Having a week off Mounjaro for holiday.

[Whatintheholywoah]

Thought I’d start a thread as I see lots of people asking about holidays and whether to have a week off etc so thought I’d post my experience.
Im currently on holiday in a very hot location for 7 nights. I’ve been on Mounjaro for nearly 8 weeks - 4 weeks on 2.5mg and 4 on 5mg. Initially I was going to bring my pen and inject late to avoid side effects and basically relax a bit. I’ve lost 1 stone 10lb and feel really good as I feel I’ve done this is a sustainable and healthy way by eating a good amount of calories, eating healthy high protein meals and going to the gym regularly. I also believe in balance so still allow myself treats and wine as for me, that’s an enjoyable life as long as I eat clean 80% of the time. Soooooo I decided to skip a week and not bring my pen on holiday. I will update this thread when I get home and have taken my first injection. You can miss a week and not interrupt anything but if will be interesting to see if I have increased side effects etc. I still haven’t decided whether I will go straight up to 7.5 or do another week on 5mg.
Has anyone else had a week off? How was it?

I have another thread if you search my name called lost 5lbs which I have updated regularly since my first week. Still think Mounjaro is an amazing thing but am also giving myself credit as I’ve learnt so much with this tool about my habits and portions I know I am making these changes for life. It’s amazing how much clarity the distance from food craving/noise you get. I am with voy and will stick with them as have loved the reliability and extra support. I will be contacting them when home to ask about maintenance etc.

I think if you miss a week you are supposed to start again from 2.5mg - but I might be wrong

I am following this post as I am due to go on holiday in 2 weeks and was thinking of doing the same. Are you finding it easier in the heat? I get very dehydrated (drink at least 3ltr water a day) with some headaches and feel in the heat I may struggle.

@CheekySwan you can miss one week and it’s okay to resume the same dose. More than two weeks and you drop down. I get very bloated, dry mouth and constipated. I can’t imagine that in this heat. It also makes me quite tired and I struggle to enjoy food which would be worse as it’s more unusual food than at home. It’s been 5 days since my last injection and it’s starting to wear off so I feel okay. I’m glad I’m having a week off I just don’t think I would enjoy the holiday.

Yes, I missed a week when I went on holiday. I've done it twice. Both times I didn't put on weight and started again at the same dose I was on before.

As an alternative view - I am on holiday now and brought my pen with me and have taken 2 doses whilst here.

I am on my 8th week of 5mg and have hit a nirvana point of limited side effects, decent appetite suppression and no cravings. I can eat when and what I want without overeating or warming to eat rubbish.

This is my new way of life. I don't want to skip a week as I want to see how my brain and body cope with this. I feel the same way about Christmas. This is how I live now.

@IReallyNeedThisToWork
I agree with you. I use Mounjaro as the opportunity for a reset, to drown the food noise and give me a chance to fine tune my diet and exericse. That includes thinking about how I navigate holidays, birthday, nights out etc.

I think that taking a week off Mounjaro so that you can eat/ drink more is giving into what got you here in the first place? Sort of seeing events as an opportunity for a blow out rather than thinking about how you are going to have a navigate events post mounjaro and have a good time but within limits.

I guess its a good opportunity to remind ourselves that that holidays/Christmas and nights out aren't primarily about the food and drink and you can treat yourself in many ways. Not knocking the OP but I always worry when I read these posts that is the first glimmer of how successful that person will be in keeping the weight off post mounjaro. Everyone to their own I guess and whatever works for them.

Hi, while you’re entitled to your opinion and can choose what works for you, I have to navigate what works for me and what is sustainable. This is why I’m glad I’ve opted for the coaching with voy as we have discussed, in depth, what got me here and I do have a lot of changes to make with my relationship with food. My coach made me realise that no food is “bad” as long as you can practice that restraint and accept that in life sometimes it’s okay to have that cake on your child’s birthday or a couple of glasses of wine on your birthday. These are not everyday events and will not make you pile on 3 stone. It’s about keeping control and moderation. At no point did I say I would be having a “blow out” on this holiday and you sound very judgmental in your post, even though you say you’re not knocking me. I will still be making good choices while having a cocktail if I want to. Do you think every slim person never eats cake or drinks wine? For me it’s learning that an extreme diet depriving myself of everything doesn’t work for me or a lot of people. Part of what got me here is I would have one blip in my week. Chocolate or something considered “naughty” then completely lose faith in myself and ruin the rest of that week by thinking oh well I’ve been so bad, what’s the point. Completely hating myself for having one bar of chocolate so let’s just have more? That is not a good mindset or healthy relationship with food. Completely depriving yourself of certain things as you can’t trust yourself doesn’t sound healthy either. This was my problem and it definitely doesn’t work for me.
It’s also very easy to tell yourself that’s what you will do whilst taking the mj as mj is currently doing the work.

