Mounjaro February to April 24 starters - Thread 4

[ObsidianTree]

4th thread!

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5207564-mounjaro-february-to-april-24-starters-thread-3?page=40&reply=141722167

I've just seen this too. I'm with pharmulous and just got a new pen. Am wondering if they will let me order again so soon. I'm not with oushk which seem a bit more sensible about bulk ordering. My BMI is normal, so need to be on maintenance plan.

It's shit all round really and a weird excuse for the increases. Is Wegovy going the same way?

Med Express suggest that people try Wegovy as an alternative so it seems not. It looks like Trump is leaning specifically on Eli Lilly right now. MJ is the more effective treatment so will be getting the most attention.

Jumping back on with you lovely lot, to share the woe. I've been maintaining since November so not posting much. And the news last week that tablet form drugs are due next year had me thinking I'd trundle on, on my 3mg happy dose, till then and then try to shift across to pills for maintenance. I'm seriously concerned about gaining it all back if the price shoots up and I have to stop abruptly! Argh!

And just for added annoyance, I'm away till 31st Aug so can't squeeze an order in. And for even more annoyance, I ended up having to cancel the pen I ordered from ME the week before leaving, after they took so long to approve it that it wouldn't have arrived in time. This holiday will be the last of my last pen.

That's really unfortunate timing. The short notice is really bad.

Bloody Trump and Bloody Elly Lilly.

At least we've now heard moving to Wegovy is an alternative for maintainers and the hope of the pill next year.

I feel so bad for those who are still in the middle of their journey. Imagine being on it, knowing it works but in a pooff, it becomes unaffordable overnight.

So is this all down to Trump then?

Apparently. He's rightly annoyed that the US gets charged higher prices for medication, and asked them to drop the US prices. So EL have put the UK price UP! (Or that's their story).

Can anyone come up with a suitable reply from a friend who has literally just sent me a link to the news report on this. I feel she is gloating...

I think Trump just has shares the company that produces Wegovy and they aren't doing well, he is that basic and brazen.

I still don't get how that automatically translates to Eli Lilly putting UK prices up though?

I have emailed my supplier about potentially switching over to Wegovy to maintain, but will probably have to start the dose low and ineffective as I'm sure it's a similar mechanism for Semaglutide and I will respond in a similar way. If not, I'm going to have a mad fumble trying to find somewhere I can switch to for maintenance that is happy for me to be a normal BMI and go on Wegovy. If anyone hears anything please can you share? I will let you know what my supplier says.

Well there are other options for weight loss than injectables, so I would just let her know that and thank her for giving you time to find an alternative.

Thank you. Much more grown up and measured than my initial thoughts!

I've seen a post tonight that said Hira from Ousk has recommend Wegovy for maintainers. It was either on this thread earlier or that awful thread 'Great Price Hikes' which has decended into a bun fight.

Ousk has had a FB live on the topic tonight.

Ran on here to connect with you all. I literally couldnt believe it!
I am 26.5 at the moment and had a 10mg delivered today [down from 12.5] as I was starting to think about titrating down.
I'm with Oushk so just ordered 7.5/5/2.5mg
I reckon if I can lose the last bit and able to maintain on 2.5mg then I've got a plan but it's hard not to panic.

I ended up doing the same. Tedious! At any rate, 3 now ordered to be delivered 27 August. That should get me through November. Then? We shall see….I’d really like to come up with a cheaper way to maintain, but I fear my appetite roaring right back without MJ😱

Hi All

I'm back in a stall (nothing new there), currently 1.5kg heavier than my lightest weight since starting this journey and tantalisingly close to that elusive sub BMI 25. Got an email from Medexpress about price changes (they've not been my supplier for over a year) and discovered the reporting around these increases. I'd only just ordered my repeat for 15mg this morning, now I've ordered another 2 pens (10mg, as 12.5 and 15 are out of stock).

Like most I am concerned about this as I can't afford that sort of price increase - my losses have been slow and I'm still overweight with dodgy bloodpressue and an ethnic background that means BMI should be sub 23.
Will look to titrate down on my current pen to 12.5 and then use the 15mg on its way to go down to 10 - yes this is not recommended but I dont wish to go cold turkey so it's a risk I am taking.
I had really hoped to get down to BMI 22 to give me a bit of a buffer for regain in maintenance but that looks unlikely now. Wegovy did nothing for me so that's not a viable alternative to switch to.

