My SheMed journey

[Kebabo]

I gave signed up and am now waiting for the blood test to arrive. I'll post updates on here so you will know if it is reputable or not. Hope it will help others.

If you are on the £99 plan then they cannot change the price for Wegovy, I’m sure. If they do and we all jump ship, then the study will collapse and they will have wasted all their time for nothing.

It may increase for those on the £159 plan, however, but I really can’t see that either. They would lose so many customers. My sister is with SheMed on the £159 plan and is going to switch as she wants to continue with Mounjaro but not at SheMed prices. I’ve seen loads of people tagging Chequp on Facebook. Sounds more like a payday loan company to me but they have the cheapest MJ prices at the moment apparently.

Just read through the Terms and below are a couple of extracts. We pay a subscription fee not for the medication. It clearly states that the charge will not increase unless we choose different medicine, ie Mounjaro for which there is an additional cost. The study is about weight loss injections. There are only two options available in the UK, Wegovy and Mounjaro. We have already had the switch to the cheaper Wegovy so there is nowhere else for this to go. They are obligated to keep the cost of Wegovy at £99.

I’d be interested to know if anyone reads this differently to me.

That was how I read the T&Cs, and the 'October' thing mentioned in some mails was a price revision to Mounjaro (perhaps still hoping that they could get a discount once pricing had settled down)

Yes, probably. My sister has just switched to Chequp and has paid £172.99 for 5mg Mounjaro. That's over £100 less per month than SheMed.

I think this might be the end of SheMed in terms of Mounjaro. Who on earth is going to pay £279 when you can get it so much cheaper elsewhere.

This hasn't been advertised and it wasn't in the email but apparently, we are able to leave the study due to the price increase. Might be worth considering (depending on the dose, of course) if you want to stay on MJ.

I think this might be the end of SheMed in terms of Mounjaro. Who on earth is going to pay £279 when you can get it so much cheaper elsewhere.

I mean, you say this, but have you looked at how much people are willing to pay Asda/Boots pharmacy?

I know, Boots is horrendous. Not looked at Asda. I guess if money is no object, people don’t care what they pay. For me, I am lucky enough to be comfortable but I couldn’t spend £279 each month without it affecting the household budget. My husband would be none too pleased as well!

So are people leaving SheMed?
I think I will shop around each month but feel so new to this.

Wish there was another subscription or research trial to make this financially sensible to commit too.

@Reginaphalangeeeee are you on the SheMed study? If you are then £99 for Wegovy is a good price. If you want to remain on MJ, then I would suggest you try and get it elsewhere, like I said before there are much cheaper places to buy from.

I don’t think there are any more studies out there and it’s doubtful there will be anything like the £99 for MJ again unless it’s funded by Eli Lilly and I would imagine if they were to do something it would be in the US.

They do have another WLI drug in trial at the moment, called Retatrutide which is supposed to be better than MJ but I envisaged this will be even more expensive.

Yes I am on the £99 SheMed study. I know the price is good for Wegovy right now, I just don’t want to stop a good thing with so much to loose still.

I think I will look one pen in advance at options but I guess if you don’t complete the refill questionnaire with SheMed they won’t spend you another prescription or bill you for it and I can keep them as a back up incase I can’t get it cheaper somewhere else?

I posted about this a couple of weeks ago but it got lost in the price increase traffic.

I am now on my 4th 10mg MJ pen. The third pen that I received, I got a reaction at each injection site - never had this in the previous 7 pens. Checked with SheMed and they said it was usual and nothing to worry about. Took all 4 doses from that pen and was going to use the golden dose but the last jab I had a particularly bad reaction at the injection site so I ditched it. It was so bad that it’s still visible now 9 days later!

I’d also felt that I needed to move up to 12.5mg but now I realise that there was something wrong with the pen. I took the first dose out of my new 10mg pen yesterday. Absolutely no reaction at injection site and today I have a banging headache and feel quite nauseous. It’s the same when I moved up a dose. I was getting a much reduced suppression with the last pen, hence why I wanted to move up to 12.5mg. So not only was I getting the reaction but I think it was defective and not full strength. I always check the pen for floaty bits, check its completely clear and that there are no bubbles etc and due to the reaction, I checked it multiple times during the 4 weeks I was using it.

Has this happened to anyone else? I’m kicking myself as I threw the pen out and yesterday was bin day so it’s gone. I wish I’d kept it and complained to Eli Lilly about it.

I’m not sure whether the ability to cancel will be there for too long. We have the option now due to the price changes but how long that will continue, I wouldn’t like to guess. Like I said, my sister has moved to chequp at £172.99 a month but she will probably jump from company to company to get the next month’s best deal. I know lots of folk have done this through the Facebook groups. It may be possible to stockpile from some of the companies too, if you find a good price.