Im using Mounjaro as a tool to change my mindset and I feel have an excellent balance that I will take forward. I have had wine on the weekend with friends and lovely meals out with my partner without feeling that guilt as it’s just one meal or evening out of my week and the rest of the week I will be eating clean and going to the gym. I have still lost weight and know 100% I can sustain the weight loss taking this mindset forward. I will feel no guilt or shame that sometimes in life I enjoy nice food or Christmas with my family. I will make the right choices 90% of the time. This is my way of doing things and I won’t judge anyone else’s way if it works for them.

I totally agree with you.

It says more about the poster who assumes you are having a 'blow out' than about you!

I took a week off when I went to France because I didn't want to be too full to eat a very normal sized dinner. Part of the joy of most people's lives is good food with friends and loved ones and I've missed that on Wegovy.

I got fat from menopause and so I know I have to eat less for the rest of my life because my metabolism has changed so much. But I don't want to have to deny myself one gelato in a week in Italy, or a croissant and coffee or steak frites in France for the rest of my life. But I am am aware that these are treats and I can't have them every day. Sadly...

Yes @Movinghouseatlast I am in the same boat. I am in early days (starting w5) and have realised in menopause I have to really restrict myself to lose weight (think average 800-900 calories per day to lose 1-2 lbs pw slthough have lost almost a stone as first week always lose more). I am absolutely not eating like this for the rest of my life but this is to lose weight not maintain so am thinking what maintenance will involve. Op you sound v. sensible, you arejust having a week where you don't have to be really disciplined and feeling left out after several months of strong discipline and losing a good amount of weight.

I missed a week when I had a holiday and just went back to my usual dose the following week with no issues.

I took mine on holiday in August but we're going away again in October and I won't be taking it then.
DH and I both on it and just didn't feel like going out for dinner when the kids were hungry, so they ended up eating more junk than they should have done as a nice restaurant meal would have just been a waste for us.
I also get terrible sickness regardless so what I eat for the couple of days and it's rubbish dealing with that on holiday.
For me it's not about being able to binge but allowing a normal experience for the family.

@Movinghouseatlast @Menopausalsourpuss
Thank you. I thought it through for weeks and decided to relax with my family and enjoy without feeling unwell with my very mounjaro supportive partner. I want to sit down as a family and enjoy a meal, not dread meal times as I sometimes have the last 8 weeks 🤣 This is a holiday not every day life, we have been looking forward to it for over a year.
The reason I put this weight on was a difficult pregnancy at an advanced age, a traumatic emergency c-section and post natal depression. I’m confident when I get this weight off I can maintain it with the balanced approach I’m already taking and I know being super restrictive won’t work for me. I love food and we are a social couple. I question whether it would work for anyone when the mounjaro stops plus maintaining won’t be the same as trying to lose.
I posted as I couldn’t find any threads where someone had a week off and how it went. For example how quickly it wears off and if side effects were worse when you started back etc. Not opinions and judgement because I was taking a week off.

@susiedaisy1912 thats good to know. I’m due to move up to 7.5 but think may do another 5 as I will be having a 12 day gap. I was quite unwell the first week of 5mg so not sure I want to risk it.

@ACreamyTeaPlease exactly. We want to enjoy our time with the children and each other. Not binge! Just normal family meals. Holidays are special.

Anyway. I’m on day 8 - post injection and don’t feel any side effects or suppression. But my portion sizes are still very small and I feel no need to snack in between meals. I have enjoyed a cocktail and some wine with no ill effects. I’m very lucky our resort holds a nightly bbq so lots of nice but healthy food to eat. I’ve even had dessert but one helping a day not every meal time. I’ve been on Mounjaro 8 weeks and already feel like the good habits are ingrained and have no doubt, even if I came home and didn’t inject I would slip back into routine with healthy eating and snacking. I may put on a pound or two but this was totally the right decision for me.

You sound like your doing well and the good habits are becoming ingrained (it may even be helpful as giving you confidence that you will be able to maintain with good habits and still enjoy family meals etc). I would think it may take only a few days to get full suppression again once you get back - would be interested to know as I may take a break myself!

