Continuing Mounjaro...part 13

[ObsidianTree]

Please note: Mounjaro will only be be prescribed initially if your BMI is above 30 until you get to a healthy BMI of 23 to BMI 25

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 that 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, vomiting, headaches, aches, are side effects. There may 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.

Some natural sources of protein:
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/howto/guide/best-sources-protein

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321522#high-protein-foods

11 - 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), psylum husks(fibre for constipation), electrolytes.

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

13 - 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.

14 - 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

15 - 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.

16 - 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.

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

MedExpress:
2.5mg and 5mg. £149.99. 7.5mg £169, 10mg £189. Coupon codes no longer working!

The Family Chemist:
2.5mg and 5mg £149. 7.5mg £169, 10mg £169

Zava medical:
2.5mg £139, 5mg £139, 7.5mg £169, 10mg £189, 12mg £204. Zava offer refer a friend discount of 15% off. Ask for a code on here.

Simple online pharmacy:
£149 2.5mg, £149 5mg, £169 7.5mg £189 10mg

Bolt pharmacy:
2.5mg £125, 5mg £149. 7.5mg £169, 10mg £179, 12.5mg £199

Asda:
2.5mg and 5mg £179. 7.5mg £189, 10mg £189, 12.5mg £204

There are others not listed.

18 - 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

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

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

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

8th thread:
https://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?page=1

10th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5080755-continuing-mounjaro-thread-10?page=1

11th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5085436-continuing-mounjaro-thread-11?page=1

12th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5090788-continuing-mounjaro-thread-12?page=1

Thread for newbies just starting out in June:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat/5082791-mounjaro-june-24-starters

Video on how to inject:

👌🏼🤣

Prob get banned now 😂

Separately, I upped my 10 to a 12.5 given there is a full spare dose and it worked great!

Are people generally just using their pens for five weeks instead of four with the spare dose? And presumably putting them back in fridge? Apologies I know this has been raked over but I keep missing vast swathes of messages as this board goes so fast.

I'm not at the end of my first pen yet but I think once I go up to 5mg I'm going to use them for 5 weeks. I'm considering using the 5th dose of my 2.5 mg to make a 5mg a week early.

@Buffypaws love it!

@Buffypaws I got banned from another parenting forum a few years ago for the same thing lol.

Yes I now make them last 5 weeks. Someone pointed out if jab 1 is day 0 or 1, jab 5 squeaks in at under 30 days of the pen being used so shouldn't affect efficacy.

Which thread is this please, did I blink and miss something? 😂

It's on AIBU. Someone annoyed we're stealing all the diabetic drugs again.

Some complete moron seems to think we are stealing Insulin 🙄

Lol hope you don't! But I think the person that called us all fat and lazy got banned!

omg really hahahaah

Ah thanks, I may need to have a look.... 😏

Update on my late delivery Curate pen.

Was told it was dispatched Thursday, it seemed to sit about a depot somewhere on the tracking, didn't appear here on Saturday, so won't be here till today at the earliest .
Emailed them yesterday and actually got a reply on a Sunday!
They said, not to worry it actually only left them on Friday and it wasn't their responsibility it was the courier and not to worry it lasts a month .

So I emailed back a tad more stroppily, saying whilst it's the couriers fault it's still their responsibility to ensure that I receive safe and efficatious medication😅. Also spouted that I work in a lab and am well aware of the importance of appropriate storage for heat labile biological compounds😅
Also said that I am still finishing a pen so will be well past 30 days by the time I finish the Curate pen.

So they have now said that I have to reject delivery of the pen today ( not sure how. I am at work) and that they are sending out a fresh one.
Let's see how it pans out. Still have 2 doses plus bonus to go in my 10mg.

Update........just got an email that the replacement pen is in dispatch so that's pretty sharp.

Yeah don't over do it or mix drinks. I had palpitations a couple of times. Not great. I can have a couple of glasses, but if you have a wine and a whiskey or something it's not good.

Lack of critical thinking is endemic in the UK sadly. We have a habit of blaming each other instead of industry/government.

I think there was a very good opposing arguement put forward by lots of posters.

The media seem to be fat bashing a lot with these drugs (obviously getting bored of immigrants and disabled people now), so I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of these are bots, or are the result of people reading bot material. Perhaps Reform or Tories are going to announce some anti fat policy or ban weightloss drugs. Wouldn't be surprised. They'd probably stick overweight people on a starvation diet on a barge if they could.

Hello - name changed for this in case Bolt follow the threads - not sure what I am worried about but anyway just staying anonymous…..

I had a phone call with Bolt this morning to discuss side effects as they requested this when I said I had been sick a few times on my reorder form. They were really helpful - Advice to cut portions on the day of the injection and if vomiting continues for more than 3 or 4 weeks to reduce the dose or stop - common sense I know but good to discuss it properly with a real person who seemed to care.

I would say they seem human and reasonable and willing to discuss things with us as individuals. I asked about maintenance and time limits and they said they would contact patients for a review at a BMI of 22.5 and make a plan individually. They would definitely have to stop prescribing if the BMI was in the underweight range. They said there was no time limit but they would do a telephone review 6 monthly and discuss risks and benefits for long term use. Currently their reorder system is not asking for a weight but that is an error and will be fixed soon. You do need to lose a certain amount in the first 6 months to stay on the medication.

Anyway - very positive experience and it does make me want to stay loyal to them. I didn’t ask but would imagine that they might well take people with a BMI under 30 who are changing suppliers (obviously with a starting weight above BMI 30) just because it wasn’t all ‘computer says no’ mentality.

I only heard of them because of this thread so thanks guys - the delivery has always been quick and easy too.

That's very useful, thank you so much @FarSideOfTheSun 😊

I think I must be a super responder. I've lost 2 stone in 6 weeks. Maybe 1.5 stone to go I think.

I used the 1st pen for 4 weeks and messed up the bonus dose 🙈
Because I was responding so well I decided to only use 3.75 from the 5mg pen for the next 2 weeks. Still feeling a lot of appetite suppression and no food noise so considering staying 3.75 for a week or 2 longer. Has anyone else used their pen for 6 or more flab jabs? I know you're supposed to use it within 30 days

What's the reason behind the certain numbers of mg people are injecting. For instance why 3.75? Is it easy to get the most from your pen still. So if you have the 5mg pen how do you make sure you're not wasting any of the precious medicine by changing dose sizes?

Personally, I was worried about potential side effects from doubling the dose especially considering the fact that I was having complete suppression. I thought I would move up to 5mg today after 2 weeks of 3.75 but I still feel suppressed after a full week so will stick with 3.75 again

I do get why but why the specific dose? Is it so you can get the most out of the pen still? How does it work out if you do 3.75 and the pen needs using in 30 days? Do you have left over you have to chuck away?

It's the halfway point between 2.5 and 5 so effectively a half a dose up instead of a full dose.
If I take 2 more doses of 3.75 (today and next week) that will leave two 5mg doses.
I wondered if 6 doses from one pen is okay though.

I have done 52 clicks on a 10mg pen this week, mainly because I don't have a lot left to lose, but also because lots of people have reported more side effects on 10mg. The 7.5mg wasn't really working very well in the last 2 weeks for me and probably eating closer to maintenance (I haven't gained, but very minimal loss of about a lb over two weeks). I wanted to go up, but not feel too crap, and I want to slowly reduce and lose these last few lbs slowly.

I think staying on lower dosages if they still work is better in the long run if you have a lot to lose too. I have personally found the dosing schedule generally right for me as I get used to it in a month and am ready to go up.