Talk to me about side effects

[tilypu]

I'm seriously considering this, but I'm a bit concerned about the side effects. I work two jobs (one is very active, and one I need to be present for an hour to an hour and a half at a time) so I would like to know what to expect before I decide whether or not it's workable for me.

If you don't mind sharing, I would like to know :

a) whether or not you had any (so I have an idea of how likely they are).

If you had any then:
b) what they were
c) how severe they were and
d) how long they affected you for

Oh, I should say, it's mounjaro that I'm considering

If I eat the wrong thing I’ll be shitting through the eye of a needle. So you need to be very good with your diet - however I’m on it for diabetes so maybe that makes a difference

I'm due to take my 4th mounjaro dose tomorrow, and my side effects have been minimal. Just nausea the jab day and day after, but relieved by eating. I've also had headaches but that's it really.

Should add though that I have been very conscious of my food choices as I know that eating cleaner healthier foods lessen the risk of sickness, diarrhoea etc, but for some people even eating very cleanly doesn't stop those side effects.

I was on Mounjaro for three months earlier in the year. 2.5-5mg I had no side effects apart from appetite suppression and maybe a headache here and there (but that may not be related).

7.5mg is where I felt intense side effects. If I ate anything fried, oily, or sugar heavy I would be shitting through the eye of a needle with intense stomach cramps. It was vile. I lost weight because I was scared to bloody eat. I gave up rather than changing my diet after three weeks on 7.5mg because I had to eat what we were eating as a family.

I'm waiting for my new order of 2.5mg and starting again from scratch. This time I'm going in with experience so I'm hoping by the time I get to 7.5mg I will be very wise to what I can and can't eat.

However, this isn't a blanket rule. I know people on 7.5mg and 10mg+ who have had zero side effects on those doses too! So unfortunately it really is trial and error as to how it responds to your body. Good luck!

My only real side effects were that because I felt a bit sick and quite strong suppression (mostly on 7.5mg) I had days where I didn't really eat and then I got low blood sugar, shaking, feeling cold and would vomit. That happened mostly on days on which I travelled for work (so didn't want to grab a sandwich on a train).
Moved back to 5mg and can eat more. I'm not losing as quickly but will still lose.
I think near the beginning there were days when I felt a bit fluey, the odd headache, which might have been the mounjaro, but nothing has happened which stopped me working like normal. I've found the main way of feeling ok is to make sure I am drinking plenty of water. I am thirstier than before!

I had much worse diarrhoea/nausea/constipation on Wegovy and never got off the starting dose of it as a result. Mounjaro on next dose up and have no side effects and just appetite suppression. But I think we are all different and you have to find what works for you.

Hi, I've tried 3 different weightloss jabs

Saxenda:
Side effects - YES - diarrhea
Severity - awful - had to stop taking it
How long for - lasted about a week then gave up so don't know if they'd have worn off eventually

Ozempic:
Side effects - virtually none
Severity - mild - felt a bit queasy but was able to go about my day
How long for - I can't remember exactly

Mounjaro:
Side effects - headache when I go up a dose and constipation
Severity - headache is pretty bad, like a hangover. Constipation has been pretty bad if I haven't had enough fibre / roughage but can manage with diet if I remember to eat properly
How long for - headache lasts about 48hrs each tile I have gone up a dose. Then goes away till I go up. Constipation has been an issue since first week, pretty much

I had a long gap between when I finished taking Ozempic and when I started MJ.
I am much happier on MJ as despite side effects it is much more effective at blocking out food noise. On Ozempic I needed more will-power. It does wear off towards the end of the week (e.g. if you inject on a Saturday you might feel hungrier on Thurs and Fri) so I have to be careful around this. For me personally the benefits have outweighed the effects.

Also it has switched off my sweet tooth entirely which I never thought would be possible. I haven't had a single Quality Street or mince pie this Xmas, despite them being left out. Normally I would graze all day long and easily eat 5 or 6. I used to think nothing of eating a big bag of sweets plus a chocolate bar plus pastries in one day.

My only worry is about coming off it at some point, as it's so effective at suppression... when it comes to the end of the week and my appetite picks up again, I find myself falling back into my old, bad habits of eating too much. Which is obviously not great.

Overall though I am very happy and surprised by the results 😄 I have gone down from size 18 to "size 15". Size 16 stuff is baggy on my legs and arms now. But I still have a lot of excess weight around my middle, a proper spare tyre. So this makes size 14 waistbands a bit too snug. I do fit into them, though.

Good luck!

I am on Mounjaro since August. On 5mg currently.
Side effects so far:
-Sometimes feeling really cold when everyone else is perfectly fine.

• nausea, nothing to extreme
• feeling very thirsty
• 1 episode of upset tummy for a day (not sure if Mounjaro related as I get upset tummy when I get stressed and I had particularly stressful time when it happened)
• not too fussed about food in general but making sure I still eat 3 meals per day.

