Pen 1 (2.5 mg) - 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 2.5, 3.2 (5)(5)
Pen 2 (5.0 mg) - 4.2, 4.2, 4.6, 2.5, 4.2 (5)(10)
Pen 3 (5.0 mg) - 4.2, 4.4, 3.3, 3.75, 3.75 (5)(15)
Pen 4 (5.0 mg) - 3.75, 4.2, 4.2, 4.2, 4.2 (5)(20)
Pen 5 (5.0 mg) - 4.2, 4.5, 4.6, 4.6, 4.6 (5)(25)
Pen 6 (5.0 mg) - 4.6, 5.0, 5.0, 5.0, 5.0 (5)(30)
Pen 7 (5.0 mg) - 5.8, 5.8, 6.3, 6.7 (4)(34)
Pen 8 (7.5 mg) - 6.9, 7.5, 7.5, 8.1, 8.8 (5)(39)
Pen 9 (7.5 mg) - 9.5, 10.0, 10.0, 10.0 (4)(43)
Pen 10 (10.0 mg) - 10.0, 10.0, 10.0, 11.2, 10.7 (5)(48)
Pen 11 (12.5 mg) - 12.5, 12.5 (2)(50)
Pen 12 (15.0 mg) -
I've taken 50 doses of MJ and lost 44 lbs - see graph for detail.
The short story: I had fairly bad side effect moving from 2.5 mg to 5 mg which made me over cautious going up (haven't had any side effects for a very long time now) and I also haven't been trying that hard with my diet/exercise and letting MJ do all the work - as a result of that and perimenopause it has been very slow/almost maintenance for the last 30 weeks. I am now motivated to really start trying again and make this work for me!
The long story:
On bolded weeks I had side-effects to the extent that I thought it was best to drop down again (used a plotter - looks like a big step back down but in reality it wasn't due to the 5 day half life), which worked well. Approx. weeks 10-25 I got an injection site rash but that has now stopped.
As 2.5 mg did work for me, I think I should've taken 3.75 mg for at least four weeks. I did feel I needed to go up at the end of the initial four weeks on 2.5 mg though. I took the 3.2 mg simply because that was the bonus dose. Then decided to take it a bit slower up to 5 mg (did two weeks on 4.2 mg because I was on holiday the second week and didn't want to go up a dose - that was the right decision!). In hindsight I was a bit too suppressed on 4.2 mg and should not have gone up.
I was then a bit too cautious going up, then it was Christmas season so I decided to stay a bit under-suppressed until the new year. I've probably been under suppressed for the most part since, and pretty much just been unwittingly using it for maintenance. I do my injection on a Thu and WI on a Sat, but apart from that I've slipped into not thinking about it much - and not really trying.
My main issues with food are not having making a consistent effort with planning and prepping, and enjoying a glass of wine too often. I am also 52 and in the latter stages of perimenopause, and although fairly active with my job regular exercise outside of this still needs to be added it - so I never expected to lose fast.
As I approach the one year mark and 15 mg, I am definitely trying to step things up now and get back to losing properly and taking exercise more seriously (haven't done this weeks WI yet). Consistently changing habits around food planning/prep is a big part of this. I do feel and look so much better though, even though my weight loss has been far from amazing overall (and that is down to me, I know this). I always expected to be on MJ for two years and now I expect to be on it, or another weight loss, med long-term.
I guess my initial early mistake was hard to predict though - 2.5 mg also worked well for my friend, she stayed on it for an extra month and then went straight up to 5 mg with no problems at all. She is now up to 10 mg and only went up in standard doses with no side effects. She has also slipped into not losing much now though for similar reasons. What is great though is that despite having a lull in our efforts we are not gaining and going backwards.