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

How did you do that?

https://www.zavamed.com/uk/liraglutide.html

I'm starting to consider Liraglutide (Saxenda) for maintenance. Not sure if I can be bothered with the fraff of daily injection, but will consider it if MJ prices end up being stupid.

Liraglutide is a generic medication. But oddly it's not cheap. So that's putting me off a little. Starter 3 pens is £140, 5 pens are £199. As it's daily, these packs are a months supply.

Still pricy, but might be good for maintaining. However, not liking the requirement to go off trezeptide for 6 weeks first!

My Zava order is being delivered today. So that's one thing off my mind! So one more pen to play with!

Really getting worried there’ll be nothing left by the time I can order. I go away early Monday morning so couldn’t risk ordering as no one would be able to take in the delivery for me. Last time I ordered it took ages to be agreed and dispatched.

After 4mths of 10mg I’ve finally lost the extra 1.5lb to push me back under 9st 7. And now I might have to quit 🙄. I’m tempted to drop straight down to 7.5mg using the 10mg pen I started last week but I’ll be eating out much more while I’m away so might not be a good idea.

I think I have enough in the fridge to get me to December but unfortunately they are all left over low dose pens from before I increased my dose. There’s no way I can stretch them out until my holiday next Easter.

I’ve started suffering with low blood pressure so it would be a positive if that righted itself when I’m off MJ, and I won’t miss the dodgy tummy that started around 6mths ago. Getting fed up of the hair loss too. Silver linings and all that, but not looking forward to being fat again.

@PissedOffNeighbour22 did you check the use by date on your low dose pens? I had some but the expiry was end of April ish so ended up using them taking double doses etc! Big waste but had to get them used up!

I think it's worth dropping down to 7.5mg, if it makes your stock last longer.

I too am getting fed up of the hair loss. I thought it had stopped but it's started up again now. surprised I have hair left! It still looks ok though.

My ponytail is about 50% of the volume it used to be I think. If your ferritin is below 80 you can experience hair loss. I got mine tested as was having real tiredness issues and mine was 75 as well as my B12 not being great. I have been taking prescription strength iron (which you can buy OTC for £5) and my hair loss has gone back to normal levels. Still waiting for it to grow back and refill the ponytail though!

It’s not uncommon for perimenopausal women to have ferritin under 20 if bleeding heavily and not eating well due to being so busy. GPs still say that is in the normal range but the optimal ferritin level is over 100. Mine is now 125 after three months of supplements but am still taking them as my haemaglobin is still a bit low.

@ObsidianTree luckily the dates are next year so still have plenty of time to use them up. That’s a shame you had to use up those old pens quickly. It’s been hard to judge what to do that whole way through this - first we were worried we’d get cut off so stockpiled, then that was fine so we used up our stock and now wish we’d kept hoarding it 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yeah I thought my hairloss had finally stopped but the last couple of months has been ridiculous. Hair everywhere in the house! I’m constantly picking it off my kids and the cat 😄. I’ve still got loads though so it’s not looking too thin.

@Choux I haven’t had any checks done so could be iron levels. I’m 41 so probably not that far off peri either.

Yes! Kicking myself now that I stopped stock piling! Definitely didn't see this situation coming!

Glad your pens have a long date. I guess you can use them to start going down the doses if you want to try and maintain on a lower dose.

Maybe the hair loss is seasonal? And we just panic due to losing so much from weight loss. That's what I am hoping anyway.

@Choux I did a private blood test a short while back that checked all my numbers. I will go back and check my ferratin. Thanks

Yes, us old-timers have certainly faced (and overcome) a few crisis over the last 18 months! Remember the 'we're gonna get cut off at bmi 25' one? This one is perhaps a bit worse as so much out of our hands but we're tough and resilient and we'll help each other find solutions like we always have done.

My lurking worry is the 30 day thing as I’m thinking of spacing my doses well beyond that. That feels like an actual proper medical thing rather than a commercial thing, although I suspect placebo effect may come to bear. Has anyone else trampled on the 30 days and found it fine? I keep the pen in the fridge throughout.

