Still unsure - experienced advice welcome

[Undecided2025]

I think I want to take the plunge with mountjaro, but a part of me still has a bit of fear with the press coverage of the dangers. So I suppose I’m seeking reassurance.
Also, I’ve seen referrals for Medexpress, but I’m not sure if that’s the best place to go - is picking up in person ‘better’? Is it likely that after 4 weeks of 2.5 that my dose will be increased?
I have a lots of questions 🙈

Press coverage will always focus on the rare cases that will generate lots of interest. It’s a boring story that no one will read to report that hundreds of thousands of people in the UK, and millions worldwide are taking Mounjaro without any issues and losing weight.

It is a prescription only medication, it has some risk of side effects but if you read any medication leaflet, including over the counter medication, they all have long lists of possible side effects. The point is that for obese people, the risks of possible side effects are outweighed by the very real health risks of remaining obese.

MedExpress is one of many online pharmacies. It’s not the best or the worst, they’re all really similar in terms of what they do. The reason you see MedExpress mentioned everywhere is that current customers can only get a discount off their next order by getting a new customer to sign up with their referral code. There are plenty of other pharmacies who are just cheaper, with no need to try to get people to use your referral code. You can also swap pharmacies if you want to take advantage of a new customer offer. There’s a website called monj.co.uk where you can see a list of regulated suppliers and what their prices are.

Picking up the medication is helpful if you can’t be in for deliveries, but it tends to be the more expensive suppliers who offer it, because they have physical pharmacies that you can use to collect your order. Other than that, there’s no difference.

The usual dosing schedule is to do 2.5mg for 4 weeks, then move to 5mg. If that’s working for you, you can stay on that for as long as you want. If it isn’t working for you, or stops working for you, you can move up again. And so on, up to the top dose of 15mg. With nearly all pharmacies, whether you move up, stay at a dose or even move down is your decision based on how you’re doing.

It is a prescription medication with side effects like any drug. They are for the most part mild and thegs like gi tract issues so nausea vomiting or diahorea. These mild side effects will be very similar to most drugs including over the counter meds like Ibuprofen.
There is a risk of more serious complications but these are rare. Once again all drugs will have serious side effects uts just the media surrounding these are reporting disspoportiantly. Read the drug leaflets that are available online before you order.

Clinical trials are designed to test the risk of the drug ( and all its side effects) against the risk of the untreated disease. The clinical trials and the longer observational studies show an overall positive effect of the drug in terms of a variety lf outcomes. Bellow is one of the studies, a longer term one on diabetics.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-024-03412-w

You won't necessarily increase your dose after 2.5mg. I'm starting my 2nd month on it, having lost around a kilo a week with no real side effects, and the pharmacist was happy for me to stay on the lower dose. The principle is that you have the lowest therapeutically effective dose.

In terms of the risks, that's been explained well by a pp. You do also have to take into account the risks of remaining obese/overweight with qualifying condition. That's a very personal call, and it's going to depend on your own experiences with other weight loss methods in the past plus how you weigh up the relative risks of each course of action.

I don't know where you can pick the prescription up in person, apart from the NHS it seems all online pharmacies prescribing. You need to apply critical thinking when reading the press stories about negative effects. Consider how many people across the world are taking these drugs with no ill effects.

@FortyElephants Asda and Boots offer in store collection.

I wouldn’t go with MedExpress and their MLM style with the annoying promo codes. Unless you are a social media influencer, nobody will use your code anyway and you will end up paying the higher price. No advantage to picking up in person unless you are concerned about delivery and the postal system. I use Simple Online Pharmacy and have only had positive experiences with them.
Others have reassured you on side effects so I won’t repeat that. Avoid increasing your dose too quickly and do not do what a lot of people on the what I eat in a day thread seem to do which is to eat virtually nothing due to really high appetite suppression.

I'm a month in and 8 pound down, wish I had started sooner!

I went with Asda for my first 2 orders as I liked the idea of being able to collect in person from the pharmacy and ask any questions I'm person etc but now I'm more comfortable with it I'll be switching to a cheaper, post based pharmacy.

Make sure you are totally honest on your form so the prescriber can make an informed decision.

Oh right yes I suppose they do! But it's not like you get a face to face consultation so I'm not sure why that's better than home delivery

@FortyElephants it's not any better than a delivery, the only benefit is that you don't have to be in for a delivery and can collect when convenient for you. So might be a help if for some reason home delivery was not possible.

But as I said, it's the more expensive pharmacies that do this (Boots is the most expensive, usually), so not an option I'd ever choose given that I am happy to get a delivery.

There are horror stories in the media, like any medication there are side effects, but they are uncommon, most people have manageable minor side effects. Some of the media stories are linked to medications not obtained from safe sources, misuse, or underlying conditions. The stories are only in the media because of the "popularity" and hype around the medications, when was the last time you read about someone suffering serious side effects from ibuprofen which happens more often?

Check out the monj.co.uk website Silence linked to for safe registered pharmacies.

There are different types of suppliers - some are subscription based where they push pens to you every 4 weeks and you need to tell them if you don't want to increase dose so watch out for that. I prefer to order my pens when and in the strengths I want. Any decent patient led pharmacy will allow you to choose to stick on the dose you want.

