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:

After another official weigh in still in the same weight after 4 weeks (😤), I've taken the plunge and took 7.5.
Pray for me ladies!

Unofficial weigh this morning, and my weight now begins with a 10!
Not as much of a loss as I'd have liked, but I was away and not in as much control of food choices as I'd have had at home. So there was more bread than I've had in weeks, not to mention a large whisky and square of dark chocolate each evening. Dad enjoys the company with a nightcap, so I went with it 😀.

I've also had a number of NSVs, which I'm a bit chuffed with. I can now wear a belt that I've not been able to get around me for a long time. There was an incident involving my white jeans and a glass of red wine the other evening - my boyfriend put the jeans into a wash, and so I had nothing to go home in the next morning. I borrowed a pair of his work jeans - admittedly they are a bit baggy on him, but they fitted me perfectly. He's a super fit fell runner, and I am most definitely not, I was expecting to have to borrow some stretchy running leggings, not jeans.

Back onto logging food/protein/calories again this week so back on track. Official weigh in on Thursday.
Well done to everyone with losses, sympathy to those that are stalling. Keep on going, it WILL come down soon.

I use them, on your patient record there’s a subheading suggested treatments there you will see mounjaro assessment. You go through the questions and then they offer you the same dose or next one up.

What’s the best way to take 7.5mg from a 5mg pen? Inject the full dose, change needle then dial 30 clicks?

I'm planning on switching from Wegovy to Zepbound. I'm on my 6th week of 2.4 of Wegovy and have loss 8 pounds in 5 months. I hope Mounjaro will work better for me. My BMI is still over 30. I've been ordering from Boots but their price for Mounjaro is very high. I'm planning to switch to Zava.

Does anyone have a Zava code I can use?

I used my 5mg pen for 7 doses of 3.75mg over 35 days, but I'm a bit of a Maverick with these things. I won't recommend it to others, just sharing my experience - I was having side effects and didn't want to jump to 5mg, so I did 3.75mg but with smaller gaps between.
My 7.5mg pen I've also split over various smaller doses and will be 6 doses over a slightly longer period, but I'm comfortable with that, I'm aware there's a slight risk of it being less effective or being contaminated and I've accepted that for myself.

Yes, that would be a safe and sensible way to do it. Pick a different injection site, too

Hiya! Yes, REFHWYH8

@SwitchtoZepbound sorry if you already know this - but I believe you need to take a 4 week break and start at 2.5 to remain safe. Drugs are similar but not the same so a break is needed!

I think this was over cautiousness. This is Lloyd's Pharmacy's advice:

How to switch from Wegovy to Mounjaro
You must not take Wegovy and Mounjaro at the same time. Doing this can cause serious side effects. There is no benefit of taking both at the same time. If you do switch, you will need to take your first Mounjaro injection at least one week after your last Wegovy injection.

I am an anxious person and have got it into my head that I will have gall bladder issues especially after reading the facebook posts from people who have lost a lot of weight and had their gall bladder removed.

I had a pain in my right shoulder I think from exercise. I read this could be a symptom and now I can't get it out of my head. I am really loving being on MJ so its like I am looking at issues to self destruct.

Has anyone here head gall bladder issues from weight loss?!

I emailed medexpress after Obsidian kindly shared the info about particular pharmacists supporting a maintenance dose, I asked them what that maintenance does would look like.

They've come back to me today to let me know that the maintenance dose will be 15mg and will be taken weekly, just like we take our jabs weekly now.

I'm not sure how I feel about that because for starters I have no intention of even reaching the 15mg dose whilst I'm losing weight. I'm on 5mg (second 5mg pen) and will be moving up to 7.5mg in two weeks time and I'm almost certain that when I reach my GW of 9st 3lbs I'll still be on the 7.5.

From my very limited research on maintenance I've come across people on reddit who are maintaining by taking one single injection per month, the lowest my of which I've seen to be 5mg. This was more in line with the kind of maintenance I would want.

I think I'm what's known as a 'super responder' and had good results from even 2.5. There would be nothing left of me if I took 15mg a week.

I'm going to order a pen next week so I'll go back to them with my concerns and find out if they will go on a case by case basis as not all of us will need that much.

@BlackFriYay that email definitely reads to me like their view of "maintenance" is the top dose you're on while losing weight and not something you stay on once at a healthy BMI. The week 21+ of treatment sounds like you've titrated up each month and now you are on 15 until you reach a healthy BMI or for 2 years.

I did have my gall bladder out 11 years ago after 4 years of weight watchers.

Not sure what caused it though as I think they take a long time to form.

@coffeandteav
Gallbladder issues come from low calorie diets and fast weight loss. This is why it's important to eat a well balanced diet on Mounjaro and try to eat as much Calories as you can whilst still in a deficit.

I actually developed Gallstones in Pregnancy because I lost my appetite and when I did eat it was takeaways etc. I lost 1.5 stone whilst pregnant and ended up in a lot of pain with my Gallbladder. I'm on the waiting list to see a Consultant for over a year now but I've had no more Gallbladder pain because I've being careful with eating later on the evenings.

However I'm taking the risk with Mounjaro and I'm eating healthy, I'm averaging 1400- 1600 calories per day, I would not want to eat any less than this. However I don't count milk in my tea and little bits of fruit here and there.

I've lost 10lbs in 3 weeks and my BMI is around 31 now.

I think I will go down to 3.75mg as some of you recommended.
Hopefully helps with the nausea as yesterday I may have eaten 2 boiled baby potatoes and half a steamed carrot and I still had to push them in

Food noise is non existent which I am super happy with, but it's affecting my thirst at the same time and have to have timers to remind me to drink water.

Is the nausea hitting anyone this bad? I hate ginger but maybe I should take some ginger sweets to help w it?

No nausea at all here. Not responding overly quickly either.

That StarOf person doesn't have the best command of the English language.

oh and my comment to them was deleted! which one of you reported me?!

StarOf is not the brightest. I didn't report you @Buffypaws!

Thanks that is helpful.

@Buffypaws I missed your comment and wish I hadn't as I would have agreed to it. That girl / lady is a fuckwit so don't waste your time with her. It did make me laugh though even though it was no longer there!

Probably the twat with a BMI of 21 and never had weight problems!

I wish the twat hadn't brought breast cancer in to it. I'm high risk and it is one of the reasons for doing this.

Which thread is this?

I couldn't past 2 pages of that awful thread, but totally shocked at the accusation we were stealing "insulin from diabetes". Laughable.