Continuing Mounjaro...part 19

[ObsidianTree]

Pointers for newbies:

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 link below:

Promo codes :
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/promo-codes-bargains

Trying something new this thread. Wallywobbles kindly made a site to hold all info including pointers for newbies, links to past threads, recipe ideas and other useful things. Have a look newbies and oldies 😊 (thanks Wallywobbles :) )

Site with all the info :
https://wattnext.notion.site/e880d9342b7a4bab94c244b34e0e5841?v=cc1edc3f1c2b41dab3011c8d9063df0a

Just to conclude my warm pen odyssey - received my complimentary replacement pen this morning at 9 am (it was dispatched yesterday afternoon), and arrived ice cold!

Thanks for following along. The end. 😄

That's good news. My MedExpress that sat around for two days arrived this morning, ice melted but still just about cold. I won't complain about this one.

FFS - there are dozens of cases a week, as evidenced in multiple news paper/media reports since December 2023. Perhaps I should have said ‘A&E is seeing an unprecedented rise in cases as reported by staff in A&E and senior NHS management’ instead, to please pedantic PPs? The facts are that specialists such as Prof Powis have stated categorically that there are many cases of girls presenting in A&E who have taken fake substitutes or who have obtained them illegally by lying. That he has publicly gone on the record to discus and highlight this indicates it is a significant issue of concern to the NHS.

It is not scare mongering to state that taking them when you do not need them leads to an evidenced high risk of ending up in A&E with renal failure or vomiting blood/diarrhoea, amongst other things. It is, however, deeply reckless to dismiss these risks simply because I said ‘full of’ instead of ‘there are many reported cases’.

I wasn’t dismissing the risks, @CautiousLurker. And I do think language matters here.

I’ve been known to dose a day early when that has happened (and this was encouraged/approved by my provider.) No point being ravenous when taking a dose 18-24hrs early will fix it.

Fine @CeruleanDive if we are going to police every single phrase, and nitpick the meaning on what is supposed to be an informal and supportive thread, when it was perfectly clear what I was saying then I am out of here and no longer following this topic. I don’t need it.

Thanks @ObsidianTree and @3wDavid for your feedback - the water stuff really helped. But I am done here.

Oh, I think I’ve probably missed something here. No one has to be in these threads if they don’t want to, but please know that you are always welcome here. Maybe something got lost in translation/misconstrued. Sometimes it’s hard to gauge how something “sounds” when reading it…If you need to take a beat and step out - do it, but then come back when you cool down. It is a great thread and is a wealth of information and advice, I genuinely believe we are all supportive and everyone is welcome even in the cases of “agree to disagree” on some topics. @CautiousLurker

Another one here who would like to thank @ObsidianTree for keeping these threads going.
It was so informative when I was wondering whether or not I should start this and the support between members is amazing. This is desperately needed as many of us don't have support in real life with our decision to take MJ.
I look forward to hearing how maintenance goes for you.

@CautiousLurker I did think about bringing my dose forward, but I was feeling particularly stubborn about it. And I knew what the issue was, and I think wanted to 'practice' feeling hungrier than usual - I'm going to have to stop taking it at some point. And it meant that I learned that you can cook a pigeon breast crown in an air fryer 😀

This is what I've been pondering too. There's no denying that I'm clearly overweight by at least 2 stones, probably even more because I have a small frame and narrow bones. But I weighed myself on new scales this morning and realised my BMI is now just over 29!

I honestly can't think that Mounjaro is going to be harmful for me just because I weigh slightly less than someone who has a BMI of 30.1? That just doesn't make sense to me.

@Arraminta I think the difference is it obviously interacts with your blood sugars etc too, so you need to be careful about that

@Slimstar13 I was just thinking about you and the previous row on this thread. Everything you say is right - we are all adults responsible for own health and we need to do what we feel is right for ourselves.

@Arraminta this sort of ties into what you are asking. I am not sure any of us are going to come out and say 'add 10 lbs to your weight, stick out your stomach in your photos and supplier X will prescribe to you'. But I can see the ludicrousness of telling you to 'eat a lot and gain 10lbs and then get it legitimately' and a few of us are looking at who has the best maintenance plan so we can keep being prescribed it for up to 2 years even when we have a healthy BMI of 25 or less as we are nervous about coming off it. The most important things are to get it from a legitimate prescriber and start at 2.5mg and spend at least 4 weeks at every dose. If you manage to get a prescription use it responsibly. You only have one body so look after it.

