Continuing Mounjaro...part 8

[ObsidianTree]

Please note: Mounjaro can only be taken if your BMI is above 30.

Pointers for newbies:

1 - For taking your first dose you need to twist the pen a lot to get to 1! The instructions say prime each time you take a dose, but actually Eli Lilly have confirmed you only need to prime for the first ever use of a pen. (The video posted says every use, but this isn't true!)

2 - When injecting, hold down the button until the number goes back to 0. Once at 0, keep holding down the button and count to 5 with the needle still in so no medication is lost!

3 - Your first dose may not have an immediate effect. For some people the effects build slowly. It could take 3 or 4 days to notice anything, it could take a few weeks. Some people don't feel the meds working until they get to 5mg. See titration chart which shows how the medication builds up in your system. Also below you can plot the effect of your doses.
https://glp1plotter.com/

4 - 2.5mg isn't a therapeutic dose, meaning you aren’t meant to lose on 2.5mg. You need to start on 2.5mg to get your body used to the drug and gradually introduce it into your system and get used to any side effects.

5 - Not everyone loses a lot in the first few weeks. Don't feel discouraged if you don't lose a lot initially. Again, you might need a higher dose to start losing. Also, inches can be lost without anything showing on the scales. Start your journey by taking measurements and check them as you go along.

6 - If you do lose a lot in the first few weeks, please don't assume you will continue losing at this rate. The first few weeks it is usually water weight that is lost, after than a good weight loss is about 2lbs a week. Some weeks you might not lose anything, but this is ok too…again, taking measurements might show inches lost instead.

7 - Constipation, coldness, nausea, diarrhea, headaches, aches, are side effects. There may be be other side effects also. Read info here :

www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/15481/pil#about-medicine

8 - Once you take your first dose you can choose to keep your pen in the fridge or somewhere else. It's up to you.

9 - Don't reuse any needles as this could risk infection. If you damage a needle or one isn't working, you can buy a pack of about 100 spares. https://www.chemist-4-u.com/carepoint-pen-needles-31g-4mm-pack-of-100?gclid=Cj0KCQjwiYOxBhC5ARIsAIvdH51rLZBVFQxuvS7mDJooegtK8BMiyT0PwREMRHhH_1atfQIo8TEbsmkaAkA0EALw_wcB

Also there is a 5th dose in each pen. To extract it you can either try a hard twist or use an insulin needle.
https://medbasic.co.uk/bd-micro-fine-30g-1ml-syringes-needles

10 - Protein is important as eating less protein can cause muscle wastage and hair loss. Try to have at least 100g a day.

11 - Some natural sources of protein:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/best-sources-protein
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321522#high-protein-foods

12 - You can use supplements, some that people use are magnesium(for sleep and constipation), protein(to reduce muscle wastage), collagen (skin elasticity), aloe vera(for constipation), electrolytes.

13 - Drink lota of water. Water helps with the weight loss. Drink at least 2ltrs a day. Preferably 3ltrs.

14 - Don't be afraid to feel hungry. It is entirely normal and healthy to feel hungry. Just eat something. Treat it as an opportunity to start good habits around hunger. Eat a nice balanced snack or a meal if it's a meal time. It's ok.

15 - Does it makes any difference where you inject? yes it does! Drugs get absorbed at different rates depending on injection site

In order of fastest absorption, it goes:
• Tummy
• Arms
• Thighs
furthet reading about injection sites and the effects: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316618

16 - Abdominal side-effects are much easier to control with smaller meals. For example, having 4 small meals in the day vs 2 big meals can have an improvement in nausea and burps.

17 - You can track your calories / protein on apps such as My fitnessPal, Carb Manager or Nutracheck. Nutracheck is quite useful and easy to find foods /build recipes.

18 - Some of the places you can order from are:

• MedExpress 2.5mg and 5mg. £149.99. 7.5mg £169. Use code STARTNOW. Ask for other codes if that doesn't work.
• The Family Chemist 2.5mg and 5mg -£149. 7.5mg £169.
• Simple online pharmacy - £159 2.5mg £179 5mg
• Bolt pharmacy 2.5mg £125, 5mg £179. 7.5mg £189
• Asda 2.5mg and 5mg £184. 7.5mg £189
• Boots £219 +
• Chemist4U £179 +
• Superdrugs

19 - If you want to switch suppliers, make sure you have pics of your Mounjaro box with your name and dose. This will come in useful when other suppliers ask for evidence.

1st thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5007744-mourjano-starting-soon?page=1

2nd thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5028495-continuing-murnjaropart-2?page=1

3rd thread:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5037623-continuing-mounjaropart-3?page=1

4th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5044316-continuing-mounjaropart-4?page=1

Thread for newbies just starting out:

http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_chat/5057475-mounjaro-and-wegovy-newbies-april-2024

That sounds epic!

I'm about to have my 4th dose from my first 2.5 Mounjaro pen which I got from Lloyds. I've had an email from them asking if I would like to order my next pen. I want to go up to the 5mg dose and they are charging £169. Has anyone found it any cheaper elsewhere? Thanks.

Thanks for replies re switching provider. From some other posts it sounds like MedExpress do contact your GP.

Are there others apart from Voy whom I am with atm that doesn't?

