Shemed January Starters - Thread 3

[FatsiaJaponicaInTheGarden]

Wow thread 3! I just went to post on the other thread and realised we'd got to the end. I hope everyone finds us - I wasn't able to post a link!

This thread is a support thread aimed at those who started with the Shemed 1 year plan in January (or there abouts).

How is everyone?

I am not nauseous today and seeing light at the end of the tunnel- but so glad I have stuck on 5mg for the next one. I am definitely eating less too - I'm hoping that lasts!
@OneAzureMaker - ah we can be second 5mg pens together! I really want to do some exercise but similarly will have to wait until I have some energy. @tinyemmy Yay hope you are still going okay too - will be a few of us on our second 5 pens!

@Reginaphalangeeeee

Wow - fantastic results! And great the side effects have remained calm. I've had side effects each weekend of the 3 5mg jabs I've taken but they've decreased. This weekend was much more manageable for me. I think the suppression is more constant now too. I will stay on this dose if it carries on like this for a while.

@JBJ Yay for more loss - and good luck with 5mg

@BruhWhy Is the nausea easing?

@Needtomust96 I think some people in the facebook group have - you can use the section at the end of the form to request it and do say why. From reading randomly online it does seem some people need the higher doses to respond although a 1kg a week is what I'm aiming for. You might find that 5mg does it for you in a way 2.5 doesn't.

@Monmonss I did my questionnaire early Friday morning and the pen is supposed to be arriving Tuesday (tomorrow) . I think they issued it Sunday. Hope it settles for you - have you tried taking anything and all that?

@YouWillFindMeUnderCats I was the same - 13lbs and not quite the stone! I am now though - slow and steady does keep adding up. Hope the 5mg goes okay for you.

@Mazd323 How has today been? I think I'm eating less on 5mg but it still wears off towards the end of the week

@Lostatsea10 and @MrsMidgeMaisel and @Follydear I am sorry you are both still struggling. :( It's a hard thing to weigh up isn't it. It does seem Shemed do let people out of the contract if they're struggling or give them the option of Wegovy, and definitely seem to let them stay at 2.5 for longer if needed. Good luck whatever you both decide.

@Humptyandhambel Yay for a steady weight loss and hope 5mg is treating you okay.

Tagging people as I couldn't put a link onto the other page - hope that's okay and please do tag anyone I've missed out (probably quite a few!)
@afromom @kittykarate @floweryjones @Earthgirl3971 @Bananaramram @ForPeachSake @SnowieBear @bluesmartie83 @bertieallsort @Brighton2019 @TLMoo @Newshoesnewname @Bigknickers56

Happy Friday everyone! Week 8 for me, I have just weighed in and I have lost 5lb this week! 1st4lb gone in 8 weeks.

Jab number eight done and dusted. Definitely slowed down on the weight loss but I wore a dress yesterday that was hanging off of me for the first time! And my beloved Zara trench coat, which I bought 6/7 years ago, is actually starting to look oversized. It’s an oversized style but it’s always been tight on me!

next pen is another 5mg, which I am fine with.

Happy Friday!.

Jab 9 here so after 8 weeks I have lost 1st6... 😊. After 2 weeks of nothing happening despite low food intake (one sts one 1lb) I lost 2kg in one week so it really does bounce around doesn't it.

I've moved to morning jabbing as want to contain as many side effects to the weekend as I can and it doesn't seem to start the nausea straight away 🤞.

Hope everyone is okay. I was looking through my NHS app earlier (as one does) and seeing that 14 years ago I was going to the Dr about obesity... I was 7 stone less than I am now 😳

How is everyone?

First jab of 2nd 5mg pen this morning. I'm not sure what happens, but every week my weight is about 1kg higher when I check in than the day before!!

Anyway 13.4kg lost (though yesterday 14.5!!) my BMi is now just below 40 which feels like a huge achievement.

But I am struggling with side effects. This week I've felt hungry, but there hasn't been much that I've actually fancied eating. I've been intermittent fasting and not eating until lunchtime, but I'm wondering if that isn't helping, although I've done that in the past and it's been fine.

