Going up a dose

[GRCP]

I am due my 4th dose of my first pen (2.5mg) on Tuesday and have my 5mg pen in the fridge.

I intend to take as prescribed but have noticed lots of people seem to do golden dose or choose their own lower dose etc

I’m interested to hear from people who took exactly as prescribed: 2.5 x 4 and then 5mg on week 5. How did you feel? What were the side effects like compared with your first 2.5mg dose?

Thanks!

I did 2.5mg x 4 then 5mg x 4. I didn’t have much in the way of side effects on the 2.5mg, lots of suppression and weight loss. I went up to 5mg as that was the recommended schedule and I didn’t see any reason to change that. I was ok on the first 5mg but after the second one I had some D&V which was quite bad but thankfully short lived. I was concerned about going up to 7.5mg, so did another two weeks on 5 then did an interim dose of 6.75 and then did a full 7.5mg, all from my first 7.5mg pen. I’ve stayed on 7.5mg since then, which is several months now.

I didn’t take 5mg at all, I have just stayed in 2.5mg. Do you need to increase the dose? If you are losing weight and worried about side effects of going up just stick with 2.5mg

While using the remaining liquid as a 5th dose or adjusting doses is off license, and no prescriber officially condones, automatically moving from 2.5mg to 5mg after 4 weeks is very prescriber specific.

Big volume/low customer support providers tend to advise going up the doses as they are not patient led. More patient led pharmacies usually advise staying on the lowest dose that is working for you.

There is no advantage to moving up doses if your current dose is working for you and many disadvantages, such as introducing side effects you currently don't have, moving up doses too quickly and running out of doses (there are only 6) and cost.

Everyone should do what they are most comfortable with as long as they are fully informed, which I believe some of the big volume providers fail to do and, personal opinion, I would go as far as saying they are letting their patients down.

2.5mg wore off after 2.5 weeks for me, the rest i did on will power, tracking calories etc. I was scared of side effects, though I had never had them I'd read a lot on forums and fbook groups, so I did 3.75mg from my 5mg pen, it was a waste as I still didn't have any suppression all week, so again managed on tracking calories and will power. I then went up to 5mg, best feeling ever, no food noise and suppression was back and my bloating went again. When 5mg wore off after 5 weeks, I had already bought a 7.5mg pen and did a part dose of 6.5mg then 7mg week after, they gave some suppression but not as good as the full 7.5mg whcih was probably too strong but dealt with my unstable blood sugars and bloating a lot better and i had much better losses.

I'm now on 12.5mg 7 months in, still no side effects apart from twice in that time from eating processed meat. I've always done the bonus dose as its an extra week and reduces costs. It also gives a transition between a higher dose when extracting it all.
Best advice I'd give is don't waste time with part doses if you don't have any side effects. Try the 5mg amd see how it goes.

Thanks all - I’m specifically looking for experiences of people who went from 2.5 to 5 after 4 weeks. I’ve heard a lot from people who have split doses, for an extra dose etc, so I started this thread to get specific experiences from people who have done as prescribed. I am also fully aware you don’t have to go up a dose - I am choosing too, so not after any advice on whether to or not, just experiences from those who have.

@SilenceInsidethanks for sharing - that’s interesting your SE hit in the 2nd week. I think it’s perhaps it’s quite unpredictable and personal. I did have SE with my first 2.5mg dose but it has lessened substantially week on week.

Hi there, I went up to 5mg after 4 weeks. And then 7.5, 10mg and 12.5mg every four weeks. I’ve had to go back to 10mg as I was a bit unwell with the 12.5mg

Sounds like 10mg is right for you. How have your side effects been each time you’ve gone up?

Hi I am in same position as OP, have done 4 weeks of 2.5, have had good food suppression, although do find it has warn off by day 6. I have decided to take the 5th dose of 2.5 pen which is about 3.5 I understand, then will decide what I do with the 5 pen I also have in my fridge.

I went up after 4 weeks. Had a dry mouth and dull headache for a couple of days, nausea for about an hr then i was fine. I am now on 7.5mg the increase to that didn't cause me any issue at all.

I went up to 5mg after four weeks on 2.5. Days 2-4 of the first week weren't great: sulphur burps and diarrhea, but it was manageable. Since then it's been fine. I'm due to take my third 5mg today.

I'm on the fence about moving up to 7.5 on schedule as I'm going away on holiday that week. And currently getting decent suppression on 5.

Stick with 5mg if it’s working.

I went up the doses every 4 weeks until I reached 10mg. Side effects were feeling extremely cold for a couple of days post jab - not all day though, maybe 15 minutes 3 or 4 times a day. And sudden tiredness, again on days 1-3, but I just napped (between 10 mins - an hour) and went to bed a bit earlier than usual - luckily my jabbing and commitments schedules fitted with being able to take that time to sleep. These were every week, not just when the dose increased. I’ve had a couple of cases of diarrhoea and or nausea (not vomit) but that’s been when I’ve eaten foods too fatty/too rich, and I don’t think that’s been related to going up doses. I’ve been very fortunate but have taken care to prioritise protein and fibre and watch fats and carbs. I stayed at 10mg as I had strong suppression but that’s not to say I won’t go to 12.5mg in the future.

@GRCPi never had any side effects at all until I tried the 12.5. I had awful diarrhoea, reflux and abdominal cramping. 10mg works just fine now

@GiveMeWordGamesdid you get similar side effects on 2.5? That’s exactly the side effects I got when I first started so I wonder if that will happen again when going up to 5.

@MrsMiagidid you get SE with your first 2.5mg as well? Or only when you went up to 5?

Not really. On 2.5 I never had the sulphur burps, and while things were a bit.....looser I never needed to take Immodium (which I definitely did that first week of 5).

Feeling colder is the one side effect that has stuck thoughout but that's almost kind of a bonus when you're menopausal. 😁

I didn't really have side effects on 2.5mg. The jump to 5mg seemed huge and for a day or two I wasn't sure if I'd done the right thing by going up to 5mg but I am glad I carried on because it didn't last long at all and every other dose was fine. I did do the bonus dose on the 5mg and will do the same on the 7.5mg, purely to get my money's worth

Oh I also have never had sulphur burps. I was very very cold on 2.5mg and 5mg but that side effect hasn't happened on the 7.5mg

I took my first 5mg last week on Tuesday afternoon (week 5), felt quite nauseous and sulphur burps the next day but managed it with a few doses of Pepto Bismol, by Thursday I was fine.

Due to take second dose tomorrow hopefully won’t be so bad. Had no SE on 2.5mg.

I went up to 5mg after 4 weeks on 2.5mg. Side effects on 2.5 and for first 2 doses of 5mg were minimal, a bit of heartburn and mild constipation but nothing dramatic. I took 3rd dose of 5mg, all was well until 48hrs after jabbing, I had non stop diarrhoea and abdominal cramps as well as sulphur burps and heartburn. All I could manage to eat was white toast. This lasted until day 5 so I took my 4th dose on schedule and had exactly the same again.
I ended up having a week off completely and going back to 2.5mg. I had 2 more 2.5mg pens before buying a 5mg but I went up very slowly so for 2 months I was tweaking up from 2.5mg. I’m on 5mg now, so far so good, fingers crossed!