Not much else to report really. I realise that not everyone is lucky to avoid serious side effects but I seriously cannot complain 😅. 19,5 kg down and pleeeeenty more to go🤣

I got to 5mg and decided I didn't need to go up to 7.5 and stayed on it since. If you already know that 7.5mg doesn't work for you why not stick with 2.5mg or 5?

The best dose is the one below the one you can't tolerate, so for you might be best to stay on 5mg when you get upto it until it stops suppressing and being effective. I stayed on 5mg for 7 weeks due to 24/7 suppression all week and then it started wearing off so I'm moving up now.

I started in August and have had very minimal side effects- briefly unhappy tummy after eating sth unwise and after a weekend away just now heartburn post copious IPA and fried hotel food. Every now and then I feel nausea that passes quickly if i ignore. That is it.

The only side effects I got were in the first 3 weeks and that was mainly due to diet and not eating regularly causing low blood sugar. I got dizziness, very low blood pressure, headaches, low mood and anxiety. I increased my protein intake and calorie counted to give me an idea of what I was eating. Also regularly taking vitamins and more recently vitamin D has reduced my fatigue and regulated my sleep/years of broken insomnia and improved my low mood.

I've been on it over 12 weeks now and not suffered from nausea, vomiting, sulphur burps or constipation that I see in many posts because I stop eating when I'm full always, try not to eat too many fatty and sugary foods and it has reversed my IBS-D to normality. Best decision I made in a long time. I have an active job in the NHS as a manager, long 12 hour days including commute 5 days a week and sometimes 3hrs on a Saturday and overtime on a workday means long weeks but I'm doing better than ever on it. More focus and concentration, I was prediabetic and insulin resistant so it's a life changer for me. Lost a stone in almost 3 months, now overweight BMI of 29.9, no longer obese.

Feeling cold. Constipated. Very flat mood. Feeling sick.

@tilypu been on it for 14 weeks now. Doing a second 7.5mg pen. I’m 50 and peri menopausal and do suffer from mild depression and have an immune disorder that wipes me out so I couldnt say if some side effects were the jab or just me!

all I’ve experienced in the whole is fatigue sometimes so I pace myself activity wise and plan in quiet evenings or weekends - but that’s normal for me.

some nausea or acid reflux when I ate pork pies, fatty foods, Greggs pasty and some white wines - and to be fair easy enough to avoid or remedy.

I eat a healthy range of food and have not been bothered by any emotional eating urges.

I keep my liquid intake up to 2 litres which really helps, and have figured out which home made smoothies help when I’m not feeling like eating but need some nutrition.

I eat little and often and I’m currently learning new habits and new gym etc routines to take me over when I finish the jab in February.

I have 5 st to lose. Lost 1st with 2.5 mg, 1 with 5mg and I lost 9lbs last month. Lost a bit more this last few weeks and starting weighing again in January.

im very happy and glad I tried it.

Constipation is bad (but fine if I take fibre supplements) and I get the odd bit of fatigue, especially if I go up a dose. Apart from that I wouldn't know I'm on it.

It's been nearly two years for me. 18 months on Ryselbus which I had terrible vomiting for about 8 weeks and since September Mounjaro. I wouldn't say I've had side effects with MJ. I will be going to 12.5mg in January having moved up each month. It's harder to poo. But I have problems with that anyway.

Some nausea when I went up to five mg. Other than that nothing, but I’m very conscious also what I eat and drink and eat clean.

I've just finished my first 7.5mg pen. Started in August. I've had no unpleasant side effects except suppression and no food noise. I've lost nearly 4 stone and I'm on maintenance now. I've avoided high fat foods, I don't drink alcohol, minimised sugar and generally ate a healthy diet - but this has been easy to do because of mounjaro; I don't feel like I'm missing out. I also jabbed yesterday on Christmas day and managed Christmas dinner and feel great today. So glad I started as it jas changed my life.

This is all really helpful. Thank you! It's so good to hear from the full range of experiences, as I feel that most posts are from people that suffer more, and so give a slightly skewed view.

I can suffer a bit from diarrhea as it is, so that's one of the things that worries me most. It's good to hear that a) it's not universal and b) there are ways to mitigate that.

Thanks to you all 😊

I'm the kind of person who gets ill from basic antibiotics, and I've not had a single side effect - except for when I've eaten crap food a couple of times. (Chips gave me stomach cramps, and chocolate and nuts made me sick.)

I’m on week 27, last 16 on 7.5and only get side effects when I’ve eaten fatty foods. I had two roast potatoes and roast parsnips , 3 glasses of Prosecco and a box of match makers on Christmas Day and still suffering from nausea. trapped wind and eggy burps. This is my second night of not sleeping due to GI discomfort.
All my own fault in fairness.
I lose approx 2-4 lb a week

I'm on week 10 or 11. The only side effects I've had are a few mild bouts of constipation if I've not been drinking enough water and eating enough fibre and fruit.