Continuing Mounjaro... Part 22

[Jimmyneutronsforehead]

It's thread 22 time! As usual please fill up the previous thread before we make a start on this one.

Huge congratulations to every one who has made losses, and well done to those who have graduated the mounjaro club! We would love you to come back and share your tips for maintenance so we can all continue to learn and grow from each other.

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
Linking Wallywobbles site, as theyve very kindly compiled all threads so far, pointers for newbies, weightloss tracker, links to discount codes, tips and tricks and high protein recipes.
Site with all the info :
https://wattnext.notion.site/e880d9342b7a4bab94c244b34e0e5841?v=cc1edc3f1c2b41dab3011c8d9063df0a

Miss Mounjaro UK has the most up to date price comparison charts: https://www.missmounjarouk.com/

This one's the most recent I will also post the image.

Just to copy from the previous thread as it's highly useful information:
https://www.diabetes.org.uk/guide-to-diabetes/enjoy-food/carbohydrates-and-diabetes/carbs-and-cooking
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cooling-resistant-starch#TOC_TITLE_HDR_6

MabelSpan:
For those who love their carbs, I grow my own veg, including lots of potatoes so eat them most days. You can dramatically increase the amount of resistant starch, a type of fibre, in your potatoes, rice and pasta and bread simply by cooking then cooling, ideally overnight or freezing in the case of bread and then reheating or toasting in the case of bread.

Please remember to do this safely if this is something you would like to do.

In light of being in close proximity to someone who has had complications from Mounjaro, I just want to say for any newbies: We are a wonderful community of Mounjaro users with a wealth of knowledge between us, but we're not a medical service. We are all people who have acknowledged the risk to benefit ratio, and are following our clinicians advice. If you do have any serious side effects listed on the information sheet that comes with your medication, please seek medical advice.

There are no questions too silly, no loss too small to celebrate, no hurdle not worth the challenge and huge congratulations to everyone who has made it this far in their journey and once again, welcome to thread 22.

entrenched in being fat

We're just well prepared for cold weather 😂

@QueenOfHiraeth and @WeeklyJab - I have heard one or 2 people mention a surge of energy - probably because I have so little energy I immediately honed in on that bit with envy! I'm also post-menopausal and losing slowly, but fine with that.

Ahh, I see. We sound very similar. I'm also autistic and am being assessed for ADHD in a few weeks - I sought the ADHD assessment because I also struggle to remember to take medication - but it's more of a weird battle in my head if it's 'not the right time of day' or I don't have the 'right' drink to swallow my pills (don't like water - can't take with hot tea - can't swallow tea if it drops below a temperature cool enough to take tablets with...🙄) Funnily enough I don't forget to take my jab - but I think that's because I can see the benefits physically and with medication the results don't seem to be immediate.

I asked for propranolol myself and my GP just prescribed it for me - there is a history of heart disease in my immediate family, both parents died of heart attacks, DB has stents, and we all have high cholesterol. I was having panic attacks at the time, but it also helps with high blood pressure.

Glad you have a good GP and I hope things are going okay with your DP and that he's recovering too.

Hi all, checking in!

SW: 22st 11.8lbs
CW: 18st 8.6lbs
GW: 14st 10lbs (for now)

I seem to have settled into losing roughly 2lbs a week, this has been the case for the last 8 weeks or so, and I’m really pleased about that, it seems like a good healthy amount?! Really happy that I am now more than halfway through towards my first goal!

I seem to be a dress size 20 at the moment, it’s taking forever to move down the dress sizes! But, some stretchy size 18’s are starting to fit now so I don’t think I will buy anything else in a 20 now and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to “officially” drop into an 18 within the next stone.

I notice energy has been mentioned up thread, so I have had these “surges” of energy, it’s great! 😁 I am able to eat 3 meals a day though and I do exercise so maybe that might impact as well?

I seem to be a dress size 20 at the moment, it’s taking forever to move down the dress sizes! But, some stretchy size 18’s are starting to fit now so I don’t think I will buy anything else in a 20 now and I’m hoping that I’ll be able to “officially” drop into an 18 within the next stone.

@OrangeWire Well done on your losses so far. 2lb a week I think is perfect.

On dress sizes, I had a lstarting weight of 11st 8lb, now I am 9st 7lb so lost two stone and that hasn't equated in much of a dress size difference. I only intend to lose another 7lb.

I think age is making a real different to my shape - I am 45 now but my tummy and boobs are the last place I lose weight, and while boobs normally go down, they are not budging this time. I think I was a large 14. I can fit some 12 things but some things still are 14, depends on the style.