I've found this week that once I've eaten I feel cold, shivery and dizzy and have had bad headaches which I don't normally get. And despite losing over 2 stone I have so little energy. I have to say I'm feeling a bit miserable about it all.

Oh One - I'm sorry the side effects are still SO strong for you. Mine are there but have reduced to "not nice but manageable". Good luck with this week x

Still no blood test kit here either

No - my last email didn't even get a response. I'd like to try calling them but i work public facing in the day so no point really.

The only thing I've found successful with contacting them was to send them a message on messenger, this was responded to quite quickly and they contacted those who could act and got things sorted.

Hi, we sound pretty similar.

I've started to manage my schedule (I inject on Thursdays) because I want to optimise as much as I can and feel really good on my food days.

Wednesday day I eat healthy and always have a huge chicken salad for my evening meal this has lead to a consistent loss each week.

My losses aren't huge but I'm pleased when I weigh on Thursdays I do a naked weigh after pee and poo if I can lol. . Shemed verify my weight (clothed) but I input my naked weight into the app and that's the one I go off for my progress.

I have a treat day and eat something I've wanted to across the week like upf as it's less likely to make me feel ill with less drug in my system.

Then , I eat 'well' all day filling myself up on filling food and including water herbal teas, getting ready for my next injection which I take at bedtime.

Doing this has helped control the bouts of misery I feel when hungry but can't eat much. I am cold and I have flu like symptoms and I'm tired so I accept this is how I feel, wrap up warm and select some lighter work/ responsibilities for those days as my week is ending as I tend to feel weak and poorly

And wait for the whoosh of energy that kicks in the next morning after I've injected as it builds again.

So I'm Thurs to wed. With huge suppression over the weekends which is the time I'm most likely to over eat. Sorry that's kind of long but hopefully that helps.

I inject into my tummy only and I've lost 13.4lb in 6 weeks.

X

I've logged some symptoms with Shemed this morning and already had a call back. I have to say I was really impressed. I've been shivery, light headed, dizzy and had a splitting headache, and the tiredness is ridiculous, I've really struggled to do much at all.

The options they gave were to stop, go back to 2.5mg, or essentially do whatever I feel comfortable with. I'm wondering whether to try 3.75mg next week (though I know this would be without their consent) I shall see how the week goes.

It’s my 4th & last 2.5mg jab on Monday & I noticed last night like others have that my towel was wrapping round me more than it had before!
I couldn’t wait til Monday & got on the scales this morning to discover I’ve lost 1st 1lb since I started!! I’m absolutely gobsmacked!

Evening! Hope everyone is okay. I was worried about nausea and felt rough this morning but once I was up I was fine :) I now don't know what is Mounjaro and what is Elvanse! I'm really feeling hopeful for this year now :)

@OneAzureMaker It sounds like you are still really struggling :( I'm getting the hit of fatigue (lost last night) but it isn't ongoing anymore. What do you think you will do?

@Earthgirl3971 and @bertieallsort Fab loss - yay!

I'm currently letting myself hope and loving the idea of getting to "not morbidly obese" in the summer hopefully.

I've been out for 2 short 15mins walks today. But that would have been an upheaval before MJ - there must be something else going on there.

In not so good news my GP did do blood tests and I've got the results - maybe it's good shemed didn't have them in case they refused me! I can see them on the app and I'm all over the place for everything BUT she only wants a routine appointment which at our surgery is about a month away so I am assuming if she was really worried she'd talk now.

Chat gpt suggests chronic inflammation which would match with my morbid obesity and Non alcoholic fatty liver. All not fun but I guess where I am at right now. I kind of want to be a year down the line where I might not be obese at all and things might be more normal.

It has but it in sharp perspective why I personally need to stick with this for my health and the risks of morbid obesity!!!! Yesterday I went into quite a dark place about how damaged I might be but I'ce come back to hope today! My emotions are everywhere.

