Continuing Mounjaro Thread 11

[FlappyFish]

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.
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. 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.
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:
www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/best-sources-protein
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: 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:

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

2nd thread:

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

3rd thread:

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

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

5th thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5048290-continuing-mounjaropart-5?page=1

6th thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5057916-continuing-mounjaropart-6?page=1

7th thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5062935-continuing-mounjaropart-7?page=1

8th thread:
www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5068850-continuing-mounjaropart-8?page=1

9th thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5074054-continuing-mounjaropart-9

10th thread
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5080755-continuing-mounjaro-thread-10

Thread for newbies just starting out:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/weight_loss_ch
at/5057475-mounjaro-and-wegovy-newbies-april-2024

Courtesy of Flappy, deputising for the wonderful Obsidian.

@thehousewiththesagegreensofa I get it. I so get. It’s why I’m terrified of titrating down. I’ve had no chance to try and establish anything healthier really other than “don’t eat it, you don’t want it.”

I’ve had toast the last two days. Boy, do I know it. Plus it made the scales slide up as I’ve not really been eating carbs.

I have been on 5 for a long time now and the food noise wears off on day 4. In fact I just took this week’s jab early. It scares me. It was like everything rushed back and I had forgotten how powerful that noise and cravings are. It isn’t mindless eating. It’s “I need it. I can’t get it out of my head.”

Whoever decided that hit 25 and that’s it is doing everyone a disservice. It’s like someone breaking their leg, having it strapped up and before it’s fully healed taking off the cast and going walk on. The fractures and damage is still there and you will like break it harder and cause more damage.

My resting heart rate has gone down by 18bpm in the 12 days since I started MJ!

Just coming up to my bonus 2.5 this weekend, so far 9lbs down in 3 weeks, pleased with that and still not wanting to eat a lot at all, do I need to go to 5mg, how long can I stay on 2.5?

If the food noise comes back in day 4…. And you’ve been on 5mg for a long time… why haven’t you titrated up? Are you too close to goal?

My weight loss has stalled after four weeks on 2.5
Did anyone have a significant loss after going up to 5mg?

Thanks to everyone who posted advice for me- I think I was just having a bad day!

I know I need to work harder on building good habits and not just relying on appetite suppression and nausea to make me eat less. I've never been pregnant but treating it like morning sickness is a good idea- going to make myself eat 3 meals a day even if they are very small, and focus on them being low calorie and high protein.

Weigh/jab day today and down to 99.4kg- I haven't been under 100kg since pre pandemic!

SW 107.8kg
CW 99.4kg
GW 90kg

You’re not on a therapeutic dose yet. If you go back to page 1 & read all the info you will see you are just titrating up to a therapeutic dose.

@AgathaMystery My BMI is currently 24 and I’m 6 pounds above where I want to get to. I am meant to be titrating down from this week. I have two 7.5 pens and 2 doses left of 5. I have been trying to work out how best to go down and maybe I do inject less more often. Those obsessional eat it feelings last night were totally left field. Not had that the entire time I’ve been on MJ.

I can think my way out of a lot of things with a lot of CBT from before. That is impossible to ignore it’s like an itch that has to be scratched.

God that’s really hard.

Did you ever do Saxenda? That was daily and helped me focus. I am wondering if you split your dose over every 3-4 days would that work better? So 2.5mg on a Monday night and Same again Thursday morning??

😂

@AgathaMystery Thanks for making me not feel like a total freak. I think MJ has treated the physical weight problem and to some extent it treats the psychological problem whilst we take it. A lot of these thoughts and feelings I have had for years. It’s why I ended up overweight! Probably similar for a lot of us, I suppose.

That does make sense on reducing down. I really do have visions of when I stop undoing all of this.

I need to have a robust what’s next plan. Weight can’t be everything for ever. It has been for now. I do think it may be therapy time again.

You can stay on a dose as long as it is working for you, and that is actually the best advice I got before starting mounjaro. Many Americans stay on a low dose for a long time successfully. If you still have a lot to lose it would be good to get a 5mg pen and keep injecting 2.5mg (30 clicks) until you feel it’s not working anymore. If at some point you need to up your dose then you just adjust the clicks.