That seems an extreme reaction, @CautiousLurker, and a misrepresentation of my posts.

I'm not trying to start another argument and to be honest I've not read much in blood sugars and the science of how it works but what do you mean by your comment? I don't understand.

After being on Mounjaro for about 6 months I currently have a BMI of 27. But I'm taking 12.5mg a week. Should I be worried about my blood sugars now?

@Choux when you google it helps with hormones to help produce insulin and reduce glucose being produced by your liver, if you feel okay you should be fine

Totally agree with this. Pharmacies are saying they will prescribe for 2 years after you reach a healthy BMI

if you are starting at a BMI of say 28 and have added some lbs to your weight to get it - I can’t see how that would be doing you harm. If you have a starting BMI of the healthy range or lower to begin with, then I can see some issues.

There are plenty of people on these threads saying they have stockpiled so when the stop, they can do a month here and there when they ‘need a reset’ Are they going to be a BMI of over 30 when they do that? Of course not.

Let’s stop being so elitist and discouraging to others when they have maybe started at a bmi that is just under the range required for prescription. That’s their choice and I can not see how being a BMi of 30 is absolutely fine and non harmful, but a starting BMi or 28/29 it suddenly becomes lethal.

What others choose to do is really up to them.

Has anyone managed to call Medexpress and speak to someone?

I’ve been trying all day and been on hold all the time. 🙄

Adding my thanks to @ObsidianTree for these threads, I don’t post often but have found them really helpful

Re people ending up in A&E, I don’t think we’re ever going to know who/why/how many but would imagine it’s going to be mainly those buying from unapproved suppliers who aren’t monitored in any way, they could be sold high starting doses or told to go up asap if it’s not working etc. And that’s if what they’ve been sold is even actually MJ or Wegovy. Most providers are now saying they’ll prescribe in maintenance which means some of us will still be on it with BMIs of under 25, a lot of people will be under BMI 30 after the first week or two if they have good initial losses so can’t imagine it’s lower BMIs causing most of the issues.

and on a completely different topic, for anyone who ‘breaks the pen’ to use the bonus dose be careful how vigorous you are especially if using pliers or teeth 😬I managed to break mine so completely it fell apart and was unusable 😩

Don't think we should be encouraging people to obtain it when they don't meet the criteria as it'll just make it harder for us all to get it

Thank you Choux. I am deep into peri menopause and my body fights like mad to NOT lose even an ounce. Plus I really struggle with water retention and when my period is due I immediately gain 4-5lbs overnight. It is incredibly disheartening.

I'm still carefully considering but if I decide to proceed I will only use one of the pharmacies that gets a good write up on here.

The way some people react you'd think I was going to buy stuff off a random stranger in a back alley somewhere!

Yes! I think I called them at like 2 or 3 pm and they picked up after 30 sec on hold, I was mid-wee as completely did not expect such a swift response!! Before that I would always be on hold for 15-20 min until I inevitably gave up...maybe try them now-ish? Also, cheeky, I know, but maybe try a diff option (1,2,3)?

Fake substitutes are not mounjaro though are they?

People are buying fake glp from dodgy suppliers, many of which contain insulin .

Sp yes, it is scare mongering or at least highly inaccurate, to report that Aand E is full of slim people who are made seriously ill by properly dosed Mounjaro.

A large portion of those will be fake drug, therefore, not mounjaro, and a lot of them will be people not following insttuctions and taking too much, over doses.

@Smallsalt @CautiousLurker An important point about fake drugs, the World Health Organisation issued a global alert about this back in June. As an aside I saw an advert for a new cheaper 'pharmacy' on my FB page a couple of days ago. Whilst I would never order anything direct through a FB link I did take a closer look at their website. I could not find any information on pharmacy registration, licences for prescribers etc. Could be a fake pharmacy selling goodness knows what, made in a back street lab?

Anyone not happy with the way they look after losing? Don't get me wrong, health is by far the most important reason to lose weight, but, I can't help feeling sad about the way my body is changing. I did like being curvy, I loved my shape on the whole and was naively hoping the shape would stay the same just smaller. It's not, I'm flat and saggy with more cellulite on my thighs than ever 😩 . Mid forties, period and on HRT, in the gym 3 times a week - 30min - 1 hour of weights and then couple of times a week I'll swim for an hour. Won't give up, but was possibly foolish to think I could have it all 🤷‍♀️any tips 🙏