I was with Shemed. I moved to Swift. I realised just before the price rises that I wasn’t going above a 5mg pen, (as it’s working well and I only have another 3-4kg to lose, any anyway they have a policy of 3 pens at 5mg) and even at £159 it was expensive for that.

I can’t believe that a company would be so stupid as to commit to a fixed price for a year (ie the study) without securing that pricing from their suppliers, either by some sort of forward contract or an insurance contract.

Either way Swift is I £169 for 5mg (I could find slightly cheaper but they are good for maintenance (eg I can take breaks) so it suits me. It’s only going to be an increase in cost of £10 a month, and also I can now use the golden dose and reorder after 5 weeks instead of 4 with no questions asked. Plus when I get to target I can take gaps (but will have to restart on 2.5mg).

Evening, I’ve not got happier I’m still angry with SheMed. Very fucking angry. And made worse that if I’d ordered on the day I normally order, straight after the 3rd dose, I’d still have a full pen of mounjaro to use.

but I can explain the process of swapping to wegovy as I had to get a new pen sorted straight away or just decide to leave there and then because I was out of MJ.

when you do the refill and they ask you to swap or pay extortionate rates it then goes to the pharmacy. and then I got a follow up to confirm if you want to swap to 1mg wegovy or starting dose. Or you get the option to leave the study completely. So you’re not held to the contract (because they’ve already fucking broken it!)

im going to try wegovy because I only have about another stone to loose, I’ve lost 6st already so I’m almost done. It’s really fucking annoying to swap when MJ had clearly worked well for me. And if I get anything resembling side affects with Wegovey I’ll just stop and cut all ties with SheMed because I know I’m good with MJ, so I’ll find it elsewhere. And just block SheMed from being able to charge my card. At this point I’m just ‘whatever’. If they want to mess me around fine I’ll mess with them.

I also have completely given up caring about 1) the survey in the study & 2) shemed themselves

I’ll be answering garbage every time I fill stuff in for them. And the contract says you only need to do 3/4 check-ins so once a month I’ll getting my time back and not bothering at all with one.

also with wegovey. I got a full new box of the medication for side affects, plus another sharps bin and a box of 100 alcohol wipes. Which is handy because I have loads of spare needles from MJ but never enough wipes. The pen comes with needles inside the box for the 4 weeks.

the pen is different, be careful when you press it. It’s pressure loaded, so you wind it up, then press ‘go’ and it all comes out at the same time. You don’t control the flow like with MJ. So make sure it’s properly inside when you press go, or it will all go out/be lost (that seems like an accident waiting to happen for me)

I did it today, a day late, but I don’t really care about SheMeds schedule now tbh. I’ll let you know if I have an issues.

Also @BestDIL I had reactions all the time with MJ. And if I scratched them they would last ages.

totally normall for me to look at see where I’d injected over the last month by the various stages of fading rashes in different parts of my belly/ legs.

I weirdly didn’t get rashes/ reactions on my arms. No idea why.

i am generally allergic to a bunch of things mildly in life anyway. So this was just meh for me. I get reactions to cats, watermelon. Too much bisto (yes the gravy, no idea why) sulphates in shampoos. Etc etc.

So I wouldn’t be too bothered that it gave you a reaction. I think it’s a normal side affect (it was listed on the side affects list when I looked so I have never worried about it) and the rashes go away fine.

@BestDILsorry to hear of your dodgy pen/reactions.

i had one pen I had a few rashes from. I didn’t at the time actually think it could be the pen but wasn’t finding it effective and was more focussed at the time of arguing with SheMed to put my dose up.
However… I don’t think I was rotating the sites as much as needed and was just swooping g side to side on lower B belly.
i then did an injection upper B and wow, got strong effect and no rash.

And so yes, I think either something with pen or maybe something with over j heated tissue caused irritation and poorer absorption/effectiveness.

Hope you stay rash free!
ps I have never injected arms nor legs.

@BestDILthought of you today as I noticed a small (about the size of a 50p) reaction from my injection yesterday. This was a new fresh pen and into my upper B belly.
i think looking back it was the wrong side but it would still have been 3 weeks since anything there.
mine doesn’t itch & I wouldn’t have known if not seen it in the mirror.

hope you are reaction free

@Reginaphalangeeeee I have had a reaction from this latest pen but not as bad as before. It is a bit itchy but the suppression is huge! Definitely think last pen was dodgy as my MIL said that she thought I was eating more in the last couple of weeks of that pen. It’s rather worrying as I always keep my pen in the fridge. I was a leg injector but moved on the dodgy pen. This latest one is in my belly so worrying if that’s why the suppression is so good.

