Continuing Mounjaro...part 18

[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)

Mumsnet does not allow promo codes. Please do not post any. If you want one, ask and someone will PM you a code or there are now threads on the promo page that have codes for Mounjaro.

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.
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 - 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.

10 - 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

11 - 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!

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

13 - 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

14 - 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

15 - 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.

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

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 your 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: Now saying they support maintenance upto 2 years.

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 to 9th thread, get link from thread 10

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

17th thread:
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5122095-continuing-mounjaropart-17?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:

Somebody on here suggested I use hand sanitiser when I ran out of swabs. It's a good back up plan if you find yourself without on jab day.

Have you checked in the box that the needles come in? Often there are swabs in there? However, I have to confess to never having used them…the needles are sealed so I just make sure not to touch it when I take the two separate caps off.

@loverrr
You can use alcohol-based hand sanitiser instead if you’ve still got some lying around. Just dab and wipe on the little red plug at the end of the pen .

@QueenOfHiraeth thank you for the info on thyroid meds. I knew a few bits but not the full details. So good to know the full detail.

@butterfly0404 please don’t despair.

If we take the emotional out of it, you can lose weight and you have been losing weight! A stone on 2.5 mg is all the proof you need for this! Most people don’t even lose on that dose; it is not even considered a therapeutic dose! So your body is working and things are happening as they should!

Re the 2 kg “gain”. It could be time of month related (my cycle seriously affects my losses and gains!); it could be the hot weather (your body holding on to more water); it could be something related to stress or sleep. It could be anything.
What it definitely isn’t is fat gain. You’ve said it yourself, you’ve been eating well and within a calorie deficit (although I’d say 1000 or less calories a day is on the lower side…), you’re exercising, you’re walking. Your body has not really gained weight.

TBH, exercise is great but I find that if I overdo it and go really hard at it, it may temporarily have the opposite effect on my weight (as yes, you are losing fat but guess what - you’re also building muscle).

My advice - keep at it. You’re doing great, you’ve already responded so well to the drug. It doesn’t just overnight stop working. Drink your water (maybe aim for 2.5-3 liters); eat your good diet with extra focus on protein; and you’ll see your gain disappear

Just to say anyone ordering with Med Express, I put an order in a week ago and it’s showing as still no progress, even after 2 emails enquiring. I called them today and she’s flagging it to prescribers who will hopefully process and send out. However I’m not now expecting my delivery until probably Thursday plus next week?? Luckily, I have another week on the 5.mg pen plus my bonus, but if you order through them, leave plenty of time!

regards the 5mg pen, like many I’ve found it odd, no where near the weight loss or suppression as 2.5. Hopefully I’ll start loosing weight again soon, as I’m sure we all will, for those in a stall .

@Tireduk I really hope they get it under control as its off putting that you can't plan when to expect delivery.

@SilverHeels I've pm'd you again

I have weighed myself today (4th week on mounjaro) and I have maintained 😣
Week 1 - 4lbs
Week 2 - 6lbs
Week 3 +2lbs ( period week)
Week 4 maintain

Total loss 8lbs

I feel quite disappointed, I have consistently consumed under 1300 calories for the full 4 weeks 😐

I don't do any exercise as such, I have an active job (community nursing ) so I am certainly not inactive during the day, I probably dont quite get to 10k steps per day but I spend at leats 6 hours a day going from patient to patient.
Weekends we will go for a walk if the weather is ok.

Whilst the scales havnt moved, my work trousers are falling down today - there is at least a 3 inch gap at the waist

I just wish the numbers on the scales would move 😕. I personally would never weight myself every day as in the past it has led to unhealthy obsessive behavior. I don't even own a pair of scales, I weigh myself at work eveey Friday! I know weighing daily works for some, but for me it leads to very unhealthy habits, so I guess I wobt be seeing the fluctuations

Did anyone else find MJ let to sudden onset of anxiety? I’m not an anxious person usually but have noticed since upping my dose to 7.5/10mg I’ve had some days including today where I feel really anxious and out of sorts. Just wondering if it could be the MJ?