Weigh in 1 of the 5ml yesterday, and now 1lb off a 2 stone loss which I’m thrilled with. We’ve decided to go for the fitness too, and did a nine mile cycle today. It was lovely being out in the sunshine but the muscles at the front of my thighs are crying tonight!

The sun shining makes everything much better don't you think? I had a day out with my 11 yr old son. We went to pizza express and I ate half my pizza and took the other half home. I've actually started to enjoy my food and actually taste it rather than just eating it! I'm eating until I'm full and not feeling that I have to finish the plate - and that's ok!!! I scored some jeans in the sale - I actually have the same pair but these are a size smaller and I'm chuffed because they're my favourite jeans. Mowed the lawn and jet washed the patio when we got home so overall a very productive day and I have a real sense of achievement. My brain is quiet for once!

Sorry to hear the blood tests weren't what you hoped for. At least you're doing something about it. In a few months time the results will be much better. Losing weight will definitely help your liver, I think there are some drugs that are metabolised in the liver, paracetamol? So you might need to avoid that and booze until it's better?
My daughter has never complained of nausea on her ADHD medication, I think that's mj

I'm sending love to you, and best wishes. I can imagine how worried you are. I'm really happy to see how positive you are being though and increasing your walking by 15 mins a day will make such a difference. I walk my girl to school and can feel the difference in the days I don't go for my 600m round trip. It's so good for you.

I read a while ago: 10,000 steps is just a marketing tool for a pace device when it was invented years ago. It's actually just as beneficial to walk for 10 mins after every meal so getting a regular 3 to 4000 steps a day is just as good so that's pottering in the house plus one or two short walks. As is doing a 6 minute low intensity exercise. It's proven that a tiny bit of exercise does just as good as a lot. I had chronic inflammation before I started this my body was a swollen and always looked 6 months pregnant all day long. Now I'm looking not pregnant with less water retention and dimply skin and can do up trousers with ease. Big ones.. but still with ease. 😁 Every day is getting better and better and those scales are going down. So sending best wishes to go with your new found hope, lovely

X

I took my first 5mg yesterday morning after being on 2.5mg for 2 months. Struggled to eat yesterday and felt really bloated (exactly the same as I did in 2.5mg initially). I was sick last night and felt so much better !

I'm going to take it very carefully today. It seems as though I am reacting the same to 5mg as I did initially to 2.5mg.......

Wow @Kaggi9 2 stone in a month! I am in awe of the faster responders like yourself. You must be so pleased. And yay for getting out in the sun. I think my moods lifted (especially now I can walk in it too!).

@bluesmartie83 Yay for productivity! I'm getting more done and no idea now if it's MJ adhd meds or the sun 😂. Whatever I think spring is such a lovely season for hope and the MJ has timed well for that for us.

@tinyemmy Thankyou. I'd been hoping they were okay as I'm now 2 months into this and hoped MJ would have solved all those problems that she was looking for! I allowed myself some panic (never Google....) and then realised it's all likely obesity related and I'm so lucky to be on MJ as that truly is a treatment for all those obesity related issues. And it wouldn't have been prescribed. And you're so right hopefully by the time she sends me for further investigation it will have improved. I'm off alcohol and paracetamol and pondering coming off caffeine but haven't quite got there yet.

Thanks re the adhd meds. I'm getting a "crash" late afternoon which I'm sure is this. And I'm waking up middle of the night which I think is this. But had my suspicions the nausea was still MJ. O
Its all fun... But manageable and literally will be lifesaving longer term so all, worth it.

@Earthgirl3971 Thankyou for your encouragement ❤️. I was early to pick my daughter up yesterday and went for a 20min walk in some woods. I just wouldn't have done that for over a year as I'd have wanted someone with me and needed to rest. It does feel amazing. And then later on I walked round my block really which was probably just over 10mins. That block was The Block I wasusing each time I previously tried to build stamina up and we passed The Seat where I used to stop as my legs ached. It was quite bizarre to just be able to go past it!!