As mentioned above there are some providers where you can pick up if waiting in for deliveries is a problem, but they tend to be more expensive, unless you are local to one of the pharmacies (I know Oushk for example allow pick ups if you are local to them in Manchester area). Some pharmacies allow you to pick a delivery date including Saturdays - some used signed for/pin code deliveries so you need to be in for them, others allow safe places at your own risk. The medication needs to stay refrigerated until first used, so it arrives in cold packaging and needs to be put in the fridge until used.

Once you pick your pharmacy you will be asked to complete an online consultation form to confirm you are eligible and it is safe to prescribe to you. This will include photos to show your physique (can be clothed!), perhaps photo ID, and/or a video call to verify your weight. If approved the pharmacist will approve your prescription and your medication will be sent to you. You will need pen needles, swabs, a sharps bin (most pharmacies provide min of 4 needles - although it makes sense to buy a box of your own incase you get a faulty one, some provide swabs/sharps bin or you need to buy you own). Read the enclosed patient leaflets fully, watch a couple of videos on how to inject and you are good to go.

Great advice above! Just to add, there are local pharmacies that offer it if you particularly want to collect/ be overseen by a pharmacist and also, depending on where you are, both Pharmulous and Oushk allow you to collect from them too. There’s probably others but I’ve not had personal experience of them!

I’ve just started with an independent local pharmacy. It involves a monthly in person consultation and WhatsApp support.

I liked the idea of having the more direct support and it’s located on my road so very convenient for in person collection.

might be worth seeing if any local pharmacies do similar.

Well, I've lost 7st. I've got another 3st to lose.

I only wish I'd started it sooner.

It's brilliant. Good luck, OP.

My only regret is that I didn't start it sooner having spent a couple of months thinking about taking the plunge.

Started 9 months ago, lost 6 and a half stone, at a healthy BMI and will stay on a low dose forever to not struggle with the food noise that was driving me to eat myself into an early grave.

I also wish I'd done it earlier, though in my case it was lack of organisation that meant I wasted a couple of months after making the decision. But I kick myself thinking, I could be a stone lighter by now.

I was with Medexpress all along until maintenance when I switched to Oushk as Medexpress don’t offer it at my bmi, which is now 22. Never used or shared a stupid promo code though! I had a good experience with them and always had a very efficient dispatch, no issues whatsoever

I stayed on 2.5 for about 6 months and then increased to 5 for a couple more months and finished on 7.5mg for a few months. I’m now tapering back down and on 5mg again now as I work towards maintaining for a length of time

I started at 15 stone last April and I’ve been 9 and a half stone now for about 4 months.

my best advice is to make sure you eat properly. I have never gone below about 1400-1500 calories a day. Oh and someone strength training or you’ll regret it! My muscle mass is now low and I have a very very flat bottom. I’m in the gym now but I should have been doing that last year from the beginning!!

Thank you all! Really appreciate you all taking the time on your replies.
I definitely feel more reassured that the horror stories are the extreme outliers. My sister was peddling them and making me panic.
My bmi is currently 30 so definitely eligible. I do a few hours of classes through the week but just can’t get the diet right.

My BMI was 50.

It's much lower now.

@Undecided2025I am in the exact same place right now - and finally ready to take the plunge. I decided against it in January, managed to lose a stone and then slid back in to usual eating pattern.

I have a code from a friend who has lost loads on mounjaro with med express so thinking of starting with them but all the shopping around each month sounds like a lot of hassle. Trying to make sense of best options from the many threads but it’s all pretty overwhelming. Just sick of being so big and uncomfortable in my own skin, it’s not been a lifelong thing for me, I’ve generally been top end of normal or just slightly overweight most of my adult life, but approaching menopause in combination with being less active in lifestyle, it’s just started to slide and slide further into obese and is making me miserable. I’m a terrible comfort eater, grazer and also drink too much wine to cope with life’s stresses. I completely relate to food noise concept and am v curious to experience losing that.

You have to remember that because of all the social hangups regarding weight, willpower, shame, greed, who's entitled to enjoy food and thin privilege, the discourse around this topic is toxic. So even well meaning people who don't actually suffer too much from any of this might still pick up stuff that comes from very entrenched weirdness.

And Superdrug.

100% this

I think its important to really accept results vary.

I had a reasonable amount of side effects (sulphur burps, vomiting, nausea ) on wegovy... none of that on MJ but my weight loss rate HALVED on MJ (which is supposed to be more effective...

Also prepare yourself for gge long haul....
A year in i am down 30kg (which in total is fab) but on a monthly basis it's 1.5-2.5kg
I'm still 1 stone overweight and now losses are 1kg aka 0.5 lb per week or two lousy pounds a month.... but it IS consistent

No one except my husband knows as I just chose to not say anything and no one has asked me so 🤷🏻‍♀️

You’ll only ever read the extreme stories. Unfortunately, you don’t know how it’s going to be until you start. I’ve only had tiredness.

Medexpress has good customer service. If you need a discount code PM me. You can get £65 off your first order. I’ve also used Superdrug and IQ Doctor.

You don’t need to stick with the same provider, you can swap around for the best prices. Check out monj.co.uk.

It’s mounjuro
only you can decide if it’s for you or not
plenty of people take it myself included
read up as much as you can and remember every single medication has risks.
for me the risk versus being very overweight made me decide it was the right choice for me