Keeping it secret

[princessjazmine]

Hello,

I'm sure this question has been asked to death, however I'm new here, so please forgive me.

I'd like to start Mounjaro after reading threads on here and watching numerous success stories on Tik Tok. I'm around 122kg and short so morbidly obese and very very unhappy.

I'm married but my relationship is in the toilet and I really don't want to discuss this with my husband. Has anyone started this but kept it secret? I can order from a collection pharmacy or from a provider that lets me choose my delivery day (I am home on my own some days of the week). I eat by myself and cook for myself most days anyway so I'm confident he wouldn't notice any changes here and he barely notices me anyway. So I think my only issues would be dealing with any side effects privately and hiding the pen in the fridge.

Has anyone else had any experience of doing this without any real life support please? I really don't want anyone to know, but particularly not my husband.

Any advice/stories really welcome!

I'm sorry you feel you need to keep this secret. It sounds like you know the main things that would need to be hidden, particularly the pen. If you are only injecting once a week is there a friend who you could tell and they could store the pen? You could then inject at their place once a week and have someone to discuss things with?

Once you have used the pen for the first time you don’t need to keep it in the fridge - so you could keep it somewhere you know he won’t go - your knicker drawer for example .
I haven’t told many people I’m using it, apart from my husband and a friend , but have got a lot of information and hints and tips on the side effects I’ve had on here .
good luck - you won’t regret it as you start to lose weight and gain confidence .

Nobody knew when I started and none of my family know even now 4 1/2 months on!!

Youngest DS moved back in with me just after I started. I kept my pen wrapped in foil in with the salad veg where I knew he would never look! 😂

Support wise, I have my people on the June thread here and that's about it! A close friend knows but we only ever talk about it in a scientific 'isn't it incredible' sort of way😁 I read a LOT! I listen to podcasts etc but don't really talk to a real live human about it at all🙂

Will he notice the missing money? The pen is easy to hide.

I keep the pen in an empty tomato purée box on a top side shelf of the fridge, a condiment never used by anyone except me and no one has noticed.

This is really helpful, thank you everyone. I love the hiding tips for the pen.

I can't inject at a friend's as I'm a shift worker so will sometimes be at work on injection day. Do you have to inject at the same time each week?

We have shared and separate finances so I'd take the funds from my private finances. I'd work an extra few hours to make up the funds, which I'm confident he won't notice.

If your happy to pay a bit more and collect from a pharmacy, I know asda you collect but they are more money.. then you can time it to collect it when you need it and wont have to put it in the fridge, as from start you have 30 days to use it and keep it at room temp.
you can still get 5 weeks out of it this way too..

oh, just seen your reply, think we replied at the same time haha..

You should do it the same day every week but doesnt matter what time, ive done mine morning and evening.
and you can also change the day if you want to, I started on a wednesday but wanted my jab day to be a monday, so 1 week i brought it forward 1 day so did the tuesday and a couple weeks later i brought it forward again to get mondays.

Oushk pharmacy let you choose your delivery day, which is helpful

No one knows I'm on MJ yet. Mostly because I don't want my DD to find out, and sadly I don't trust people not to gossip about it and someone accidentally letting it slip. I haven't told DH but might do at some point.

I can recommend the Asda online pharmacy. Yes they are more expensive than other providers, but their support is good, their customer service is prompt if you have any issues and they always have stock. I prefer being able to collect my prescription rather than wait around for the delivery.

I am sorry to hear you are having a hard time. Hopefully, this will be the start of some positive changes for you.

I started at 118 kg at the end of March and am now 94.8 kg. I have chosen to go quite slowly so that I can sort my eating habits and exercise / lifestyle as I go. I am on just over 1550 cal / day. I am really pleased with my progress so far and feel much fitter. I have more energy and stamina too.

Come back and let us know how you get on.

Only DH and my PT ever knew and I was on it for a year. PT was useful in terms of nutrition advice and taking it easy when my fuel reserves were low. You’ll be eating less so telling nosey people that ask that you’re on a diet is a credible cover story evidenced by your weight loss.

Good luck OP.

It's also the sharps box that you'll need to hide too (maybe in the back of your wardrobe?)
My husband knows and one very overweight friend, but no-one else. I have 2 high school aged sons at home. I hide the pen at the back of the fridge almost in plain sight as they won't pay it any attention, but the sharps box would definitely cause questions if they spotted it.
It's definitely easy enough to hide though so if you decide to go for it, good luck.

