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.

Thankyou - you speak wisdom!
. I've just had a call from my gp - I put in for it before I signed up for MJ and feel wobbly. She has been v much calories in/calories out (but is otherwise lovely) and that weight loss will solve all things. I feel like a kid having spoken to the headteacher. And feel guilty I signed up to MJ which I know is silly. They must know lots of people doing it.

She's still referring me to tier 3 so maybe belt and braces but I'm not sure if it will help or even if they'll take me if I'm already losing. But who knows.

And she's booked me a blood test as I'm exhausted to check for diabetes/other things. I've got anxious now it's after my first jab but I think I'm just getting all the anxious. There's so much shame and anxiety and feeling judged wrapped up in being this overweight for so long isn't there 😢.

But the positives are Ive had the conversation, she's aware of the MJ and I'm still in the system and I'm getting a blood test which should quell my anxiety or get me on the radar if my levels are raised.

I can't wait to start now and also to be a few months in and it just to be what I'm doing. The anxiety around managing and side effects will hoepfully be less when I know what I'm dealing with and it's hopefully already under control.

Thankyou all.

I have those same worries @FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden, what if I manage to lose 4 or 5 stone and it stops working, what do I do then? All the worries are valid as we really don’t know, but when we get there we’ll deal with it somehow, it’ll still be exciting to get to that 4 or 5 stone loss! if I’ve learnt one thing from reading all these threads and FB, no two people have the same journey.

I weighed this morning and I’m another 2lbs down, gives me a grand total of 2 stone off since using MJ, I ‘ran’ up the stairs three times yesterday without a second thought, then realised what I’d done, huge win!
I remember this time last year crouching down to pick something up in the middle of Norwich city centre and nearly toppling over, managed to hold myself still but that would have been a bit mortifying, I have no trouble now at 17 stone 2 lbs 😁. I have more energy and I’d much rather have loose skin that’s easy to hide than excess fat that isn’t!
I’m currently trying neck exercises and creams to fight the turkey neck that’s appearing, but that’s probably more due to my age!

At my highest my bmi was 50.81, when I started MJ my bmi was 46 and today it’s 41!

That anxiety and excitement about starting is real, it’s an information overload, will I get side effects, when should I take it, I want to be 6 months into this journey already, the list goes on and I think all of us on here have thought or are thinking the same ❤️

Just had a really dispiriting conversation with the NHS dietitian which has made me more team Mounjaro than ever!

I’ve just “completed” tier 3 and they are ready to refer me to tier 4 which is where you choose your hospital and get in the queue for bariatric surgery. I was really hopeful (based on the timescales given in the tier 3 sessions) that I would get my surgery this year. It looks like it will be another 12-18 months!

I can’t live like this for another 18 months!!

The dietitian also said that they aren’t offering WLI as part of their offering. She said this is because Mounjaro is new and no one has agreed the pathway for WLI.

Which is bonkers as Tier 3 is the specialist bariatric/weight loss service! She agreed with me that a great number of people would benefit from them especially as surgery is expensive and invasive.

So I’m in the tier 4 queue and paying for Mounjaro privately. I see my diabetes nurse next month so I’ll see if they can prescribe, if not I’ll have to find the money.

It absolutely has to work though! No fucking around this weight is coming off!!!!

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden Im not sure how tall you are my lovely but when I lost 6 stone and got down to 17ish stone I felt amazing and looked incredible.

I could shop at high street shops and was size 18/20, had loads of energy and could do a full clubercise class in an hour - about 15k steps!!

I guess what I’m saying is that you will feel and look better loads before you get to your goal weight

I would LOVE to be able to stick to 1200-1500 calories!! I need 800-900 to be able to lose weight.

if you have T2 diabetes, why haven't you asked your GP? They can prescribe if you have T2 and BMI over 35

1.5lb down this weekend. I didn't weigh last week, so thats the whole of Xmas and New Year period.

I have massive concerns about it stopping working for me. This was week 4 on 12.5mg and it didn't seem to give me as much oomph as the previous 3 weeks. This does seem to be a pattern. Hmmm.

@Iwouldratherbesinging Thankyou so much - it's so good to be able to voice all the anxiety around those who get it. And well done for your weight loss 😊

@Lobsterteapot I'm starting MJ as a way to hopefully avoid surgery but also aware it's a possibility. It's crazy the NHS will pay for an operation but not drugs!

How was tier 3? Is it pointless hoop jumping? I'm being referred so I'm in the system but hoping on MJ it will be okay.

In your case with MJ you could lose it before the operation date comes round which would be fab!

@JusteanBiscuits Going to be my next task if the diabetes nurse can’t prescribe it. My thinking was to try tier 3 first (as they are the specialist weight loss people) so that I can tell the GP what tier 3 said.

@FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden Yep pointless hoop jumping. Had 6 weeks of sessions on zoom in 12 months - Talking about portion size and what is healthy to eat 🙄
There was one session where we talked about the realities of life after surgery - for example you have to wait 30 mins after having a drink before you can eat - that was useful but I got more info from the book “living with bariatric surgery” in all honesty.

