JESSA Milender was found on the floor “lifeless” after overdosing on her mum’s weight loss jab, which she thought was medicine for “stomach aches”.

The seven-year-old from Indiana, US, injected herself with 60 per cent of her mum Melissa’s GLP-1 pen in December 2024.

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Jessa Milender, now 8, accidentally overdosed on her mum’s weight loss jab in December 2024Credit: WTHR

The child was taken to A&E limp and ashen-facedCredit: WTHR

Jessa said she had mistaken the jab for ‘stomach ache medicine’Credit: WTHR

The pens typically contain four doses to be used across four weeks – meaning the tot had given herself more than two adult doses in one go.

“I thought it was stomach medicine,” Jessa, now 8, told WHAS-11.

“My mum takes it and I thought it helped her with her stomach aches.” 

A panicked Melissa called poison control – a helpline for people with poisoning emergencies – and took her daughter to the ER, where she was wheeled in ashen-faced and limp.

“I don’t think we were prepared for how bad it was gonna get,” Melissa told the outlet. 

At this point, Jessa was suffering from dehydration and vomiting.

“The ER staff didn’t know what to do,” Melissa told CBS 8.

“They just called poison control, and poison control told them the same thing they told me.

“They didn’t know how to respond.“

GLP-1 related calls to poison centres have surged 1,500 per cent across the US since 2019 – with hundreds of calls placed each month, WHAS-11 reported.

Meanwhile, in the UK, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said there has been a surge of Yellow Card reports of serious reactions linked to the jabs between 2024 and 2025.

Jessa was hooked up to an IV drip and given medication, which seemed to ease the worst of the symptoms, prompting doctors to send her home.

“I should have never let them discharge her,” Melissa said.

At home, Jessa became so weak her mum had to carry her to the bathroom.

Jessa was initially discharged from hospital but was taken back when she stopped peeingCredit: WTHR

She was suffering from dehydration and vomiting and didn’t eat for almost a weekCredit: WTHR

Melissa is speaking out about the ordeal in the hopes of warning other parentsCredit: WTHR

She was constantly complaining of thirst and continued to vomit.

“That’s the only thing that she wanted to do was drink water, but then she would throw it up,” Melissa recalled.

The mum rushed Jessa to hospital again after she stopped peeing.

Medical reports seen by WHAS-11 showed that doctors were worried about the state of the child’s kidneys.

Melissa said she was “100 per cent” concerned for her daughter’s life.

“She didn’t eat for six days straight,” Melissa said, describing the incident as “the worst week of our lives”.

Symptoms of a weight loss jab overdose

A weight loss jab overdose can cause severe gastrointestinal side effects, including:

  • Nausea
  • Vomiting
  • Stomach pain

These signs don’t sound that different from common side effects caused by weight loss jabs – but they may be more intense.

Patients may also experience headaches and dizziness.

Seek urgent help if you cannot keep anything down, there’s blood in your vomit and you have severe or persistent abdominal pain.

Source: Verywell Health

She told CBS 8 she feared her daughter may be dying.

“That’s how she looked. She had lost significant weight… her cheeks were sunken in, her eyes were sunken in.

“She couldn’t walk from exhaustion and severe pain. She wouldn’t even allow them to touch her stomach.

“She’d scream out in pain in her sleep. It was awful. It’s a miracle that she didn’t have long-term effects.”

Thankfully, the tot – now 8 – has since recovered from her ordeal.

Now, Melissa said she keeps her weight loss jabs in a locked box, which she bought the day Jessa overdosed on the medication.

Melissa hopes that sharing her story will help other parents protect their children.

She told CBS 8: “I felt like no one had the answer on how to help her.

“I should have told her, ‘Don’t ever touch this.’

“It was just such an unprecedented event that I didn’t think to plan for, prepare for.”