Mounjaro July 2024 - continued

[Lumirubin]

The first thread was almost full, so I thought I'd start a second so we can carry on the fab support!
I don't think I could manage tagging everyone!! But here is the link to the first thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5101435-mounjaro-july-2024?page=1

Oh no @diian I hope it resolves quickly for you.

Post holiday I've flipped the opposite way. I'm now suffering constipation which although is socially more acceptable at work than the risk of shitting my pants 😂 it's equally as uncomfortable! I'm wondering if it's to do with being on a reduced dose for holiday and this is possible a withdrawal symptom weve got to look forward to in the future!

Anyway I took 36 clicks of a 10mg pen this morning which is 6mg so hopefully that's my sweet spot. Although if the constipation continues I might take the full 10 for a bit of relief!

Since the start of September I seem to have settled into a very frustrating two steps forward one step back pattern of small losses, a stall, a gain, a loss etc round and round again and it's pretty depressing to be on another 2lb gain right now although I do know I will lose it again. I had really hoped to be in a particular dress by 7th November for an event but I think I'm just going to return it to the shop, at this snail's pace I'm moving at it's not going to happen. I'm in between all my clothes so finding it really hard to dress at the moment.

If I could increase my dose I could get back to the consistent losses but I cannot live with relentless diarrhoea even to lose weight, I just can’t do it.

I am also realising I do not have a hope of maintaining without this drug. Right now I'm paying £400 a month for personal training, gym membership and MJ (and struggling to get to the gym much thanks to an endless round of colds and viruses!) and I'm very lucky to be able to afford it but I think this is a forever expense and I am a bit sick of never being able to afford anything else, it's all of my disposable income.

That's a massive complain, just wanted to unload it all! Hope everyone else is doing well.

I haven't weighed myself in nearly 3 weeks, we had several family birthdays recently and although I haven't gone overboard or anything, I also didn't want to be sidetracked by any bumps in the road of my weight loss and let it get in my head and make me feel like the old days of reaching for more cake when sad. So I've just left it. I'll weigh-in next week.

I'm between sizes, too - I don't know if this is common, but I need to lose about a stone to move down a size, and I haven't been dropping weight very quickly so everything I have is either annoyingly too big or a bit too tight. I've been experimenting with Vinted with variable results. I need to treat myself to a proper shopping trip and try things on in a changing room! It's amazing how confident I feel in a decent pair of jeans.

How's everyone doing with the cold? I'm getting a blood test done next week just in case there's an issue with my thyroid, or I'm anemic or whatever. My GP has very little knowledge about MJ, with only a small awareness about possible thyroid problems, so she seemed more worried than I expected. But I've been obsessively reading about MJ for months now! I don't feel unwell in myself apart from feeling cold all the time, but I've accepted that I need to wear at least 2 layers on top and bottom at all times in order to feel comfortable (hmmm... this might be contributing to my clothes fitting issues!).

Exactly that @keepinon - my size 20 jeans are way too big but while the 18s zip up, they look a bit tight and lumpy. I've been buying skirts and jumpers on Vinted but sizing can be so variable that it's hit and miss.

You're right about avoiding the emotional bumps of weight loss triggered by the scales, but I am so incapable of reaching for cake now - which is part of the issue, I think - I can't use food as comfort now, I can't physically do it. So I have felt recently that emotional urge to binge and been unable to satisfy it.

I'm starting to feel the cold now, but not to an unusual degree - I hope the blood tests come out OK!

I'd be interested to discuss that point, @WeepingInASunlitRoom - what are we doing instead of (as I like to flippantly call it) eating our feelings?

I've been trying to spend more time observing nature. We moved house a few weeks before I started the jabs - that was a deliberate choice on my part, wanting to have a fresh start across the board. Our new home has a much bigger garden in an area of outstanding natural beauty, and I am finding myself drawn to just being outside more than I ever was before. We have chickens now, and I'm endlessly occupied with various garden-related and chicken-related tasks. We also live on a hill, with a sloped garden (in tiers, but still steep), and I've got a standing desk (remote contract), so I'm just naturally much more active and move around a lot more than before. The jab has helped me to make better food choices and not eat my calories back from the extra exercise, so that's helped a lot with the weight loss, too.

