Oh dear - I think I've injected too much

[Givingitago99]

Hello
I've been taken mounjaro for a few months and loving it. I've stayed on a 2.5mg dose the whole time. No plans to increase.

I learnt about the extra dose at the end of the pen. I have been buying 5mg pens and just doing 30 clicks instead of 60 on the dial so getting about 8 or 9 doses from 5mg pen.

I bought insulin syringes to extract the last does. I googled and it said 1ml was 1mg. I drew out what I could from the last of the pen and it was 1ml so I just thought I'd have less this week and see how I get on. I think now I should have only taken 0.3ml!!

Has anyone accidentally taken more than they should? I feel okay at the moment but it was only a couple of hours ago.

This is my first post but I've found all the threads really helpful. Thank you.

I wondered this too as I took smaller doses from 7. 5 pen and had a gap between ordering. They asked me to go back to 2.5 so I have just left it now.

Who did you buy from?

Wait you took 1ml the entire syringe (100u) for actual insulin.

This kind of reckless stupidity is going to ruin it for the rest of us. It’s going to need to be more controlled because so many people just can’t be trusted with it.

Mounjaro reduced my blood pressure but this board certainly raises it right back up.

FFS!

Not condoning what OP did, but hopefully there won't be any major effects if she stays hydrated. To put it into perspective, she was on 2.5mg for months, so a dose of 5mg is "overdue" according to the regular dosing schedule. She overshot the 5mg by taking up to 8.5mg. Not ideal, but unlikely to lead to more than v&d, and she has taken medical advice, as directed.

I agree with a PP though, that there probably wasn't even a whole 1ml left in the pen. Did OP prime the insulin syringe to get an accurate measurement of 1ml? After 8 half doses plus 8 x primings, there should only have been up to 0.8ml, so probably no more than a 6.67mg dose was left in the pen.

I don't agree with dragging a pen out for 8-10 weeks, and not accurately calculating the dose was foolish of the OP and potentially very dangerous. I do think that OP has learnt their lesson, and perhaps provided a valuable one to others.

I wouldn't panic it's not an overdose as such as people can safely taken 10mg+ so it's just a high dose for YOU.
That said, if you're doing half clicks, golden doses etc theres so much more room for error and a more dangerous overdose happening that I'd see it as a wake up call. Get the 2.5mg pen (I know it'll end up more expensive) and do it safely. Always clean the cap, always use the full dose, always prime first.
Easily done though. Dont panic! I've had patients doing it with actual insulin before...then is the time to panic!

Which is exactly the risk OP has described and created - 10 'openings' in each pen instead of 4. Plus, the active ingredient is suspended in an anti-bacterial solution which is only fully effective for approx 30 days. The risks of what she has done (aside from the potentially dangerous risk of relying on google and then getting the maths hopelessly wrong) are real.

What size was your insulin syringe? Can you post a photo?

You may be right. However you may be completely wrong.

Unless you have knowledge of what the peptide is suspended in - and you don't, because no-one does - then you are just repeating TikTok bollocks. And pretending it is fact.

So you're getting 10 weeks out of a four week pen? Buying a 5mg doing half ( 2.5mg) then halfing the extra dose?
I think 5 weeks would be okay but not 10.
You're suppose to discard after 30 days .
I has a 10mg pen.. used the first dose but got Norovirus so stopped for 4 weeks. I was advised by the specialist to throw the pen away ( loosing 3 weeks) because it could possibly harm me .
I've had to start again on 2.5mg.
Whoever told you to use for 8 to 10 weeks is putting your health at risk.
But you do you.
Just don't encourage others.. it's dangerous

Honestly, this is the kind of reckless behaviour that might mean restrictions around weight loss meds are tightened or changed, making it harder to get the meds in the first place

I'm with you..
I've reversed my type 2 diabetes on mounjaro.. the weight loss to me is an added bonus .
It's just not on.. the rest of us who are following the guidelines cannot be held responsible for stupid people doing stupid things .

