Operated by Bar Group Technology LLC. Educational only — not medical advice.

Guide

Am I a candidate for GLP-1 treatment?

The criteria clinicians actually use, the situations where GLP-1 medication is not appropriate, and what to bring to the conversation.

We deliberately do not run a quiz that tells you that you qualify. Those exist everywhere, they approve almost everyone, and they are worth nothing — the answer depends on your medical history, which a clinician needs to review properly.

What we can do is tell you the criteria clinicians generally work from.

The usual threshold

GLP-1 medications approved for chronic weight management are generally indicated for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or a BMI of 27 or above alongside a weight-related condition such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obstructive sleep apnoea or dyslipidaemia.

BMI is a blunt instrument and clinicians know it. It is a starting point for the conversation, not the whole of it.

When it is usually not appropriate

  • A personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma, or MEN2 syndrome
  • Pregnancy, planning pregnancy, or breastfeeding
  • A history of pancreatitis, which needs discussion before anything is prescribed
  • Cosmetic weight loss in someone already at a healthy weight
  • Anyone with a current or past eating disorder, without specialist involvement

What to bring to the conversation

A current medication list including supplements, your weight history rather than just today's number, any family history of thyroid or pancreatic disease, and an honest account of what you have already tried. Clinicians make better decisions with duller, more complete information than with a tidy story.

If you are told no

It is worth asking what would change the answer. Sometimes it is a test result, sometimes a different medication, sometimes a referral. A no that comes with a reason is a more useful outcome than a yes from a service that never says otherwise.

This page is educational and cannot tell you whether treatment is right for you. Only a licensed clinician who has reviewed your history can do that. If you are struggling with your relationship to food or your body, that is worth raising with a clinician too — it changes what good care looks like.

One email when clinician appointments become available. We ask for your address and nothing else — no health questions until you're with a licensed clinician.