Continuing Mounjaro...part 16

[ObsidianTree]

Please note: Mounjaro will only be be prescribed initially if your BMI is above 30. If you have additional health conditions you can get the medication with a BMI 27. (Prediabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or heart problems)

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 - Some people find that they don't need to go up a pen dose each month if the current pen dosage is working well for them. If you are unsure when to go up, speak to your prescriber.

8 - If you are having bad side effects after titrating up or you are struggling to eat your calories each day, your dose may be too high so should consider lowering your dose. Speak to your prescriber if unsure.

9 - 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

10 - Once you take your first dose you can choose to keep your pen in the fridge or somewhere else. It's up to you.

11 - 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

12 - Protein is important as eating less protein can cause muscle wastage and hair loss.

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

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

13 - 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.

14 - Drink lots of water. Water helps with the weight loss. Try and drink at least 2ltrs a day.

15 - 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.

16 - 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

17 - 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.

18 - 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.

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

MedExpress:
2.5mg and 5mg. £149.99. 7.5mg £169.99, 10mg £189.99. 12.5mg £209.99. 15mg £209.99 Coupon codes no longer working!

The Family Chemist:
2.5mg and 5mg £149. 7.5mg £169, 10mg £169, 12.5mg £194, 15mg £199

Zava medical:
2.5mg £139, 5mg £139, 7.5mg £169, 10mg £189. 12.5mg £204. 15mg £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, 15mg £199

Asda:
2.5mg and 5mg £179. 7.5mg £189, 10mg £189, 12.5mg £204 15mg £204

There are others not listed.

20- You will still be prescribed Mounjaro when your BMI falls below 30. However, it may be harder to move suppliers once you BMI is below 30 if you wanted to move.

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

The Family chemist :Would consult you as approached healthy BMI to discuss maintenance under close supervision(if you started with family chemist)
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 and does offer maintenance
Zava:Once healthy BMI will stop prescribing this treatment
Med Express: BMI 25 and cut off.

22 - 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

14th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5102149-continuing-mounjaropart-14?page=1

15th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5107426-continuing-mounjaropart-15?page=1

Thread for newbies just starting out in July:

https:/
/www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5101435-mounjaro-july-2024

Video on how to inject:

Are you sure you haven't already done 4 doses. ?

Med Express code?

Hi everyone. I’m generally on the July newbies thread and am also reading through the “continuing mounjaro” threads (that’s a lot of reading!).

Med Express have just sent me a reminder to order new pen, I’m going to stick to 2.5 for now as I’m getting side effects of nausea and fatigue and losing slowly.

I've checked the Mounjaro discount code thread for Med Express code but can’t see any so wondered if anyone here might know if there are any current codes?

They stopped doing them a few weeks ago. A lot of people have switched to Zava.

I hit BMI 30 this morning so looking forward to the next few days!

Here's my ZAVA code if anyone needs one.
You get 15% off (max £30) and so do I.

REF46QFN

If you are moving from another provider they will ask for current photos and although very straightforward can add a day or 2 to them dispatching so don't leave to the last min!

@susiedaisy1912 I have but there is still a full dose in the pen. Can we not use that?
sax has five in a 4 dose pen and you can use it all. I assumed (clearly wrongly) that this would be the same.

Yes you can get a 5th dose out. Check out the pinned post at the beginning of the thread and you'll find a guide to how to do it

Thanks for responses re no med express codes. I might still stick with them for now though as they’ve been okay so far.

I've posted the following cautionary tale on the July newbies thread but also posting here for info - I was absolutely exhausted on Sunday and spent the day in bed, sleeping an extra 4-5 hours more than usual. I thought it was the Mounjaro, but I’ve realised it’s more likely due to me taking a single heartburn and acid reflux capsule containing Esomeprazole on Saturday (I was having really bad sick-burps and heartburn). I picked them up in the health isle in Tesco.

Med Express also suggested anti-sickness meds to go with my next pen, but when I went through the questionnaire to purchase them this morning I was refused as I’m on citalopram. Apparently some anti-sickness / gastro meds cause drowsiness if you are on anti depressants.

Looking closer at the info sheet inside the Tesco box it does say consult your GP if you take citalopram - stupidly I only skimmed the info and didn’t spot that.

So lesson learnt for me!

Thank you. The hard twist worked.

