Mounjaro - What's your experience of moving up to 5mg from 2.5mg

[HowAmYa]

Hi all.

I've done 4 weeks on Mounjaro 2.5mg and now I'm moving up to 5mg, being delivered in a couple days.

I have had next no side effects and weight loss has been really good, if I'm honest I only moved up because i was prompted to and a part of me wishes I had stuck to the 2.5 for a bit longer.

How has everyone else been when they've moved up strengths?

The sweet spot is to be losing weight with no or manageable side effects. It sounds like you’ve found your sweet spot. I’d stay on 2.5 if I were you. I’ve been on 2.5 for almost five months and I’m at my target weight.

Going up doses every month for weight loss is not universally "recommended", especially by more patient led providers who take time to discuss with Eli Lilly what options are best for their patients needs as knowledge on how people are responding to Mounjaro outside of the original trials grows. It may be different if used to control diabetes.

The reason some people using Mounjaro have been admitted to hospital are numerous, I would bet my house more have been admitted due to not tolerating higher doses they didn't need to increase to than using a few days over 30 days (if any have even been admitted for that reason!)

I am on week 6. Extracted 5th dose by forcing clicks so maybe wasn't 2.5mgs. I took another 2.5mgs from the 5mg pen by using 30 clicks 5 days later . As the hunger came back took the 2.5mgs 2 days later, so 5mgs over 48 hours. First weeks were amazing. Side effects cold hands, and tiredness. Have had to get stimulating drug for constipation. Take that 2 times a week but now taking magnesium citrate and will get bulking fibre tablets. I had a BMI of 28 and high cholesterol. 6 weeks lost 15 pounds. Big push with exercise. 7 days a week, strength and ran a half marathon last week. Not running loads but 10k fast steps a day. I hope to get to goal weight and step down to see if the appetite returns. Using myfitnesspal to understand my carb intake as feel that was the issue. Sourdough etc was eating too much of healthy food and junk.. Alcohol cravings reduced.

I went on mountjaro but feel now any of them would be similar for someone like me.

Hi how do you do this ? I'm so confused, my husband does the injection for me and if I can get it to last longer I will. Thank you

It made me ill, I could barely get 800 calories a day down me and that itself caused major fatigue and depression, didn’t leave the house

Hi everyone
this might be an obvious question but if you go up to the 5 and then you feel too bad and want to move back to 2.5 can you use the 5 pen but half the clicks? If so it says it has to been thrown away after 30 days - is this the case if you keep it in the fridge also?

ive been on 5mg for two months now and feel awful. I just finished the second pen on friday and am now dropping back down to 2.5mg. The 5mg gives me massive fatigue for 2-3 days after the dose which isn't worth it. The 2.5 was great and I only went up because the suppression was fading a bit, but light suppression is enough for me if it means I have enough energy for the rest of my life. 5mg and unable to get up off the sofa seems kind of counterproductive.

I'm 9 months in and 4.5 stone down and still haven't moved up to 5mg (currently using 3.75mg). I ignore the pharmacies drug pushing tendencies and stay where i am for as long as I'm loosing. I have had barely any side effects in this time. I could definitely have lost quicker but figure i will likely be on it for life so may as well go slower and keep short and longer term (saggy skin) side effects to a minimum, and hopefully avoid any gallstone issues (as this would be a complete disaster for me).

I think mounjaro is brilliant, but i do think in future the prescribing guidelines may be tightened up to include not increasing dose unless weight loss is plateauing/ very slow. Rather than the current pressure to step up simply because you have no short term side effects.

Hi
thanks for the replies - I feel good on the 2.5 to be honest. I’ve been on it 5 weeks. The first couple of weeks I was really tired but that’s faded now. I agree that for me more extreme side effects wouldn’t be worth putting it up. The 5mg pen is £10 more expensive than the 2.5 so if it would last longer than 30 days and you could use half clicks would be good! But I don’t think you can.

Lots of people do, and pharmacies are prescribing over longer than 30 days now, so it must be fine.

So if you get the 5 and find that you had bad side effects can you use half the clicks to get the 2.5 dose from that pen?

Yes, i used 2.5mg for over a year then gradually went to 3 then 3.5 then 4… using a 5mg pen.