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.

@Jochef ah yes I get the point now however I think at weeks 20 or so they are meant to review your progress so if you've not lost enough due to lying about your actual weight then they might stop prescribing anyway.

It didn’t say it was a 20 week review in the post ?

Mine too. Infact it's dropped too low that I was getting dizzy standing from sitting and in the gym lifting weights. I've slowly reduced my BP meds. I'm on such a tiny dose now that I should be off completely next week :-)

Also curious to know if the people losing a lot are literally eating barely anything or only reducing tdee by 500 cals a day? There was someone in another thread saying they are barely eating 800 cals.

I've been sticking to my 500 calorie deficit and making sure I eat enough. I'm not suffering with the fullness feeling some people are reporting so have no problem eating my 1200-1400 calories a day even if I'm not hungry.

Honestly it's not going great, I've lost hopefully a stone when I weigh tomorrow in 8 weeks which I know is good in the general scheme of things but it's crap in comparison to some others weight loss.

Just wondering if I should be dropping more calories 🤷‍♀️

I just posted this on the Starting Mounjaro thread but if anyone is looking for a discount code for Voy, here is mine.

https://joinvoy.com/r/U-bGZ0yk9ZRm

I don't know exactly how many calories I'm having as I stopped counting after a few weeks. I don't want to count calories for the rest of my life so I'm trying to use the Mounjaro to help me eat healthily and intuitively. When I was counting though, I was probably having about 1200 a day.

What is the calorie allowance you have calculated? Working out tdee isn't necessarily accurate unless you do those involved fitness tests that measure how much you breathe out etc. There was a fairly recent study on the British cycling team (or it could have been swimming team?) and the older members tdee was 1000 calories more than the younger ones, despite how fit he was. Saying that though, I wouldn't worry too much that you're eating too much especially as you never feel very full.

@imnottoofussed

I've lost 2 stone 3lbs since March 19th.

Both nutricheck and MFP set my goal calories to 1200 per day, with a target of 60g protein.

I'll be honest, my average is 1000 cals because with the appetite suppression and my 2-3L of water, I just can't manage any more, not for want of trying. Most weeks I'll have a couple of days toward the end of the week when I'm more peckish and can meet the 1200 goal.

I always overshoot my protein goal though and tend to get between 80-100g every day. I eat lots of chicken and have atleast 2-3 protein drinks.

I do a minimum of 10k steps per day and don't eat back my exercise calories.

@MrsBurtMacklin so for my age and height etc I've done a couple of tdee calculators online and it says 1500 will be a 500 cal deficit to lose 1lb a week. Nutracheck says to eat 1200 calories to lose 2lb per week.

I've been averaging 1200 calories a day.

@imnottoofussed I'd guess I'm at around 1400-1500 most days. Some slightly less, some more. I'm tall and heavy though, so my maintenance calories would be over 2000 at the moment, despite being fairly inactive most of the time.
I did track quite religiously at the start, more to make sure I was getting protein. I'm pretty good at eyeballing calories these days, so I know roughly what each meal is.

I've just put everything into MFP and today was almost exactly 1500 (I had pizza, wedges and beans for dinner!). I'm trying to just eat normally, but smaller portions and not snacking on crap. Eventually I'll have to cut further as I get to lower weights, but I'm trying not to obsess about it right now.

I've lost 24lbs in 10 weeks.

@BlackFriYay ok thanks for responding. I'm probably getting 50-70g protein so maybe need to up that and lower the cals a tiny bit.

I'm drinking 2-3l per day.

Honestly for the first 4 days after jabbing I could eat nothing as I have no hunger but have been making myself have two meals and approx 1200 calories each day as I'd worry about fainting or something if I didn't eat

Isn't it bizarre how our bodies respond differently.

My maintenance should be 1900 calories but apparently no my body will maintain on 1200

I realise I didn’t post this weeks loss. Oops.

