Stopped for a month, good lord the hunger

[PrivacyPussyPasta]

Due to illness I had to stop MJ for a month after being on it 3 months.

I'm now back on 2.5.

Oh my god I can't believe how hungry I was without it. I thought it might have reset my appetite/lifestyle choices. But after a week off MJ I was starting to get that ravenously hungry feeling again where you can't think of anything but food, and feel physically starving.

I'm so relieved to be back on it, and I don't think it's a mental/placebo situation.

Back on 2.5 and I'm now only bothering with lunch and dinner, lots of veg, not snacking in the evenings.

Without it I was waking up ravenous, and wanting to eat again 2 hours after dinner. Has anyone else felt like this when stopping for a period?

What will you do when you come off it ?

This is my worry. What will happen when I stop taking it.

I had similar op. Off for a month or so. I'm slowly using up a saved 10mg pen but it will run out before Christmas and I am worried. I can't stay on it forever though. I'm hoping that development on the area will be really swift and a daily pill that's cheaper will be an option soon.

No reason for you to stop taking it if you can afford a maintenance dose.

This is why I've eaten around 1500 calories a day (give or take) in the hope of avoiding this

However I suspect it'll happen. I've lost 5 stone and I'm about done now so I'm looking to taper down over the next few months

I can well imagine hunger being all consuming

I'm really worried about this.

I don't know what I'll do when it's time to stop.

I'm considering cutting other things out of my budget to afford an ongoing maintenance dose.

What would you regard as a maintenance does? Is it every other week?

im the same, I do not want to be without this!

What is meant by a maintenance does? Is it 2.5 every week?

That’s awful. Will you still be prescribed a maintenance dose if you are not over weight anymore?

You can get a maintenance dose but how will it work? The pens have a 30 day shelf life when opened and no prescriber is going to go against that - so my loose plan to inject 2.5 every few weeks or so won't work as it'll mean the pen being in use for too long

If 2.5 is too high for you weekly. Bearing in mind it’s not even considered a dose, it’s just starting treatment to get your body used to it, then you’d need to be happy to throw medicine away. They aren’t going to do less than that.

Is it meant to be taken forever though?

It can if you choose to with support from your provider.

While GLP-1 has been used for almost 20 years by diabetics, and proven safe, how it is best utilised for maintaining weight loss is still relatively in its early phases.

It is approved for long term use, and many providers have issued their first maintenance plan offerings which include things like continuing on current dose, tapering back down to a lower dose to support maintenance calories, or flexible use (one month on, one month off, longer periods between injections etc).

The thing that is making maintenance options limited or unaffordable is the UK Kwikpen design, but I think in time that will change. They are already looking at a GLP-1 in tablet form which may be a more flexible and affordable maintenance option, but that will be some time away yet.

Some people will be able to come off and maintain without it, all depends on the individual and the complex physical, emotional, environmental and social factors that made them obese in the first place. It will be an individual thing and although some people/media try to generalise it, it is not that simple.

Yes as long as you can prove that you've been on Mounjaro all these time. Easily proven with photo of your order confirmation emails orders for all the months or postage labels throughout.

If it's a Pharmacy you've stayed with throughout, then there's no need to 'prove' as they have your history of ordering. So they'll continue to prescribe for maintenance.

What is a maintenance dose?

I'm in the same boat
Don't want to stop

It's the dose you stay on to maintain your weight. It doesn't have to be a particular dose and you don't need to stick to that dose forever - you an go up or down as needed. It's just called 'maintenance dose' because you're now taking it for maintenance as opposed to weightloss.

For how long

For some pharmacies, it's until you reach a certain bmi. For others, it's for as long as you need, others have a personalised approach you have to speak to them about, others have a maintenance fee to stay on their plans. You can take look at this thread talking about maintenance policies for different pharmacies.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5219964-maintenance-policy-email-cloud-pharmacy-and-others?reply=140182723

I noticed it and I wasn’t on it for very long only 2 months but waiting for an operation which is likely to be a last min cancellation and you need to be off it for 2 weeks, so I’ve sacked it off and just going to wait till my op is done and I’ve started recovery to go back on. Lost 7lbs and so far I’ve managed to maintain it been off around 3 weeks but I wasn’t having big losses or side effects so was maybe enough to allow me to keep myself under control a bit, chocolate craving has massively come back though

I’ve been off it for around 8 weeks - the intense hunger does subside once your body gets back to normal levels - you just need to work through it.

Ive maintained since I’ve stopped

If you get to a BMI of 25 or under (me) I thought you couldn't get maintenance?
I can't with my provider and I can't get it elsewhere because my weight is normal now.

What will you do next ?

You can with mounjaro, were you taking a different drug? Mj is aapproved for life and more and more now offering.

Can you gather a screenshot of all your order confirmation emails (it doesnt matter if it's from one provider or more) showing your name, address, your doses from 2.5mg to your last ever dose spanning however long you were on it? If so, you can upload it to any of the providers who accept maintenance or let them know in the additional details box during your website assessment that you have those things to prove you've been on MJ and just want to stay with them for maintenance. Your proof should be enough for them to prescribe or give you a call/videocall to discuss and confirm, then prescribe.

You can also just email/call them and say this without doing the website assessment as it might cut you off because of bmi. So email/call and have a chat with the prescribing pharmacist, they should be able to prescribe with your proof of being on mounjaro.

This thread has been talking about the providers who do maintenance and you can choose from them or contact all of them and go with the one that accepts you.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5219964-maintenance-policy-email-cloud-pharmacy-and-others?reply=140189158