Obese but not interested In Mounjaro, I’m genuinely interested to know why.

[Vatsallfolks]

I have struggled with my weight since my last baby 23 years ago.. prior to that I was a standard size 10 and never really thought about weight.. but last pregnancy at 39 saw me develop an underactive thyroid AND an autoimmune disorder that required an astonishing amount of steroids .. long story short.. I went from 10st to 22 stone in 4 years.. I hated it. I lost my sense of balance , self confidence, health… blood pressure meds , cholesterol meds, knee injections, chronic IBS .. because of the steroids I was extremely lucky to get a gastric sleeve on the NHS . Took me from 22 stone to 16 stone and there I stayed until this miracle drug came along.

I did my research. I looked at the pros and cons . The cons of being obese FAR outweighed the cons and so I began. Financially I thought it would be a terrible struggle but in reality I save money . No more latte and a croissant for breakfast at the station . It’s taught me to be mindful of what I need to eat to be healthy by prioritising protein, good carbs and fibre..

Im now BMI 22 and 9st 5 and size 10 again .. since end of November.. I remain on a small maintenance dose of 5mg and after a I had a chat with my GP yesterday, I am happy to be there for life .

so my question is .. if you are obese with all the associated health risks AND you have the funds to prioritise your health but are not interested.. ( earring in mind these drugs have been around since trials in 1992) why would you not ?

Because you still have to actively be in a calorie deficit and I just can't go through tracking every calorie AGAIN ....I am so over calorie counting .
I am morbidly obese 😢

I don't like putting any drugs into my body if avoidable and I would want to see how it plays out for 5 years or so in terms of putting weight back on and any longer term side effects. Since you still obviously have to cut your food and/ or change your diet, I can't see how it would really help me. I don't think I get this food noise a lot of people talk about but I do have a very sedentary job.

I don’t want to end up putting it all back on in the future and feel like a total failure. And I am worried that’s what would happen.

You don’t need to track - you naturally eat less because you’re not hungry, you don’t snack.

i initially tracked but that was in November. Now I don’t even think about it other than aiming for healthier choices but minimal effort required.

not trying to be pushy, just sharing my experience.

I don't count calories!
I've lost 7st 3lb.

I just eat everything I used to, but less of it. MJ stops you from feeling hungry, so it's easy.

You can stay on it when you reach your goal weight.
I'm going to.

I am very seriously disabled and already take 7 different drugs daily to deal with my disabilities.

i don’t want to add more drugs on top, especially as I don’t meet nhs criteria

Anything I have read suggests a calorie deficit is important.

I also wonder if appetite is so suppressed, are people actually getting enough nutrients. I think if I wasn't actually hungry, I wouldn't cook proper healthy food and end up eating processed rubbish.

My understanding is that it is not a magic wand .
I also take fluoxetine for depression and in many ways this suppresses any motivation I have for doing anything for me ....I'm so busy doing for everyone else that I come last . Food is my go to crutch at end of a busy day . I don't drink alcohol or smoke and I would love dearly to be a healthy weight but the motivation is not there.

It is, but you naturally end up in deficit because you just aren’t that hungry.

Can I ask did you start on 2.5 mg and move up each month or did you move up a dose when the previous dose stopped suppressing your appetite ?

I am terrified of the side affects. I can’t take a lot of different drugs as the side affects are insane for me and I’m scared of trying this. Also it would be a massive financial commitment for me and I don’t think it’s worth it since I have 0 self control.

I am increasingly considering it but I am worried about gastric side effects.

These are the reasons I've heard from some of my friends who did consider but dismissed the idea.

Cost (even if you can afford it, there are lots of other things to spend money on)

Side effects

Re-gaining the weight after stopping

Unknown long term effects.

Generally just messing with your body, putting drugs in when you don't need to.

Most people don't have side effects, or if they do, they're minor, and easily treated.

Generally just messing with your body, putting drugs in when you don't need to

Those of us who are morbidly obese do need to. We've tried to lose weight for years, all of us.

Having zero self-control is the main reason people like MJ.

MJ stops you from feeling hunger so you don't need self-control.

Because I have type 1 diabetes and it’s not approved. I’d go on mounjaro in a hot minute if I could.

I've read a lot about it affecting absorption of medications. My epilepsy is barely controlled as it is; I'm not doing anything that could make it worse and need a medication adjustment.

I got glandular fever a month ago, lost my appetite completely, went off chocolate etc and just decided to stay at that level. I've lost just shy of a stone in a month, so I'm going to keep going like that.

Please don't let this put you off!
I honestly can't believe the effect of these drugs. Before I was on it , I heard people talking about it turning off food noise...I couldn't imagine that, but from the first day I took it I understood.
Just today I was in poundland and I didn't even go in the sweet aisle....absolutely unheard of pre injections. I just had absolutely no interest...took zero will power, so the deficit will happen without a huge effort!

With a lot of these common sense can be used to think about them in a different way.
Cost- being obese is expensive (food, more sick days, more likely to end up with chronic ill health from cancer to arthritis) though obviously need the money upfront but worth prioritising if you can from an economic view point.

Side effects and thinking of what you put in your body (think of what excess food is doing)

I am thinking of starting soon. Just need to save up!

I did 6 weeks on it and stopped as I realise for me it was motivation - I didn’t need suppression as I’m not a snacker , have good willpower and I eat pretty well anyway - I had already lost a few stone 18 months ago and simply stopped being mindful and was just eating too big portions in an evening - I used it to ‘kick me off’ but didn’t like the heartburn 3 days a week or the fact I had to eat a very bland diet indeed not to feel nauseous and that was only on 2.5 - I am 2 weeks on now and still losing at the same rate but now ok eating curries and cauliflower rice or pinch of nom type low carb recipes etc - I do realise though everyone is different and for people who struggle with willpower or snacking and don’t mind or don’t get side effects it clearly works well as I certainly didn’t feel much like eating when taking it

I'm just a bit scared 😟 😬

If I don’t lose weight in a slow and steady way it triggers my alopecia, and I don’t want to start that off again.

Also I’ve got tinnitus 24/7 which is at a bearable level at the moment and I’ve read several times about MJ possibly making it worse. I could do more research but I’d prefer to stick to traditional ways to lose weight.