Mounjaro, 10st or more to lose.

[BookishBabe]

Hello fellow mounjaro users or people thinking about starting. I have seen there is a thread for people needing to lose 5 stone plus, but even there I felt a little bit big.
I need to lose 12 stone, and even then my BMI would be 33.
Alot of people seem to be starting mounjaro with a starting BMI of 33, so I think it sometimes feels better to be among people who have the same amount to lose, 12 stone feels so daunting and scary. It's going to be a long battle.

This is my final chance before weight loss surgery, which I really don't want to do or risk.
I am 32 years old and have 2 young sons (7 and 5), one is disabled and the other is struggling and is on a reduced timetable at school. They need me to be around for a very long time and at the moment I feel like I am failing them.

I started calorie counting/a calorie controlled diet last Monday (2nd December). I was thinking about putting it off because of Christmas, but I can always come up with an excuse, so I decided to just go for it.

I weighed in at 27st and 7lbs.
At 5 ft 8 that gave me a BMI of 58.5!!!

I had some blood tests in March which showed I was prediabetic, I have done precisely nothing since then to do anything about it and have buried my head in the sand!

My mounjaro was delivered Tuesday afternoon and I took my first jab on Wednesday morning. I think its working slightly now, but I didn't feel any different for the first 3 days, but I'm either used to eating less (unlikely in 7 days) or the mounjaro has started to take effect.

So, one week in, calorie controlled diet every day, trying to get lots of protein, drinking loads, a few days of mounjaro in my system.

Weigh day time,

drum roll

26st and 11lbs!!!! 🥳

10lbs gone. I am very happy with that. I used to be able to lose 15lbs in a week when I was younger, but I was much more active back then and thanks to being so overweight I do struggle with activity.

BMI is now 57! So I've lost 1.5 on my BMI. Fingers crossed I can keep this going, I just need the number to keep going down! I'm really hoping I can be in a healthier and happier place with myself.

So, long post over.

Does anyone with 10st or more to lose want to join me here?

I know its daunting but I think if anyone feels like me, this is probably our last hope before surgery and our health is probably starting to decline or already has due to the weight we have on our bodies.

@Lobsterteapot I feel less obsessed with food. It no longer has the same hold on me.

@Lobsterteapot I don't have any interest in snacking or grazing. I am not really hungry and I eat a much smaller portion at meal times and am fuller quicker. On the first couple days after the injection each week I can be so un-hungry that I am not interested in eating much at all. Other than that, I feel normal and I still enjoy eating what I do eat, so it's not that I don't enjoy food any more. It's more that it's not a priority or a focus.

My kids is one of my main reasons for doing this. My 9 year old is a big eater and luckily at the moment she does a lot of sport but I worry as she gets older she'll drop the sports and be left overweight. I'm hoping I can start running or enjoying exercise that she can do with me eventually

I have been on mounjaro for 6 weeks. I am one of the 'lucky' ones in that I am prescribed it for diabetes by my GP.

Already I am seeing improvements. No longer waking in the middle of the night every night bursting for the loo. Skin infections are reduced. Oh and I have lost over a stone in weight in December!

The only time I lost weight in December previously was on the Lighter Life diet.

In January I will start active dieting. Nothing major, a downshift again in portion size. I'm not frightened that I will be hungry and miserable.

This is a hangover from Lighter Life. I lost shedloads of weight (around 7 stone, all came back with interest) but oh the fear of hunger! Having a 'healthy shake' and knowing it would be hours before the next one.

For the first time I feel in control of my eating.

(BTW the irony isn't lost on me that I am posting at 4.30am but that's because the dog woke me up rather than vice versa)

It’s finally my doctors appointment today . I obviously hold out very little hope for it on the nhs , but if you don’t try and all that …. I haven’t been to the doctors since a smear test before covid and I’m a bit nervous tbh . I’m honestly terrified of a very skinny doctor telling me off because I’m fat 😬

@GnomeDePlume That's so great to read! I keep honing in on people with bad side effects but gosh I'd love it if I didn't wake in the night urgent for a wee. I wonder how that works and I hope I get that too!!

@Grumpyoldthing good luck. I basically got told "calories out calories in" and it was fine if j just ate mars bars if it was within my calories by my (otherwise v nice) Dr. And made to feel so small. The nurse practitioner I saw for another reason then asked said she lost 4 stone the "proper way" and thinks the reliance on wli is wrong. So I really did feel bad!!! It's taken me reading around a lot to come round to trying especially as we're low income. I'd have loved support from a Dr. It seems from reading online that some doctors are supportive though.

I think here (my area) it's only rolling out as free on NHS if you're diabetic or you have 3 conditions such as heart disease. I'm bmi of nearly 50 with a couple of things going on and am not eligigible - ironically I think I could go on the waiting list for the operation but it's a long process and I'm so hoping this works instead.

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden I think I have been lucky that my GP surgery is so crap! Everything is delegated out to (much cheaper) nurses. I get on well with my diabetes nurse. She recommended mounjaro. The GP did the prescribing but they just do what the nurses tell them. It is years since I have seen an actual GP.

For me right now it is all about the non scalable wins: sleeping better, easing of minor diabetes symptoms, climbing stairs without putting it off.

As I (hopefully) lose weight there will be other wins. I'm 57, I know I will feel better about myself. I did when I lost weight before. Mounjaro may well be for life but I don't care about that. I already take other medication for life.