Just wondering if Asda have changed their approach to maintenance:

Once you have reached a healthy BMI (which is under 25 for most people) or your target weight if it’s higher, your aim should be to maintain your weight, rather than keep losing more. There is no evidence to say which dose you should use to do this, so it’s up to you to decide which one will be best for you to stay on to maintain a healthy weight without becoming underweight. Our doctors can help you assess as needed, simply send us a message (see our previous advice about tolerating side effects and dose reduction). We’d recommend aiming for a BMI of around 22-23.

That's rather progressive of ASDA compared to other prescribers.

Although I disagree that people should aim for 22-23 BMI because as us shorties have mentioned, it's just not sustainable or right for everyone to have such a low BMI, it sounds rather promising that ASDA are promoting that they're pro-maintenance.

That’s very positive indeed,

The difference in calories in order to maintain a bmi of 22 is approx 400 calories between someone who is 5ft and someone who is 5ft 9

Rough calc using a sedentary woman aged 46:

To maintain a bmi of 22 at 5 foot tall would be 1283 calories a day

To maintain a bmi of 22 at 5 foot 9 inches tall would be 1656 calories a day

Just thought that was interesting as it's not beyond the realms of possibility to manage on that level of calories as surely people do it every day who are that weight and height 🤷‍♀️

My maintenance is 800 ish at 4foot 11.

I suspect I will be on and off MJ for the rest of my life as without it I would be (quite understandably) hungry

Are you sure? Google is still telling me approx 1200 calories for you to maintain a bmi of 22

Definitely for me (old/menopause)

Had a sleeve gastronomy and was putting on weight at a 1000 calories (very gradually over last 2 years)

Have been eating about 600-700 ish on MJ and losing now a bit less than a pound a week

Nightmare definitely not sustainable then unless using mounjaro long term

For me I've found whether I eat 800 or 1200 I still only lose around 1.5lb per week. In fact I've sometimes had a little boost by eating 130@ or 1400. So the calorie consumption doesn't seem to make a massive difference to me for weight loss.

@LaurieFairyCake There's a question I've never got an answer to regarding bariatric surgery, you might know more about.
We hear all the time about the importance of not cutting calories too low as it will slow the metabolic rate, yet that is exactly what we tell bariatric patients to do (eat off a 7inch plate etc). It's now documented that most patients regain some, and sometimes all, the weight lost. Have you ever seen anything about whether the body adjusts to lower food intake after surgery?

It will be interesting to see whether Zava follow in Asda's footsteps. I understand that they're the prescriber for Asda, but don't seem to be supportive of maintenance when people have contacted them to ask.

Evening all! I’m back on it after a bit of time off for half term. I’ve made a MASSIVE boo-boo this week too…

I was finding the suppression on 7.5mg quite strong, and really struggling to eat anything for 2-3 days after jabbing so decided to space my doses out over a longer period and carry on taking a 7.5mg dose from my 10mg pen that I’d had delivered.

Well, this Monday I was in a rush and not thinking properly about what I was doing and stuck the full 10mg in me 🫣.

Safe to say this week since then has been HELL. I have never felt so bloated and nauseous or been so sick. Even small sips of water have been coming back up. I tried to go to the gym on Tuesday morning and ended up being sick in a bin - a nice lady brought me some water and told my morning sickness was bad for her too (I didn’t have the energy to tell her to do one).

I was finally able to keep a slice of toasted white bread down this morning and have been sipping on lucozade sport. I don’t feel hungry, which is a plus I suppose, but I will be going back down to 7.5mg after a little break once I’ve ridden this horrible wave.

Never experienced anything like it! Is there anything you guys suggest to make this pass more quickly/feel less horrific?

Height twinkles!

ETA: dammit than meant to say twinsies

@Peggy148 I'd be tempted to reduce your dose to 5mg until your side effects settle. As the drug is so long acting there is still a significant amount in the body when you take the next dose so the new dose adds on to that. The residual amount from a 10mg dose will be higher than that of lower doses so adding a 7.5 to that may still be too high for you.
Extending the time between doses is not really recommended as it hasn't been tested. Again reducing to 5mg would probably be a better bet than using 7.5mg every 10 days.
If in doubt contact your provider

Oh man I'm really sorry.

I don't have any solid answers but I would make sure you're grazing through the day rather than having big meals until you feel much better. It will probably help regulate your blood sugar and might ease some of that nausea. Crackers and grapes and small snackable items.

I can imagine how horrible you feel though and I really hope it passes for you soon.

On the UTI front, I've done a bit of digging and can't find any specific direct links to increased UTIs from mounjaro, I did find a few possible indirect links that could just be weight loss related in general.

