Continuing Mounjaro...part 14

[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.
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 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:

Zava medical:
2.5mg £139, 5mg £139, 7.5mg £169, 10mg £189. 12.5mg £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 £149, 5mg £149. 7.5mg £169, 10mg £179, 12.5mg £199

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, 12.5mg £194

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

There are others not listed.

18 - Worried about your supply being cut off when you get to a healthy BMI? Below is some info on some places maintenance plans.

MedExpress: Once at healthy BMI continue on maintenance dose for 6 months and then step down medication and monitor loss
The Family chemist :Would consult you as approached healthy BMI to discuss maintenance under close supervision
Curate: up to 2 years
Cloud: up to 2 years
Boots: Cut off at BMI 23
Asda: Cut off at a healthy BMI
Pharmacy2u: Will supply for maintenance
Bolt:Individual assessment once BMI 22
Zava:Once healthy BMI will stop prescribing this treatment

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

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

13th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5096704-continuing-mounjaropart-13?page=1

Thread for newbies just starting out in June:

https://www.mumsnet.co
m/talk/weightlosschat/5082791-mounjaro-june-24-starters

Video on how to inject:

Hi! I’d take a look through previous posts as there’s been lots of talk on this which may help you 🥰

On the protein front @spottydogsarethebest @AgathaMystery and others who have worried they are not getting enough, the daily recommendation for women is only 45mg.

I know we need to aim for more than that because we risk losing muscle on a low calorie diet, however I’m unconvinced we need 100mg daily. That’s an excessive amount over the recommended amount and I wonder where it has come from (I follow Dr Idz on social media, and like him I’m very sceptical of the dietary advice promoted by the likes of Glucose Goddess, Zoe etc- eg I don’t believe non diabetics should use CGM).

I’ve come to the conclusion that 80mg of protein per day is a more sensible and sustainable target. It’s nearly double the daily amount and is above the 72mg recommended for a high protein diet by MFP.

For me to achieve 100mg, I would need to eat/drink highly processed yoghurts, drinks, puddings, snack bars or whey squash and I’m not willing to do that because I try to avoid ultra processed foods where I can. For me personally, this feels counterproductive to trying to build a sustainable healthy diet. I’m not criticising anyone for choosing to eat these foods (and I do still enjoy the protein yoghurts as a treat) I do get why in the short term it helps support a healthier diet, but I just wanted to offer an alternative perspective to newbies reading this thread.

@Snozzlemaid

A full dose is 0.6 ml for any of the pens. People get around 0.7-0.8 ml using this method.

Clean the end of the pen with an alcohol wipe then extract the liquid through the end of the pen using your needle and syringe.

Get any bubbles out of the syringe.

Consider the length of your needle - if it is more than the 4mm we use with the pens, inject at a 45 degree angle to ensure it is a subcutaneous injection.

Google drawing up medicine from a vial and subcutaneous injection technique for more information, diagrams and videos before you start.

@WannabeHealthier yes 80g seems more reasonable.

I haven't managed to eat 100g so far. I haven't actually lost any hair yet so the amount I'm having is hopefully ok.

Yes 100mg is difficult to achieve within the calorie limit without resorting to the artificially enhanced protein foods or some weird/ unappetising food combinations! It also risks coming at the expense of fibre, which is important.

I haven’t lost hair noticeably yet - it’s a real worry for me as I do have fine hair and have had periods of hair loss.

@WannabeHealthier Ive lost hair when I've done diets in the past. A shake diet I lost a lot of hair and when I did keto my hair thinned a bit. So it's definitely something I've worried about.

@RunningAndSinging Brilliant, that was exactly the sort of advice I was after.
Thank you so much. I will watch some videos too.

@WannabeHealthier I totally agree that 100g of protein daily is completely unrealistic.

My protein goal on MFP changes daily (seems to range from 64 to 90). I'm not that bothered if I don't make the higher figures as I'm sure I'm probably fine most days.

