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.

Yes, that's the problem for me. I can't bank on being able to always get the right dose at the right price.

You are right though that I've only seen one person who was rejected so fingers crossed it will be ok.

I'm also hoping that in a years time the price will have come right down , or Shemed will continue the study as with so much to loose I don't think I will be done in a year.

Still, I'll not worry about that for now.

If you are already under the Level 4 clinics, and discussing gastric bypass, most (not all) are able to prescribe mounjaro.

It's not health inequality. Those already in danger of serious illness are being prioritised. For me it is preventing major, life changing surgery and a lifetime of steroids and other drugs to keep my body working in a vaguely decent matter.

As things stand, mounjaro is under patent, and so can only be made by Eli Lilly. Similar, and better drugs, are already starting to come to the market - think of it like the early days of SSRI's. The NHS will catch up, but it basically doesn't have the man power to cover the tidal wave that will happen.

Morning everyone…. Day 10 here …. After last week the weight seems to be falling off this week.
300.4 this morning- I will be over the moon if I can get to 299 by Friday. My first mini target!
how’s everyone doing?

no bad side effects, but I do feel hungry this last two days….

close to ordering my second pen (it took two weeks last time so I want to make sure it is here in good time)

how did you decide to go up to the next dose ? I’m quite happy with the results atm , reading between the lines it seems the people who did two months on the first dose had less side effects going up ?

bit worried about the growing hunger? But also about side effects and pooping myself infront of my year 4 class 🤣

Hi everyone, hoping it's OK to join you?

I started on 2.5mg on 8th January, so far down 13lbs, due my 3rd jab on Wednesday. Side effects haven't been too bad for me so far. I'd really scared myself reading side effects before starting so I'm glad it's been better than I'd convinced myself it would be!

I've upped my exercise and cut carbs and junk from my diet. So I think that's helping too. I actually feel much better in myself too which is great.

Has anyone switched the days they jab? So far I've been doing it on a Wednesday and have been off work the past couple of Wednesday but i do shift work and next week I'll be working Wednesday and Thursday (13 hour shifts) so I'm not sure it'll be wise to jab on Wednesday! Any advice?

@Grumpyoldthing Having the same thoughts at day 11. 2.5mg is working well so far but even this morning, I’m having niggles of hunger. I’m planning on making a decision by Thursday afternoon so I can reorder then - I’m making the assumption that turnaround with authorising and dispatch is still slightly delayed with new year starters.

Sorry I meant to quote @Grumpyoldthing

@Grumpyoldthing I came on to post the exact same thing about hunger. I'm on week two of 2.5ml and feel hungry quite often now, which isn't good because I'm obsessing about food, when I really want to get to a place where I'm just not thinking about it. Not sure what to do about it.

I worried at the beginning with the ‘do I stay, do I move up’ thoughts as you have to decide before starting week 4 of a dose. I moved up through the doses and had 2 months on 7.5 which I regretted, I’m now on 10 and will move up to 12.5 after 4 weeks. I’m planning on the 15mg dose for the long haul. No two people are the same which is what makes it harder to decide and you have to do what feels right for you - vicious circle!

welcome @TheTwinklyBlueTiger 😍 I’m always changing my jab day for one reason or another, either bringing it forward by a day or delaying it by a day.
I’m very lucky with side effects, main being constipation and an occasional headache on jab day

I’ve bought the 5mg pen and I might do a 3/4 dose the first week of it then move up to the full dose of 5mg if I’m ok with it. The 2.5 effect is definitely wearing off, I injected it last night and I’m hungry this morning, which I definitely wasn’t the day after week 1 and 2. Hopefully it’ll kick in over the next 24 hours, will have to draw on my (very weak) willpower today!

@Kay2000 I did a month of 2.5mg and now taking 3.75mg from 5mg pen. Planning to do that for rest of this month before moving up to full 5mg. I’m nervous about side effects.

I’m on week 6 and so far a total loss of 10.5kg/23.1lbs, averaging 1.75kg/3.85lb week - put a little back on over Christmas. Results may be slow but I’m ok with that as long as it’s in the right direction as I have a long road ahead of me and probably into 2026 if I can afford it for that long.

Thanks, yes same here. I’m lucky as I took a very tiny pension last year that would have paid me a few £ a month from 65, and I’ve earmarked it for this, hoping I don’t need the electric wheelchair I’d planned to buy with it. This drug does seem to be helping my inflammation which is a welcome side effect I didn’t know about. I’m not even thinking about an end goal as it’s too far ahead right now. 23lb in 6 weeks, I’d be very happy with that, well done!

