I’ve finished Mounjaro - weekly update to report on what happens when you finish!

[NearingendofMJ]

I started taking MJ at the beginning of April. I’ve been a slow loser, and have lost 2 stone in the time I’ve been on MJ.

My starting weight was 84kg and I am now 71.5, I am 5’7.

I took my last injection last Sunday, so just over a week ago and it was around 6mg (counting clicks on a 12.5mg pen)

I have definitely noticed hunger today. However I am able to deal with that at the moment by reminding myself I had lunch an hour ago etc so I do not need to eat.

I think everyone on these meds worries what may happen when you stop. It’s like any diet, if there isn’t a lifestyle change, you will regain all the weight.

I thought I’d start a thread for some real life experience of what will happen - I’m aware I’ll still have MJ in my system for the next couple of weeks, but will be a good experiment to see if the hunger becomes unbearable or manageable with my new found knowledge of better food groups to eat!

Having been on MJ for 6 months I’m fairly sure I am able to make better choices now - famous last words 😂

Re the feeling of hunger, I try to ask myself would I be happy with a banana or some plain meat or scrambled eggs and usually I can then ignore it. Because often I wasn't actually feeling hungry but I was wanting something like crisps or biscuits. True hunger as opposed to just a craving would mean I'd be glad of that banana!

How lovely of you, Thankyou

Glad you have found it helpful 🙂

I can’t emphasise enough the difference in how I feel now the drug is out of my body. I’d wake up exhausted every day and just felt lethargic and ‘muddy’ all day.

It was great not feeling the hunger but I don’t think personally that makes up for how rubbish I felt and the stomach discomfort and cramping I felt.

When I woke up this morning I was drinking my tea and just enjoying feeling normal and not so foggy in my head that I was just functioning. Now I can easily walk 15k (last week I walked over 100k but easily could have done more)

Medication solves one problem but often makes another so for me it’s just not an option moving forward

So glad to find you all! I’m 4lbs from goal and planning to start titrating down at the end of December. Not sure I could handle going cold turkey, I’m using Oushk maintenance so have a fall back if I feel I’m failing, but I’m taking courage and tips from everyone as we move forward.

I previously lost a huge amount of weight and kept it off for about 5 years, my challenge will be to keep it off for life - I don’t want the struggle again as I’m in my
60’s and can’t face the thought of being old and fat. Just one of those will do!

Thanks for keeping us updated OP. I’m hoping to be finished with MJ in January. I’m just slightly in the healthy BMI bracket now and want to keep losing to give myself a buffer before I finish. I do feel a bit lethargic - never considered whether that might be the MJ. I have also noticed a high heart rate but didn’t know if that was due to stress. So I suppose I’m curious about coming off and whether I will feel more energetic!

@MathildaMattie ,
I am in exactly the same position although not using Oushk
I'm 66 and been dieting most of my adult life. I'm thinking about stopping early January, and hopping to stay a similar weight that ive got down to .
Don't want to spend any future years I have left ,always ' on a diet' .

I'm wondering whether to go onto maintenance with Oushk or not. I am going to come off completely but wondering whether it's worthwhile going onto maintenance so that I can restart again if I need to.

Brief update from me. I have listened to Andrew Jenkinson’s book “Why we eat too much” and am in the process of listening to his second book “How to Eat (and still loose weight)” so I’ve started a low carb approach.

Basically cutting out bread, really reducing pasta (I had one portion last week as the kids like it for tea and we all eat the same), using olive oil for cooking/avoiding foods made with vegetable oil (reducing UPF foods) and cutting out sugar. I am a sugar fiend usually. I love chocolate - that’s my weakness. Snacks are fruit.

This has been pretty easy for me on the whole as I have a gluten intolerance and so bread isn’t a big staple. The challenge for me is chocolate. The best bit is red wine is low carb and low sugar so I’m still enjoying a glass of wine in the evenings when the kids are in bed and I’m watching TV.

AJ recommends 100-150g of carbs a day and recommends working slowly through the programme as he notes some people won’t need to keep going and the initial changes will be sufficient to adjust the weight “set point” and see positive benefits. AJ makes a statement “it’s not the calories in the food but the food in the calories”.

I haven’t weighed myself but I feel great. I am noticing I’m drinking less coffee - because I’m not experiencing an afternoon slump. I am finding I’m not snacking naturally, because I’m not hungry. This has reduced my sugar cravings. I haven’t binged since starting. One evening I got the kids skittles out, had a few and put them back - I simply didn’t fancy them - a bit like being on MJ it wasn’t forced I just didn’t want to eat them. When it comes to tea time I am wondering if I’m hungry or not - as I’m cooking for kids at around 5pm it’s not a case of just don’t cook which complicates things slightly.

