Mounjaro, end of the journey

[Justkeeprollingalong]

I've had a very successful weight loss with Mounjaro - in 10 weeks I've lost 22lb. I've 6lb more to go with 2 x 7.5ml doses left in my current pen.
I'm thinking one more pen. I will probably go for the 10ml.
Has anyone come off Mounjaro?
Did you use the last pen to gradually reduce the dose or did you go 'cold turkey'?
If you reduced, how did it actually work with the pen?
Also how quickly did the appetite suppression wear off?
Thanks

@Pigriver so did you buy a 5 ml pen but just not take the whole dose each time?

Yes just counted the clicks.

@Letsgoogogo have you been on 7.5 for awhile? I'm just about to order my new pen, hopefully my last one before I start to wean myself off. I don't know whether to go for 10 ml because I've suffered from low level nausea all the time I've been on 7.5. so I don't know whether to stick on 7.5 go up to 10 or drop down to 5! Any advice?

This is very helpful! I have lost 2 stone on 2.5. I haven't increased. Have about a stone more to lose. I would like to try to do 2.5 every ten days for the next 2 months then stop. Mainly for cost reasons! 😢 But the opened pen should be discarded after 30 days? Does anyone have any advice? 🙂

@Penguinsmum
Well done! That's an amazing result on 2.5ml.
I also want to start spacing out the injections soon but I'm worried about the 30 day limit. Perhaps someone more knowledgeable will come along and advise us 🤞

Thank you! For me it's been an absolute miracle! Yes let's hope we can get some advice on how to do it! 🙂

I think the risk is that if you introduce bacteria to the pen when you put the needles on that the preservatives should minimise growth over 30 days. 8 days per jab takes you to about 33 days including the bonus dose while presumably 10 days would be 41 days open. I am not a medic but I imagine you could reduce the risk of bacterial entry by a) keeping the pen in the fridge even once it's in use, b) making sure you wash your hands really thoroughly before using it, c) making sure you either wipe down the area anything touches (i.e. if you use a table or whatever to sort the jab out) or not let it touch anything and d)use alcohol wipes to disinfect the little rubber bund both before and after use.

None of those things will ever be a guarantee and anything where you are injecting rather than taking e.g. orally is higher risk from an infection perspective, so no company is ever going to recommend a longer use period. But those things would reduce the risk if you did choose to use it for longer.

The other risk would be the degradation of the medication itself but that would be reduced by storing in the fridge in the dark.

That's very helpful thank you!

I suppose you won’t know until you try if you will get any side effects.
Everyone is different and it’s why the starting dose is tiny.

Just bumping this as I’m starting to think about titrating down and then maintenance and wanted to see how everyone is doing?

I've been researching MJ and I have a couple of questions and I'm wondering if you lovely ladies can help.

I'm currently 15.7 stones, dress size 18/20 and I'm miserable, I lost weight before and got down to 13.10 but I was exercising 6 days a week and living one 1300 cals a day and the food noise/screaming scales was just unbearable that I can't bring myself to "try" again because after years of failure, I don't want to fail yet again.

Sounds like you've all been successful which is wonderful but have you encountered any issues with loose skin?
My belly looks pregnant most of the time, it's awful, I'm sick of changing my outfit 3 times in the morning, wearing the same few outfits because I look so massive. But I'm worried if I lose loads of weight, I'll be left with saggy, loose skin.

Does it hurt? Is it like an epi pen injector?

Some people get loose skin, some don’t. It’s no different to losing weight by any other method in that respect. There are steps you can take to mitigate it (try not to lose the weight too quickly, strength exercises etc). My view was that I’d rather have loose skin than suffer the potentially life threatening consequences of being obese.

Thank you.

Yes I do agree, but I feel like if I know, I can manage my own expectations better if you see what I mean.

Hi, I think you should take the plunge! It’s not like any other weight loss. I’m on my second 2.5 pen with no side effects apart from constipation. I’ve lost 1 st. 9lbs without extra exercising. I’m using this time as an opportunity to exclude ultra processed food from my diet and sugar; I don’t crave this at all now. The lack of hunger and food noise you’ll find amazing. I’m trying to eat at least 1000 calories a day but rarely manage it so I’m trying to prioritise protein and vegetables.
My face and bum have slimmed down the most and my massive stomach is slowly reducing. No baggy skin yet and I’m 60!
Lots of excellent advice and support on Mumsnet pages. Good luck

Thank you @Countrygirl222

I've taken the plunge and signed myself up to Voy, I'm just waiting on the approval.

I really hope this works for me as I'm so miserable with my weight but also loath the idea of more money wasted on a weight loss gimmick which is probably why I've sat on the fence for so long.

Fingers crossed!

