May Starters Thread 3 ~ Onwards & Downwards!

[SussexLass87]

Roll up, roll up...thread 3 for the loveliest bunch of losers!

"Onwards & Downwards" has become our little motto for the days when it all feels a bit tough and that wine / chocolate / cake looks a bit too bloody tempting.

Lots of love,
Lass x

Oh no @SussexLass87 I hope you feel better soon.

pretty much identical experience here. My daughter was unwell on Friday feeling sick & looked very pale and off colour. She wasn’t sick but it lasted around 24 hours and she’s been off her food since then.

On Saturday night I started having D&V. The V stopped quickly but the D has been awful / relentless (and I’ve developed sulphur burps) so I’ve been mainly in bed since Saturday. I’ve taken Imodium (7 in two days) but it hasn’t really helped, so I’m now on Dioralyte too. Not sure if it’s a bug or the MJ but it’s been truly awful.

Xx

@SussexLass87 Hope you're on the mend, look after yourself x

@Iggy35 so it’s not just me then! It’s weird isn’t it, you would think you would lose more or at least the same rate as the 2.5. I was excited with the weight loss to begin with but the last couple of weeks I have been annoyed about it. I’m t2 diabetic so will be on this long term but was hoping to be beach body ready by August 🤣 there’s nothing to be done other then to carry on 💪 I’ve been out for a walk for an hour tonight hoping that’s what I need

Do you think you can survive on your own willpower for a couple days days if the suppression goes away? I had a quick look on the Voy app and it seems fine to take it a few days later. But you should have four days between doses, so if you move it earlier it can’t be too close to the previous jab. Personally I think I’d push it back a few days.

@Seahorsesplendour I've seen this kind of advice quite a few times regarding emotional eating

Hope you're feeling better OP doesn't sound like it can be the MJ if others have the same symptoms.

I fought against the MJ this weekend and overate and the scales went up nearly 2lb. I always do this just before I pass the next milestone. It's like I'm self-sabotaging. Grr. Decided fresh start today but a colleague bought me a chocolate bar mid afternoon and DP plated me up a massive portion of spaghetti bolognaise for my tea.

Oh! I've just remembered! I didn't eat all of my tea, I boxed up half of it for my dinner tomorrow 😇

Oh and the golden dose on mine looks more than a normal 2.5 dose. I’ve ordered syringes that have needles attached. So will have to extract the dose and inject with the same needle. I’m a little concerned about that, as I’ve read that it hurts a bit more. But my husband, who does my jabs, says that’s daft and hospital staff use the same needle to extract the dose from a bottle and to administer it. But he’s a tough cookie. He has had loads of operations, drips, pic lines etc. Nothing phases him. But I’m a baby!

@Oakhouse I moved my day from Friday to Sunday, then Sunday to Monday. Not what I had set out to do, but circumstances meant it worked out that way.
It’s been fine but has required a bit more willpower on the last couple of days.

I did similar.

does anyone else get over one with bouts of impatience?? I know I didn’t gain it over night and so it won’t go over night but I still find myself irritated at how slow the days are going.

context, I’ve been ‘big’ my whole life, my mum who is Chinese and a tiny build (I have my fathers western build) put me on a diet when I was ten years old and I’ve been gaining ever since. I finally feel like I’m heading in the right direction and so impatient to get there!

Thanks for the well wishes (and the space for a grumble!) You're all absolute gems 💎 ✨️

So sorry you've got it too!! It's so strange as I haven't really been poorly since MJ but this has knocked me sideways.

Sending healing thoughts to you and your DC ✨️

Can't remember which thread it was on, but i was talking to someone about improvements in inflammation while taking MJ.

I now have some data.
Had a blood test 3 days after starting Jabs and my CRP (inflammatory marker) was 49.

Blood test today 4 weeks later and CRP is 22! So pleased. It hasn't been this low in 4 years.

I do still get diarrhoea but I'm not too bad.

