Mounjaro / Wegovy with > 5st / 30kg to lose: Thread 6

[VelociraptorsVelociRapping]

Thread SIX of this lovely community. Anyone using weight-loss injections to lose more than 5 stone or 30kg is very welcome to join us, no matter what stage of the process you are on. Share your losses, your non-scale victories (NSV), your frustrations and your love of Longley Farm cottage cheese and kiwi fruit here!

Please don’t post discount codes on this thread as your post will be deleted. These need to go in the dedicated thread on this board.

Hi everyone.

SW - 19 stone 4
CW - 17 stone 3
GW - 10 stone (although I am setting smaller goals to break it down).

I just wish I had started this journey sooner. So far I have responded quite well, no side effects and decent losses on the 2.5 pen. I was getting good suppression and only really wanting to eat decent food (veggies/salads and protein, along with fruit). I have also started back at the gym in an effort to try to minimise any saggy skin.

I went up to the 5 pen last week but it looks like my losses may be beginning to slow down after the initial burst - my sneaky mid week weigh in is only showing a 1lb loss, when I have been losing 4 ish a week before this week (and I have a fab first week).

My usual weigh day is a Friday, so I'm trying not to get too down and focus on the slow and steady progress angle, but its probably a little bit of a come down after doing so well for the initial stages and perhaps getting a bit too excited thinking I could lose 4lbs every week.

I think the questions around telling people are interesting. I haven't (only my mum who I have convinced to try it too). It's not anyone's business what I do medically and I think there is still a lot of judgement about it. However, I wish I had someone to talk to about it before I made the decision to start and perhaps to encourage me to give it a go. I could have started so much sooner - so it does make me want to help others a bit.

Especially because I think the mental aspect has been such a game changer for me - to not have the constant intrusive thoughts and food noise, to realise that actually my body clearly does not work the same way as a thinner persons and it is not (totally) a personal failing that I have reached the weight I have.

People judge the overweight so much, but I still cannot get my head around the fact that people feel the way I do about food now naturally (if that makes sense). I think for a lot of people, especially those with a lot more to lose, there is so much psychology to unpick regarding feelings of it being a personal failure, when there clearly is a medical element that can be treated (I'm not saying it is all down to that, but it is certainly a significant factor for some). I do hope that as more people use these drugs and the conversation around them becomes more prominent, the stigma is reduced and perhaps a greater understanding of the various issues can grow.

Wk3 D6
I've had a great week this week. The suppression has eased so I'm enjoying food again hooray! It's lovely being able to eat three meals a day. I'm back up to around 1200-1400 cals per day and the scales seem to be moving again. I hope it stays like this. I feel great.
Last week (wk2) I could barely eat, but I only lost a pound. I'm now wondering if I wasn't eating enough? The suppression was so high that I was struggling to eat, not trying to starve myself, I just couldn't face food. I felt like I'd swallowed a housebrick all the time.

It's wonderful to read all the NSVs and losses, gives this newbie hope. Well done.

I’ve just binged, I couldn’t help myself. Now I’m sat here crying. I hate myself right now.
I’m upping my dose today, but I’m so scared that I have blown it and all the hard work was for nothing.
If I can’t stop myself binging whilst on MJ, how am I ever going to come off it?
I am so angry at myself, all I see when I look in the mirror is a disgusting fat heffer. I have no self belief and feel like I am going down a destructive path again.
Sorry for moaning, there is nowhere else I can talk about this.
The one good thing is that I told my husband what I had done, which I wouldn’t have done in the past, so there is a little positive.

@alwaysscared it’s ok, it really is. It’s one day, one misstep. It isn’t going to ruin any of your progress. It’s great that you could tell your husband and hopefully that will help you get past this wobble.

I’ve been away visiting family, and have eaten more this weekend than I have for a while. They don’t know about the injections so I was trying to join in mealtimes but limit what I was eating. A hard task. I think I will have put weight on this week, or sts in all likelihood. So, I will need to refocus and push on next week. It’s done and now I need to work on seeing it as a pause rather than a setback.

We can do this 💐

@alwaysscared Hugs to you.
I haven't been on MJ long enough to advise on dosage etc, but please don't hate yourself. You just ate some stuff, that's all. Its one episode on one day. You told your partner, which is a step forward so there's some progress to cling on to.

Awww @alwaysscared you're having a really tough time of it at the moment 😥 But you've definitely not ruined it - it's a slip and we're only human! You're doing so well - and the increased dosage should kick in soon. The fact that you've lost tons of weight means the MJ does work - you're just at a really low ebb.

Please try and be kind to yourself. Is it sunny where you are at the moment? Maybe go out for a breath of fresh air if you can? Have you got any weekend plans - if not, plan something lovely?

