Mounjaro February to April 24 starters - Thread 2

[ObsidianTree]

Thread 2

Link to last thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5139634-mounjaro-february-to-april-24-starters?page=1

They have 3 plans on their site. Flexi, taper and I forget the other one. Maintenance maybe.

https://www.oushkpharmacy.com/maintenance

@FlappyFish

You have shared what is probably all of our greatest fear. That we won't be able to go it alone.

But, my view on why MJ has been so successful for me is that it has addressed a genuine hormonal medical issue which made it near impossible to manage my appetite and process energy efficiently. And yes, it's bloody expensive to buy privately, but if it's a drug that is regulating my hormones in a way that my body can't naturally can't by itself then I'm happy to keep taking it, likely at a lower dose, long term.

This is a clumsy way of saying, and making assumptions on your part too, that there is still some shame and stigma in taking weight loss meds, and there doesn't need to be.

I consider the weight loss to be a bonus to the hormone regulations rather than the other way around.

Much love to you, and keep posting. Don't give up!

@Moanranger
Thanks for the info. My consultation is next week and I keep changing my mind about what I'm going to do. So I'm glad to hear you can change dose back up if need be. I'm on 2nd month of 10 and it's ok but not brilliant. I've found that even one vaguely normal, but still restricted, meal is enough to put my weight up by half a pound and to get that off again takes a couple of days so I really can't imagine that upping my calories and reducing dose is going to be straightforward in terms of maintaining weight. It feels like a very thin balancing line.

@FlappyFish glad to hear your weight is back down this morning 🎉

@CiderJabs it's really worrying about weight gains before the wedding isn't it! My size 12 wedding dress is due to arrive this week - I haven't booked the wedding yet, will just book a late deal date when I get round to it. I'm considering doing it really soon just so I don't have to worry that I'll have put too much weight back on if I book for a year's time. I'm not sure the dress will fit based on the measurements I saw online, but fingers crossed 😂

Spoke with my hairdresser today and seems she's on the dodgy jabs bought from a beautician 🙄.

@flappy I think that a slight positive is that you have gained just a few pounds. That means you have to lose just a few pounds.

Remember when we all started and had a few STONE to lose. For me, for all those years ,that was too big a mountain and that's why I kept failing. A few weeks dieting, a few invisible pounds off, being slim was many stones away......cue, helpless and hopeless and giving up.

Now, yeah, you are gaining and probably you and the rest of us just have to accept that we have bodies that will gain with even mild over eating.

But you arrived at your target, and getting back to it is just a small journey not the massive journey we have had already.
It's doable.
You know what to do do and you can nail that few pounds. Even if you drift and have to nail it every few months, it's doable.

I tend to avoid scales if I have been "bad". I am not going to do that. I will have to police it and set a cut off. Say 1/2 stone gain max and then I nail the bastard!
Previously I would avoid the scales then presto, 2st, 3st, 4st on , and suddenly it's to big a mountain again.

Probably losing the bread and carbs is the easiest thing to do.

I am still trying to lose. BMI is low but still some belly flab. I have been eating more, but still very low calorie. This means that I am stuck. Not gaining, but not losing.
It's very annoying and also proves what I always thought. I over ate enough to be plump, not bloody massive. I am just going to have to accept that I have a metabolism that will gain weight unless I stick to quite drastic calorie restriction. How I achieve that long term is the problem......

If I can I will stay on MJ forever. Not just for weight. My BP is now perfect, my sore joints from anautoimmune condition are no longer sore or inflamed and all my skin allergies have vanished.

You can do this. But don't be hungry up on not taking MJ if you need it.

@Smallsalt what's your weight and bmi now?
I'm the same but have fat around my bum. Loads of it in fact. I have a nice flat stomach though. I guess you can't have it all!

@PissedOffNeighbour22 I bought my dress back in May (wasn't planning it but fell in love with it) and it's a size 10. I will go in for alterations in April so I can't afford to get bigger after that.

Following my enquiry about when MedExpress stop prescribing, they have said 23.5 BMI so I've placed my order as I'm slightly above that. They did clarify it was down to individual prescriber discretion so lets see what happens. Just taken a scale photo in case they ask so I can evidence BMI.

@Smallsalt thats very true on the carbs. Also on the fact it’s just 7lbs to get me back to where I want to be. As you say… it’s not stone and stone now. It’s far easier to get control of it.

