April 2025 Mounjaro Starters - Thread 4!

[QS90]

I have the worst mental block with the spelling of this medication!! Almost did it wrong again but THINK it's correct now. Obviously 3rd time's the charm!!

Great work / losses / NSVs so far everyone!

Is anyone else getting frequent instances of dizziness at all? Honestly couldn’t really tell how often it’s happening because my brain doesn’t remember such things very well, but I know I’m getting lightheaded quite frequently and wondering if it’s something I should check on with dr, or whether it’s just a normal side effect lots of people get.

Yes. I measured my blood pressure and it is now on the low side, it was bang on normal before I started. I drink plenty of water and am careful not to rush when moving from lying down to upright. But if it’s worrying you, you should check in with your GP.

I was having some issues, so I increased water consumption and added electrolytes. Things seem better but I couldn't definitely say that it was the water. It might be worth a try.

I think that I would contact Pharmacy2U in the first instance and see what they say.

That's an excellent BS result! I have mine next week. It was 46 in April so hoping for similar.

Hi everyone, just checking in - I’m now down to 10st 2.5lb so very nearly there! My bmi is still 25.5, but I’ve still got my boobs (usually they are the first thing to go when I lose weight). I did say to hubby I might go down to 9st 7lb just to give myself a bit of wiggle room, but if my face starts looking gaunt I’ll definitely stop.
Im getting very worried about needing to keep taking the meds in order to maintain the weight loss. I can’t really afford to do that long term, but equally worried about how much weight I’d have to regain to get a prescription again!
I think I’m going to have to reluctantly stock pile ☹️

@Pepperwaggytail - I think I will be the same. What dose are you on currently and are you planning to phase / step down? Any idea what a maintenance dose might look like - I suspect people are trying lots of options - injecting low dose every 10 days / every other week etc - or once a month?

I was trying to work out the cheapest way would be to get 10 x 2.5mg doses out of a 5mg pen through counting the clicks for the first 8 doses and then using needles as per bonus dose for the last two?

I havent looked yet at pharmacies maintenance programmes - does anyone know?

But more importantly have you established new healthy eating and exercise habits - and do you feel you can carry them on?

I’m currently taking approx 6.26mg split into 2 doses 4-5 days apart. (25 clicks from a 7.5 pen) I’m doing this intuitively because for example, this week I had plenty of suppression after 4 days, so pushed out another day. Im also losing 2+lb a week on this, so happy to do the last bit like this, with very few side effects, and even drinking a little bit of alcohol and enjoying a cheeky low alcohol beer!
I like your thinking with the 5mg pen, and hopefully you would maintain with that, or even start dropping the dose a bit lower if you are still losing weight? I might try that actually once I get to 10st. I’ve got plenty left in my current pen, plus another 7.5pen. So I could buy a 5mg pen in the next few weeks. Ideally I’d like to get to 1mg and then even 0.5mg weekly before dropping it completely.

Weirdly I have always eaten healthily and gone to the gym 4-5 times a week! I was fit but fat! This is why I’m convinced my weight is linked to hormones and/or the way I process sugar. I’m not really eating much less than I did previously, and now im losing weight eating carbs and alcohol. 🤷‍♀️

I though med express did a maintenance programme, but another MNetter said that they threw her off the programme after an eight week break, so you obviously don’t get to wean off with the option to restart at a lower BMI if you gain some pounds back. Im
hoping someone can correct me with this one!

Yes perfectly, thank you so much! It was baffling my brain because I knew there were 14 pounds in a stone but couldnt figure out why during the conversion I was never above .9 😂

For those approaching maintenance Oushk do maintenance plans, the wording around BMi in an email I received was they support weight loss until bmi 22 and maintenance beyond that.
however you would need to check if a few weeks gap would cause issues with reordering, definitely worth emailing to ask, they get back to you within a few hours even if you’re not a customer yet (actually really rate their customer service, they’ve been great with honoring codes where medexpress were inflexible)

Great to know! I’ll email them and also ask the same for Medexpress. I also have a problem with any photos I might be asked to provide (with a date) as I look so much slimmer!

This is what Medexpress say…

Our comprehensive maintenance plan
You’ve done the hard work and reached your goal weight - so what happens next?
We understand you might feel anxious at the thought of stopping weight loss medications once you achieve your target weight or a healthy BMI.
To support you in maintaining your weight loss and the healthy habits you've developed, our prescribers may continue your treatment for as long as you need, provided your BMI remains above 23.5 and you remain eligible for treatment.

However I have messaged them about how long you are able to come off it before you decide you want to reorder as your weight has increased slightly.

Had a stressful week - weight now down to 13:9 from 16:2 (silver lining). That’s 2.5 stone lost and 2 to go. I need to start getting the resistance training/ weights in but my job sucks sometimes and I have four kids, so that can be a challenge, although I know it will also be good for my mental health. So that is my objective for the next fortnight, is to try and start reintroducing exercise (that isn’t just walking the dogs) back into my life.

wishing everyone a good week x

The idea of trying to maintain the loss really does sound insurmountable currently. I realise this is most likely because I still have such a long way to go to a healthy weight still so it’s much further away for me than most.