Anyway. Start 14.1 on 17th Feb.
Current 11.2

I don’t track calories. I will become obsessed. I did that for years and when I didn’t lose I had fuck it mentality. I have pretty much the same food daily. But I did that before. What I’m not doing is binging.

Stalls happen. Hormone gain happens. Whoosh’s happen. It is very easy to get caught up in it and I’ve posted those times I have been in my head on this thread.

I have yet to go over 5 on injections. Going up doesn’t make you lose weight quicker. I only went up to 5 when I felt the suppression wasn’t as strong.

I’ve posted all the above before really. But I’m sharing it again as lots of new people.

@FlappyFish that's absolutely amazing! 3 stone weight loss sine 17th Feb? Wow!
Well done!

I did it! Just took my first dose! I'm a crazy overthinker so really filled with obsessive thoughts at the moment! Evenings are always my downfall and when I would easily eat chocolate, cake or whatever took my fancy after being "good" all day but it's been about an hour since I took it and I'm totally not fussed about eating anything. Surely this can't be the medication already? How quickly did others feel the start of losing their appetite?

I'm 24 hours in and no loss of appetite so far.
I've been good today though and not hit the snacks this evening but it's not been easy.
I'm hoping tomorrow may bring a start to being less interested in food.

6ish weeks in and 1 stone off, kept on the 2.5 mg as it seemed to be working well. Now my weight loss has stopped. Does anyone know why this could be? Should have upped dose I know 😞💐

@Snozzlemaid have you felt completely normal? Well done for eating well! Fingers crossed the appetite reduces tomorrow!

Yes pretty much normal. Just a bit achy this afternoon and the glands at back of my neck/head are sore. No idea if that's related or if I'm coming down with something.
But no digestive changes so far.

@Snozzlemaid it's hard to know what symptoms are the medication or not I guess! But great you've been feeling generally ok! Hoping I avoid any digestive problems too!

If you don't lose enough they stop supplying as well.

@Bessiethevan I am not on BP meds, mine is highish normal so I keep an eye on it. It's dropped into super healthy! Yet another fab side effect , along with all my inflamed joints disappearing!

@montysma1

The only requirement per the guidelines is that at 6 months you've lost at least 5% of your starting weight, so it's not a lot.

Hello everyone! Just finished week 2! Lost over 8 lbs altogether (close to 9) even with both my husband and my birthdays and a weekend away! Ate what I wanted, just didn’t want much. Amazing!

Now a question - I’ve just done third injection but I think I pressed the button too fast 😩. Bit of a slightly swollen lump on my leg and a bruise right away. I did it a lot more slowly before but just wanted it over with this time so I think I unconsciously did it too fast. Will it be ok?? I’m a bit of an over worrier. I can cope with a bruise but my crazy brain is telling me maybe I did something dangerous 😩 (logic is telling me I am likely fine, and have a bruise - crazy worry brain is telling me I messed up and I’m going to die 🤣😩.)

I've had a couple of days where I feel as though I have been taking advantage of the appetite suppression that I've had since increasing to 3.75mg at the beginning of the week.
For at least the first 3 weeks on 2.5mg, I had the odd few hours of appetite suppression so had to work at keeping my calorie intake at around 1200 whilst making sure my body got a good balance of nutrients, protein etc. I was planning my food and eating well. For the final week of 2.5mg and the bonus week of about 3.0mg, I had more appetite suppression but was still eating well.
For the past couple of days my calorie intake has been around 1200 but has involved little water, green veg, fruit or fresh protein (meat, fish etc), instead including UPFs, particularly for my protein intake as it's been protein puddings and bars and other rubbish. Meals have been skipped and then snacks eaten later on.
This isn't good for me and, more importantly, it isn't good for establishing healthy eating habits which is something I was wanting to do whilst on MJ. So I need to re-focus. I've done some meal planning and filled up a bottle of water and put it in the fridge before I came to bed

I’m eating 1,400-1,500 calories per day and I’ve lost 33lbs over 12 weeks. I’m tall at 5’10” for reference. Have dropped BMi by just over 4 percentage points so no longer obese