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's really good to know, thanks for the info!

Someone else had asked Lloyds Pharmacy and they replied that with them
"you can use it as long as your BMI ≥ 22".

Shame they're so expensive!

Hi all,

I've been a bit quiet recently. Hope everyone is getting on ok. I've got a cold at the moment so feeling a bit rough.

I am also not finding 7.5mg as good as when I was a few doses in to 5mg. Maybe because the step up was smaller than the doubling up from 2.5mg to 5mg. Also, I was on antibiotics last week, so not sure if that interferes with MJ.

Re the coming off the drug and pharmacies responses, I short while ago I was reading a thread where someone was about to come off Wegovy and was at BMI 21! I should have asked them really how they got to stay on until that BMI! I might try and find the thread and ask them. Unless it's just MJ that they won't let you stay on below BMI 25.

@ObsidianTree

It's the OP here:

Ah sorry you’re not feeling great @ObsidianTree - did you go up to 7.5mg early or as per protocol?

Lol just found it too @lurkylurk

I noticed someone said on there they used pics from the Internet to keep getting it prescribed 😱. So probably not going to help us stay on to get to a lower BMI than 25!

I thought a couple of suppliers had said they'd prescribe to 23? Did I imagine that?

I went up last weekend. So had 2 doses of 7.5mg from my 5mg pen.

So 2 weeks of 5mg & the. Up to 7.5mg? I’m wondering if it was too much? I don’t know - I felt terrible on 5mg.

I hope you feel better soon & the suppression kicks back in x

@lurkylurk and I'm hoping my ethnicity will be on my side as for those of us who aren't white, BMI. 25 is still overweight!

I think some will. But some are saying BMI 25. Not sure on MedExpress.

Here's the response from chemist4u

Thank you 😊

I never felt like any dose has been too much so far. I have even stopped getting side effects now too. So not feeling cold, no headaches etc. I am getting suppression and not feeling hungry, but the craving have come back. Also I seem to be able to eat more than I did when I was well suppressed on 5MG. I am stopping myself from eating loads, but was hoping 7.5mg would make it effortless again. Maybe I need a few more doses.

Me too! NHS BMI checker says 23 for me, but don't know yet if med express will still prescribe to me to that BMI.

Oh, I actually had a full pen of 5mg and the 2nd 5mg pen I used to go up to 7.5mg after 1 dose of 5mg from it. so had 6 doses of 5mg before doing 7.5mg from it. I have 5mg left of that pen before starting 7.5mg pen. I think I'll leave the 5mg and keep to take on my holiday. Will have to pack a syringe to get the dose out as I can't seem to do the hard twist, so don't want to risk it!

That's less vague than other places!

I am going to hope I can stay on for the full 2 years. In the hope I can reset my base weight.

@ObsidianTree yes I'm thinking the same. I want to spread out my doses. I'm on the American mj maintenance Facebook page and it's really interesting to see what maintenance looks like. They are so much more evolved than us in their understanding of maintenance. (Although we've all only been on it for a few weeks to be fair) I predict there is going to be massive widespread panic shortly among UK users unless guidance changes.

So my plan is to buy two pens at each titration and that way I can count clicks if I find I'm not quite ready to go up even though I have the pen.

Is anyone else also buying every 4 weeks because they're scared the provider will find out about the fifth dose? I think I may be overthinking it slightly to be honest!

I'm also trying to order pens every pay day so that I can not spend the money before it comes round.

@GloriaBunniford I’m glad it’s now on its way to you. I was wondering how you were. (Not in a weird way!) You were so nervous and then took the plunge to have all the ordering challenges. Glad to see your update.

I need to order actually!

Does anyone know where is cheapest this week?

@Scalessayeek payday tip is a good one, hadn't thought of that will copy and spend on MJ and not restaurant dinners!

I am thinking, when I get to about 12st 7lbs I'll start reducing my meds so it hopefully takes longer to lose the last stone ish. And hope that's enough to stay on the full two years!

@ObsidianTree yes. That's why I'm willing my weight loss to go very slowly. When I see people on fb acting like it's a crash diet and who are distraught because they haven't lost a stone in the first week, I despair. I think it needs to be as slow and drawn out as possible. I don't want to wreck my metabolism by yo yo ing. I do understand that staying on it long term isn't financially viable however for a lot of us but I think it's the best way.

Yes if you are using the bonus dose as an extra week then you will need to keep ordering pens every four weeks and after 5 months the supplier will think you have used 5 pens but actually you will only have used 4. Which is fine if you want to keep using 7.5 or 10 or whatever but otherwise you need to start predicting what pen you will want to use in a month's time and buying that dose pen.

The other option is to take smaller doses eg take 5mg from a 10mg pen. But if you believe pens should be discarded after 30 days then that would mean throwing a half used pen away. (Personally I think the 'discard the pen after 4 uses' and 'discard the pen after 30 days even if refrigerated' are largely to protect their revenues rather than there being a deterioration in the medication but I don't KNOW that) So it gets tricky to know what to do especially as we are worried about our supply being cut off as soon as we hit the top end of the BMI scale.

Yes exactly! We should want to be slow losers 😂

I suppose when people first start they want to do I as quickly as possible as they don't want to spend the money for long. I was thinking the same initially really. But now I want it for as long as I can get it! Lol