The information I could find mentioned that glucose regulation can cause increased urination which may loosely be related to an increase in UTI like symptoms.

One thing that did pop up was acute kidney injury. This is a rare side effect of mounjaro, but is more likely to be linked to a decrease in urination output and has some pretty severe onset symptoms so I don't think this is the right tree to bark up either. I certainly think we'd know if something was wrong, but as always if you suspect anything like this bring it up with your doctor and stop taking mounjaro until it's been confirmed it's safe to resume.

Increased urination can couccur with weightloss, because we expel waste products through our breath, urine and stool and weightloss is using stored energy to fuel ourselves and is bound to have waste byproducts.

On a restricted diet we might be more succeptible to electrolyte imbalances so we might become dehydrated easier and pass urination more frequently, so make sure you're getting your fruits and veggies in.

Hyperthyroidism. If you suspect you have an overactive thyroid, doctor all the way. Desist usage until you're certain it's safe to continue.

There may also be some changes to the microbiome in our waterworks due to this increase in urination which isn't the underlying cause of why the urination is frequent, but it can lead to bacterial growth that leads to UTIs, which then makes you need to wee more and so on.

There will be other factors such as bladder and kidney health, age, hormones, other conditions but I couldn't find anything that specifically ties tirzepatide to an increase in UTIs as opposed to just your bog standard weightloss or very low calorie diet.

I also asked the forbidden chatgpt if it could list some reasons why someone on mounjaro might experience an increase in UTIs and it said as follows:

"Certainly! Here are several reasons why someone taking Mounjaro (tirzepatide) might experience more urinary tract infections (UTIs):

1. Increased Urination:

Mounjaro can increase urination frequency, possibly due to changes in blood glucose levels or shifts in fluid balance. If increased urination leads to dehydration, this can concentrate urine and create a more favorable environment for bacteria, increasing UTI risk.

1. Dehydration:

Frequent urination can lead to dehydration if fluid intake isn’t sufficient. Dehydration concentrates urine, which can irritate the bladder lining, creating an environment where bacteria can grow more easily.

1. Ketosis (especially if on a low-carb diet):

Mounjaro often suppresses appetite and may lead some people to consume fewer carbohydrates, which can induce ketosis. Ketones in urine can alter its pH, potentially irritating the urinary tract and making infections more likely.

1. Changes in Urine Composition:

Rapid weight loss, common with Mounjaro, may lead to shifts in urine composition (e.g., increased waste products or changes in pH), which can irritate the urinary tract lining and encourage bacterial growth.

1. High Blood Sugar Levels:

If Mounjaro is not fully effective in lowering blood sugar, higher glucose levels in the blood and urine can encourage bacterial growth, as bacteria thrive on glucose.

1. Weakened Immune Response:

Rapid or unintentional weight loss can sometimes stress the immune system, temporarily reducing the body's ability to fight infections, including UTIs.

1. Bladder Health Disruption:

Frequent urination could disrupt the natural bacterial balance in the urinary tract, potentially reducing protective bacteria and increasing UTI susceptibility.

If someone on Mounjaro experiences recurrent UTIs, it's essential to consult a healthcare provider to discuss hydration strategies, diet adjustments, and any necessary preventive measures to help reduce UTI risk."

I'm not a doctor, I'm just your average garden variety hobbit with too much time on her hands so I haven't really scientifically summarised anything, and I wouldn't take everything chatgpt says here as gospel either. There could be other things you need to eliminate that could be causing UTIs so if you do get them quite often of course bare mounjaro in mind and mention it to your care providers but don't be put off advocating for it to be investigated medically.

I’m just here for the use of ChatGPT. It’s my new bestest buddy @Jimmyneutronsforehead although I use it more for work and product development - I am finding myself using it more for me and instead of Google to summarise things for me. :)

@TheCatterall I usually use it to rephrase things or find words that I've lost when I'm trying to put together a coherent sentence, but I've found it super useful for identifying problems and solutions for things I've not even considered.

Since the memory function update I've used used it a lot to remember things for me so when I need more information putting together and I've forgotten bits it keeps it in mind and puts it all together in a nice list so my personal productivity has been higher.

I am reluctant to use it for facts because I asked it to fact check itself about something and it had to correct itself, so it can be flawed, but by and large it's got a wider access of information much faster than I have so in this case I did do my own digging, but thought I'd just double check what our new robot overlords think about this too.

Well hello the 11s - pleased to meet you again after 25 years!

I met them this week after over 40 years. Determined to loose the baby weight for the 44 year old.

😀 made me laugh!

Sadly though my body doesn't look anything like it did when I was previously this weight.