Continuing Mounjaro...part 17

[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! Make sure the needle is twisted on tightly. Priming will help confirm if the needle is on securely and not faulty.
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 - 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 - Taking Mounjaro can stop birth control from being effective. If you are on birth control, consider extra protection if you aren't planning on conceiving anytime soon!
11 - Once you take your first dose you can choose to keep your pen in the fridge or somewhere else. It's up to you.
12 - 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
13 - 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
14 - 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.
15 - Drink lots of water. Water helps with the weight loss. Try and drink at least 2ltrs a day.
16 - 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.
17 - 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
further reading about injection sites and the effects: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/316618
18 - 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.
19 - 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.
20 - 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.
21- 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.
22 - 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.
23 - 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
16th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5115015-continuing-mounjaropart-16?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:

Happy Friday all,

Well done for the losses big and small. Welcome to all the newbies too ☺️

I fear the weather is effecting my losses also. Up a lb today. Weigh day tomorrow, I can hope for a sts week! Shame as I was 1lb away from the 12s. I'll get there eventually.

Congratulations on the promotion @CloudStar1. Sounds like you really are smashing life!

Congratulations on the promotion @CloudStar1 it’s amazing to see the difference this is making to people’s lives… it’s just such a shame that the media is so negative and biased against it.

I’m another one who has achieved a big promotion due to the increased confidence I’ve gained from Mounjaro. I wouldn’t have gone for this job at the size I was- I’m very visible in my role and I hated people looking at me. I was stuck in a joyless role working from home, where I could hide my size on MS Teams. Now I’m putting myself out there and achieving my potential- which feels great.

I’m not saying plus size people can’t be successful professionals at all, but for me personally when I’m big I just want to hide away. I know that’s my own issues, not society, but I’m definitely happier at a lower weight.

Even though my BMI is still overweight (just under 28) I would actually be quite happy if I ended up around this weight in the long term. I will try to lose another 1.5 - 2 stone, but 13 1/2 stone for my height (5’10”) is fine too. But I never want to go above 14 stone again- lugging around extra weight is tiring!!

To the other posters saying about the heat I agree. My loss this week was just under half a pound. It's definitely the heat. I swell up as soon as it gets hot. I'm hoping g to see better results next week when it rains again. 😁

@Forevafatty don't be disheartened. As it's going for you in another 5 weeks you could be another 9 pounds down which would be 18 in total.

A massive thank you to everyone offering support, advice and encouragement to those of us in stalls/gains/a general state of feeling disheartened.

Human psychology is baffling.

I see someone on a stall or someone that's feeling disheartened and I rush to reassure them because I can see how far they've come and how well they're doing and how great their loses are. And I know that in a month they'll be astonished at how far they've come.

BUT!!!!

When it's me stalling/not losing fast enough my mind immediately leaps to 'ugh you're a failure, this will never work for you, everyone's so much better at this than you'.

WHY?????

@MountKilimounjaro lol I know exactly what you mean! One minute I'm saying I want to lose slow... But then the scales don't move and I get stressed!

@Slimstar13 that's really interesting about the carbs, I'm up a kg today, and I had rice on Wednesday night and a baked potato and beans for lunch yesterday, so I'm back to low carbing for now to see if it makes a difference.

I agree about this being a super supportive thread, I don't post much but I do read, and honestly it's such a relief to see others going through the same thing... a problem shared and all that!

I'm definitely suffering in the heat, have had to take my NSV shorts off, they're cutting me in half now

Oh yes I think you’re right! I can’t get through all the science in this paper but looks to be saying pretty much that. It’s on people with diabetes but presumably much of it applies. How cheering. Though I still have quite a bit of pot belly which is in no hurry to shift

dom-pubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/dom.15566#:~:text=%E2%88%923.38%25%20%5B0.83%5D%20with,degludec%20(data%20on%20file).

I'm a lb off the 12s aswell! I've hated slogging through the 13s, it's felt soooo slooow compared to the 14s.
I was due to take my 5th dose of 5mg today but haven't taken it due to awful dizziness and thought I was gonna throw up in Aldi this morning. I'm thinking it's my blood pressure - I mentioned on the last thread, it's plummeted to under 100/70 and symptoms have got steadily worse over the couple of months I've been on MJ. I was thinking it was nothing compared to the S&D others have had. My partner, who's really supportive, is getting increasingly concerned so I agreed to leave next dose for a couple of days (that'll be OK wont it?). Drinking loads of water, ate a banana but stumped what else I can do.
On a more positive note, I spotted 'MJ The Musical' on FB - got giddy with excitement then realised it was about Michael Jackson!

