Pamela Phillips, 42, explained why weight loss injections were not a long term solution for her - before losing the weight another, more traditional way22:08, 24 May 2026A woman who weighed 21 stone has told how she lost weight taking injections - but put it straight back on after she couldn't afford them anymore.Pamela Phillips, 42, has spoken out amid growing concerns about weight regain if people have to stop taking weight loss jabs. Some experts believe users may have to stay on them for life.Pamela said the suppressing drugs "didn't solve the long-term problem" for her and described how she struggled with her weight throughout her teens, and tried many different diets to slim down.Pamela, from Wolverhampton, would lose and regain a lot of weight every year and at her heaviest weighed 22st 7lbs in 2010 after having her daughter. She would typically lose around four stone each summer then regain the weight in winter when she became less active.READ MORE: SUN4MON Over-eating ‘scars’ the brain so you never feel full again, obesity expert warnsREAD MORE: HOLD SAT4SUN >> Meet the men undergoing gruesome ‘leg lengthening’ surgery to be a few inches tallerPamela started on the Saxenda weight loss jab in early 2022, when she was 20st 11lbs, which cost £170 a month via a private prescription and lost three stone in the next three months. Then money became tight so she came off the jabs.She said: "The jabs helped me lose the weight but it was expensive. When things get tight, you give up your luxuries - and the weight just crept back on.”Pamela, a wellness coordinator, hoped to keep the weight off without them but her appetite returned and old snacking habits crept back in. By October she was back up to her starting weight.By the following January, she was having ongoing back problems requiring surgery, but the NHS said her weight prevented her from being operated on and she needed to shed stones fast.Pamela eventually booked for gastric sleeve surgery in May 2023 - and dropped from 20st 8lbs to 11st in the months following. Three years on, she has maintained the dramatic weight loss with lifestyle changes.Pamela said: "I was told by doctors that I needed to lose weight fast for surgery to treat my back, which was when I looked into bariatric surgery. Since I lost the weight, I've kept it off, and I feel fitter, healthier and younger."If not for bariatric surgery I'd still have been stuck in that rut - jabs worked in the moment for me, but they didn't solve the long-term problem."Pamela began her first diet aged 15, trying a Weight Watchers programme after feeling like she was bigger than her peers, but always gained the weight back.Article continues belowShe started university at 18 when she was 15st, and tried "all the diets that were popular in the early 2000s" into her 20s. Her weight shot up to its highest - over 20st - after having her first child in 2010, and then a second in 2015. Before losing the weight, three prolapsed discs in her back caused her pain and often restricted her mobility.Pamela said: "You still have to think about what you're eating, but I still eat normal food, just smaller portions. Now I've got a thirst for life and it feels exciting."