What should my next dose be ? Messed around with it a little to avoid side effects

[xmascandle]

Hi, I've had some bad side effects in the past with Mounjaro and I've stop started because of that.

My most recent dosing looks like this

Week 1 2.5
Week 2 2.5
Week 3 2.5
Week 4 2.5
Week 5 3.3
Week 6 3.75

Week 7 break as I was travelling for work
Week 8 break as I was travelling for work

Week 9 1.75
Week 10 2.5
Week 11 2.9
Week 12 3
Week 13 3.4

The week couple of weeks in between really messed it up for me. I really want to get up to 5 again and I will stick to 5 for 4 weeks at least while I'm there.

Please don't judge my schedule, I've literally felt horrific a couple of times in the past from the side effects.

I am very desperate to stay back on the medication this time as I really need to lose weight. I've had suppression a little bit from week 11 this time and it's really helped.

Maybe I’m misreading, or there is a typo, but from the numbers posted it says you’ve never actually taken a full dose, ie 5mg, but you say you wish to get back to it again, the again indicating you’ve taken 5 before?

why did you not go to five before the break, what you’ve posted says you were only at 3.75 at week six? Was this due to side effects?

you may not be able to take the drug if you’ve never taken a full dose but had to stop due to really bad side effects

I took 5 mg when I first started it at the beginning of the year. I never went straight to 5mg though because I was always worried I would get sick from the jump.

This last dosing schedule I've posted- I didn't have any bad side effects after my 4 weeks on 2.5 mg but was still worried to do the jump, so I aimed to do it slowly and then I couldn't get hold of a pen before my work trip so had to skip a couple of weeks.

The reason I was worried from the start to go from 2.5 to 5 was because I tried ozempic before and was seriously ill.

So yes I have taken mounjaro 5mg a couple of times when I first started and the second dose of that made me very sick and I took a break.

Just to make you understand, back in May/ June I did this :

Week 1 2.5
Week 2 2.5
Week 3 2.5
Week 4 2.5

Week 5 3
Week 6 4
Week 7 5
Week 8 5 ( this is when I got very ill and stopped for a while ). I had zero side effects before that week.

I took 5 mg when I first started it at the beginning of the year

So week 1 above isn’t week one, you’d at least 6 weeks on it before, where you did a month of 2,5 then moved to 5 and did that twice?

Full disclosure, I’ve spent 6 months taking just 2.5mg and lost 5 stone. I think if you are loosing weight then don’t increase the dose. But clearly my experience is different to others.

Op, it seems you’ve done at least five months and also ozempic before.

I think you can’t tolerate the drug, it’s really hard to tell as you’ve messed with it so much,

Well that's helpful..

I've been fine this time I've been on it.

It's week one, since I restarted.

If you feel OK and the chopping, changing, stopping, starting repeatedly hasn't affected your ability to tolerate it, I don't see why you wouldn't increase to work up to 5mg.

As the last 4 weeks were all around 2.5mg, I would consider either an immediate move to 5mg, or 4mg, 4.5mg, 5mg. In either case, as you said, stay on 5mg for at least the full 4 weeks.

Good luck.

I have tolerated it well so far.

I was gutted I had to restart after the two weeks business trip. It wasn't intentional at all.

The first break was intentional, as I needed to investigate whether I had gallbladder or underlying issues which means I can't take it. I did investigate privately and paid an absolute fortune and the gastroenterologist was very optimistic and told me to stick with it and slow it down if I need to but to keep going. So here I am. I just don't want to shoot myself in the foot and go too fast.

I’d not be concerned about going to fast, you’re 3 months in and still have not taken a dose, remaining below 5, when the guidance is 4 weeks. So I’d try it. If not I’d give it up.

It's because of the silly break I had because of the work trip, otherwise I would have been on it by now. So annoying !

You could try taking 3.75mg and staying on that for 4 weeks. Then if you tolerate that well, you could move up to 5mg. But it's your decision.

It's tough to know how to play it because technically I should have been doing 2.5 for 4 weeks again after the 2 week accidental break. My body seems to have tolerated the way I've done it fine, which is great.

Are you having good suppression and less side effects on the dose you're currently on? If not, then you can consider moving up by 0.5mg increments (3.5, 4, 4.5, 5, etc) and stay on each one till it stops, then move up again.

If this dose is currently working, then stay on it and move up when it stops.

Yeah since I moved to 2.9 I have a bit of suppression.

What has weightloss been like? Any loss since you were on 2.9mg?

Not massive, around 1-2 kg give or take a little. My trousers feel a bit looser, that kind of thing. But it's heading in the right direction. I'm happy to take it slow if it means I can stay on the medication, because when it works, it does massively help!

I lost 6 -8 kg before, at the beginning of the year.

I regained 2-3kg.

I would find it very difficult with constant changes to understand how I was reacting to a dose.

I have been on 3.75mg for 22 weeks now and suppression comes and goes, some weeks very high, others not so much but enough to keep me in my weekly calorie deficit which I track. I don't aim for full suppression.

I would suggest, pick a dose between what you are now on and 5mg and stay there for a few weeks and see if you can stay in your weekly calorie deficit. If not, only then think about changing again.

Yeah perhaps you're right.

The million dollar question is, why is there good suppression some weeks and not so much other weeks ?

I was doing some research into my phone and realised that when I was on it during the summer, I had literally zero problems- until the THIRD dose of 5 mg. Which made me very ill. I don't like the unpredictability of it. I had written a post at the time and a lot of people had commented that they suddenly had bad side effects.

I had done the 2.5 mg weeks for 4 weeks, a couple of weeks going up slowly to 5 and then the third week of 5 is when it hit me so hard.

The thing I notice, apart from the 4 weeks on 2.5 is that you are increasing every week instead of letting your body get used to a dose before you up it.

Yes this time I am and before I went slowly form 2.5 to 5 ( giving a couple of weeks of increasing slightly ). But it's not made me ill. It makes no sense.

Could you please give some info on the side effects you've had, other than the gallbladder, as if we can help you through that, it will be better rather than just losing hope.
I've been on 14 jabs and my side effects were all in first 3 week and then none since. No constipation, burps, nausea, vomiting etc I eat small but often to regulated blood sugar but not too much to overfill my stomach. Drinking over 1.5litres of water has helped with the fatigue I was getting. High protein diet has helped with being full, strength and thickening hair. I also take vitamins, B12 and D have helped a lot for me with energy, sleep and happier moods. Craving cheese all day yesterday and had lots but no tummy issues yippee.

It was like all of a sudden I got a stomach ache ( top of my stomach ) sulphur burns and then started feeling really sick and eventually also throwing up a number of times. The whole thing lasted 6 hours on one day and then another 6 hours on another day. It incapacitated me pretty badly. I was just in bed.

Gallbladder and pancreas etc checked out fine on ultrasound and MRI. I was worried there was an underlying condition but the doc said it's unlikely and just side effects, due to the delayed stomach emptying