I'm sorry things are hard at the moment - but it's temporary and we can totally do this thing - sending love and strength.

@SilenceInside thank you, and you can definitely get back on track!
@akaFrosty thank you
@MooBaggage thank you, unfortunately I am an agoraphobic so getting out is very hard. I’m also a full time carer for my disabled son (11) who is also agoraphobic, so that makes it double hard. I’m just waiting for my husband to come home from so I can go to bed and sleep for a bit, hopefully will feel better after a nap

@alwaysscared I hope that you can get some rest and as others have said try and be kind to yourself. I imagine being housebound makes it harder as there are fewer distractions to help you focus on other things. I have a disabled son who is 11 too. He is not agoraphobic. One thing that has been very positive for me recently is doing online zumba classes at home. I find dancing and singing really lifts my mood and is helping me get fitter.

Weigh in today and I am v excited to have lost two stones since the end of January (SW 129kg, CW 116kg). I ordered a new tankini size 18-20 which arrived today and it is too big. Happy days!

@dimples76 thanks. I have been doing peloton and have bought a walking pad, so trying to get more exercise. Maybe I’ll look at online dancing too!
I hope your son is well

So it looks like Simple Pharmacy won’t prescribe me 2.5mg because I’m already on 5mg from the doctors for diabetes and because the private pharmacy isn’t licensed for diabetes they can’t prescribe it, even though the extra is for weight loss. What am I supposed to do? Lie??

Could you call them and ask if you were to get your doctor to write a letter saying he has agreed for you to buy the extra 2.5mg privately for weight loss, would they prescribe it then?

Personally, if I'd discussed it with my GP and I knew they were happy with it, I'd try another provider and not disclose that I was on 5mg for diabetes. The GP will get a copy of your prescription info anyway and they're the one managing your health with you.

But that's just me...😈

So defo been rejected by Simple Pharmacy. I’m going to see how I get on with 6.25mg and if I need to, try and order with someone else in a couple of weeks, urgh. I’m so frustrated about it. There must be people in my position that have got round it.

@alwaysscared you might have had a bad day but would it help if you looked at your weight loss in total over the time you've been taking MJ? All the good days equals out the bad day.

@alwaysscared Please don't feel alone in this either. I'm not sure what your definition of bingeing is but I recently ate a stupidly large amount of a very calorific dessert (just because it was there!) and had exactly the same reaction of panic and shame but, instead of following my old pre-MJ pattern of thinking F-it and eating more calorific stuff, I went back to being sensible, drank lots of fluids and even logged the calories. I was surprised at how little difference it made, in fact I may have eaten cleaner for a few days after in response to it.
You have to consume an extra 3500 calories or thereabouts to gain one pound in weight, my blowout added around 1200 so, even if I hadn't changed anything else I may have lost 1/3lb less that week so I'm sure you haven't done anything too hideous.

I think your GP is setting you up for difficulties by suggesting you use 2 pens simultaneously (if I have understood that right). Pharmacies have to supply drugs in accordance with their licensing conditions which is to use one injected dose from one pen. That may be one of the issues and, if that is the case, it may be easier to just get it privately and ask the GP to hold the NHS supply for a while.
You might be better to try companies like Oushk or Ashcroft who are more responsive and provide a more individualised service. I would also recommend that you try to contact them, ideally by phone but otherwise by email or Whatsapp, to speak about your situation first rather than just submitting the online application

Completely agree. There is so much stigma and for me, as I am sure others too; self-loathing & negativity that we let ourselves get this big and why can’t I just stop eating and be like normal people.I am the big one, I am ‘fat’ but not blind and definitely see the judgement in other people’s eyes and hear the hurtful remarks or standard NHS fat shaming tick box consultations ‘have you tried eating less and moving more?’! The ‘you can’t access (insert relevant) care/treatment/service and would need to loose x stone’ before we can help you.

I started this journey at 136kg and although joked with friends about not being able to stop eating, and having a sweet tooth, I have never admitted to anyone or even myself that I actually have a binge eating disorder. It seems obvious I do, as my size doesn’t happen without some serious eating. I felt such shame about the food I would buy, hide and eat in secret, hide the wrappers and have my mind controlled by it calling to me. Big bars of chocolate, multipacks and I would think about them until I’d eaten them all. Seasonal events were dangerous as seeing Christmas goods or Easter eggs etc, I would end up eating things I bought for others and then having to replace them constantly up to the celebration.