Also not feeling as queasy today thankfully so managed to eat a bit better today so far

I use Health Express and they don't contact GP 👍

I feel exactly the same today, lethargic, slow, achy and a bit of a headache and heartburn just to top it off, not pleasant! Took my second 3.75mg dose two days ago. I'm a bit better than last week when I had to spend the day in bed a couple of days after shot, hopefully it'll be better again next week. Was planning on doing this dose for a couple of weeks, then onto 5mg but now think I'll stay on this dose for the rest of this pen.

@Justkeeprollingalong
Medexpress is £150, you can also use discount code CONSULT-BLOOM to get 15% off too, so it works out at 131.44 when you've added delivery.

@lurkylurk thank you

Evening All

What a beautiful day. I’ve no summer clothes whatsoever so will need to address that.

Ihave a question, why is 5mg and 10mg seen as a therapeutic dose but not 7.5mg (or probably 12.5mg)? I don’t understand how that can be if it’s an increase from the first therapeutic dose of 5mg.

Does anyone know?

Well done on all of your losses, Obsidian and others!

NCfor24, that's a great before and after. What a difference 🙂

@MountKilimounjaro

@Mounjarojourney
I think it's because they haven't published data specifically on 7.5mg. They have published on 5mg and 10mg.

There is no way that 5mg is therapeutic then 7.5mg mysteriously isnt, then 10mg is again.
The higher the concentration the stronger the effect because more receptors will be bound and the longer it will last in the body because higher concentrations will take longer to drop as the drug degrades during the week. 7.5mg will have more effect than 5mg.

There is no biological mechanisms whereby 5mg is effective and 7.5mg isnt. Honestly, that's not the way drug concentration works. Its just the way they have worded it regarding their data and folk have got the wrong end of the stick.

I think it might be because in the trials that were done over a year or so those were toe dosages used. They had a placebo group, a group on 5mg, a group on 10mg and a group on 15 mg. They didn't trial 7.5mg or 12.5mg, they're just intermediate doses. I agree it doesn't make sense as 7.5 is more than 5 and 12.5 is more than 10, but it may just be because they didn't trial them over a period.

It was! I'm stuffed. hopefully the broccoli won't haunt me like they did last week!

Thanks @montysma1 and @lurkylurk, that makes sense why it’s come across like that.

Im on day 4 of my 3rd 5mg dose and really not feeling any restriction today. I've eaten 1786 calories so nothing crazy but my limit should be 1400.

Love a before and after pic! That’s such a difference @NCfor24
Wish I had taken a before picture.

Yes! Took 2 awful ones for Asda and deleted them immediately from my phone 🙈
Asda rejected me on the basis that my pics didn’t look so fat but my weight was 73.50 kilos and my bmi 30.2
Next I tried Pharmacy2u and they obviously thought I looked fat enough 😅 but I also deleted the pictures

@RagzRebooted @dmott @AgathaMystery thanks for the replies and tips re headaches. Will try electrolytes and even more water

It's so great hearing about everyone's success and actually the weeks of little or no scales movement as it keeps me realistic.

I have figured out that I'm supposed to be on a weekend away when I was planning to go up from 2.5mg to 5mg and then 10 days away 4 weeks later when I could in theory be going up dosage again. Didn't realise the timings when started!

The weekend away is hiking and ten days interailing across Europe so neither great for any gastro side effects.

Not sure if I should do a small increase bridging dose next and have two weeks at at 3.75mg and just an extra week at 2.5mg. will see how this week's goes I suppose

I think I need you lovely lot to give me a kick up my rather copious arse.

Am feeling very down. Seem to lose a couple of pounds in a few days, then put it back on overnight, rinse and repeat. I've not slipped once since I started on 1 April, not even wanted to, but have been careful to make sure I'm eating enough.

I don't know if this may be drug related though? I've been on morphine nearly 15 years plus multiple other meds, and also have an underactive thyroid. MJ has had an incredibly positive effect on my pain and inflammation, and I've now reduced my morphine by half; this is the lowest dose I've been on now for 5 years. I'm aware stopping opiates can induce depression, is reduction the same?

I feel better go myself than I have for years, I should be happy, but have spent the last two days in bed with the dog licking away my tears.

Sorry, hope that makes sense.

@MelissaLouRocks I sometimes feel a bit down randomly. I'm not sure if it's related to times when I'm not losing or just MJ doing weird things.

The good news is, the feeling does tend to pass.

Body weight does fluctuate so I try not to pay attention too much to scales. If I go up a lb or two over night, it usually balances out as the week progresses and extra lbs come off.

You said yourself there are so many positives. So I think just ride through the feel and I'm sure it will pass soon.

Just one of those MJ things

@greencrab some people stay on 2.5mg for an extra month. So maybe you could do two extra weeks on 2.5mg then go up to the 5mg. Means you will be 2.5mg for first weekend away then 5mg for a few weeks before going on second trip.

It also depends on how much effect you think 2.5mg has had. You could do just 1 week extra on 2.5mg before going up to 5mg

@MelissaLouRocks Hey lovely, can’t really comment because I’m not familiar with that medication and those symptoms but what I can say is that I read many times than loosing weight (specially fast) can increase your chances of depression. Maybe that, your hormones or perhaps something on the back of your mind. You have been through a lot with all your medical issues and your recent stays at hospital. A good cry is sometimes good to release some pressure from your body and mind. If you know you are eating well don’t worry too much, you will lose eventually. Hope you will feel better soon x