MJ August starters #4

[Wingingit11]

New thread as #3 full and to mark my disastrous crashing off plan today so hoping to be reinspired !

Interesting to hear how MJ behaves so differently with each individual ..
wishing you a kickstart with 7 🙌

Can we discuss the “bonus” dose please? It feels a bit weird calling it that, as it isn’t using the medication as directed, and I can be a bit of stickler for rules!

I took my 4 doses of 2.5mg as normal then moved on to 5mg. I’m due to take my 3rd dose of 5mg this week. I already have my 7.5mg pen in the fridge. So I was intending to take my 3rd and 4th dose of 5mg then move onto 7.5mg. I haven’t taken any “bonus dose” and I’m just wondering what I’m missing out on?

Is it a cost saving measure? Are there benefits I’m not aware of? it seems like most people on this thread are taking out the residual medication and injecting it

I wish I hadn't bothered with the 2.5ml bonus dose @eeeeeeeee as it did nothing for me. I'd lost quite well on the first 4 weeks but it just wasn't working any longer. I didn't overeat but it was a struggle.

I started on 5mg on Sunday and now I can barely eat! Hopefully that will settle soon.

The bonus dose is just some surplus left over to cover priming, mishaps etc. It's exactly the same medicine, so I really don't get why you wouldn't use it, given MJ is so expensive! The only issue is that the exact amount will vary a little, so if you want to be precise about dose you'd need to use a syringe. If you were intending to move up a dose you might find it's not enough, or you may have to calculate that dose plus some of the next pen to make it up, which some people may find fiddly.

Edited for 4 million typos

@eeeeeeeee yes the bonus dose is essentially just about money-saving : getting best value from your pen.

Imagine you were buying vitamin tablets, paying £150 per pack per month. But also imagine they put 7 spare tablets in each pack. You would use all of the tablets in that pack before opening the next pack wouldn’t you? It’s just the same. You’re still taking the medication pretty much as directed, you’re just using one pen up before moving on to the next.

Obviously pen prices vary depending on dose and supplier, but as an example…

£150 per pen / one every 4 weeks = £1950 per year

£150 per pen / one pen every 5 weeks = £1650

So potentially a £300 saving over the year.

@eeeeeeeee if I hadn't read so many posts about the "bonus dose" I'd just have used the pen as directed. I suppose it can be used in a couple of ways, as a cost saver and to bridge the gap between each 2.5mg jump to reduce side effects if you've struggled. I'm doing it because it seems wasteful not too and as long as it's within the 30 days I'm happy I'm not harming myself. X

Agree so am I. From 2.5 to 5 is the biggest jump, so I'd rather take a step up than take a leap! And as @ChunkyMunky noted - BIG cost when you tot it up.

I took my bonus dose because its a free dose and I love a freebie!
I hate the thought of just throwing it out. Also I didnt want to go from 2.5mg to 5mg in one go. I have been very lucky with barely any side effects so using a syringe to take the bonus dose as a step up towards my 5mg made sense to me. I will use the free bonus dose in every pen going forward😊

I used some of the bonus dose to step up more gently from 2.5 to 5 - so my fourth dose was about 3.5. I haven't had any side effects on 2.5 and wanted to bridge that big jump rather than doubling my dose between week 4 and 5.

Just to offer a balance, I had two and a half bottles of wine over the weekend and was fine on the Sunday. I’m in my mid 30s so was expecting to feel rough on Sunday but felt pretty okay considering! Definitely went over my calories for the wine, but it was for a celebration, I had a laugh and didn’t binge or eat unhealthily the next day like I would have done pre MJ.

So far day 3 on 5mg and I’m not feeling any different, just more tired as I’ve upped the exercise quite a bit. Still suffering from constipation (even after the wine) so senna and bananas are on the agenda and I’ve started eating weetabix although that’s not doing anything either haha.

So is there more bonus dose the high the pen

So on a 5pen what would be the average bonus dose - surely not 5

And same with 7.5 - it can't be that much

@Blondeshavemorefun if I drew the same amount as I did with pen 1 would be 0.7ml which would be about 6.mg think on basis of 0.6 standard dose

I think the higher doses are more concentrated rather than taking larger volumes of liquid, so there will be a similar amount of leftover medicine but it will be stronger.

I still have an occasional tendency to struggle with controlling portions. I'd only eaten a sandwich all day and so I was ready for dinner (but not hungry really). Literally stuffed myself to the point where I was uncomfortable.

These bad habits really do take a while to break.

Ah thanks. As obv the same amount is left from the last ---- on the pen

Had a nice NSV today… first person has noticed / commented on my weight loss. Reassuring to hear that it’s starting to have some effect.

Have felt slightly snack-y this evening, but its weigh day tomorrow so the thought of that has kept me on the straight & narrow.

Looking forward to starting 5mg tomorrow too. I’m still eating a lot less than before but the temptations are beginning to creep back in, so will be nice to silence those thoughts.

I didn’t use the bonus dose and I’m glad as suppression has been minimal for me on my last week of 2.5. I’ve taken my first 5mg tonight as I’m not enjoying the morning rushing around injecting whilst getting ready for work/getting the baby ready for nursery. First month weigh in tomorrow 🤞🏼

Its just cost affective for me.. why use 4 dose when you can get 5 doses out of a pen, and in the 30 day rule. its the same medicine and if you have not wasted any with priming mishaps its the same amount, probably a bit more..

its a no brainer for me..

Weekly weigh in…jab 4 of 2.5mg just done

SW 102.8kg
CW 96.7kg

Even though I’m still losing I’m ready for the step up to 5mg

Weigh in day for me, and I’m a happy bunny.

Starting Weight: 17st 7lb
Current Weight: 15st 13.6

So that’s one and a half stone lost in 5 weeks using one pen.

I’m absolutely delighted, I can’t even remember the last time the scales started with a 15!

With a discount code, my first pen from Zava was £122 - working out at £5.81 per lb lost. Which I think makes this expensive treatment, the most cost effective weight loss that I’ve tried!

BMI has dropped from 42 to 38.4, and I’m 20% of the way to my final goal.

Excited to start 5mg this morning, and I’m quite liking the ‘monthly’ nature of the pens - I know I’m in this for at least the next 4/5 weeks, no giving up if I have an odd wobble.

Happy Wednesday everyone 😊

Well done 👏🏼

Well done @ChunkyMunky

Aww well done @ChunkyMunky

Thanks everyone for replying! so when you use the bonus dose, do you use it together with the 4th dose on the same day to make a higher dose? Or do you use it on a completely different day, effectively spending 5 weeks at the same dose?

Also I might be moving past my plateau. I now weigh 65kg (BMI 28.3). Still have 7kg to normal BMI, though I want to lose closer to 15kg as I have been this weight before in recent years and still had back rolls etc at the top end of healthy weight. I can see my figure coming through a bit more now but I still don’t feel comfortable wearing anything tight. I am going to a friend’s baby shower at the end of October so might buy a dress for that!

Well done @ChunkyMunky it's the best feeling actually being able to lose weight after struggling for years, such a good investment decision for me too. Xx