Placemarking. Started my first dose on Sunday

Ooh, I left my Mounjaro in my basket with MedExpress and they’ve just sent me an email for 15% off if I check out 😊

Scratch that! The code they sent can’t be used to reorder 2.5 Mounjaro 😡

Would you jab if recovering from covid?
Probably 90% recovered. Generally no side effects from Mj.
Was hoping to get back on track as had 1 missed dose and 1 late this month with holidays and other illness

I'm hypothyroid, and my heart rate hasn't changed at all. One thing to bear in mind is now you've lost weight, your thyroid medication may need lowering slightly, but that's the only thing I can think of. Sensible to check with GP though, I hope you get it sorted.

@QuiltedHippo I started Covid symptoms the day after my first injection. Had a fever, off work for a week and barely ate. Was in two minds whether to have 2nd dose the following Saturday but went for it. I was tired most of the week, but no idea if that was Covid fatigue or Mounjaro and managed to power through at work.

3rd injection this week and only very tired the day after.

I would go for it to keep on track if you don’t normally have symptoms. I thought I read on here someone was told by their provider if you missed 2 weeks you go back to 2.5mg

In one of the previous thread someone said the provider they used dispatched with DPD...anyone remember who the provider was? I hate the uncertainty with Royal Mail, but can't find online what pharmacy uses DPD to deliver...

Apparently Curate have moved from Royal Mail to DPD, and with Cloud Pharmacy you can choose which of the two you prefer.

I jabbed on Sunday eve while recovering from Covid - no adverse affects other than tiredness but I think that is the Covid hangover rather than MJ.

I posted about Oushk who now use dpd and handled my move to them from Medexpress very efficiently

@3wDavid Asda use DPD to dispatch. Used to be Royal Mail.

Do Bolt ever do discount codes?

I want to move away from med express since they stopped doing codes and from reading the maintenance spreadsheet it seems Bolt are more supportive of maintenance than Zava, although Zava have the codes.

my BMI is down to 32 now so hopefully not too long til I’m under 30 - but this means I kind of need to settle on a supplier as I know it’s harder to switch once you’re under 30.

anyone have any pros or cons between bolt and Zava?

I've had a good experience with Zava, highly recommend

I moved to Bolt from Med Express, it was very efficient. I was approved on a Sunday, pen sent Monday afternoon, and received Tuesday morning. My BMI was only just over 27 at this point, but I had comorbidities.

For other people considering switching, they do consider other diagnoses as comorbidities, not just high cholesterol, blood pressure etc. They also included GORD, asthma, osteoarthritis of knee or hip, and peri/menopause.

I haven't heard of them doing discount codes unfortunately.

I switched to Zava after my first order with medecpress as it was a lot cheaper and I got approved within 24hrs it arrived. 5mg for £122 using a code off here.

if use my code and you’ll get 15% off your first order at ZAVA: REFBF2R3
www.zavamed.com/uk/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=refer_a_friend
Maximum discount value: £30

Interesting chat about heart rates as mine has done the opposite it usually sits resting at 60 but each time I take MJ the next two days it sits resting at 48-50. I actually kept my garmin watch on overnight as I was concerned it had dropped. The graph shows the drop days & then it picks up again 2d later they are also the 2days I’m really cold so normally moving around to keep warm!
I was obese when I started 4wks ago but fit. I’ve just tipped into overweight with bmi 29.9 yah! Such a nice feeling. I’m short so easy to be bigger bmi sadly.

I was on holiday last week so was a day late with jab as I didn't want to take a pen.
I ate more than I have been doing on my strict calorie counting, but far less than I would have done in full fat git out of control eating mode.
I did notice the urge for sweet things was rearing it's head towards the end of the week......I did succumb to the lidl chewy fruit sweets, but in my defence I live on an island with no lidl so there was a novelty there! I also ordered a couple of mochas, something I wouldn't think of when dosed up, although I quickly got sweeted out and didn't finish.

I have occasionally wondered if all this is placebo effect and we imagine the suppression because it's costing us a lot of money😂.
Having dosed up on 12.5mg the minute I got home, I can confirm that it's defo not placebo! The difference between this week and last is ridiculous.......the thought of sweet things actually sickens me and I am very very unhungry. Just been out to lunch, had a tiny bowl of soup and left the bread roll. I bloody love rolls, but......nope.

It did give me a slightly scary glimpse of MJless life. I did want sweet things...... The residual MJ in my body kept me within target, but it was scary to feel that urge for bad stuff after all this time..