So, I got back from holiday early hours of Friday morning. Unfortunately, most of us have picked up nasty a nasty cold so I delayed injecting until today. I was going to get straight back on Mounjaro the day we landed but I really didn’t want the risk of increased side effects as I was already feeling rough. I will be injecting tonight before bed (I always do this time to sleep through the initial hit of side effects) which is day 14 since my last injection. I weighed this morning and I am up 1.5 lb in nearly 2 weeks, which I’m really happy with especially as my ladies time is due tomorrow. I know most of that will be water weight due to hormones/heat and flying. I was expecting a gain and that is the lowest gain I’ve ever had by far, after an all inclusive holiday. For context my partner has gained 5lb in a week and I was probably the same this time last year 🤦🏻‍♀️🤣.

Since starting Mounjaro I have used a tracking app called my net diary and tracked everything that passed my lips. Even supplements (collagen) and the odd time I had to take lactulose. On holiday I didn’t track a thing, I didn’t open the app once. I made healthier choices most of the time but I had pretty much anything I wanted just kept my portions small. In fact my body did most of the work as I didn’t finish one meal, I naturally recognised I was full and just stopped. I don’t regret having a week off at all and know that 1.5lb will be coming off in the next few days. For me I will always keep balance as I know being super restrictive won’t work. I’ll be restarting my 5mg later on and will update with side effects etc through the week.

On another note, spoke with my voy coach this week about the end of Mounjaro as I’ve see lots of companies releasing maintenance plans or some offering nothing. They will be supplying Mounjaro until my bmi hits 22.5 and then I can choose whether to just stop it or taper off with lower doses and they will support either choice. I have another thread called “first week of Mounjaro lost 5lb” if you search my name which I’ve updated regularly since I started.

Right so just popping an update on. Started back on Mounjaro last Sunday and moved up a dose to 7.5. I was going to delay and stay on 5 as I’d had a week off but as 5 wasn’t that great for me before I decided just to move up as I should have done the week before. Was expecting some nasty side effects due to the week off and because I’d had a lot of nausea the first week of 5. Pretty shocked to report no side effects and okay suppression, very subtle but enough to have a good week. I’m wondering if it’s because of less build up in my system due to almost 14 days without injecting. Maybe this week it will feel stronger. I’ve lost 5lb anyway so the 1.5 gained and a bit more so extremely happy with that.

Can I ask - when you had your week off did you lose a dose in your pen? As do you have to take the whole pen 30 days after opening if that makes sense?

You could take 5 injections within 30 days, if the first injection is day 1, then it's day 8, day 15 and then day 22. Another week after that would be day 29. So there's some flexibility there if you had to miss a week or move the day that you inject.

I've messed my doses up :( . I took 4 weeks 2.5mg - great, switched up to 5mg. Took 1 dose and went on holiday for 2 weeks, so missed 2 doses. When back took half my 5mg dose, but I now don't feel its working. I want to eat lots. Do you think my pen is out of date now? I've had it in fridge for 4 weeks. If I carry on using it, I will have gad it 7 weeks

It stays in your system for 30 days, hence why taking a week off you can just go straight back on it at the same dose, for that period you’ve still got a high concentration in your system.

@Dinky13 you have done the right thing going down as you have had two weeks off. From everything I have read, it is common not to feel much from a lower dose after a break and suppression is likely not to kick back in for a while.

If the pen has been 'open' for more than 30 days, you really need to dispose of it and start a new one. I have personally pushed the 30 day boundary to 35 but think I would be unwilling to do any longer.

I am thinking of having a few weeks break off Mounjaro what dose should I start back up on please does anyone know thank you

Hi I’m at goal now and maintaining. Lost 5.5 stone. Had treats every weekend and lots of weeks off for holiday and Christmas etc. will be taking this mindset forward as had coaching with voy and this is what works for me. Deprivation and guilt does not so don’t want anyone’s negative opinions. I work hard in the gym and track calories Monday-Friday but believe holidays and birthdays are special events I want to enjoy and I know I can lose the couple of pounds I may or may not put on. I don’t let food guilt in, I just accept that I may fluctuate a bit and that’s normal and am keeping to the approach I’ve adopted the last 9 months.

When you have a week off the first week back on you won’t feel it as strongly. But don’t worry the 2nd week it usually kicks back in just as strongly as before. It’s because there’s less in your system due to the break. I use pens up to 6-7 weeks and have been fine, they are always kept in the fridge. Again my choice. Some providers now are saying if you’ve had under 28 days off you can stay on the higher dose. Longer than that you are supposed to drop back down to 2.5.

What dose are you on now and how many weeks off are you thinking of having?

I was on 10mg but wasn’t agreeing with me so went back to 7.5 thinking of having 2/3 weeks break now I’ve finished the pen

Thank you 🙏