I do worry about not having access to mounjaro in future if my BMI isn’t high enough but the weight starts creeping on. Hoping it won’t but my body really does pack it on so quickly if I’m not in a deficit historically 🫣

ah well time will tell. Focussed on getting to target first!

It doesn't seem super likely to me that I will be in the 5% of people who maintain a significant weight loss. I will do what I can to be, but, realistically it doesn't feel like the most probable outcome.

My general plan is to taper down to a very low maintenance dose (and stockpile a couple of extra pens in case I'm cut off). By the time this happens, my bet is that a preventative pill regimen will be available - I know they are trialling them now. I've stayed with my more expensive provider which has a maintenance policy and has met all the regulatory standards in inspection, basically to hedge against being cut off before this.

But yes, if the time goes against me I'll probably experience at least one more yo-yo, which is not great, but better than just yo! 📈

It seems likely to me that CRISPR researchers will be working on modifying our natural GLP-1, in which case there will be a one time gene therapy at some point. Surely this must be going on. A friend of mine had gene therapy (for a much more serious, life limiting, condition) recently and it's mindblowing - transformational. It can be scary sometimes living in the future but aren't we lucky, too?

Hi all, hope everyone's ok and coping with the heat. Brings a whole new meaning to the 'melted candle body', melted brain too 🫠

Had a couple of weeks absence, first holiday since starting, which I'd been mildly worried about. Stuck to my usual 3mg as I don't get full suppression so figured it'd keep me in check a bit whilst letting me enjoy some treats. That plan worked, fish and chips twice (child size portions), several cream teas but reasonably sensible mostly, average cals 1544 a day, although still had my first gain of 1.6lbs. It's come off again now so I'm just over a 2 stone loss (avg loss 1.9lb week).

Holidays are such a derailment aren't they, yet we all have to figure a way of managing them when we come off this. Don't plan on a lifetime of deprivement, so portion size and rationing will be the way forward (in theory!). Hope they do bring the GLP-1 pills in fairly soon, will be the answer to our maintenance problems 🙏

In other news, made a complete shambles of my Oushk verification call as couldn't get my mike to work on my new device (doh!) but managed to answer her one question re my height using 'chat'. Lol, at least it was over quickly.

@Lundier do you have any links to these trials. I’d be interested to read.

@Lundier can i ask who your provider is please? I’m with MedExpress and a bit nervous as they’ve failed a couple of things (non safety though) on their inspection

Also just seen on the Zava codes thread that they are giving great discount on bulk buys - so a good way to stockpile pens for maintanance - I think I will get a stack of 5mgs to use as 2.5 x 10 doses each. They also do £20 off for existing customers (see code on Monj.com).....and if anyone wants to switch to Zava I have a £40/25% code you can use if your DM me.

I am trying to work out if buying the cheaper 5mg but extracting higher doses is cheaper than buying the higher dose pens - does anyone know? On reflection I dont think so - just the other way round. I am on my first month of 10mg - I dont feel that I am getting any greater suppression than when I was on 5mg or 7.5mg ? But I only did a month on each so didnt hang around for it to stop working as well if this is what other have felt? I might start working backwards now even though not at goal - is that a good idea or not? I plan to keep on maintanence dose for at least a year. Is anyone following any Reddit threads on maintenance ? The one here I started to read but it wanst helpful - need a positive constructive plan.

Please can you help. I have done a stupid thing. After weeks of using the pen with no problems I decided to try and put the none used MJ into a syringe and use it like so many others appear to have done successfully. Well it's been a disaster. The syringe needle bent and the site has swollen up into a lump and is white. I'm not sure what to do?

Should I put something on it? Sudocream? Anything else? Am really worried about what I have done. And I didnt get half my dose so now not sure what to take if anything (I have a new pen in the fridge- can't believe I have been so stupid). . Oh heck. Please advise me. Thank you.

Zava wanted a photo from me, so I gave up at that point! 😬
Im sure all the pharmacies are lobbying like mad to be allowed to prescribe as and when needed once the initial weight is lost, they will make so much money from it, and it’s much healthier for all of us.
People will definitely start piling weight on again to get back to a bmi of 30 so that they are able to get approval again! That is such a ridiculous state of affairs there will be a solution soon I’m sure. 👍

Can I ask why everyone thinks have it in pill form will help with maintenance?
If it’s the same drug won’t it have the same restrictions and cut off point?

just curious as haven’t done any research on it just a couple of people mentioned up thread.

I'm just hoping if it's available in pill form then it'll be cheaper and more readily available, although I think Eli-Lilly's patent for UK doesn't expire till 2036 - yes, probably same restrictions in place though. Would be great if GP's could prescribe it for all their patients with a history of high BMI.

Hey...try not to worry. Maybe take yourself to a pharmacy and tell them / show them but I did similar a month or two back. Mine came up red but has faded now. As to dosage, maybe wait a couple of days and see what your suppression is like and then do a new dose from the new pen.

I think you "only" have to be BMI 27 to restart if you have been on it before?