Blimey

Hope you’re OK Op but it’s people like you who are going to make it harder for those of us who are severely obese, really need this medicine, and use it responsibly, to get it in future or make it more expensive if more regulation is brought in

Away. She's not responsible for that or the fact you're obese. Talk about random blaming.

You'll be fine, Op. ignore the weird haters

It won’t become harder, don’t worry,

She may end up being partially responsible for a clamp down on prescribing if she adds to the stats of numbers who misuse the drug and suffer a medical emergency as a result. This could impact price, thresholds, ease of availability.

And you can't say she'll be fine - she's taken a jump in dose of at least 200%, possibly more. I think she's learned her lesson (and fair do's to the op, she's taking this seriously, accepts she's been a bit silly, hasn't shared which prescriber she was using which let her order every two months, and is going to stop what she was doing) but it's pretty irresponsible to just dismiss the risks in the way you have.

Try not worry. My partner was previously on ozempic, I don't know if same situation with MJ but he was told it was fine to get a higher dosage to save money but to use have the dose. So one pen lasted him 8 weeks instead of 4. He did that for months and was fine.

The discarding could be just that it won't be as effective after that time, not necessarily that it would make you ill. 8.5 is alot instead of 2.5 but a friend is on 10mg.

Just stay hydrated and do tell someone in case anything were to happen (hopefully not) the worst of the side effects should wear off after 3-4 days. Wishing you well

@ThatCoralShark
Not necessarily a bad thing but it will, in all likelihood, get harder and more expensive. The National Pharmacy Association (NPA) is calling for tougher rules, including a two-way consultation with the patient lasting at least 20 minutes, the cost of which would inevitably be passed onto customers. Like I say, this might be a good safeguard but it's pretty clear that media coverage of the abuses of MJ and the numbers of hospital admissions, etc will lead to a tightening of the rules.

It’s not the first time, I won’t happen, it would cost too much, and they need it rolled out.

The consultation idea is to stop those who are not obese obtaining it.

They won't/can't stop this kind of stupid (sorry OP but you were!)

And who is 'they'? This mythical Starmer/Government thing you keep banging on about that has nothing to do with the private prescription of medications by private pharmacies?

The maths issue is crazy, but like many people I know on MJ I order the highest dose pen I can get and use a steret and insulin syringe to take a lower dose out of it - halves the price. It's not a problem. Loads of people do it. But yes, your maths has to be vaguely competent!

@NoTouch
No I know it won't but my comment was in response to someone who stated, rather categorically, that there's no way the prescribing rules will be changed or tightened. It's just an example. I'm with a pharmacy which has started video consultations for those on maintenance, at the start and every 3/6 months, and is anticipating doing the same for all new customers. Shemed have video consultations for every injection. Who knows where it'll go next? Glad I'm on maintenance tbh.

You’ll be fine, might have a really good loss this week! 😜 Don’t forget to eat, even if you don’t want to.

I was over 50 days from ordering with MedExpress and they would’ve only allowed me to order the same strength pen, not moved up. I had ordered elsewhere and so had to send proof to get the higher dose.

The thing about this though is that it feels as if it's mostly to bring business back to the high street (more expensive) pharmacies/ weight loss clinics rather than having people buying from cheaper online pharmacies. Because having consultations with a pharmacist won't really do anything beyond them being able to see that someone is obese and wants to take this medication.

What WOULD actually be helpful with regard to actual safety around taking this would be access to regular checkups and blood work to show whether or not our liver is working overtime, etc. They won't be suggesting that though, because they still want to have control over prescribing (and charging a big markup for) this drug and they definitely do not want to suggest that patients might actually need medical supervision.

None of this will stop people from buying prefilled syringes filled with whatever from Tash's Lashes because it's much better than 'the internet', and as has already been noted, also will not stop people from not realising that mg of this medication are not equal to mls and overdosing the 5th dose.