Weigh in tomorrow, and I know that I haven't lost much, if anything, because I've been trying to find the lowest dose to not have SE. So not had great suppression.

Hi all, apologies for being a bit quiet this week, but been cramming for an exam tomorrow so though I've made sure I kept up with everyone's progress, I've not had time to post! Congrats for all the losses, those who've had gains don't panic, it is just water weight! You may have eaten something yesterday that held more water, or if you did exercise your body will be clinging to it, or if you are stressing (especially over the number on the scales!) you will hold more water too. Just try and relax and trust the process!!

We all have a natural cycle (outside of our menstrual one) that dictates patterns of weightloss, for most people this can be an 8 to 10 day cycle of ups/downs/no mvmt (which is why weighing daily can be helpful, or weighing monthly, but weekly can catch you at the wrong day of that cycle!) Mine is 9 days, so weekly weighing can often catch me on the wrong day. So, don't panic!

There were a few of you worrying about stalls, at this stage, unless you have stayed the same weight for more than 3-4 weeks, it is not a stall! Just your body adapting to the loss and deciding if it is safe for it to go back down again, or it if needs to panic and make your put it back on. MJ will act on the hormones involved in this decision to let your body know it is safe to keep losing, so don't panic!

Those panicking about drawing the golden dose, insulin syringes come with attached needles. You can quite safely draw the dose and inject with the same needle, it doesn't blunt it that much. Did my first jab with the needle this week and it doesn't hurt, just make sure you use the needle at a 45degree angle (not direct on like we use the pens) and don't insert the whole needle as they are much longer. It just needs to go into the fat layer beneath the skin, no deeper.

@BerfyTigot It was me you were talking to about the inflammation. Those numbers are great! So pleased for you to have seen such a change. I thought you might, as mine had improved after just a week on it. My next bloods aren't for another 2 months now, so I'm excited to see any further changes!

@OhPolly Hope Ddog is doing ok, and hope that you are finding ways to relax and destress a little.

And those with tummy bugs and other ailments, hope you feel better soon.

End of week 4 for me today
SW 115kg
CW 109.5kg
GW 65-70kg

Slow loss (with what seems to be typical week 3 slowdown!) of 5.5kg most of which came off in the first week, but I'm happy with that as I haven't had massive suppression yet, other than the day after the jab, and I want to lose slowly as I have a lot to get off and don't want to reach goal too fast and have too much excess skin/not be able to recognise that things have changed. I've been fat all of my adult life so I don't have a picture of myself as a slim person in my memory banks, so need to take time to adjust psychologically as I go.

Started titrating up just a teeny bit last week from 2.5mg to 2.75mg. I'm splitting my jab in 2 over the week to keep the amount in my system more stable and so I don't see massive leaps in the first day or two after the jab, so I can keep the SEs minimal as they were pretty rotten, especially on week 2. I'll add another 0.25mg every 2 weeks if SEs permit until I reach a dose where I continue to lose weight and have good suppression.

Thanks for your comments and advice it’s all very rational which I need in my life at the moment! Sounds like you’re doing really well! There’s definitely a psychological element to this whole process especially when you’ve been overweight your whole life I feel the same - I look at my girls who are tall and slim and I think “I was never your shape” I went from a chubby kid to overweight adult

@hottubsundays I trained as a nutritionist, and worked as a complementary and psychotherapist for many years before my disabilities got the better of me! I know all the stuff - which is why I can categorically say that obesity is not as simple as calories in calories out for most people. If it was, none of us would be fat. That these drugs help so many proves that metabolism is far more complex than most people assume, and that we stay big despite exercise, healthy eating etc because of an imbalance in the metabolic system - an actual disease of lack or of excess in certain hormones/peptides (like GLP-1 and GIP)/neurotransmitters. It should be considered no differently to other diseases where the same type of issue is the cause, like diabetes/insulin, thyroid/T4 and T3 etc etc). Hopefully these drugs will start to change the narrative, that we aren't fat because we eat crap and are lazy - we eat crap and are lazy because we got fat doing what we were told to (eat less, more healthily, and move more) and it made us fatter - because that is precisely how our bodies were designed, to protect us from future famines!