I keep track of injection sites using the Shotsy App. It has so many stats in it. There is a free version, the full version costs £20 a year if I remember correctly. It’s one of those apps that I would pay for again. I signed up as a tester and got an extra year for free.

I use the shorty app too but wonder if I use it properly. I have the free version .
I use the Calendar and results section. I log dosage, side of injection and weight weekly.

So I've moved onto Wegovy 1ml but still have a couple of my 10mg Mounjaro left. I've been a LOT more hungry on the 10mg which is odd - although I confess I have upped my exercise significantly.

I'm sure it's because of that but I'm fucked off about it, I've been tracking calories and not exceeding about 1400 a day (and that's at the upper end) and yet still have plateaued for the last two weeks. I'm still about 2.7 stone away from a healthy BMI, I'm still in the Obese category according the NHS BMI app! It shouldn't be this hard, I don't know why I am stalling but it's really upsetting me. It's of course also upsetting that it's my enormous belly that refuses to let go of the fat, so while I should be able to recognise that my legs and arms are getting smaller and more toned, and celebrate that, I want to see my belly and chins getting smaller and my weight going down!

Sorry I needed that vent. Realistically I know this is normal, I know it'll even itself out, but it's still disheartening.

Check in tomorrow morning so I'll be back then to update my weight but my sneaky weigh in this morning shows no change.

@LazyArsedMagician That must be so frustrating. I had been plateauing too but have had a loss this week so I’m happy. Chin up, relax a little and don’t fret over it. I find with most things, if I start to fret over it, the opposite happens and that includes weight loss.

I must admit that I am hoping that the switch to Wegovy will kickstart my losses again. I’m lucky to be close to the end of my journey which is why it is getting harder. I think I may be the opposite to you, my stomach and boobs have gone down but there is nothing toned in my arms and legs, just lots of loose, flappy skin!

Dear @LazyArsedMagician and @BestDILI am saying this zen like… because my 8 week stall drove me mad!!! I am sure you remember my rambling.

What I will say… trust it and carry on.. I have not idea why my body stalled but I think I set a ‘set point’ and it was my pre-pregnancy weight from 13years ago.
weight lost began again and the last 3 KG seem to have made more difference that any others. I’m nearly 32 KG down but only the last 3 since my stall have people begun to comment. Holiday photos I took also shocked me because I noticed stubborn bits change.
On return from said all inclusive holiday I held my breath with a 2 kg gain… but within 2-3 days it’s gone again and I am sure the scales are moving down despite over indulgence.

Keep with it.. your body maybe just working on something good. Don’t punish it with less calories, trust you are doing the right things… drink some more water and wait. It will happen.

Appreciate the thoughts - thanks.

As expected I weighed in this morning and I am exactly where I was a month ago...a kg up from yesterday apparently <eyeroll>

I have upped my exercise massively in the past 6 weeks, been climbing 3 times a week and have also done two classes of reformer Pilates this week too. So I know I'm gaining muscle and that weighs more than fat - it's just SO ANNOYING.

I'm going to chill a bit more I think. I tend to lose more when I think less about food - and it's absolutely horrible being hungry and feeling like I "shouldn't" eat - especially when I'm climbing.

Also I did get my period on Thursday which never helps. I get so much hungrier, sleep worse, and retain more water. Not to mention the emotional side which is making me feel worse about it!

BUT...we persevere. I'm still over 25kg down since Feb, which is honestly amazing (and more than twice what I've ever managed to lose on my own). I'm also very, very aware, that without Mounjaro I would quite likely be fatter than I was when I started and feeling even worse. So I'm trying to stay (like you say @Reginaphalangeeeee) zen about it.

How is everyone doing? Anyone started with Wegovy?

I have had a couple of meh weeks. Week before last up 0.8lbs and this week stayed the same. I have had two mini breaks in the last few weeks so putting it down to that.

Not getting much supression with MJ at the moment and I’m torn with either taking golden dose or starting WG next week. My niece is a nurse who can do the golden dose safely so not worried about that but the lack of suppression has me a bit worried.

I’m so close to getting into the 11 stone bracket it’s painful!!

Hi there am not changing to WG I really love the MJ and just dont want to risk upsetting the apple cart still want to loose another 3 /3 and a half stone or so .I bought 3 10mg pens from dr weightmans after a few weeks of pondering and trawling around ( dont want to go above 10mg ) . I got them for £210 each , I have decided to use the golden dose myself and actually took it on Tuesday followed a you tube video was simple and that was the last jab on my shemed pen . It will stretch my 3 pens to 4 by doing that ( it was simple ) and after theese pens are done i will see where prices are at .

Long time not posted. I am the original poster of this thread and started my journey mid January. Here are pics then and now