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:

@ObsidianTree fab loss!! I’m not even letting myself think about BMI 25 yet, it feels so far away from me, currently goal is BMI 30! I can only imagine the excitement you must feel being so so so close! What an achievement!!

For me it was about 2 stone loss when I couldn't wear my old clothes anymore - dresses and tops are more forgiving if you lose weight I find - oversized is "in" at the mo anyway. But jeans and trousers looked ridiculous. I was a size 22 when I started - am now mostly a size 18 with 3 stone loss - but I can still get away with 20 in some things.

The weight training talk is seriously motivating @Beeble21 ! I really need to get back into it.

@spamm thank you, I only had to wipe it away the once, it was just a bit startling as wasn’t the usual pinprick of blood I’m used to!

@ObsidianTree that’s amazing, well done!!

After week 1 I’ve lost 6.75lbs which I’m pleased with. I know I won’t lose this much next week but it feels good to be back out of the 200s. Definitely felt the hunger back by days 6 and 7 but managed to continue eating well and drinking water.

SW: 201 lbs
CW: 194.25 lbs

@MrsBurtMacklin re “The weight training talk is seriously motivating @Beeble21 ! I really need to get back into it.”
Can I encourage you to book something in next week?
I was similarly motivated by @Beeble21 ’s post and actually booked a Mon Eve weights class at my old gym. I bought 5 classes to keep me going. I’m on holiday in a fortnight but that doesn’t mean I can’t get a few sessions in before.

Snap! Exactly the same - 1st 1lb to 25BMI and also being encouraged by my clinic to aim for 23. I am almost the slimmest I’ve been for 12 years, after doing SW to lose baby weight, but only stayed there for a month or two. 23 bmi would be a weight I’ve not been sice I graduated from uni/met my husband so, tbh, I cannot imagine being that size ever again!

thanks for these threads - they are so supportive and encouraging!

I’m the lightest I’ve been in 30 years although my body doesn’t look 30 years younger!

I have a variety of clothes from over the years that I can wear (am only a stone less than my earlier lightest weight) and the summer hasn’t inspired me to want new summer stuff, and I still have a lot of weight on my stomach and hips so I remain 14/16 even under 11 stone. Things are baggy though.

Also I laughed at one size garden centre clothes! I used to live somewhere which mainly had garden centres for shopping so am very familiar with these. Wafty!

@SlimforXmas I noticed your comment on blood when you injected and you may already do this, but you mentioned injecting twice in your thigh. The medical guide is not to inject in the same spot, try swapping thighs or different areas as I read, im not an expert though, you can get a lump or build up if you use the same spot weekly. Hopefully it was a blip and no more blood. Good luck!

Thank you 😊 My BMI was 37 when I started dieting in Jan! It seems far away but it will come around faster than you think 😊

I am also the slimmest I've been for about 12 years! 🤣 I believe I was around this weight just before getting pregnant with my first who is now 11! I suppose my next mini goal is to get down to the weight I was when I met my husband. Which was about 12st 4! I don't think I've hit BMI 23 since I was a teenager! So that will be weird for sure!

I think my brain is broken. I've lost 24kg since April, which is over 50lb.... but I don't feel ive gone down any dress sizes. I was a chunky 20 when i started, and all my clothes are stretchy... so everything still fits, just a bit more loosely.

I need to give my head a bit of a wobble, don't I, and just go and try some stuff on? I'm just nervous about going into shops and STILL not being able to get into an 18...I'll be so disheartened if that happens.

I am also the lightest I have been for 5 years when I reached this weight for a few months. I am still BMI 29 and want to get to a healthy BMI for this first time since 6th form.

It has struck me that most of us have finally found a solution to our life long weight problems and what an amazing drug this is. We established on an earlier thread what an amazing bunch of capable and clever people we are but weight has been a problem we could not solve until now. Who would have thought there was complex biology around weight problems and it’s not just a case of following instructions and eating less and moving more 🤔.

Can you imagine?!

I’ve been working in my office more over the last month (usually work mainly at home) and have realised just how much more confident I feel now I don’t wince every time I catch sight of myself in a mirror. It sounds so petty but it’s transforming how I feel about myself. I’m going for promotion and feeling really ready to do it. I won’t wonder how I might have been different if I hadn’t spent so much of my life trying to minimise myself metaphorically as well as physically because there’s no point in that. But being overweight all my life in a deeply fatphobic society has been hard.