Yay for nice diabetes nurse! And yes I'd be happy on it long term but not sure cost wise how I'll manage. I've budgeted for my first year...and planning to do 2 years at least but if th exist comes down and it works happy to do longterm. I'd hate to put it all back on ad I think our bodies kind of remember somehow.

I've noticed I don't climb stairs. And avoid going places I might have to walk far. And struggle around shops...

I really want this to change. I'm thinking that might take a good while though. I very big 😳

I couldn’t get it on the NHS and my BMI is 53, I have high blood pressure and cholesterol but by some miracle am not diabetic, only just in the prediabetic range. They just said it’s not available yet, otherwise I fit the criteria. I don’t understand how the government can be going on about rolling it out to practically everyone and I can’t get it when my BMI is so high. I trained as a nurse for 3 years before a back injury stopped me, and I recently received £3K in pension money, so I’m using that to fund it. I’d put it on one side for an electric wheelchair and a holiday, so MJ is the holiday!

It doesn't seem right does it. I was similarly hopeful after it had been in the news but I read elsewhere it will take 12 years for the NHS to roll it out.

I don't think helping people with morbid obesity is their priority...

I’m very surprised that I got an appointment, I was very clear about what it was for , but I’m in the waiting room now so I’ll let you know how it goes

All the best. It may be that even if they can't prescribe they could support. Or they might offer a fitness thing.

Let us know how you get on x

Ok so I think it went well , had a great doctor and discussed my options, they do prescribe it in my area, however it is from the weight loss clinic, and everything is closely monitored for side effects.

apparently five years ago I had a blood test and my liver was slightly irritated (who knew ? I didn’t 🤷‍♀️) so I’m been sent for a blood test and referral to this clinic. He did say it’s very popular.

the only thing is I wanted to start on Boxing Day and it just keeps getting pushed back.

I think the best thing to do is maybe set a time limit- say 8 weeks - and if I’m no closer just go private. At least I will have had my blood tested

Then buy them privately

the only only reason I’m doing this way money

I don’t know if I should just go ahead and buy it now

we can afford it if we are careful

@Grumpyoldthing did the GP give any indications of wait times for the weight loss clinic? I would be concerned that the wait time could be many months and even then they might want to get you to try other options first before being allowed to access the injections.

It is absolutely bonkers. I’m type 2 diabetic and on the tier 3 weight loss pathway with the eventual aim of a gastric sleeve. Got in the queue last Christmas.

The NHS could potentially save thousands if they prescribed Mounjaro instead of the op but here I am paying privately and having to have a meds review to make sure the metformin (diabetes med) will be okay alongside it.

There were a whole group of us in my Tier 3 counselling group that were willing to try the jabs before the surgery.

I’m in South Yorkshire and was referred Dec 23. Started in group sessions (tier 3) May 24. They said it would be roughly 12 months at that point to gastric surgery if we chose Sheffield. They weren’t offering the jabs at all last summer.

He said weeks .

im actually thinking I have given myself more stress by trying to do it , I don’t want to be waiting for weeks /months , in weight terms that could be what 2/3 stone ? That in itself would make a massive difference to my health/ life

he didn’t guarantee me anything ie I might well not get it even after being referred

i had been trying to up my steps / limit sweet things and I have last 10lb since August , so I could try keep going myself a bit .

but I hurt my leg 3 weeks ago and my step count has taken a beating

I’ll talk to my husband tonight about it and see what he thinks

honestly the time I have put into this I should have just spent the £100 and got the first month

North Yorkshire for me .

@Grumpyoldthing its lovely that you have a nice doctor and he listened to you, I think they are a rarity!

I have a friend who asked about a referral here in Norfolk and she was told approximately 18 weeks! I haven’t considered it, I have an image in my mind of being told how to cook healthily and count calories, as if none of us know how to do that, I find it all so patronising. I don’t want a referral to slimming world, been there and done that, lost 4 stone, gained 5…

I can honestly say that the money I spend on Mounjaro isn’t noticed as our food shopping bill has really dropped and we are not buying 4 or 5 takeaways a month. It’s just finding that initial outlay. But, I don’t have kids at home anymore, it’s just me and DH so I don’t have to factor that into our monthly outgoings.

@Grumpyoldthing Waves from sunny south Yorks!

You should get a letter saying you’ve been referred to the weight clinic and giving you the estimated wait. It’s well worth you getting in the queue id say.

If you are Type 2, speak to your diabetes nurse as I thought all areas are prescribing it for Type 2 with high BMI.

My friend got referred to the Liverpool Weight Clinic last year. They made her do a 12 week course on why she got fat and how to diet, then a “physio for weight” course (exercise) then they told her they were no longer able to prescribe wli. My GP has referred me, I looked at their website and it said no injections still (see link below). So I decided to buy privately. My friend is unwilling to do so, she wants checking throughout. It’s a shame there’s no facility to pay for it through our GP and get monitored.

www.uhliverpool.nhs.uk/services/service-finder/liverpool-obesity-support-service

This feels to me like services designed by people who have absolutely no idea about how/why people gain weight.

It sounds like half-arsed therapy delivered by people who aren't trained therapists. The danger is that it can make things worse.

People are severely overweight sometimes for very complicated reasons. A bit of cod science once a week isn't going to help this and can make it worse.

It is ludicrous that people are still being pushed to surgery before WLI have been tried. Bariatric surgery is surely too high a risk except as a very last resort. It's major surgery which often fails.