My mental health has improved enormously since moving house, but that's not just because I started MJ, there are a lot of other factors as well. Would I have lost weight naturally without the jabs? I don't think I would have, tbh. I have ADHD (diagnosed as a teen), not medicated. I have a very much all or nothing approach to life, including eating mountains of sugar, and I was deep in the throes of sugar addiction. I'm now eating like a 'normal' person - the birthday season of earlier in the month hasn't triggered me into a free-fall of eating doughnuts daily etc, like it has in the past. I'm not dreading the temptations of xmas chocs.

I'm grateful for the change and glad I've chosen this medication. I feel well, despite the cold - and hopefully the blood tests will reflect that. We'll see!

Weigh-in Wednesday
Starting weight 13st 4lb BMI 30 (June 28th)

2.5mg pen: 4 doses plus bonus dose of 3.3mg
Week 1: 12st 13 (-5lb)
Week 2: 12st 9 (-4lb)
Week 3: 12st 7 (-2lb)
Week 4: No weigh-in (on holiday) No MJ injection whilst away
Week 5: No weigh-in (on holiday)
Week 6: 12st 4 (-3lb)

5mg pen: (2 weeks of 3.75mg 45 clicks, now up to 5mg- no side effects)
Week 7: 12st 1 (-3lb)
Week 8: 11st 13 (-2lb)
Week 9: 11st 11 (-2lb)
Week 10: 11st 9.5 (-1.5lb)
Week 11: 11st 7.5 (-2lb) (bonus dose of 0.6ml =5mg)

7.5mg pen (1st week 6mg, 48 clicks - bad side effects, 2nd week 5mg 40 clicks- bad side effects, 3rd week no jab due to too many side effects, 4th week 2.5mg x 2 - took the doses 4 days apart, 5th week 5mg- side effects, 6th week will take 3.75mg)
Week 12: 11st 5.5 (-2lb)
Week 13: 11st 2.75 (-2.75lb)
Week 14: 11st 1 (-1.75lb)
Week 15: 10st 13.75 (-1.25lb)
Week 16: 10st 12.5 (-1.25lb)
Week 17: 10st 10.5 (-2lb)

Going to take 2.5mg tomorrow so any side effects come at the weekend. Had an upset stomach on 5mg last week. Can't believe I have lost all this weight on only 3 pens. I still have 1.5 doses left of this pen. I am reluctant to throw medicine away. I have a couple of 5 and 2.5mg pens for when I start maintenance.

Total weight loss: 2 stone 7.5lb .
BMI 24.3. GW 10st 7 (3.5lb to go!)

How is everyone getting on?

I have one injection left of my 7.5mg pen and deciding whether to move up or not.

SW: 278Lbs
CW: 243lbs

Loss of 35lbs so far since starting in July and i have a long way to go. Sadly i have some gallstones playing up :( so i'm unsure if i'll be able to continue much more but its been a great start for me.

How is everyone? Any tips for staying motivated and ignoring some side effects?

I was lucky to have no issues until 3 weeks ago where the nausea started on 7.5Mmg and a gallbladder flare up.

thanks x

@diian amazing progress, and so close to your goal too.

@MintTraybake I'm currently on 7.5mg, my second pen at that level but I titrated up with the first pen so I've only done 4 weeks on the full 7.5mg. I need to order my next pen and decide whether to stay at 7.5 or go to 10. At the moment, I think I will stay with 7.5 as I've got no side effects and it's working well for me. I'm nervous of moving up when the current dose is continuing to work. Do you think you might stay at 7.5?

Sorry to hear you have been unwell @MintTraybake , I hope your gall stones settle down and you are able to continue. Well done on your losses so far though!

Well done everyone else on your losses.

So my doses have been a bit odd the last few weeks because of holiday. I had done 3 weeks on 7.5mg and was having diarrhoea although this settled in the last week. I only took 2.5mg the week of my holiday. Since coming home I took 5mg and then 6mg from my 10mg pen that arrived whilst I was away. Since holiday on 5/6mg I've lost the 4lbs I gained on holiday (although I suspect most of this was water weight with how quick it came off) and another 2lbs so 6lbs in 2 weeks although likely more like 2lbs real loss. I'm now experiencing constipation rather than diarrhoea and my suppression whilst still present isn't the best. So I'm thinking of giving 7.5mg a go again!

Currently having another absolutely awful period though which I'm now totally convinced is a side effect of the MJ!