@Wonkypictureframe
My personal limit is 6 doses, so 1 week over the 30 days. I may push to 7 if I can drop dose from 2mg to 1.5mg but that's probably as far as I'm happy with. I've not had any issues...so far 🤞 That's from titrating down during maintenance, I'm not sure if can realistically get much lower on my dose but I'll try it at some point. I may switch to Wegovy when my current stock is used up but not decided yet - Wegovy pens are good for 6 weeks so it would reduce risk quite considerably.

@Wonkypictureframewhen the pens first came out theee either was no 30 day Time limit on the info leaflet or it wasn’t widely known. I took a bonus dose 42 days after starting the pen so that would be my limit. But I might then push it to 45 if I did it regularly.

I had a 15 pen stockpile at one point, due to all of those concerns we had! I have undisclosed Bowel Disease too (MJ is helping me with this), so have the extra worry of being cut off if the pharmacy found out.

I did take a break in orders when there were shortages and reduced it to 10, then resumed ordering one every 5 or 6 weeks to keep in with my pharmacy.

It felt quite reckless at the time, especially during the time we were only getting short-dated pens, but I'm so grateful I have those 10 to ride me through the next year or even up to the latest expiry of Feb 27.

I'm at BMI 20.5 from 38, so navigating what Maintenance will look like for me.

I'm sorry for those who are facing the price rises and can't see a way to continue, it must feel devastating. Hopefully the increase won't be as high as we fear.

I was very very late to the game but I’ve started taking biotin and collagen. Within 3 days I noticed a difference to my skin and my hair and nails within a week. I feel very silly for not doing it sooner!

My hair is very fine anyway but menopause has not helped.

Re 30+ days - I’ve done it regularly with pens and I’ve not had any ill effects. I think my longest was 45 days from starting the pen although one or two might have been longer 🤔

Thanks, all. It’s not ill effects so much as efficacy that bothers me!

I’ve gone a fortnight since my last injection and need to get myself in gear and jab today. I keep forgetting…

I'm currently taking 10mg from a 15mg pen, no idea how long it will last! And CBA to work it out!

I have taken golden doses much later, when I have run out. Not noticed any issues.

Oh no! I missed all the furore and now have gone to reorder from Oushk and there’s nothing higher than 7.5mg. I don’t want to change supplier as I’m titrating down having hit goal and unlikely to be accepted elsewhere. How frustrating. I think I’ll order a 7.5mg anyway as I’ll want it in the future

How did you manage to order 3? It won’t let me!

Oushk sent an email to say maintenance customers can order 3 at a time but for everyone else it's been dropped to 2.

There is a knack to changing the 1 to a 3, you have to click to the left of the number 1, add 3 (it will show as 31) then remove the 1.

I did that but it wouldn’t let me check out - said I was over the limit. I wonder if they’ve changed it. I ordered a 7.5 and a 5, even though I don’t really want them yet, but feel it’s better than nothing. And hopefully I can keep those stored and get higher doses soon…

@Femeia I ordered them one at a time, put in basket, then another, etc. V tedious, but it worked. At check out, it applies the discount to all 3 pens

I did that but it just ended up the same, ie 1 item in basket x 3 rather than 3 separate items. Ah well. The discount code I had worked so that was good

It’s quite lovely to see all the old gang here, albeit a crap situation. Seeing all your names has made me smile.

I am also losing hair again. It had stopped and thickened out and is now shedding like crazy. I did have full blood tests and I had low iron reserves. I have been taking supplements and was good again after a retest.

I had a look back at the original thread after your post on the pricing thread @FlappyFish. Skimmed it a little bit and enjoyed everyone trying to figure out if there was really extra liquid in the pen and how we might get it out!

When I started I was hoping I might make it down to around a BMI of 25. Never imagined where I'd end up. I'm hoping looking at some of the prices suggested from September that I'll be able to afford a lower dose pen for maintenance, although gutting that I was hoping to save some money going down the doses. Not any more!

In regards to stretching out pens… not condoning anything but I’ve just finished 7.5mg from a 15mg pen. Expiry was 08/2025 and I did think that the efficacy was effected slightly but not sure if it’s just a combination of me getting used to doses and titrating down. Currently on another 08/25 pen but will throw it out in a few weeks if I think it’s not working. I’ve another 4 pens in the fridge but a mix of 10, 7.5, 5 and 2.5.