Very annoying but I will try to focus on the positives. I spent over £1000 on wegovy and saxenda before starting MJ and lost very little weight - I am forever grateful to the Eli Lily scientists for developing something that has helped me lose 4stones and drop from a large 18/20 to a comfortable curvy 12. It's not been without effort, I definitely dont get the levels of suppression some do, and am pretty worried about my ability to manage my appetite without MJ. All I can do is continue to focus on prioritising protein, avoiding refined sugar, limiting carbs and drinking more water, oh and hitting the gym of course which I've done consistently since the start of April.

This has not been a fun news day for WLI, they've been life changing for so many and will soon be out of reach for most ordinary UK folk. Here's hoping more accessible effective treatments are on the horizon.

My first thought is to be grateful that we are pioneers on this thread .....we started MJ in the first couple of months it was available.
Presumably we are by now a good way on our journey, either maintaining or bearing down on target weight. We are very lucky. Even though this is shit , we have achieved or are approaching slim.

Imagine being a few months in, getting that bloody thrill we all got back then that this MAGIC actually worked. I remember everybody's astonishment , wonder and real joy .
Imaging being in that place, a long long way to go but full of hope that this time it might work, you can change your life.
And then Boof! It's snatched away. It's horrible.

I am skinny, very low BMI which I won't share or you will shout at me, but it's the weight I wanted and where I look good. I bloody love being skinny and buying all my teeny tiny Vinted bargains!. Now maintaining, still on 15mg as I am too scared to come down.

Pen wise , I stock piled. I am ok until next spring. Longer if I micro dose. Will be pushing the dates but at this point I don't care.

As much as the weight loss, this drug within the first month turned my hideous swollen autoimmune disease ridden joints into pain free normal joints.
Previously I couldnt expose my balloon knees.
This summer I have lived in shorts. I have brown legs!

I exercise because I am pain free. Yesterday I hiked up a 3000ft mountain at high speed and today am fresh as a daisy with no pain in my legs which used to ache and crack from going up a flight of stairs.
I am pain and inflammation free for the first time in decades. I don't take pain killers or nasty naproxen any more.

None of the strong immunosuppressive drugs I was on got near this success. But that will all be lost and I will be in pain again. NHS won't give me it for autoimmune disease as it's not licenced for that even although it's spectacularly effective at reducing inflammation.

My "not quite needibg medication but a bit worrying due to family history" blood pressure was lowered to very healthy levels from the first jab. Going to see that go up again.

And I suppose my wrist will again start breaking out in seeping welts where ever my watch strap touches. And my ears will do the same when I put earings in. A tiny thing, but I have enjoyed earings again.

So many improvements in my life from small ones to big ones , all to be gone🥺.

We have read so much about the dangers of inappropriate use, we have been lectured........using pens for too long etc. If that is in fact dangerous, it's going to go through the roof. I will certainly be risking it to microdose.

Buying dodgy dangerous knock offs , that's going to go through the roof too because desperate people do desperate things.

Sorry for long post. Just rambling as I am so gutted .

Found out my DHs repeat order yesterday (he's been on MJ for 11 months, is on 10mg and has lost 17kg so is no longer pre-diabetic) has been denied because the GP surgery erroneously told the pharmacy last month that he has a particular diabetes related condition since 2013 🤬 . He's never been diagnosed with diabetes, only became prediabetic in 2023 and has certainly not had this supposed diabetes related diagnosis for 12 years, or he wouldn't have been on MJ for the best part of a year!

It's an administrative error obviously, but until they rectify it we can't get another prescription - unlikely to be sorted before the price rises and more worryingly unlikely to be sorted before he ends up with a 2 week gap and would have to start back at 2.5mg.

I am so annoyed. MJ is preventing/delaying the onset of diabetes in him - I couldn't care less about the weightloss in terms of his looks as he always was and remains an absolute dish, but stopping him from becoming diabetic is truly life changing. I am going to titrate off MJ so we can afford to keep buying his prescription as it's just too important to stop. Yes there are health risks for me being overweight too but his situation is more immediate!

The US pays more because of its dreadful insurance system, so the key to reducing prices is more regulation of that, and less gutting of Medicare. Instead we are now all being dragged up to protect US insurer profits.

I am so so sorry for those of you who are still going, or who feel certain they won’t maintain. It’s heartbreaking. I can only hope that the other drugs in the works are released next year and prove affordable. Whether those of us in maintenance will be able to access them is another thing of course.