I've just ordered my first pen and won't be telling anyone that I'm taking it. Mainly because I'm always trying to lose weight and telling my friends so feel like a failure when it doesn't work so this time I'm just going to get on with it. I just live with my 11yr old daughter so I won't be telling her either as it's not something she needs to know.

I haven’t told anyone at all, but live alone. People in and out of the house and fridge all the time - it’s buried in the salad drawer!

side effects have just been a dodgy tummy one week and headache another. Common enough and easy to explain away.

main issue is eating much, much less. Suddenly going from uncontrollable urge to finish every meal and order desert to leaving half the food on the plate. I have lost a stone now in five weeks so can just say I am trying to lose weight for Christmas. People might start to guess because weight loss has been fast.

I haven't told anyone I ordered any. My pen arrived at lunchtime today. I took it upstairs and said it was a Xmas present then hid the pen.

I can understand you not wishing to share this, I've been using MJ for six months and only told my husband. It's easy to hide and as mentioned, you will need to find somewhere to keep the sharps box.

Someone I have read of on here put their pen in the fridge and just said it was Hrt and someone else said it was medicine for their dog - neither aroused any suspicions.

I haven't told anyone and have been on it for four months. I live with DH and two grown-up DC coming and going. I couldn't get away with hiding it in the fridge, DH does a lot of the cooking and would definitely find it, so I just timed my orders for the day I needed to start a new pen. That worked ok for a while but was a bit nerve wracking as I couldn't choose a delivery day and was guessing how long approval, dispatch and delivery would take. So in the end I got myself a little mini fridge of my own. I keep it under my desk in my study, nobody else really goes in there. DS saw the box and asked what it was when it arrived - it calls itself a skincare fridge and he could see that on the packaging, so I told him it was for my eczema creams. I do keep skincare in there too now actually, very soothing when I get a flare up!
Once the pen is in use I keep it in a make up bag in the drawer of my bedside table, sharps box is also in the same drawer.

I was going to suggest a cosmetics fridge.

You can also get very small chilling boxes for medication that are smaller and quieter than a cosmetics fridge. Like the one linked below. I managed to get a nearly new one from eBay for about £30.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mini-fridge-Medicine-Refrigerator-Insulin/dp/B07R424976?th=1

It is helpful to tell people you are trying to lose a bit of weight - just to cover the change in eating habits etc.

And, obviously, go with a supplier that tells your GP - for safety.

I haven’t told dh, he’d be horrified.
I’ve not told anyone.
I chose to buy with Oushk as they have an option to select your delivery day. Similar to another poster I explained the parcel as a birthday present and took it upstairs, it was cold from the ice packs and I injected and it’s been in my underwear drawer since next to the very small sharps bin.
the packaging was pretty plain, just obviously quite chilly!

@unsync with Asda, if it is ready next day but you cannot get there until the day after, do they keep hold of it until you can get there?

I havent told anyone apart from a friend (who I think is pleased I am loosing weight but not an overall fan of WLI so we dont talk about it in any detail).

I am not sure how my husband would react, he doesnt get how I stuggle to loose weight, suspect he would think it was a waste of money as all I need to do is eat less :-) He knows I am not eatting as much as I was and loosing weight and is supportive of that, so I work on the theory that he doesnt need to know the details. I have the pen and sharps box hidden in one of the drawers in my desk (I WFH) and when its in the fridge I put it in a plastic box as I know he wont open that.

Ooo this is a tough one. I haven’t told anyone in real life I’m on MJ, but I also don’t need to keep it hidden from anyone at home.

You don’t have to store it in the fridge once you use it. So perhaps collect it from the pharmacy, use it as soon as possible then keep it hidden wherever is convenient. You then need to use the remaining doses within 30 days. You could probably throw out the box and the advice leaflet and just keep the pen (the leaflet is online anyway). But then you need to also hide the needles and the sharps bin.

I’m totally judging based on my own home layout, but I can’t see how it would be possible to hide the sharps bin or hide a mini fridge as suggested. I feel like those items are large enough to be easily be found and/or opened if someone was rooting through your stuff (especially in the case of a rocky marriage). Do you have a lockable space anywhere?

Yes Asda pharmacy will hold onto the pen until you collect it - my last one was there a week before I could get there to fetch it. They will text you when it's ready to collect (sometimes a day later than they promised at time of ordering). A bit like collecting an online order from Argos really!

Yes, it is kept in the fridge until you can pick up. I find this very useful. My last pen was delivered on Wednesday, but I was travelling so didn't pick up until Friday morning.