If I was you I’d request to go in at tier 4, you’ll still have a 12-18 month wait. Like you said hopefully MJ will get the weight off before the op.

when I first started I was adamant that I wasn’t going to ‘rush’ through the doses and stay as long as I could on the lower doses, yet here I am as scheduled on 10mg. I’d read on social media over and over again, once you get to 15mg you’ll have nowhere to go, I’d convinced myself that was true as everyone was saying it. I’ve since found out that’s complete bollocks! If diabetics take it, it’s not going to stop working after 4 weeks, 15mg is the long term maintenance dose to keep glucose levels stable and our appetites under control. The study ran for 72 weeks, that’s 17 months, so following the dosage schedule, people in the study took 15mg for over 12 months.
social media can be such a minefield of misinformation! I got completely sucked in.
But yes, I felt that 7.5mg didn’t have as much oomph in the last week, I like looking at the online glp plotter to see how much is left in my system, the shotsy app also gives me a rough idea.
well done on the loss!

That's really interesting I Would. I hadn't realised that about the doses and had similarly worried but that makes complete sense. I've only got a year at the discounted price so hoping to do as much as I can. I had imagined I'd titratw back down for "maintenance" once I reached my long term weight but maybe that's unrealistic.

What do diabetics on 15mg long term do - presumably the weight loss must stop at some point, they cNt just keep getting thinner?

Nah, just ask GP straight away as you're paying for it, so better to be getting it for 'free' if you can be!!

My consultant, as it is prescribed off label, has offered up to 20mg!

@Lobsterteapot I agree that the push to bariatric surgery is insane when there is a non-surgical route to try first.

Mounjaro doesn't work for everyone but surely it is best to try that before going down the major surgery route.

Bariatric surgery itself doesn't have a great success rate from what I understand. Physically you can eat less but you still feel hungry. This leads to people 'over' eating and damaging the restriction which has been put in place. Addiction issues with drugs and alcohol are also not uncommon.

Weightloss is touted as a panacea. We are here to lose weight but I guess for many with a lot of weight to lose, part of the motivation is to get HCPs to pay attention to real medical problems which won't go away with weight loss.

@JusteanBiscuits wowzers! Bite his arm off (good source of protein??)
I also wonder what else will be on the market in a years time, I’ve heard talk of maintenance doses in a pill form, I also saw that there are multiple trials taking place, some have not been approved by the FDA but that doesn’t mean to say they won’t eventually. Could be lots of positive things on the horizon, but for now this is my personal miracle

There are SO many things on the horizon at the moment. Like when Prozac came out and a million SSRI's were developed

I feel you, my 10mg has stopped working I was ravenous yesterday and today. I also need to keep below about 900 cals and I'm losing like half a pound a week, I don't know what else I can do. Well I do, it's the move more part!! I hate exercising, I have PTSD so I don't go out in the dark so I guess I need some good exercise videos to do indoors. Anyone got any ideas?

@Doggymummar, keeping under 900 calories must be so miserable and hard for you! Apologies if you’ve mentioned it before, but have you found a reason as to why you have to keep your calories so low? I can’t imagine how it must feel for you.
I quite enjoy the HIIT YouTube videos, there is a channel that does low impact videos but I cant remember the name, there are a few geared up for obese/overweight people.

Sticking to 800-900 calories a day must be such hard work - even with MJ!

For a Fatty I’m quite active and walk the dogs twice daily and other things to keep active so 1200-1500 is sustainable for a 1-2lb a week loss.

I'm assuming it's age related (55) sedentary etc. the only way I have ever lost weight over the years was Lighter Life., Cambridge, Slim Fast etc. I gained with Slimming World and Weight Watchers free foods you say, I could easily eat 2 chickens on a red day ! ! You can actually get a lot of food for around 900 calories I only eat once a day and tonight I have prawns, lentil noodles and a tomato sauce. Which will be a big plate full. I did succumb to a crust of toast and marmite earlier when I was tempted by the dogs lunch.

That's great, I dog sit on top of my paying job so do get out a bit but they are dogs with anxiety so the purpose is to keep them company rather than walk them, we went for 20 mins at lunch but she mostly spent that sniffing and choosing where to poo rather than walking!! I would love to lose a pound a week. But they all add up and it's nearly 5 stone gone now. So I just keep moving forwards. I could do without the monthly expense tho!

I've struggled to get in 1000 calories today. I had a cucumber and tuna salad in the fridge as leftovers from yesterday and ate about half before I got bored of chewing and gave up. Had a protein Starbucks iced coffee and a regular sachet coffee at home plus water and some seasoned chicken with half an avocado and some Mexican rice for dinner. Even with the snacks that I've logged but not yet eaten, I'm only up to 886 calories.

I'm in bed with my Kindle now and I have a Fibre One brownie if I need something sweet (80 calories) but I don't even want it.

@Miley1967 Looms like we both sent our pics last night - have yours been reviewed yet? Mine haven't yet!

I was just about to ask you the same ! No my order is on hold and has moved no further forward today. Maybe they have had a rush of orders after new year !

@Miley1967 I bet that's it. Frustrating as I'm so eager to get started! I'll let you know when mine have been reviewed!