Including the bonus dose, I have two doses left in my 7.5mg pen @MintTraybake and I'm going to leave it until next week to decide, but I'm almost certain I'll stay on this dose for another pen. I couldn't finish a small bowl of soup yesterday, so definitely don't want increased suppression yet!

I feel very weird saying this but @Lumirubin I too have had a couple of days of constipation - totally out of the blue, no change in dosage here and I've only been experiencing the opposite until now. It's driving me mad as it feels like it's contributing to my stall and it's so uncomfortable. I wonder if some of the side effects are due to just time on the injections rather than necessarily being dosage related all the time as we've seen a few come up on this thread at the same time even though we're all on different doses. I drink tons of water, I have been a bit less active with a cold this week and I think I might have let the fruit and veg slide a bit.

@keepinon it's so great that MJ has had a positive effect on your mental health - I have found mine up and down but one thing I found myself thinking yesterday was how eating wouldn't help. It really made me see what a temporary fix it is. I have been stressed with work and would always have turned to biscuits and a carb binge and felt momentarily calmer but then worse. This week I have felt stressed with no relief (except the calming effect of the gym!) and that was grinding me down, but getting this distance from the food noise gives me the clarity to see that my old strategies weren't actually helping beyond an immediate soothing. I don't know what I'll do with that realisation, but it was a new insight for me!

Morning All, congratulations on everyone's losses.

Well I've hit the 20kgs loss target which feels fab. I have noticed a different pattern of loss; whilst I used to drop 200g or so every day, I'm now having mini-stalls then dropping half a kilo overnight. No idea what that's about, but very grateful to still be losing regularly. Some of the 'skinny' trousers stashed at the back of the wardrobe are proving to be too big now. And still another 10 kgs, give or take, to go.

I also have ADHD (unmedicated) and symptoms and mental health are better on MJ.

@JaneFallow my mental health (and very likely yet undiagnosed ADHD) is also SO much better! Which I guess in some parts is due to feeling better in my own skin with the weight loss, but also I was feeling so much better before the majority of the weight came off so I think there is something in MJ that is making me more balanced in general

Quick weigh-in for me this morning, 15 weeks in, currently on 7.5mg.

Current stats:
SW: 139kg (21st 12 lbs)
CW: 110.4kg (17st 5 lbs)
GW: 100kg (15st 11lbs) third interim goal.

I wasn't expecting much of a loss at all this week after last week's 7-pound loss, but I am surprised that I'm down another 3 pounds.

@JaneFallow congratulations on the 20kg!

This is hugely outing, but tbh I'm not fussed. Apart from being embarrassed by my starting weight I'm not fussed if people I know know I've used MJ because tbh I think the wonderfulness of it needs shouting from the rooftops! Anyway to the point...I've got a ball coming up, ordered aload of dresses and was taking pictures to show my mum and friends to help decide which to keep. Then I thought I'd stick one of the photos on my Voy app because I have to upload one every now and again. Obviously this means I have to see my starting picture which is actually vile! But my god the difference!! Like I know I've lost 3.5 stone and I feel better, but the visual difference has blown me away today! So I thought I'd share because I'm bloody proud!

Love the progress pic, @Lumirubin ! Feel proud of the 'you' that took the plunge and made the decision to improve your health. And enjoy that dress, it suits you really well!

Thank you @KeepinOn it's an exceptionally flattering dress with some Bridget Jones pants under! But I'm absolutely taking the win of ordering 5 dresses and loving 4 out of the 5 of them! It's not been that way for me for a long time!

@Lumirubin That dress is gorgeous! I hope you have a wonderful time when the event comes round and you can enjoy yourself in a dress you feel good in.

@Lumirubin that's an amazing change, you most definitely should be proud of yourself. The dress is fabulous, love the colour.

Wow @Lumirubin you look fabulous!! Well done you should be v proud of yourself!

You look bloody amazing in that dress @Lumirubin - show us the rest of them!

@Lumirubin cheeky request to ask where the dresses are from? I have a formal do next month and am thinking to order myself something new (2st4 so far and hoping to be close to 3st down by then!)

Congratulations on almost 30kg @SilenceInside - that's tremendous.

@Lumirubin you are looking fabulous. Gorgeous dress and teeny waist!

You look amazing @LLumirubin, bloody well done 👏

Thanks everyone! I love how supportive our little group is!

@Jfw82 from shein! I was dubious, but out of the 5 of them I ordered all of them are really good quality. Search for love and lemonade, they have some really nice ones!