Sorry if I didn’t tag anyone by the way on my long post. I was scrolling up and down trying to.

Yesterday really scared me as I felt out of control. Battling my brain. We’ve all been there, I know we have.

After this morning’s weigh in I did go to Pilates and back via the supermarket. I’ve also binned the leftover bread and bits.

I truly hope this helps folks. It is incredibly easy to become complacent. As a recovering alkie I really should know this. 🤦🏻‍♀️

Glad to hear you're feeling better. I think we all need to be ready to tackle things early doors and not stick our heads in the sand. I'm going to give it a go without the meds but will definitely go back on them if things go wrong quickly. I'm happy to pay the £20 maintenance thing for that peace of mind to be honest.

@FlappyFish Bread is evil (but delicious) isn't it! I was keto through most of my weight loss phase so over the past month I've been adding back in carbs to go from c20g a day to around 80-100g. I think I'm back to eating bread every day which isn't what I intended so I will address that. So far I've not reintroduced any treats as that really is my weakness and will be my slippery slope.

Bread is indeed delicious and I think for the peace of mind I may fork over the £20. I know I go haywire around period and I may as well if I can. I have all the records. I’ve not ordered since the end of June as I had such a stockpile. Will see.

I am also going to reverse my MJ thinking on weight tracking. Then I was only tracking losses. The small gains were pointless as we knew it was constipation or whatever. However, now I need to track those gains and losses. If I just look at when I drop it will suddenly be 7lbs and seem scarier.

So I placed my order with MedExpress at 1.30pm and just now they have asked me for a Weight Check in - full body photo and ID. My last order was August although I am ordering the lowest dose. I suspect this is more about me being over 24 weeks? It asked me to "upload" but the link just takes me to their website so I've emailed my info through along with order number. Let's hope my body portrays my 24 BMI enough for them!

I'm keeping a maintenance log, and I'm logging all ups and downs to adjust my thinking too. My Fitness Pal now shows me a reasonably straight line plus or minus 2lb which I think I need to see, to realise it is normal.

@ThirdStorm absolutely agree. I am here at nearly 11pm just wanting to crunch something. It’s ridiculous. I’ve told my brain to shut up, drunk a pint of water and I’m going to sleep.

Morning all. I’m posting to be accountable.

Back to 9.12 this morning.

I had added more weights than I thought. It was easy to see. What caught me was the hormonal hunger that happened with MJ and two weeks of missed exercise routine due to half term.

Very much back to basics here.

1. hormonal fluctuations are normal. It happened on MJ. Even though I didn’t really eat more during the MJ time I did gain water weight. I need to get through my head this is normal.
2. routine and consistency is key. Plan. Don’t just think I will go next session. Go.

Back to swimming tomorrow as my friend is back and I need to just do it.

Morning all,
update on Oushk maintenance consultation: so I received an email with three codes to use for their maintenance programme choices. These I can use any time & I won’t need before mid -December. At that point I can decide which plan is best. I think it has been well-thought through.
I feel like I have been returned to my old, slimmer self by MJ. I put on an old favourite floaty mid calf skirt & a layered top, and although loose-fitting, it looked great! Clothes hang so much better when you are not the Michelin man. Also nice to look in the mirror without wincing. Yesterday I went out to lunch, had a Kir royale, venison sausages &broccoli & an amazing pudding featuring pumpkin pie. The only other food I ate yesterday was a chicken salad, no dressing, balsamic vinegar. Usual waters & herb teas. I am down 1/2 lb this morning. 6 to go to goal. When I get below 5, I will be excited.
@FlappyFish well done! Keep goal setting - for me, I slot in gym Mon-Weds-Fri, and if I cannot go any of those days I choose Tues or Thurs. My gym uses a booking App system. This is now habitual. It will work.
BTW Hira recommended going up only by 200kcal a day after reaching goal, which I think is a good idea.

@Moanranger Thanks for the Oushk info and more pep talk. I agree on routine. I thought I was there with it but it has slipped.

The 200 cals she mentioned to you make sense to me too. I ate very little on MJ and just made sure I did protein. I did the classic hit a happy weight and got a bit complacent. It has to be a way of life forever. OK, have a weekend takeaway. But adjust for it. I’m just glad I scared myself crapless and can catch it quickly instead of gaining a lot.