I felt like this for ages. My largest clothes still fit me even now. How tall are you? I'm 5"8 and I don't seem to go down a dress size easily. I'm comfortably in a size 16 now after losing about 4 and half stone. Was probably a size 22 when I started. So have gone down a lot... But as I am not into the smaller sizes I still feel I have a way to go. But realistically my size probably won't go down much more as my frame is probably a 12 with no fat on.

I agree @SilverHeels @Wonkypictureframe

Knowing how well mj works I am reluctant to ever think about stopping it. It has solved a life long problem.

Re clothes....
Now when thinking about getting dressed I get a little excitement as I know all my clothes will fit me and I can actually wear anything I want! I haven't done any shopping yet as I have clothes ranging from size 16 to 20. But it all fits me now so happy! Also notice that tops that I'd be annoyed about as they didn't cover my belly and butt, now sit where they were meant to! Some tops that I bought that are meant to be quite long used to sit just around above my butt, but now sits below my butt. Was quite surprised when I noticed that last time I wore it.

Thanks @Tireduk. I was conscious not to use the exact same spot but might be safer just changing sites completely next time!

Week 5 weigh-in on 3.75mg bonus dose

SW - 12st 7.0lb
Wk 1 - 5.2lb
Wk 2 - 2.2lb
Wk 3 - 1.6lb
Wk 4 - 2.2lb
Wk 5 - 0.6lb
CW - 11st 9.2lb

Total loss 11.8lb

Moved up to 5mg now, so hoping for a slightly better result next week. Good luck to everyone else weighing in today!

Clothes-wise, I've not had a big enough loss yet to have dropped a size. I was hovering between 14 and 16 when I started MJ, depending on the style of clothes and how it fitted. The 16 end is now starting to feel loose.

I'm also joining the strength training crew! I had my second PT session last night (in a sweltering gym, I came out literally dripping) and have now got a couple of different programmes worked out to switch between for upper and lower body. Definitely not at the stage of doing isolated workouts yet, but we'll be adding some specific core stuff soon to try and help my muscle separation.

Overall, I'm feeling good 😁

I wore a dress the other day that has gone through a cycle of fitted when I bought it and I loved it to too small but I still wore it to now. And I realised that the waist of it sits totally differently now and the whole dress looks different - I don’t think it really ‘fitted’ when I bought it and I didn’t realise what it was meant to look like.

Morning all. Well done for losses this week 🎉 I am a little over 1lb down on last week which is pretty good considering how much I’ve struggled with the heat this week, my lack of fluids and the takeaway we had last night. I did make better choices with the takeaway though, choosing something much smaller than what I’d usually have.

SW 14.12
CW 12.11.1/4
Mini target 12.7

I have shifted my targets as I’m losing about half a stone a month and I’d given myself too much for August target so I want to be a bit more realistic

Well done @ObsidianTree you are doing so well. I've been thinking about my weight in relation to my pregnancies and I'm now almost at the weight I was when 9 months pregnant with my youngest 😆

I'm loving all the clothes talk. I'm still not comfortably down a size yet but things are definitely looser. I was able to wear some old shorts and a tankini on holiday that were too tight before which was a bit of a confidence boost but no one has noticed my weight loss yet. I'm 24lbs down so I was hoping it would be more noticeable but oh well.

Oh also forgot to add, I'm thinking I might go for a run today. I used to run a bit but it started hurting too much. I'm wondering if the weight I've lost will make a difference.

I am enjoying not feeling so self conscious the most. I didn't know how much that feeling was holding me back/making me sad. I wear clothes now and walk out and don't think about how to 'hide' myself.

I also noticed my face looks much better, younger.

I am delighted with it, no side effects at all, and effortless as I am never hungry.

Morning everyone, I'm just back from a few days away and I'm trying to catch up with the thread because I've missed so much!

Can I ask please, I need to order a 7.5mg today - where would people try for best value / delivery at the moment? My last pen was from Zava and was warm, so I'm put off from ordering from them again. Thank you!