Does MJ help to stop daily drinking?

[DidILeaveTheGasOn]

Disclaimer: it's not recommended to drink alcohol whilst taking Mounjaro and I understand that.

I've had issues with my weight for life, but usually because I was battling to keep my weight at a low/underweight point.

At a couple of different points in my life, my weight increased significantly - following SA, and more recently following bereavement, redundancy, divorce and pandemic within the same couple of years.

Unfortunately I've dealt with the bereavement, divorce and pandemic by drinking every day. Initially it was helpful in some way, but two years later, I'm much heavier than I've ever been and I'm so ruinously tired that using exercise to cope with life - something I'd done in the past - is beyond me.

I'm guessing my weight. I think my BMI is around 44. I'd really like to stop the daily drinking, and try to get my life back. I'm now a size 18-20 and everything hurts all the time. I had a lot of back pain when I was a size 10-12 but it was manageable - I have scoliosis but the pain is mainly caused by stiffness/slouching at my desk, and could be mediated by walking an hour a day. Now the pain is excessive and impacts everything. The one thing that helps me to sleep at night is drinking, but it is also the cause of significant weight gain, which causes the increase in pain.

I've read that MJ really helps to cut down on drinking but I don't understand how. My issues are primarily psychological, if I try not to drink on an evening, I feel antsy and miserable. Would I be expecting too much from MJ or another weight loss injection?

Clearly I'd like to start for weight loss, I'm not daft, my BMI is ridiculous, but would I be going in with false hopes if I expected MJ to help with alcohol issues?

My only advice OP is to go slow. The slower you go the less likely you are to get side effects and the weaker they will be. It can take many weeks, even a few months or more, to build up tolerance for the drug and the reality is every time you go up a dose you are in danger of getting side-effect. Just take your time, go slow and be patient. See where you are in 3 months, then 6 months.

Op, I know you’d benefit from the Mounjaro even if only for your health but I think AA would also be good for you. Admitting you have any kind of problem is the first step to overcoming it and everything you’ve said on this thread makes it very clear that you know you have a problem with alcohol (that suggests you being an alcoholic).

All the very best to you going forward.

Don’t let fear of unknown (and usually very minimal!) side effects stop you taking this step towards a new life! Genuinely, most people do not really get side effects and of those, most are solved with simple otc remedies. One of the great things about MJ is that you can stop any time you want to for whatever reason!

A few days in a week of possibly feeling a bit crap (if you get any side effects) versus a life without the weight (and alcohol!) is a no brainier for me. I am pretty stoic though and just motor on as this is a change I have wanted for so many years and just never thought would happen for me.

I was a daily drinker and within a few weeks I’d pretty much stopped. I still have a drink and appreciate a good wine or a juniper heavy gin but I am no longer constantly seeking alcohol or getting stressed about if there’s enough in the house etc. I was the person monitoring how much everyone at the table had from a shared bottle to ensure I got the max I could and now I can happily have a glass (or none!) and there is no emotional ‘need’ there. I still love the taste so tend to drink a non-alcohol g&t quite often and even in pubs! 😱

I was a daily drinker, a bottle of wine a night then possibly much more on weekends. So very much a problem drinker I would say.

since being on Mounjaro I have completely gone off wine. I will have the odd glass or a G&T if I go out but I can stop there. There is no more mindless drinking in front of the TV alone! Before I couldn’t stop and had no off switch and it was all I would think about all day.
Mounjaro has zapped my booze noise.
I really hope it works for you in the same way OP, it has had such a positive effect on my day to day life.

I’m on week 2, I put off starting it as I had a load of important meetings but honestly I could have started it and still done the meetings. I’m drinking far less alcohol and dropped a dress size - in two weeks! Third jab tomorrow

I can (and do!) still drink alcohol while on Mounjaro, but I drink on less days, and drink less on the days that I drink.

I think Mounjaro is helping directly/indirectly by stabilising blood sugar. I am eating less sugar and I think part of Mounjaro is also a blood sugar stabilising effect, which makes my food/drink choices less impulsive.

Alongside Mounjaro I am also logging calories. Logging wine calories is harsh news! So maybe a combination of both of these.

I am an evening drinker. I get the urge for a glass of wine while I'm cooking dinner and then keep going. The nights when I have to drive someone somewhere are great because o can't have that first glass, and it never seems so attractive when I get home from ferrying kids about. If you're an evening drinker, maybe joining some evening activities that mean you have to go out would help?