@FrancisSeaton I stalled at week 4 into week 5, stayed on 2.5. I thought I'd made a terrible mistake. However, looking at past diet attempts (there have been many) I typically do stall in weeks 3-6 at some point after a big loss which I've had. So this week I've upped my fat a little (I'm keto) focused on protein and upped water using some electrolytes. I've broken the stall! Hurray. I'll be happy if I can achieve a 1lb loss this week just to prove to myself I'm still making progress! I'm not hungry so I think 2.5 continues to work for me. I will have to decide soon though if I'm going up to 5 or staying on 2.5 again.

@FlappyFish We're going to need an MJ maintenance thread that we can all join when we get to your stage! I know its hard to lose weight and we're all working hard but maintenance scares me to death to and I think it will be hard without MJ. In 15 years of dieting I've never achieved it - always put back on the weight plus more. We will all look to you for tips! Good luck!

Im in @ThirdStorm - maintainance is my biggest worry. I know we can't stay on it forever but I also don't want to be here again in a year or two.

@FlappyFish

Just reading your posts about maintenance and managing post MJ. Have you ever considered hypnosis? I purchased a bundle of hypnosis audio from Clear Minds a while ago, it was their virtual gastric band course and a few other diet/healthy eating related things. I tried doing it for a while and found it quite effective but like a lot of things I didn’t follow through.

I’m thinking of trying it again, you need to listen to it for about 20-30 mins every day for about a month-6 weeks so quite a commitment but I’d be very happy to email you the course downloads of you think it might help?

@FlappyFish

this is it.

https://clearminds.com/products/weightloss

@ThirdStorm and @CiderJabs I absolutely can start a maintenance thread. I think there’s only a few of us who can’t order now as we’ve been cut off. Maybe I will wait and keep posting here until more of us reach that stage? I’ve been so open throughout this journey and having this thread has kept me sane. I found @ObsidianTree first thread and ordered within an hour, having decided I needed to do something.

My brain is my worse bloody enemy.

Thank you for sharing about your feelings @FlappyFish it really helps to understand how everyone is thinking about this there is such a big emotional aspect.

I have been struggling this week since going up to 5mg.... bizarrely more interested in food. Not sure if it's a desire to eat my stress/tiredness away rather than real hunger. Prior to my I did tend to eat for pretty much every reason, happy, sad, need a energy boost, need to chill out etc.

When I have eaten foods that weren't "clean" as previously (like the Wagamamas) I've had tummy aches and wind with sulphur burps afterwards so should be learning this really isn't the food for me. With home cooked food I've been comfortable and energetic.

I have kept up the exercise though so hopefully building muscle to help with maintenance. Starting feeling over full yesterday evening as I'd eaten takeaway (supposed healthy gym box option of kale, humous, chicken skewer, rice, halloumi) so took myself off on a paced walk using Google fit app with step up hill section and managed nearly 4k. That was after a pre work gym session.

@FlappyFish you are absolutely not alone. You’re further down the road than most of us, but it’s the same road. We are all rooting for you xx

Im the same @FlappyFish - I lost 5st a couple of years ago by doing keto / noom / exercising and then got too confident and put most of it back on. For me the menopause gave me horrible sugar cravings but also an excuse to eat and eat and blame it on hormones.
This time I've lost just shy of two stone with and without MJ and have half a stone left to lose, and I know I'll still have hormones messing me around and I'm trying to figure out how not to let them screw up my head again.
My diet is often healthy. I cook from scratch and have good knowledge of what to eat. But I can eat like a horse. And struggle to leave food on my plate. I never used to snack in the evenings but have slowly started over the last few years and that has been my demise.

Update from the slow losers club:

Started 10mg yesterday and now I’m launched into orbit! Vomited spectacularly at work today. Had no such symptoms with the lower doses. The nausea is also a new guest!

I don't seem to be loosing any weight at the moment. I have upped my water intake. I do normally retain water when the temperature goes up. I am reaching the end of my tether. I am my bonus dose of 7.5 mg. I am still having the appetite suppression. So don't plan to go above 7.5 for the tile being. Any thoughts ? Stuck in the miry clay !

Any body got any MedExpress discount codes. About to buy my second 7.5mg pen

Med Express only has code RK5ARP that gives you £5 off. Many of us emailed them and they said no more big discounts.
For better prices you might want to move to The Family Chemist or Zava.