I’m enjoying the foods and really enjoying not calorie counting, if I’m hungry there is something I can eat. It’s not simply a case of running out of calories and having to use will power to stop. I have calorie counted from a teenager to now, mid thirties and am enjoying that I’m not following “principles” and not just counting cals. I feel more confident going out to eat etc.

Anyway, thought I’d share as I’m really feeling positive about this and I’m NOT starving hungry.

For reference keto is 20-50g per day of carbs, so 100-150g is significantly more and IMO more realistic. AJ says ketosis should be avoided and doesn’t endorse that.

I’m so glad you’re feeling more energetic and I am honestly so excited to just feel me again. I feel like I’ve been in a fog. I love to read and walk and gym and just be immersed in life but I feel like my brain went on holiday 🤷🏻‍♀️

but I really needed to do this as I have been overweight for nearly 15 years now and I needed that to change and had tried everything!

I am quite enjoying reading how you feel so different! Did it come after you had finished the injections or during going to lower doses?

Thanks for the update! It is so lovely to hear that update and really makes me feel better about 'the end'
I know I want to come off and not use for maintenance so it's really reassuring

I have been off MJ two weeks now and my body is getting back to normal. I have lost 1lb this week and that is with an evening meal out and breakfast out. I am making good choices (soup, then salmon for dinner out) but really enjoying my food. I am consciously not finishing my plate to get use to always having a smaller portion than everyone. The bloating and nausea have gone now and bowels are back to normal. I am still taking psyllium tablets as I am on trying to keep to 800 calories 5 days a week and low carb. I feel so much better. I am grateful to MJ for giving me a start but I am so glad I took the scary choice to stop as I was worried how my body was reacting and I had no control over it.

For me, it was after I completely stopped the drug.

Even at lower doses I always had that feeling of lethargy and feeling in a fog.

When I stopped, after around a week it seemed to lift. When I wake up, I feel energised and are able to walk more, and am not falling asleep at 8/9.

Although I enjoyed the appetite suppression and not thinking about food, it didn’t make up for the generally feeling rubbish all the time, so for me it was the right thing to stop

Week 6 update.

I have been away this week so don’t have access to the scales, but the hotel scales showed me ending the week at 72.35kgs, so very slightly less than last week.

I’ve had a week of events, so have drunk quite a lot as well as not been watching what I’ve been eating at all, so I’m happy I haven’t gained.

Due to the fact I don’t feel so rubbish, I’ve walked a lot more, 100k steps this week so that’s probably helped.

I was reading another person that has come off MJ and put on 10lbs in a month so am very happy I’ve managed to maintain the loss without too much difficulty.

My hunger has subsided now the drug is out my system and my body has returned to a ‘normal’ state so it’s definitely much easier to not overeat!

I was reading another person that has come off MJ and put on 10lbs in a month so am very happy I’ve managed to maintain the loss without too much difficulty.

As always, have to take these things with a pinch of salt. We don't know if that person was consuming 3000 calories a day or what they were doing!

Based on what I've been seeing around, the reason people fail after coming off WLI are very similar to why people don't maintain weight loss after diets.

The main issue is people thinking they can go back to how they ate pre-diet/pre injections and not grasping that they need to change the way they eat for the long term.

There could also be psychological reasons behind the original weight gain that haven't been addressed (e.g. emotional eating).

MJ controls blood sugar and some people who regain probably had unidentified prediabetes/insulin resistance. If you don't know that this was the reason behind your weight gain, then again you don't know you have to make changes to how you eat for the long term.

GLP drugs reduce inflammation and could mask other health problems that were contributing to weight gain, which then resurface once the drugs are out of your system.

In the latter two cases, likely that those people may need GLP drugs for longer to control blood sugar/inflammation/maintain a lower body weight, unless they can find natural ways to do this, or get the underlying issues treated.

Week 7 update

Weigh in this morning at 72.2kg so a slight loss on last week.

My body appears to be back to normal, as in I’m now so hungry all the time. I’m fact it’s pretty similar to the early stages of MJ, in that I’ll wonder why I’m hungry then realise I haven’t eaten for 6 hours.

I feel when I stopped MJ my blood sugars and hormones were all over the place but it’s back to normal levels now the drug is completely out of my system.

