Going up to 5mg from 2.5 on Tuesday - how was it for you?

[Elfie23]

Hi all, as above really! Did anyone get any side effects? Any major changes to report? I’ve lost 14lbs so far, took my 4th dose on Tuesday (had a sneaky weigh this morning) so new pen starts Tuesday coming and I’ve gone up a dose.

When I took my first 2.5mg I had a headache for the first day and the injection site was a bit red and itchy but after that first time I’ve been fine.

Did anyone find the first injection of the higher dose gave a higher loss that week?
I lost 6lbs the first week, 4lbs second week then 2lbs and 2lbs.

You are having totally normal, good losses. Why are you moving up?

Good question from @batterypower as many providers imply you need to move up, where the more patient led providers recommend sticking to the lowest dose that works for you.

Disconnect the weight loss from your decision. How is the food noise? Are you managing to keep to your calorie deficit, if yes then it makes sense to stay on lowest dose that allows you to do that.

You are having good 2lb/week losses the last two weeks which implies you are in a healthy calorie deficit. If your expectation is to lose more you are looking at moving to an unhealthy calorie deficit.

Also be aware you have a potential 5th dose in your 2.5mg pen if you have/can get hold of a syringe by Tuesday (might be difficult with the easter break).

If you decide moving to 5mg is right for you, many move with no additional side effects, others it hits them hard. No way of knowing how it will go for you.

You can do a mid way dose (or even do 2.5mg) from your 5mg using click counting. I started Mounjaro June 24 and I am still on 3.75mg (only moved up because I thought I "should" back then) and losing on average 1.5-2lbs a week.

I moved up to 5mg after a month and stayed on this dose for four pens. I had no side effects on 5mg and also was able to feel hungry for meals so it worked perfectly for me.

7.5mg wasn’t great and I am now moving back to 5mg.

I used my first 5mg pen to do 3.75mg x 6 (slightly over the 30 day expiry) and then moved to 5mg and stayed there for four months. Almost at goal now

I went up to 5mg and the side effects were horrendous, I had constipation, awful indigestion, nausea and I vomited 3 times - I felt really ill on it.

I gave up for a week and went back down to 2.5mg which I have been on since and have lost nearly three and a half stone since starting at the end of December.

I am happy with losing between 1 and 3 lbs a week and it will take as long as it takes to lose the weight I need to.

As others have said, I really wouldn't increase as you can only get more than 2lb a week long-term with an unhealthy calorie deficit. There's probably also a greater risk of loose skin with a quicker loss.

If you've already ordered it you could do half the clicks to get a half-dose.

Why are you moving up when you have had good losses? 2lb a week is the max healthy weight to lose each week and you are hitting that.

I have a 5mg pen but doing 5x 3.75 dose out of it, although in fairness the first dose was 30 clicks because I was on holiday, then did 1x 35 clicks, 2x40 (3.33mg). I just did injection 10, 45 clicks, 3.75mg. my next pen is 3.75 and will do the 5 smaller doses. Doing this I have had no side effects and losing about 1kg a week

I had no side effects on 2.5 but do now get a little nauseated on jab day with the 5. Nothing I can’t ignore though and it’s just little occasional waves that go fairly quickly.

I had increased nausea and “fullness” but everything else stayed the same (coldness, tinny taste in mouth). All manageable. I’m losing 1.5lbs pw on 5 so I probably won’t increase to 7.5 yet.

How many clicks are there on for one dose? I have a 5 pen waiting for next week but am not sure I need the full dose

@Menopants

It is 60 clicks or 0.6ml for a full dose on any pen.

Hi everyone thank you for all your comments, seems like a bit of a mixed bag!
I decided to go up to 5mg mainly because I thought I should because I get hungry around day 5 and have to really really stop myself from binging - and also because I thought 2.5mg was just a starter dose and then you were meant to find ‘your dose’ but now realise that is not the case!
As I have the 5mg ready and waiting, can someone explain the clicks thing? Is it a case of counting the lines from where you twist the end out and just injecting that?

Also - for those who syringe out the 5th dose - where do you buy the syringes from and is it just a case of inserting the needle into the red bit and drawing it off?

thanks x

@Elfie23the medication half life is 5 days so it is normal for the effects to wear off towards the end of the week. Look up calorie cycling, eat less on the days you can and more on the other days but keeping to your weekly calorie deficit. Eat protein which will keep you feeling fuller for longer and avoid spikes and dips from too many carbs/sugars.

A full dose in any pen is 60 clicks or 0.6ml.

With a 5mg pen if you only click 30 times you get a 2.5mg dose. 45 clicks will give you a 3.75mg dose. 45 clicks / 3.75mg will be 0.45ml in a syringe.

The pen locks after 256 clicks in total. If you take 2.5mg it will not lock before you have used over 5 weeks.

If you go for 3.75mg you will get 5 doses before the pen locks on days 0,7,14,21,28. All within the 30 days discard instruction.

There will still be liquid left in the pen which would make a 6th dose possible on day 35, 5 days beyond the 30 days. I am personally comfortable with it if I keep my pen in the fridge, up to you to to risk assess and consider if you want to use.

If you want to use a syringe try somewhere like uk medi (not Amazon) and buy a 1ml 8mm 32G or 31G syringe. Or if you can’t face a 8mm needle you can buy separate 1ml luer lock syringe and smaller separate needles from uk medi too. When looking at needles the higher the gauge the finer the needle. You can look on the tab of your current needles to see the length and gauge.

@WeAllHaveWings Thank you so much that’s so helpful! I’m considering trying the 3.75 dose and see how that goes x

Thanks for sharing this information. It’s so helpful. You clearly know your stuff 👍