My husband likes to walk and we used to belong to a walking group before I got ME/cfs and then started putting on weight - so he's keen to take me on little walks 😊. We're dropping one child off to see a friend later and are going to go on a walk. 😁

. @RedHillLady hope today goes okay. Some of us really struggled with going up to 5 and others didn't so fingers crossed. Xx

Hope everyone has a fab Sunday x

Yes, think of the long game. My daughter goes totally hyper when the medication wears off. She is on modified release so it lasts about 8 hours and you can tell when it wears off, in the early days we had mood swings but it's all calmed down now. She also takes Intuniv which makes a huge difference and melatonin for sleeping, you might want to consider melatonin to help with sleep. Magnesium is supposed to help too (but can also help with constipation which may be a bad thing 🤣) caffeine is supposed to be helpful for ADHD, not sure about liver. I cut it out completely but then added it back for holidays and these days have stayed on it but I never have caffeine after midday, I'm highly sensitive and it impacts my sleep horrendously, mainly as you describe - waking in the night and not being able to get back to sleep

Hello everyone! It's been a little while since I've updated as I've felt awful on 5mg 🥲 how's everyone doing?

The first 5mg took it right out of me last week, took it Tuesday and had really bad bloating/nausea to the point I had to vomit on the Thursday then spent Fri and Sat very lethargic and napped a lot.

This week has been similar albeit not so violent with the vomiting but I'm praying it does get better by my third 5mg 😭 but I'm finding it so hard to eat and even drink out of fear I'll be sick again 🤢

The silver lining -

SW 88kg
GW 65kg

Current weight is 76kg so almost half way there 🤞

I've not had side effects per se on 5mg (now on second pen of 5mg) but I can't be bothered to eat a lot of the time. I'm generally eating a snack for lunch and some of my meal in the evening and usually something for pudding afterwards (hifi bar)
Weight loss has been great, almost too much. I'm now about 5lbs away from a healthy weight at not even 3 months in so not sure what maintenance is going to look like. I put all my weight on in the last 4-5 years and I still have over a stone to get back to where I was before I put the weight on. Hopefully Shemed will allow me to get to a BMI of 22 and maintain there or slightly lower. I'm hoping that they will let me maintain on a lower dose than 5mg as unless something changes I'm just not going to be able to eat enough to maintain my weight. I am keen to stay on medication for the year though as I spent the last 4-5 years trying to lose weight and I only succeeded in getting heavier so I have needed the help mj provided and I'm not keen to give it up (but just might need a more individual dose...)
Weight loss so far...
2.5mg 10.6lbs
5mg 9.8lbs (1st pen)
Plus on target for at least another 2lbs this week, so almost 2 stone so far... I'm 5'1.5" and ecstatically happy!

I'm having no side effects at all on 5mg, down to absolutely no appetite suppression either unfortunately! Didn't even get the headache that I've had directly after every 2.5mg injection. Scales are telling me I've gained 1lb this week, so not looking forward to my official weigh in tomorrow at all. Hoping it's just a first dose thing and it gets better with the next 3 doses. Tried really hard to stay in a calorie deficit, but it's so hard as I've been hungry the whole week.

I’m very aware of how lucky I am and that it doesn’t go this way for everyone! I’m being really careful with calories too and considering what I eat, although I don’t really have much interest in food to be honest. I know that it will slow down too, but if I can do a stone a month I will be very happy!

Fingers crossed for a good week for everyone!

Happy Monday! I'm tasking myself with trying to drink more water this week! I'm terrible. Initially I was thirsty and easily drank 2ltrs a day. Now I'm struggling. I drink a couple of cups of peppermint tea and have reduced myself to 2 coffees a day but I'm not a big water fan. Any tips - I carry a big insulated cup but just don't think to drink it!

Honestly the only thing that helps me is ice, I can only drink water icy cold or it makes me nauseous. Otherwise I've been buying low calorie squash and having that in my insulated cup next to me as I'm working and I get through those quite quickly.

Don't feel like you can't flavour water, it's still hydration!