I’m so sad this was my reality and feel so utterly free from it on Mounjaro that this isn’t my life now. I never want it to be again. I can see the cycle which becomes a spiral and eating because sad and ‘given up’ mentality which is now replaced with positivity. However, If it was purely a mental health condition and as people view it… the opposite of anorexia, then how has it been completely managed with MJ! It’s shown promise for other addiction issues including alcoholism. Is it a ‘for life treatment’ for them I wonder? I feel it needs to be for me.

Sorry if I have over-shared. I am sure I can not be the only one.@TotallyFloored
you raise very good points to reflect on.

@alwaysscared
I am working my way through comments and posts and just seen this which is exactly what I responded to a couple of posts before you. I do so absolutely understand and how that binge makes you feel! This is now a time to reflect if there were triggers and not shame yourself.
You are NOT alone! Xx

Yep - I echo everything you've both said. I've had a lifetime of hiding wrappers - putting empty packets in empty packets so it doesn't seem as much in the bin. You name it, I've done it re: overeating and just not being able to stop.

All that disappeared overnight with MJ and my mind is still blown. I feel like the person I am now is the person I always should have been and it's so upsetting if I think about it too much - so I make myself focus on the here and now and the 20+ years I've hopefully got ahead! But yes, this disease we have is awful and thank god there is now medicine which can help - we've lived long enough to exist when it does and hopefully it will get easier to access and easier to take as the years go on.

Weigh day for me:

week 1 SW: 20 stone 3 BMI 43
week 13 CW: 17 stone 12. BMI 38

Another 3lb off this week, but am reminding myself that I've had 2 - 3 weeks of feeling very nauseous and not being able to eat much at all, which has been rubbish. Now I've reduced my dosage again I'm feeling tons better and will hopefully be able to eat more, so the weight loss should slow down a bit!

Lovely to be in the 17s - not been here for at least 5 years, if not longer! The last time I attempted Slimming World I was 16 stone something and that was 8 years ago - obvs I immediately put more weight on 🙄so getting back into the 16s and heading downwards will be a real landmark - hopefully in the next couple of months!

absolutely @MooBaggage!
I do also get a bit sad if I think too long on it and wonder, if this had been available 20 years ago when I started piling on weight, or even 10 years ago when very obese after pregnancies… how different life would be.
But we are here now, one step at a time, a lbs at a time, a jab at a time, we are all going in the right direction and clawing back health. I am so very grateful we have this chance now and I wish more people could too.

At a CyberSecurity conference/show this week, so spent my day yesterday walking all day, not drinking enough water and talking non-stop. Did just under 20k steps according to my watch and my legs are grumbling. Need to remember my water bottle today and make sure I stay hydrated and try to save my throat from all the loud talking.

My daughter loves it when I go to these shows because I come home with bags and bags of free swag so I’m the favourite parent this week and she’s the proud owner of several new teddies, a crap tonne of notebooks, pens, branded socks, t-shirts and various weird shaped stress balls. She also hands them out to her friends like she’s bestowing gifts to her subjects so she’s loving the attention.

Met up with a couple of people I haven’t seen for a year while I was there and it was very gratifying, one woman just looked at me and said ‘soooooooo have you um lost a bit of weight, like a lot of weight, like a really really big lot of weight.’ And the man saw me, looked confused, looked past me then back at me and said ‘Infosec, is that you? Huh, wow, ok’

Wk 1 - SW 111.1kg - BMI 42
Wk 12 - CW 103.8kg - BMI 39.3
The weight loss is a bit slower than i would like, but I am losing something every week (even if it may only be 0.4kg).
I can completely relate to the hiding wrappers phenomenon pre-MJ - I used to hide them in my car and then get rid of them in bins outside so my family wouldn't know about my secret snacking! Shopping is a revelation now - I can quite easily buy sweets or chocolates for my daughter, and not even think about getting any for myself. I never realised food noise was a thing before I started MJ!

Has anyone had their food noise come back. Im 6 months in now and the last couple of months whilst I still have suppression my food noise is back. I am trying my best to exert some willpower but then I slip into my old habit of "just a bit is fine" and I really dont want to end up going back to eating bags of crisps a day and wanting chocolate all the time. I'm trying to keep some easy filling protein snacks around to help out.

I thought moving up from 7.5mg to 10mg a couple of weeks ago would help but I still find myself pinching some crisps or wanting to eat the kids chocolate.

@WafflingDreamerI’m only 3 months in and like a a few crisps shared from
my daughter, difference being, is that’s enough now and I do have control. Crisps are yum so guess it is normal to like them still and you probably always will, but having all food noise gone is lovely but not sure helpful in the long run? We have to some how learn, just a little every so often power or develop a seal and say… nope I can’t have a little without wanting a lot so I will abstain under these circumstances…

not sure what the answer is but wanted to say my worries are the same as yours and I don’t know best way to manage it long term yet.