@FlappyFish

I’m just glad I scared myself crapless and can catch it quickly instead of gaining a lot.
I think you scared us all Flappy! In the sense that you're a bit of a pioneer and we all now know we need to think seriously about how we are going to handle maintenance. It sounds like it's harder than the losing weight stage.

So glad for you that thing's have settled a bit and enjoy your swim.

Honestly, I think it will take up to two years to establish a maintenance regime. Daily eating patterns ( much like when on MJ). Planning and preparing for special occasion meals, holidays. For meals, how you eat that day, how you approach food and drink at the special meal, how you eat afterwards, dont let it trigger over-eating, get right back on daily patterns and calorie counting if need be. Holidays may be mainly how you eat on holiday, and what kind of holiday you take. All inclusives can be difficult, but I handled my AI holiday last summer ok, partly by taking scales with me! And I weighed every day.
Post MJ will require a new normal to keep the weight off, not a reversion to old patterns.

I may live to regret this post in about 6 months. On the one hand I am very nervous about trying to maintain this new weight that I last saw about 10 years ago but on my more positive days I tell myself it will be ok. Not easy but ok.

I have seen some people say their weight gain was from a stressful event or time in their lives but mine was just a decade long slow steady increase. I ate healthy for the most part but had a few bad habits like evening snacking ie whole family size bags of crisps and telling myself extra eating on holidays and dinners out with friends was ok. When back from holiday / an excessive dinner I wouldn't without then restrict myself to lose the small gain I had made. In fact I would probably avoid the scale for weeks at a time. I ate maintenance calories on my usual days and then ate more some days. There were not enough days where I tracked my calorie intake and not enough weeks where I offset a weekend of the high life with dieting Monday to Friday. That has to change.

I need to make tracking calories and weight a focus (but not an obsession). I haven't needed to track calories on MJ but as I reduce my dose - v slowly! - tracking is something I need to do more.
I need to plan my meals and offset the social things with days at home eating low carb.
I need to weigh regularly and take action asap if the above is not allowing me to maintain.

I am not planning to stop mounjaro for months yet. I still want to lose another 7lbs then I will titrate down very very slowly eg drop down a dose every 2-3 months so I can stabilize my maintenance at each dose before dropping a bit further. Hell I might never come off it if staying on is allowed and there are no health risks identified.

@Choux Sounds like a plan😋

God. I know this sounds unbelievable but tonight I was mindlessly grazing on some tortilla chips and I realised I hadn’t injected in 11 days. WTAF.

I was on 8.5mg. I’ve done 6mg & will hope for the best. I’m such an idiot. The suppression was there until woah it was not.

I am going to bang on about pens delivered warm again.
The last 3 months I was on 15mg pens which arrived distinctly unchilled. I actually got refunds for 2 of them by complaining . I used them anyway. I mean ....I couldn't not😁 However I experienced very reduced supression and a bit of a plateau. I mean it was doing something , but it was bad enough that I was dosing every 6days instead of 7.

At some point I had to buy a 12.5mg as 15mg were out of stock everywhere.
That 12.5mg I remember arrived still very cold indeed.

Just got round to using it this month. ( I used up the warm ones before they got any worse , and they were also short dated)

WELL.....what can I say?
The suppression is through the roof. It's like the good old days way back at the beginning. Who knew that it's possible to feel so fondly towards sulphur burps😂
Injected on Sunday morning, still going strong now on Friday.
The staff room today , somebody had brought in the most amazing huge home made sponge cake full of jam and cream.

I had had a small sandwich just before. And that totally filled me up. I just couldn't do the bloody cake.
My eyes and my brain were screaming " I WANT, I WANT", on repeat.
My gut just said "Absolutely not, you are full up"

And that was that. No cake.
It was simultaneously wonderful and awful😂

The point of my post fellow veterans, is that whatever the providers claim, un chilled pens lose potency. There is no way I should be surpressed out of my head on 12.5 when I had the munchies on 15!

@Smallsalt that's great that it's more effective. I have a 15mg pen in the fridge that is Feb expiry and arrived cold. I'm worried it's going to hit me hard when I take it! However, I could do with some good suppression. I ended up splitting doses this week and I've had no suppression all week!

Must be a relief that the 12.5mg is working as it should and it's not that it's losing its effectiveness! Which I don't think is possible. 15mg is a meant to be the best dose that you can stay on for your whole journey etc. Fingers crossed it works out well!