explained: ‘Which can be really positive, as it has been for Vivienne, for other people they say they don’t get joy out of spending time with their grandchildren anymore, it reduces their sexual desire.
‘It can reduce their desire for life generally and make them feel like they have lost joy so its not a positive thing for everyone.’
If you have been affected by this story, contact Mind on 0300 123 3393
This Morning airs weekdays from 10am to 12:30pm on ITV1 and is available to stream on ITVX.
