Do I have to increase my dose

[Puppylucky]

Hi I've been on Mounjaro since end May. I've had steady weight loss and manageable side effects. I've now reached 7.5mg, which for me feels like the optimal level in terms of suppression. I'm with Simple Pharmacy, who have been great - if expensive - so far. However, I ordered my 3rd 7.5 mg pen from them last night and received a slightly off message from the pharmacist, saying that it is not recommended to stick at 7.5, as it's not a recognised maintenance dose - and stating that she'd approve it this time (but not again was implied). Initially I responded, saying that I understood and would move up to 10mg after this last 7.5mg pen, but having thought about it, I don't want to. It feels a bit like they are pushing me up to a more expensive dose, when it's working for me at the level I'm at. Is it worth me pushing back or is this kind of response from the pharmacist normal?

Your pharmacist is correct. They can only prescribe what's recommended by the research behind the drug.
But. Have a talk with them and discuss how you feel 7.5 is good for you, this may allay their fears.

You know your body and how you feel, if you're happy on your current dose, I would advocate for that. If you're not listened to maybe it's time to change providers? Plenty of people don't move up doses until they're ready.

Well, each time I re-order (with Asda) I get the choice to either drop down a level, stay on the same level or move up and it's my choice as to which. I'm on my third 7.5mg pen and will be likely to order another 7.5mg as long as I'm still experiencing the same level of effect from it at the time I re-order. So, although it is recommended to move up through the doses the timescale doesn't have to be fixed. The guidance I've seen just says to spend at least 4 weeks on a dose before moving up.

I find it weird and don’t understand it as 5mg and 10mg seem to be recommended maintenance doses but why not 7.5? 🤔 makes no sense to me

i don’t think you should feel pressured to move up if it’s working for you but unsure how it works with prescribing guidelines

I find it weird and don’t understand it as 5mg and 10mg seem to be recommended maintenance doses but why not 7.5? 🤔 makes no sense to me

i don’t think you should feel pressured to move up if it’s working for you but unsure how it works with prescribing guidelines

@User364837 it's because that's what the most recent research into Mounjaro used for their analysis. People in the studies were moved up to either 5, 10, or 15 mg (I think, not sure about 12.5) and then stayed on that dose for the duration. So the data analysed was for people at those specific doses, not including the 2.5 or 7.5 or 12.5mg(?) levels.

I'm with them too OP and you can sometimes get a discount with this online website "honey" it might cave you something. I had 25% off last time on 3 pens

https://www.joinhoney.com/explore

The odd thing is that the Website gives exactly the same options as you mentioned on the Asda one @SilenceInside which is why I was surprised it was suddenly apparently a big deal to request to stay put. Anyway I think a pharmacist is going to call at some point so I can discuss it with them.

Seems odd. I’ve been on 2.5 for 3 months and MedExpress gives me the option to go up or stay the same. If it’s working at whatever level, why take more?

Just to update I finally got to talk to a human being as opposed to getting into an email war.
She was very sweet (and sounded very young!) and told me after consulting with her colleagues she was happy to confirm I could remain on 7.5 until I was happy to move up. It feels like this is such new territory for everyone that less experienced pharmacists are just doing "computer says no" to anything that doesn't conform. Thanks for giving me the confidence to push it !

What’s the maximum a person can stay on 2.5mg?

Do the side effects subside after a few weeks? 🤢

As long as they want. Some people find 2.5 effective and never move beyond that but most seem to find the effectiveness wanes so titrate up.
side effects do often subside as the body adjusts or can seem a bit random!
I was quite sensitive to it so didn’t want to jump straight from 2.5 to 5, so did 3.75 but counting clicks.

I imagine there will be more supply chain reasons for reducing the number of doses patients stick on rather than medical.

If they have more patients on specific doses they can do bigger production runs, bigger bulk orders etc which is more efficient.

I would move suppliers instead of going up a dose if I was happy where I was.