If it helps I decided to order a 5mg pen for my second as it was basically the same price as 2.5mg and I figured if I didn't want to go up I could always do a smaller dose. In the end i did 3x2.5mg, 5x3.75mg, 6x5mg and now 2x6.25mg.

I get nervous about side effects so I decided I'd go up really slowly. At the moment I'm doing 6.25mg from a 7.5mg pen and it's about perfect at the moment. Decent suppression but I can manage to eat 3 meals a day.

In terms of changing day @TheTwinklyBlueTiger I changed last week from Sunday to Thursday. Official advice is there must be 72 hours between injections so I did Sunday and then Thursday, the suppression was a bit higher as there wasn't a whole week between jabs but it worked for me.

Wow. So I had been referred to tier 3at the same time as I started MJ - I've had a call today to say they are completely closed to new referrals 😬.

The wls was my backup and I really don't want it so really really hope MJ works and I can afford it long term 🤞

Did you also mention you have T2 diabetes? (Sorry, awful memory) If so, definitely speak to your diabetes nurse or GP about them prescribing it for that.

Exactly what I’m thinking of doing, thanks for posting this.

The Daily Mail is full of all the side effects we can expect to die from being on Wegovy or Mounjaro (well, almost according to them) but no one is discussing the side effects of being 10 stones overweight….. just scaremongering.

Hi - no I don't but my GP very recently tested me for everything. My levels of everything are all over the place but the Hba1C was fine!

I'm just shocked I can't even get onto the waiting list for tier 3. I think our area is mainly doing bariatric surgery tbh but I was hoping if I go tin the system maybe I might get the meds longer term or maybe tehre would be some useful advice while I'm on them.

I had a bit of a wobble and felt I had over eaten this weekend, then felt guilty and dreaded the scales this morning, but I’m 2.7lbs down! In hindsight it’s those feelings of guilt around eating creeping in so obviously there’s still a lot of work to do and on paper I probably ate about a quarter of what I would have eaten back in September before MJ. 🙈

It's insane that people are being put on lists for WLS when there is medication to try first.

Watching the various recent programmes and articles I noticed a cost of £3k per person per year being quoted for WLI. Where has that come from?

Surely with its buying power the NHS would be able to get huge discounts. How many people actually need extensive counselling to use WLI?

The cost seems to be a number plucked out of someone's left ear to be used to say 'we can't afford it' rather than doing a proper cost/benefit analysis.

I can only imagine that the National Union of Bariatric Surgeons is desperately trying to frighten the NHS out of WLI for fear that their members will be out of their jobs.

I can only think that they are including every possible overhead when quoting those figures, from admin and clinician staff through to waste disposal, that’s the only feasible way I can see they have got to that number. It’s almost comical that WLS is still being used as a first choice.

Yes it really is. Maybe they're worried that the injections will be for life and getting the numbers of people to do the nursing side of it/wrap around advice etc. Vs a once and done. But we know it's not anyway don't we.

I'm relieved I made the right choice to go private rather than to wait but long term also aware of the costs.

I get the feeling that WLS is used almost as a threat 'if you dont sort yourself out we'll come at you with a knife' sort of thing.

Yet it is major surgery, high risk, has major risk of subsequent mental health issues, frequently fails.

WLI side effects are, for most people, mild and soon pass. Surely better to try this first?

Or is there a problem for some HCPs in accepting that for many, obesity does have a medical element to it? This goes against the teaching that obesity is entirely self inflicted and if we all just got a grip and ate less and moved more the problem would be solved in a jiffy.

A friend of mine had a gastric bypass around 20 years ago. She lost ten stone and kept it off for several years but it’s crept back on. Plus she has developed agoraphobia and doesn’t even go out for a walk so no exercise or long term change in diet or lifestyle. On top of that she’s unwell, being chronically deficient in several vitamins and minerals inc B12, folic acid, and iron. It’s not the answer although as @GnomeDePlume says, bariatric surgeons will say it is.

1.8lb loss this week. I thought it would be a bit more this week, but I did have a couple of treats. Just two - one lemon cupcake (just the sponge, no icing), and one freddo frog. Ho hum! Still on track for my first "big goal" in 2 weeks though. 4st 2lb down, and average is still 1.9lb a week. My consultant will be happy with this at next appointment, but I must admit, I would like a couple of weeks of big loss before a holiday in February!