@DragonflyRuby
Hi, I am now within 2 lb of my target weight, which admittedly only brings me to the very top of the healthy weight category.
I started at 12 stone 10 and I'm now 10 stone 9. I found it quite easy to lose the weight gradually, but I am a bit worried that if I lose any more I'm going start looking a bit scrawny, I'm 68 and the skin has no elasticity anymore!
I read on a thread somewhere that Medexpress are now offering maintenance doses so I've just emailed them this morning to ask them what they would recommend, I'm currently on 10 mil.
I'll let you know what they say.

Hi I have been on MJ for the last three month now on 7.5 lost 2 stones. I had only constipation to deal with. However alcohol, oily food and heavy possessed food is no friend of Monjaro and can leed to icky tummies. Make sure to add plenty of protein to your diet, keep it healthy and you should have very little problems .

It doesn't hurt at all, the needle is very fine and short. It is much shorter and finer than an epipen as far as I can tell. It is also not an auto-injector like an epipen is, you are in control of pressing down and injecting the solution.

I'm speaking as someone who has been needle phobic in the past and found the clexane injections after my c sections to be extremely painful. The Mounjaro pens are nothing like those at all.

The first time I injected, I sat there for 30min thinking I can't do it but I said to myself that I spend so much money on the pen and really wanted it so I just pushed the needle in real quick in my upper thigh and found it did not hurt. The key is to insert the needle fast.

This is the reply from Medexpress (see my last post).


Gemmah (MedExpress)
3 Aug 2024, 12:01 BST

Thank you for your email.

To ensure you can maintain your weight loss and the healthy habits you’ve developed, our prescribers can continue to look to prescribe your treatment for a period of two years after your initial order, even if your BMI is within a healthy range of around 23-25.

This is assessed on an individual basis taking all information provided at consultation and throughout the course of your treatment into account and as always remains prescriber discretionary.

We conduct thorough check-ins to monitor your progress, adjust your treatment if necessary, and address any concerns you may have, ensuring you continue to enjoy the results you have worked hard to achieve.

Unlike certain oral medications, there's no way to taper off injectable drugs like Mounjaro. Your body will naturally filter out the drug over time and instead of titrating down we would look at maintenance doses.

We hope that this information is beneficial to you. Should you have any additional inquiries, please feel free to reach out to us.

Kind Regards,

Gemmah
Customer Care Advisor
Please see the MedExpress Help Centre (ME) to answer any questions you may have about your prescription or our service: support.medexpress.co.ukk_

This email is a service from MedExpress.
[W76MXV-K5RLM]

I've had to end my Mounjaro journey earlier than planned due to side effects. I had taken it for 13 weeks, moving up a dose each pen from 2.5mg, 5mg, 7.5mg and 10mg, and was on a steady losing streak of 1 or 2 lb loss each week, with a total loss of 21lb, calorie-counting approx 1500 calories/day which I am pleased with.

However, I started to experience side-effects from around week 9-10, first a chill, felt especially felt in the evenings, which did not really bother me as I took myself off to bed early to read and keep cosy under the duvet. This passed, and from week 10-11 my skin started to itch all over my torso and limbs, again I felt this more in the evenings, but it worsened and I started waking up due to the itchy sensation in the night and it was affecting my sleep and rest. I first took to my local pharmacy who advised taking anti-histamines (I took both the daily and 4x a day tablets), plus creams had no effect. I also referred to my GP and Voy clinicians, who advised me to reduce or stop the injections, so I took a reduced dose of 5mg when I started by 10mg pen (by counting the clicks method). Itching continued and I have stopped Mounjaro about 10 days ago. The itching is still going on, although not as bad.

Itching is noted in the leaflets as a rare side-effect, and although I can't be 100% sure it is due to Mounjaro, I have ruled out other likely causes such as laundry detergent, bed lice (urgh!) and insect bites. I'm curious if anyone else has experienced this side effect, as being hypersensitive to Mounjaro? With hindsight, I think I should not have increased my dose with each pen to let my body get used to the drug more slowly, and not have ignored the chill effect that I had for the 2 weeks prior to itching started. If the itching does disappear completely I'd like to go back and try again, maybe first with a low dose of Mounjaro or switch to an alternative like Wegovy, as I am still just over 30 BMI and would like to lose 2 stone more. However, I have benefitted from establishing better eating habits, which I am maintaining (mostly) and have managed not to put on any more weight in the short time since I've stopped. I've also logged the side effects on Yellow Card, as all medical advisors I have spoken to noted that this drug is still really in the early stages of widespread use.

The main reason for my post is to help fellow users stay informed of rarer side effects, and hopefully address them sooner than I did. I have read of so many successful weight losses here, it is inspirational, so do wish to support fellow users, but with a greater awareness and understanding.