God I have just felt the impact of my now very low sugar diet. DP bought some Percy Pigs and I let myself have 4 as a treat, although by the last one I wasn’t enjoying them (I used to be able to polish off 2 bags in a day!!).
Within 10 minutes I was fast asleep and have felt completely knocked out and light headed for the last 2 hours. Have drunk a litre of water, eaten a few pieces of chicken for protein and had a cold shower to perk me up but it’s reminded me how damaging sugar actually is and how really for my body it’s not a treat at all. I literally feel like I poisoned myself!

I just try and make sure I'm eating a varied diet and getting protein in most meals. Presumably to really get the benefit from eating a lot of protein we'd also need to be doing a lot of strength work so that the protein actually gets used properly for muscles? It's not magically just making muscle by itself?

I feel like over the years there have been so many dietary trends that I'm now highly sceptical of them all.

Thanks for this @WannabeHealthier
I haven't invested in protein drinks, etc as I don't like creamy drinks like milkshakes, or artificial sweetners, and am trying to avoid UPFs (and save my money for the jabs!) but was beginning to wonder if I was wrong due to the amount of chat about them. Happy to hear 100gm a day possibly too high, I was finding this completely impossible.

That guardian article was interesting. After reading it I googled to find out when the patent for mounjaro runs out. 2039!

@GeorgiePorge i used your Zava code, thank you! I’ve switched from Lloyds Pharmacy as they have just put their prices up by £20 a pen!

my Zava code is There’s no better gift than the gift of good health. Use my code and you’ll get 15% off your first order at ZAVA: REFM9PTZ
www.zavamed.com/uk/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=refer_a_friend
Maximum discount value: £30

I completely agree @WannabeHealthier I'm hitting my protein target of around 80g a day and staying within my calorie allowance of 1200-1400 by eating plain yogurt/ nuts/ turkey/ eggs/ cheese mainly all with salad or fruit. but I did try one of those yogurts for the first time today at 3pm oooh it was yum and hit the spot nicely plus I carried on working until 6pm without feeling hungry. Thanks to whoever mentioned the chocolate hazelnut one it was nice without being too sweet. My life long craving for sugar has mostly vanished it’s utterly brilliant.

Lol ah rubbish! 😂

Guess no generic version for us then!

Let's hope we can at least buy Mounjaro for maintenance for longer than 2 years soon!

I'll remove the bit about 100g protein from the starter info. Will just keep the bit that protein is important.

@Letsgoogogo yes it's interesting how protein things are quite big now.

I stopped at Aldi on the way back from the gym and grabbed a couple of the protein desserts so hopefully I’ll get on ok with those 🤞 thanks for the recommendation

Yes I was laughing seeing a mars bar marked as a protein one?! Seriously it’s full of sugar and palm oil which can’t be remotely healthy.

Still on 5mg. Appetite suppression is good & seems a bit extended. Less tired, but still a bit sluggish. Constipation pretty much gone. So the body seems to adapt but still a suppressed appetite.
I was with friends today who I hadn’t seen in a few months, they remarked that I had lost weight, but there was no grilling. We met for lunch, but this was simple & healthy, no food pushing: boiled pasta, various veg & salad, fruit for pudding, water & herb tea to drink.
Re protein - my go to sources are cottage cheese, eggs, meat, fish, chicken, Lidl protein bars - I take half a bar in the morning & eat when peckish. I do have collagen powder but only use occasionally. I often achieve 100+ g per day, but I don’t worry about it too much.

I've just read on reddit that MedExpress are cutting people off as soon as they get to BMI 25. It used to be 23. I'm regretting reordering from them now.

Interesting to see how much the price goes up when it has the word protein on the packaging too 😠

I've seen someone on tictok compare protein products to none protein as per marketing and the difference is negligible.

Such as greek yogurt Vs protein yogurt etc

Damn! I have been falling for these protein products!