In terms of what I am doing differently now, I’m not following a diet per se, nor calorie counting, just mindfully eating so for example on the way home, I’ll be early for my train and think I will grab a snack- but then I think when my next meal will be, realise it’s an hour and decide to wait. Before MJ I’d have eaten the snack and the meal.

I am very happy I haven’t ‘regained all the weight’ as is constantly pedalled on these forums, and am feeling pretty positive around the future

The typo on the second paragraph should read ‘as I’m not so hungry’ rather than ‘I’m now so hungry!’

That's great @NearingendofMJ - although I don't think anybody on these forums is peddling the idea that the danger lies in the first few weeks after stopping. Or at the phenomenon us particular to MJ. It's particular to all diets, and all weight loss.

Nobody here is wishing that this is something you will fall prey to, but rather have acknowledged that keeping weight off over the long term is clearly a massive issue - hence the thousands of us resorting to medications.

You do seem quite defensive and determined to believe everyone's hoping you fail, when really it's clear that is not the case.

I’m not sure where I’ve said that in my post this morning?

Perhaps you’d like to read the thread back and this may give some insight as to where the ‘you’ll put it all back on’ comments originate from?

Morning, I came looking for this thread this morning. I’ve hit my goal weight recently, have a number of events this week so I’m having a “week off”. I was going to try and lose another few pounds but I want to focus on exercise and muscle growth and I’m finding that very hard in a significant calorie deficit. I’m still calorie tracking this week (where possible) but mostly to ensure that I’m eating enough and getting broadly correct macros

Injection day is Friday and I mostly wanted to avoid the sulphur burps at dhs Christmas do tonight 🤣

Just stumbled on this thread and following with I interest.

I started MJ because I gained weight in pregnancy and struggled to lose it. I didn't keep gaining weight post pregnancy, but I only managed to lose half of what I needed and was getting so fed up not managing to lose the last couple of stone and my bmi was 30 so I could get MJ.

Before gaining weight in pregnancy, I had had many years where I successfully maintained my weight and if I hadn't had another pregnancy, I have no reason the think I wouldn't have continued to maintain. So in my case, I guess I'm wondering if I have a successful history of maintenance in the past, would that make me more likely to be able to successfully maintain post-stopping MJ? In my head I think ‘yes’ but I do worry that now my brain knows MJ works for me, the motivation I had to maintain in the past, might be less. I guess I'll find out as I can't afford to stay on it indefinitely!

Thanks for this thread though op. It's I interesting to follow and making me feel positive about stopping in the future.

@NearingendofMJ I have read the thread back, as I posted on it a few weeks ago.

It's hard to maintain weight loss - this is pretty well established. It's not a dig at you, or an attempt to undermine you. It's a fact. It's not in the early days after losing that there is an issue, but over the long term - again, these are facts and not related to you or your journey. It also doesn't mean it's inevitable.

However, GLP-1 meds only temporarily correct our body's imbalances, so it logically follows that stopping them runs the risk of weight regain. I was interested to read of new developments in the science which correct the root causes of obesity from Fractyl Health - it's fascinating.

Hi
I am on my very last injection, having reduced from 10mg to 2.5mg. Slight regret that I should have stayed at the highest dose for longer, to lose more before coming off, but at the same time, wanted to be medication-free.

Questions I am using to guide my eating are:

• how hungry am I? (Wait till I am definitely, not slightly, hungry)
• what's the tastiest, healthiest food to eat?
• how much do I need to eat, based on when and what my next mealtime is.

Currently reading a book by the Appetite Doctor on healthy eating habits.

I think it takes a bit of courage to record weight loss journeys on threads like this, as people do pile in and comment. @85reasons - how did you find coming off Monjaro, or what was your weight loss journey? Apols if you put in your previous post, but great to hear your experience. The Fractyl Health stuff looks interesting!

It is really interesting the work being done to hopefully cure obesity @Rubyred3 - wouldn't it be amazing if in 50 years time it was a thing of the past?

I'm nearing the end of my weight loss journey (this time around!) but have another c 15lb to go. Did you titrate down over a period of weeks, and how are you finding the difference between each dose as you move down if you did? I am starting to think about maintenance but although I am trying to open-minded about it, I am tending towards thinking that I'll need some sort of maintenance dose of a GLP-1... for me the absence of thinking about food is an absolute freedom. I'm starting to heal my relationship with food and am enjoying the sense of naturally choosing better options rather than feeling in the vice-like grip of having to watch what I eat, log calories, etc. I don't want to have to do that anymore - I've spent 40 years thinking about food and dieting and have had enough 🤪