Continuing Mounjaro... Part 23

[Jimmyneutronsforehead]

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

For 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/

I will be back in the morning to add all of the information I had spent an hour on earlier on the original thread 23 that sort of went bust but I've just not found time this evening.

I'll cover UTIs again, as well as add the images from Miss Mounjaro, and the list of possible side effects.

Not quite the start to thread 23 that I had planned for, but I do think it's very important that everyone who had successful losses in thread 22 gets a huge congratulations and well done.

Happy thread 23 everybody!

Oh also, my next pen is 5mg but I only want to do 2.5mg - js that as simple as doing 30 clicks?

@SnacklessWonder Yes, I am currently doing that with a 5mg pen. I have reached goal so I am doing 30 clicks just to maintain.

Great thanks @diian That's what I'll do from next week.

I've just seen an article about coming off weight loss drugs in The Independent (well, I only read the first paragraph because it was behind a paywall). The headline was about 'ravenous hunger' and suggested that once you stop, the hunger will be worse than ever. I feel worried - I wish I could just enjoy this journey and stop worrying about how the maintain. Does anyone else worry all the time about this? I remember how hungry I was before and I don't want to go back to that, but worse. Or has anyone who's stopped confirm if it is that bad? Thank you 😊

I think the problem is that everyone has become afraid of the feeling of hunger. It's okay to feel hungry but you need mechanisms to cope with it. For me, that's small snacks or drinking a lot more water.

I have been on Mounjaro for over 8 months and am still on 15mg although practically at my goal weight. I am worried about coming off it. But eating less has become my normal now. My stomach has shrunk so holds less now. I don't want to put the weight on so will focus on making better food choices, tracking calories v energy burned etc.

And if that seems not to work as I titrate down then I am prepared to stay on a lower dose for as long as I can.

I've just seen an article about coming off weight loss drugs in The Independent (well, I only read the first paragraph because it was behind a paywall).

If you use https://www.removepaywall.com and paste in the url, you can read articles.

Amazing - thank you! I've now read the full article. It finishes quite optimistically, saying even those that regain a lot don't usually regain the full amount. But there is this worrying section:

"the majority of people in their study regained two-thirds of the weight lost and had worsening health markers, including higher blood pressure and cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease.

Researchers said that given the high rate of discontinuation and the poor side effects that can follow, it is essential to study whether taking these drugs in the first place offers decreases people’s health risks, or if the downsides of stopping the drugs outweigh the benefits that they have while taking them"

It's a bit ambiguous - are the worsening health markers worse than staying fat initially, or just worse than when you were thinner? And can this really outweigh all the benefits? I think I'm just going to focus on the end part!

Am assuming holding blood sugar as stable as possible is key, so am going to try and limit sugar and other simple carbs forever, and keep protein up.

You'll have to let us know how you get on as you tilter down @Slimstar13 . Your loss is super inspiring.

It's weekly weigh day for me.

SW: 240.8lbs (17.2 stone)
CW: 174.2 (12.6 stone)

66.6lbs (4.10 stone) lost and I can finally start to see the finish line/ start thinking about maintenance.

I've moved from Boots (as they just cut you off at a certain BMI) and I want to tilter down slowly (but can't afford to stock up on pens). I've gone with Oushk who have three maintenance plans and are significantly cheaper.

I was worried about switching pharmacies as my BMI is 26.7 but it was really easy, wish I'd done it months ago as Boots is so expensive.

I'm at the stage now where everyone is commenting on the weight loss. Just wondering how you'd all react if someone asked you directly if you're using weight loss injections... I don't want to share with some people that I use them, but don't want to outright lie. However, saying 'that's none of your concern' is just super obvious 😮‍💨.

the majority of people in their study regained two-thirds of the weight lost and had worsening health markers, including higher blood pressure and cholesterol and increased risk of heart disease.

@Forevafatty The health markers increase as weight increases again as we know that being overweight causes high blood pressure, cholesterol and risk of heart disease. So that's not MJ specific, that's linked with gaining weight.

Anyone will gain weight if they've been on a restricted diet and then go back to their pre-diet habits. Doesn't matter if that's MJ, WeightWatchers, Slimming World... if you don't change your lifestyle or address the reasons you were overweight in the first place, you'll gain weight.

For some people it's not that simple which is why many people intend to stay on a low maintenance dose of MJ for as long as they can - because of hormone issues or food issues where they know they will struggle to control the hunger.

Official weigh-in for me today. Nothing off this week - well 0.2lb 🫠

So interesting @Slimstar13 and ties in with a podcast I was listening to the other day where the Dr said after a few months your brain is re wired to stop the old cravings or at least gives you the ability to not have them. I have thought a couple of times I want a chocolate bar but have only had one on two occasions over last 4 weeks.
With regard to health markers increasing when you come off he was saying importance of exercise and eating healthy with high protein. I wonder if people whose health markers worsen have not really changed their behaviours, If we don’t exercise and eat high protein then there is muscle loss so can see that health markers in that instance would be worse.
I am hoping that I will be able to come off MJ when reached target weight but will carry on taking it as maintenance dose if required. At 58 I just cant bear the thought of putting all the weight back on again….
I listened to it as a podcast but below YT link. It says Ozempic but is GLP-1s in general.