Good morning all, it's been lovely reading your updates! Price hikes aside 😞

I have 'the bonus dose' left at the end of a 10mg pen. I've been counting clicks and taking 5mg every two weeks and have now reached the end of the pen.

I have some syringes/needles and want to take my fortnightly 5mg from the bonus dose but have no idea how much I need to measure out into the needle to get said dose.

Could somebody help please? I'd be very grateful.

Hey all, it's been a while!

Sad that I've returned when it's such shit news! Was just happily getting on with maintenance.

I've put in an order with Zava and tried to order with Bolt, but not sure that will get approved. I'm away on holiday from next Thursday so hoping my orders arrive in time. Typically I don't have a stockpile and only have one pen in the fridge!

I was already trying to reduce my dose as I felt I needed to wean myself off 15mg. I am currently on 10mg and maintaining weight around 10st 7lbs. Hoping I can continue on 10mg for a few more weeks and then drop down to 7.5mg.

Would have been easier if I knew I would have at least 2 more pens to titrate down with! Hoping both pens do get approved and sent though.

I am contemplating moving to Wegovy. But not sure if they accept people in maintenance. So might not be an option for me.

It's all pretty dire and Eli Lilly have us where they want us really. Everyone desperate to stay on the drug and maybe try and make the new prices work. I can't come off it /a GLP1. I know I would regain due to my thyroid issues. Already had a depressing thought that I shouldn't have got rid of all my bigger clothes.

Only ray of hope I have is that someone on Reddit said that possibly Eli Lilly did this to bow down to trump to look like they are following what he wants, but will arrange private deals with pharmacies offering undisclosed discounts. So the cost might not be as high as we are panicking about. But it's got the media attention that they might have wanted to make Trump happy.

But it's a bit of a joke really. Trump says he wants the costs as low as the cheapest provider in Europe, so instead of doing that they just raise Europes and ours! We should have seen this coming when the rest of Europe supply went up in price.

Your needle should have mg markings on it (I think in 1/10 th mg) A full dose at any MJ level (eg 2.5, 5, etc) is 0.6. So for a full dose, extract til level 6 is reached on syringe, for half a dose, level 3. I hope this makes sense!

I was due to place my order today so I did, assuming MedExpress has been inundated so no idea how long it will take. I may be able to squeeze in another order on 29 August too, I think I have the financial bandwidth this month to do that!

Bloody politics getting in the way. Like others said I’m grateful we were early adopters and not just starting out.

I had also read that maybe pharmacists will be doing some deals to not fully pass on the full cost to customers so I hope that is true too.

Just read the last page since this terrible news.

I echo what others have said. We are pretty lucky that we are at target and just worrying about maintenance rather than still in the middle of our journeys and worried about paying to continue to lose weight.

I'm glad to see that Oushk are suggesting Wegovy for maintenance. I was worried that providers would say no if BMI below 30/in maintenance. So might have switch to Oushk for wegovy. I never really got into Oushk in the end. Just decided to stick with Zava as I had codes left. I think I will seriously think about Wegovy now. I have messaged Zava about wegovy so will see what they say first.

Oh, noticed on Facebook that Oushk have run out of higher doses now. I noticed that Bolt is showing as out of stock for 15mg. So assuming there won't be much stock left soon.

I am going to try and place another order when close to my end of holiday as it's still before Sept. In the hope I can order another one before the cut off. Hoping suppliers are ordering as much as they can now before the price hike!

I have titrated down from 15mg to 10mg with a 15 pen and only had one dose from this one.

I'm going to have to try and order next week and high school uniform has wiped me out! If I'd have known I'd have done the uniform next week haha.

I can afford the hikes in price, but I just really don't want to, because I'm a beligerent shit and despise trump. Especially as Novo Nordisk have said they are likely to lower the price for us. So lilly are just putting profit over health.

I am glad we are all at or approaching maintenance. I am worried I will put on very very quicky. Especially as I am being pelted with very very strong dose of steroids because I'm actively getting more lesions due to the MS.

HOPEFULLY, us in maintenance can take these new pills next year and not have gained too much. Can guarantee they won't be as cheap as we were hoping though.

Another one here gutted about the price hikes 😒 I’ve been with ME since the start but they aren’t going to let me order more than one pen when my reorder status changes on Tuesday so I’m thinking to look at changing suppliers. Who do you recommend? What is involved in the switching process?

Thank you so much for the speedy response! 🙂

These are the needles I have (inserting pics)

How would level 3 look on these ones please?

I'm rubbish with numbers 🤣