The 30 day limit

[ThatSchoolOfficeLady]

I'm curious to hear from anyone who has used a mounjaro pen after 30 days, especially if you returned it to the fridge after each use. How long after did you use it? Did it have any negative effects on you? Did it still work?

Before someone chips in, yes I know this is just anecdotal, not scientific evidence. Yes I'm not seeking medical advice and yes I'm not going to follow the advice of online strangers.

I've used the same provider since the start and I'm not extending the life to get 5mg weekly from a 10mg pen or anything! I just used the bonus dose and also left it slightly longer than 7 days between doses as I was ill once, which took my pen life to more than 30 days. I use alcohol wipes and obviously new needles each time.

I really wouldn't recommend trying to buy high doses if you're only planning on taking part of it each week. I think there's a difference in bending the safety rules occasionally and completely breaking them!

I don’t get what you mean. When you move supplier they usually ask to see you most recent prescription.

If they aren’t doing then I would worry they weren’t very diligent. It’s ok, stockpiling it. But for how long?

What happens when you want to start going down? You reach target but have 3 or 4 very high dose pens?

At some point you need to take a break from ordering, and if your BMI is too low you won’t get be able to start again. Or you will need to start at 2.5mg again.

If you aren’t going to take a break then what’s the point of making them last 2 months, you will be spending the money and just have loads in the fridge but not have saved anything?

I think people are adults and they will do what they want to do. I am not judging. But just trying to get my head round it.

My fridge pens are dated Oct and Nov 2025. I am losing between 1lb and 1.5lb each week. I should be at target March/April, when I intend to stop. I am exercising much more and eating a really healthy balanced diet with plenty of fruit/veg, oats, Greek yogurt and lean meat etc. I'm still experiencing good suppression on 2.5 although I'm aware this could change. If I stay on 2.5 and get 8 doses from each 2.5 pen, I should only need one more pen dated at least March 2025. This is all best case scenario though and anything could change.

So if your pen is 2.5 how are you getting 8 doses of 2.5? Or is it a 5 pen and you are half dosing?

Do you plan to stop purchasing after you buy the next one?

@Wednesdaysdrag sorry yes, pens are 5, from which I will be taking a 30 click dose, moving to 45 clicks if 2.5 dose stops working.

I plan to get a 7.5mg pen and take 5mg from it to save money which will take it over the 30 days.

I also plan to microdose if I can get a couple of pens to stockpile and I hope there will eventually be plans out where you can microdose

I see, so you're planning ahead with an end to the medication in mind? Thanks for explaining!

So this approach wouldn't work if you planned to continue on a maintenance dose forever (you'd end up with a pointless stockpile as you can't just order every 2 months without arousing understandable suspicion from your provider) and you can't go back on the meds after a break in ordering (you'd be under BMI 30 by then so wouldn't get prescribed).

Look, we all know - or should know, for anyone who doesn't - the manufacturer state pens must be discarded after 4 uses or after 30 days.

However I really appreciate @ThatSchoolOfficeLady being honest and explaining, it's sort of the last taboo of messing with the pens really... taking the bonus dose, taking a non-standard dose, extracting meds with a syringe, split dosing etc... its clearly not for everyone and you're choosing the risky option, but I wish you well and hope you have no unpleasant symptoms.

@HippoPortlyMouse
I think you sum up well but it is a little concerning that while people aren't what I would call 'stupid', we've seen plenty examples on here and elsewhere of people who, shall we say, struggle to follow what are pretty straightforward instructions. I can remember someone who injected all 4 doses in one go, on their first injection. Another who hadn't actually been injecting anything for 2 or 3 weeks. Someone else who had injected just the priming dose. Plenty of people don't understand the difference between mg and ml, how doses are constituted at different strengths, or the process of 'click counting', or who don't understand fractions or percentages, or how to buy and use a syringe safely. Most of us are doing this with minimal to no truely effective medical supervision. I think as time goes by, the role of social media in spreading unsafe, sometimes downright dangerous practices is becoming clearer. Not sure what the answer is as I know very well the financial burden of buying these meds every month, but it is concerning that people are so ready to fiddle with the dosing of WLM in a way they probably wouldn't dream of doing with antibiotics or prescription pain killers. I'm guessing that because we're paying, we feel entitled to do as we wish rather than as we're told! In an ideal world the pharmaceutical companies would be more receptive and responsive to what patients want and need but I think we're a way off that today.

@KrankyKumquat You're not wrong. I don't know if it's because we're paying for the meds, or because they're new and we're trying to navigate using them in a way that works best for us without much guidance, but for everyone who carefully calculates their clicks and safely administers a split dose there may be someone who ends up doing something unintentional or unsafe.

In an ideal world we'd be getting guidance from our (supportive) GPs, we could have these dosing conversations with them and we'd all have regular monitoring and accompanying health checks. That would give more flexible options to help people manage side effects and move up quicker or slower depending on their responses to the meds.

I don't foresee those things happening in the next few years at least!

I can see why more regulation is likely to come, to protect patient safety, because there are people who will mis-dose and risk harm.

I'd like to consider myself smart enough to work out my doses - indeed I'm currently taking a non-standard dose by click counting. It's working well, but it's against the dosing schedule, so I'm probably part of the problem.

@HippoPortlyMouse
Yep I've done it too. It would certainly be good to see more GPs engaging with their patients who use private health care - I read one person say they'd had an appt to discuss nausea I think, and was practically evicted from the room by their GP who said 'what do you expect me to do about it?'. The contrast with US insured users of MJ is so stark - a primary HCP, access to a range of metabolic, diet, heart, kidney, diabetes, and mental health specialists, frequent blood tests, body scans, micro dosing. We really are stumbling around in the dark in the UK and seem to be making it up as we go along. I'm just glad to have got through the weight loss stage in one piece and hope to get down to and stay at the lowest possible dose equally unscathed!

The irony of this is, we are self-funding a treatment that could potentially save the NHS a great deal of money in treating obesity related illness

@ThatSchoolOfficeLady
Yes very true. And still we get criticised! 🤷

I've just taken my last dose of MJ (a 5mg from a 15mg pen) I titrated down and the last dose was 7 weeks from that pen. I kept it in the fridge, cleaned the bung every time and checked for any discolouration. I did feel uneasy about using that last dose and I have thrown the pen away with approx 2 doses left in it.

I am down to a a bmi of 21.9 and I don't want to lose anymore.