This point about lugging around the extra weight is so true. I have lost 6kg since starting MJ and 14kg in total since I started trying to lose weight last June. I had a rucksack on holiday which was 8.5kg and I reckon an extra 4 once my day pack was on it, so a bit less than I have lost. It was SO HEAVY. I can't believe I was carrying that around every day and honestly I didn't even feel unfit at that weight but it must have been so much harder.

It's mindblowing isn't it! I'm just thinking about luggage for my holiday and have realised I've lost the weight of a small full suitcase. My poor joints.

Exactly, it's totally mind boggling, and I think a really good way of a) visualising it and b) giving ourselves a decent amount of credit for the loss. In my head I don't feel like I have lost an enormous amount of weight and then I remember how heavy that backpack was and give myself a break!

I am now really struggling with the fatigue. Has anyone got any tips?

@ringoutsolsticebells I can only think of making sure you keep your calories as close to your deficit limit as you can, make sure you eat enough protein and get as much sleep as you can. It did wear off eventually for me but may well hit me again at some point I am sure. Be kind to yourself 🙂

@Dagnabit I hope you don't mind me asking, but you mentioned you were switching to and from Voy as they sent you codes and I wondered how easy it is to leave/suspend your subscription please?
I am with them currently and think I would like to switch due to the code situation as it makes me quite uncomfortable 😩

Weighed in this morning and it was yet another disappointing week.

Since I reached 4st loss a few weeks ago I've barely lost anything. I've not changed anything and my scales are actually saying I've put on fat and lost a bit of muscle too. No change in my measurements for weeks either.

Starting weight 15st 11lb 8oz
Last week's weight 11st 8lb 4oz
This week's weight 11st 7lb 2oz

It's odd as 10mg is having hardly any effect on my weight but I feel more suppression on it so am eating less on this dose ☹️.

I just cancelled the subscription after the first pen and then a few weeks later, they text me a 40% code which was too good to ignore so I ordered another pen. I even contacted them to say I wanted a 7.5mg pen, including a photo of my 5mg prescription and they sent it! I then cancelled again - really simple as you do it online. I have no qualms, it’s so expensive so they must realise people shop around for the best deals.

@BellaCriesAndThatsAlright it's crazy isn't it.

If I lose another 4lb I'll have lost the same amount of weight as both my kids combined. I have a 2yr old and 4yr old and can barely lift either of them, yet I've been carrying around the extra weight of them both for years without realising.

When I started MJ, my DP was weighing plates to track my losses. Now we're weighing in children 😂

I have drunk so much water today, and I swear not a single bit of it has left my body. I've just ballooned - it's either that or the psyllium husk. I dread to think what I'll weigh tomorrow morning 😳

@Forevafatty same. I feel so bloated. Once it cools down I'm hoping for a massive whoosh.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 thats such a good way to track your losses 😂

I took my second 5mg dose this morning and let’s just say the Mounjaro is definitely Mounjaroing tonight.
I’d say the 5mg is giving me a good level of suppression. I’m not as hungry, no food noise but I am hungry for mealtimes but not eating anywhere near my old normal. 5mg also didn’t seem to wear off like 2.5 was doing.
I’ve lost 9lbs in the 5 weeks so still slower than some but I know it will come.

I got nausea when I moved to 7.5mg which apart from constipation was my first real unwanted side effect. Because of that, I stuck with 7.5mg for a second month. My weight went up and down the same few pounds from 7.5mg Pen1 jab 3 to 7.5mg to Pen2 jab 3 but I lost practically an inch on both hips and waist (I don't measure anything else)! Intriguing that lots of people struggle with 7.5mg, I did regret not moving to 10mg.

I went away last weekend and gained 3lb but took that back off (mainly carb weight) and scales touch wood are moving well again. Possibly a coincidence but maybe because I increased my calories over the weekend!?

Well done to everyone on their scale and non-scale victories.