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:

I also think it's all hearsay at the moment. Surely they will only do something about it if people start dying from taking the meds if in a healthy BMI...which I don't think would happen.

I suppose if loads and loads of people start ending up in the hospital from taking it that will start causing issues.

I also have a decent stockpile. I think if I dont order a pen until I finished my stock, I'd get to BMI 25 before I ran out! Since finding out some places offer a maintenance plan I realize I now no longer need to stockpile! But oh well! It's done now! I'll just order pens once a month from now on.

I am also still with Zava and will stay with them now probably, so considering they don't offer maintenance I might as well make sure I have my own 6 month supply. But it's beyond that I don't know about! I guess I'm hoping more guidance will come out and Zava will decide to offer for maintenance by the time I get there.

re: stockpiling, isn't it a gamble as to what the expiry date on the pens will be?

I've finally caught up again, I'm only managing about 1 post per thread at the moment!

I lost around 11-12lb per 2.5mg and 5mg pen but 7.5mg has been a total flop for me...bonus dose taken yesterday but 4 weeks of 7.5mg and only about 5lb lost I think...total loss is 29lb over 13 or 14 weeks so not super fast but enough that I'm not despondent. I've got a 7.5 and a 10 in the fridge. Long expiry on the 7.5 so I'll go up to 10 next week and leave the lower dose for gradually coming down later on. I'm BMI 29.6 or something so a good way to go yet.
Anyway, as it's been a slow scales month I took a photo. This compares day 1 to today so those 29lbs are starting to show despite the fact I'm wearing a size 16 in both photos....same tshirt in fact, but look how much longer it is now my belly and boobs are shrinking 🤣

Has anyone got good tips for what to do if you're just very bloated and windy? Sorry, not a pleasant thing to talk about! I've had two nights now where as I go to bed I've felt like this, it's so uncomfortable. Just feels like I've got trapped wind in my belly. I end up wishing I could just squeeze myself like a set of bellows and all the air would pop out!

I had a very respectable dinner last night and tried a peppermint tea to see if it helped. But it just started up out of nowhere.

@NCfor24 Yes, very noticeable! I am on 7.5 at the moment. I do wonder if part of it is being weeks in and weight loss will naturally slow. I’m so close to target so I don’t care if it’s a pound every two weeks now.

I also hope some sort of maintenance is sorted. I would pay each month. 🤷🏻‍♀️I don’t want to get into the cycle of up and down. I completely understand why people are trying to access it anyway they can. Seeing all the compound stuff in the USA I now absolutely get it. If something works for you and you can pay you want it. I’m not daft enough to want to resort to black market crap. But I understand why people would.

I got on the Renpho bandwagon and they arrived this morning. They make me 4lbs heavier. Pah.

Maybe I can slip on another pen order with those ones? 😂😂😂😂😂

I have a spare 7.5mg pen and 3 x 10mg pens all expire April 25. So they will last me a long time.

I heard 12.5mg pens expire oct 24 which is odd, but will only buy that if I plan to go up to 12.5mg I guess!

@NCfor24 you can really see the difference in those photos!

Great work 😊 a great difference. Hopefully 10mg will work out better for you

Lol @FlappyFish order another pen, go for it 🤣 the new scales are obviously more accurate!

Let's hope that Asda will consider maintenance doses soon!

Hi all,
I'm on week 13 and have one more dose of 7.5mg to take. I've experienced fantastic loss and appetite suppression so far and am feeling a bit hesitant about going up to 10mg. If anything I feel like I could start dosing down but got carried away and ordered the next dosage.

So, it's already sitting in my fridge and was my priciest pen so far so I don't want to waste it! Can anyone explain for me if I can count the clicks to do a lower dose with the 10mg pen? I was thinking either stay at 7.5mg or even go down to 5mg and see how I feel?

This is great news. Loads of benefits apart from weight loss then. My alcohol consumption has gone from too much to zero.

@GordanoBenito you can count clicks. I think one of the pics on my first post has the click chart amount.

On a 10mg pen, 30 clicks would be 5mg. So 45 clicks would be 7.5mg.

I did my third injection today of first dosage - I am using the weekends to have that time post-injection. I am adjusting and being more aware - parts of my impulse eating are curbed, and I am working on a fasting programme as well to help me control meal times as it is the snacking and cakes/biscuits that are part of the issue.

Start weight: 14 st 11
Current Weight 14 st 9 (approx)

Amazing @ObsidianTree - you're officially the Mounjaro Maestro! Thank you ☺️

Hi everyone! I'm on week 16 and am now bmi 26. I've just done my second dose of 7.5 and it's floored me. However, I lost only 2 kgs on 8 weeks of 5 mg and have lost a kilo on 1 week of 7.5. This is despite the same calorie intake. Which goes to show it's more than appetite suppression that's making this work and that my metabolism is slightly screwed without it.

I'm nervous about stock piling as I don't want to leave too much of a gap between orders, especially as there seems to be more flexibility around maintenance doses. I'd be nervous about requesting an order after a 3 month gap with a healthy BMI, so plan just to have one extra pen in the fridge in case of shortages. I'm also going to stick with the same pharmacy. I am desperate to stay on this as long as possible, even forever and treat it like a very expensive super HRT!

I think they do but my last prescription was more than 6 weeks ago (ordered a bit early and then bonus dose etc).
To be honest even if I don't lose any more I'd be more than happy. I feel so much better, my clothes fit better and I just feel like me again.
I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight which I haven't been for nearly 10 years (there was a brief period of 1 months and they I got pregnant again 🙈)

My Renphos put me at 4lbs heavier when I bought them too. I just altered my starting weight up by 4 so I could still say I'd lost a stack of weight😂

@AnnaDor yes! Total risk. I’m on 2.5 (and staying on it) and those pens so far expire Oct 24, I wish I could get my hands on a later batch.

@KeepingUndercover ive taken rennie deflatine and bio kult for the last month. I think it helped a bit. I’m far less bloated as I’ve lost weight.

Thanks @ThirdStorm, I'll try that. I'm not sure what the issue is this week, maybe just the higher dose building up in my system. It's ramped up again this afternoon and is making me not want lunch because I already feel full.

Could we in theory sign up for two online pharmacies at once. So you could order two pens at a time? 🤔 I don't want labour to come wading in and cock it up for us. I've just bloody voted for them 🙄 posted it today

That's what I've just done!

Just wanted to share a win with you all
Starting weight 18st 6lb size 28
Today's weight 9 stone 6lb size 10 🥳
Don't think I've been a size 10 since I was about 4 😂😂 keep going everyone, it is so so worth it

Wow, that is fantastic 👏

I could do with a bit of advice. Took my first dose of 5mg on Monday night, Tuesday was fine but Wednesday Thursday and Friday I’ve barely been able to eat. Am also utterly beyond exhausted (but that may be unrelated). Bit more appetite today (so that’s only 3 days feeling like shite?). Should I stick with 5mg because next week will be easier or drop down a smidge?

edited to add: 16lb down in 5 weeks