It’s a difficult one@Paperwhite13 as part of me wants to shout it from the rooftops and part of me knows how some people judge you, only have to look on online forums. I have told my close family and friends, in fact, my sister and cousin have now started it as well as best friend and her sister. I made the mistake of telling some of a group I walk with and was quickly fed up of them telling me how dangerous it was, when we all know the health benefits can be enormous.
I would never dream of asking anyone directly if they use Mounjaro. Think if I didn’t want to tell them I would just say “ that’s a very personal question” while smiling and change the subject.

It was too cold to weigh today. Usually do it naked first thing but as soon as the duvet came off fleece lined leggings, thigh high socks 2 sports bras a T shirt and a jumper went on.

I am peckish today. Trying to make good eating choices, so when I finally get my darling school avoider to school I'm going to come back and have some poached eggs and then I should be pretty busy and distracted from food till pickup time because I think we've got rats... again. So time to pull everything out give it all a good clean, get some traps down, set up the cameras again.

Are you girls feeling too cold these days?
We moved to this house just before the pandemic and this is the 5th winter (well, autumn) and the first time I’m feeling cold all the time. Is it the 4 stones lost or is it much colder this year?

I'm definitely feeling the cold. 🥶

I am always cold! Always am when I 'diet' though.

This would mean you are using the pen for a lot more than 30 days and increase the risk of bacteria growing in the solution. ( even if kept in the fridge the risk is higher after the recommended 30 days but better than not in the fridge)

@Slimstar13 your post is so interesting and really resonates with me. I am a long way off my goal yet but I’ve realised that the amount of calories I need to eat to lose is very low, much lower than I previously thought. I am very short, so about 800-1,000 is working well for me.

My hope is that if I get to goal weight and then eat at around 1,500 that won’t be enough to put on weight, but will still feel like a decent amount to eat.

I think my portion sizes were just so wrong - this drug has helped me realise how much food I was overeating, for so long. Even when I was low carbing or fasting, I was still eating way over 1,000 calories. Thinking I was being good, feeling deprived but still not losing weight.

It is easy to see why portion sizes are so
messed up when you go to a restaurant and all of the options for just a main are way over 1,500. Or go to the cinema and one popcorn serving is enough to feed an entire family.

I'm still only planning to do 5 doses as I normally would - I just ordered the 5mg as it was the same price and I wasn't sure if I would be ready to move down or not.

Slightly sobering new study being reported widely today on why we regain lost weight. In addition to brain signalling and it's effects on leptin and gremlin to increase hunger and reduce satiety in an attempt to restore previous weight, fat cells are also against us. Apparently fat cells of the previously long term obese are able to hold on to more of the fat and carbs ingested than normal fat cells increasing the rate of weight gain. From mice experiments, those overfed for a short time were able to hold on to the lower weight level after a diet but those mice who had been obese for a while regained despite being fed the exact same diet as their usually normal weight counterparts.
I have seen on here and elsewhere people successfully maintaining but, often, these seem to be people who were overweight or only just obese and whose weight gain had been of relatively short duration. For those of us with more longstanding issues, the struggle to maintain may be harder.
Scientists are speculating that fat cells may lose this memory over time if weight loss is maintained, which suggests that (and I very much hope so) we might be able to go it alone after a fairly lengthy maintenance on mj.

With regard to maintenance, I'm fully prepared to continue on MJ forever if necessary.

I think the NHS will eventually catch up, and start prescribing it anyway for obesity. They'll also figure out that keeping some people on it for life will be a worthwhile investment.

I agree. Happy to be on it for life if necessary.

The risks of being obese or regaining far outweigh the risks of remaining on mounjaro.

A bigger risk for me is remaining on hormonal birth control, which seems to have curbed the pmdd, but I've been on every possible hormonal birth control and had blood clots, weight gain, depression, anxiety, perforated uterus, pregnancy (now almost 6 year old), fatigue etc. I think hormonal birth control is possibly the biggest contributing factor to my weight gain, second to my PCOS, third is probably the environmental factor that my single parent mum had to work so was physically unavailable and I grew up on UPF convenience foods and microwave meals with poor nutritional education.

I can't really reverse any of that. I have made the conscious choice to reduce carbs, not rely on hormonal birth control methods, and always eat as organically as possible without beating myself up on the odd occasion I do have to eat UPFs, but because I've not got a time machine, if I have to accept that I'm on mounjaro for life now, then so be it that's exactly what I'll do.