Asda do not send swabs so I have been using this since day 1. Works a treat.

I mean this kindly, you are not on a therapeutic dose. You need to give this time

thanks chaps for the feedback on oestrogen / HRT / Bio- / and all the rest of the peri-menopause world! schoolgirl error in that I tried to click thanks on each of your posts as I've not checked in for 24 hours.... I am very very pleased to hear that everyone seems pretty happy on the nomination of MJ & hrt meds, TBF I slapped the patch on and hoped for the best. I'll rip it off if I start to feel very low (an effect of mmdd etc)... but for now, huzzah!

re the yoyo losing, I felt like I was going mad keeping going round the same kg for about a month when I was out socialising / holidays / festivals... got up to 7.5, could barely eat, lost 3kg in about 5 days, then bam 2kg straight back on as soon as I could eat again... I think my scales are wonky and I certainly need to practice managing my food intake better haha. aiming for slow and steady xx

Yes, it has increased my anxiety, I've had to take meds for the first time in years. I spoke with my GP and we decided it was worth it for the short term.

And it's slowing, it seemed the worst around 5-7.5mg.

Hi 👋 just had my email from medexpress, my first dose has just been dispatched. I’m both excited and terrified! My brother has just lost 2 stone on MJ so thought I would give it a try. I need to lose around 4 stone. I suffer from fairly bad IBS-D and have read some stories about MJ massively improving it. Any success stories on here please?

3 inches from your waist is 1.5 clothing sizes! It's amazing. Don't worry about the scales, I find this as well. Weeks where scales aren't moving much but suddenly my clothes are huge and falling off.

It's a hard thing to move on from, but I'm trying to not focus just on the numbers. It's about how I'm feeling, looking overall and improved health and fitness. All of which are through the roof positive in the time that I've been on mounjaro.

Take regular progress photos of yourself, you'll see the difference.

Thank you, sometimes I need reminding of the positives, so thank you for the uplifting words I appreciate them 🩷

Thank you, I am a bit emotional, like all of us I've struggled with my weight and this has been a battle for 30 years.

I'm 58 now, diagnosed with arthritis and NAFLD, this is my last chance to sort my health out. I was diagnosed with cancer 2 years ago, thankfully in remission but my weight has been a much harder battle than that.

I've only lost the weight in the first 4 weeks due to near starvation, could only get in between 3 and 600 cals, due to strong supression but I've Increased a bit as long term this isn't sustainable and as a result I'm gaining weight.

My tummy is really bloated, i look 6 months pregnant, but I've had no carbs or anything to cause it.

Feel quite demotivated but I'll keep going.

To those who have had a slight gain or maintain this week - keep the faith… the heat will have an adverse effect on nearly all of us this week but keep going because your efforts will show themselves once it starts cooling down a bit 🙂

@butterfly0404 I was really bloated in the first month so I took 'Rennie Deflatine'. I think it helped a bit. After then I wasn't so bloated. I was also making sure I drank 2 litres of water every day. I hope it passes.

As a treat to myself for getting to two stone off, I bought some new trousers in the sale today, including a pair of white linen-y trousers. I’ve never had any because I considered myself to be too fat to wear them nicely or comfortably but these are lovely and look really good.

it’s so nice to be able to go shopping and not have to pull clothes about on the hangers to check the size and fit 😊 this would never have happened without MJ

I do struggle with excess gas, I'll try that x Already getting in between 2 and 3 lites of water a day, any more isn't healthy as it flushes out salts and minerals x

Just wanted to share this.
I had my second body scan yesterday (Styku) and in 12 weeks I have lost 23kg of fat and gained 17.5kg of lean muscle.
How fab is that!!

This is unbelievable! How have you managed that while in a calorie deficit?