@notgonnafail thats such a great post, just wanted to say thank you!
Can I ask about the jab splits you’re doing? Just musing, I’ve been wondering about trying this, given the drug has a 5 day half life, it seems odd to inject every 7 days. I was wondering if this is just because we’re used to thinking weekly/monthly so doing something on the same day is easy to remember.
It does seem more sensible to keep a stable level in the body rather than the highs and lows every week. I wonder if, in the future, dosing routines will change to reflect this.
Of course, if the daily pill they’re developing is approved I guess that will keep MJ levels stable.

I'm splitting the dose. I plotted the amount of drug remaining in my body and it was very up & down, so I just take half 2 x a week. The graph is a lot smoother now.

Thanks @notgonnafail. That was à really interesting post. And best of luck with the exam.🤞🤞 Live up to your username!🤞🤞

I’ve just done my fourth weigh in and lost 2lbs, which takes me to 13lbs in four weeks, so close to a stone (actually I was even closer to a stone because I was .3 under 2lbs but I won’t count it until the whole lb is gone!).
I too have loads to lose still. I just took my second photo for my log, and while I’ve definitely lost inches and my clothes feel looser (or rather not stretched to the max!), I don’t look any different in the picture, which is a bit of a downer.

And so onto the golden dose tonight. I’m going to take as much as is there up to 4mg and see what happens. I’ve not had any SE so far nor much suppression. And l don’t have much on this week to worry about if I do get SE.

And @ohpolly I hope your doggie is doing well

@TreesOfGreen99i think the pharmaceuticals like to keep the schedule nice and simple to improve compliance. Once a week is nice and easy so people are less likely to forget.

I have been considering lowering the dose and taking every 5 days as I’m struggling with SE but also happy on a low dose as I’m loosing well. I’m going to see drs today to see if there is anything they can do to help side effects but I was due to inject yesterday but I’ll chat with the drs later and then decide.

i think you can set irregular calendar reminders in iPhones and there is a medication section on the health app where you can set things for different schedules, might help those on a different dosing schedule.

@TreesOfGreen99 Hi, obviously I can't give you medical advice, so this is simply what I am doing and why. It is up to you to diacuss with your provider, or decide for yourself what to do rather than take the advice of someone on the internet!

More often than not dosing schedules are designed by drug companies to ensure that compliance happens. For most people, one injection a week is manageable, but 2 might put them off.

As you say, the half life is 5 days, so by day 5 you only have half what you put in of the last dose - but you also still have remnants of earlier doses. You can see in the graph that in the first two weeks of taking MJ there are massive spikes at each point of injection, which gave me SEs, so I hope that by slowing it and having smaller spikes thatI won't get then so badly - so far it is working!

I used glp1plotter.com to estimate what was happening in my system, to work out why I was getting such terrible side effects on the first few days of the week and then played around with it until I found a more stable, slow way to increase my dose to avoid them. I switched from 2.5mg every 7 days, to 1.25mg every 3.5 days and now am on 1.5mg 1st dose (Tuesday mornings) and 1.25mg 2nd dose (Friday evening). I will slowly ramp up the dose by 0.25mg every 2-4 weeks depending on results/SEs.

@Hkg I have been feeling the same way! It could take 2 years to get to my goal weight and I need to settle my mind in for the long haul, but I just want to be there now. I think that's where mini goals are going to help, eg

1 stone off
20lbs off
A non scale victory, like fitting into a top that I haven't been able to wear

I need to come up with a list of these to keep me going. I started with 7 stone to lose so I'm really far away from goal weight.

Do you think people really do lose massive amounts quickly? This first month Ive lost a lot, but it’s definitely slowed down to a more healthy level after the first couple of weeks. But I keep seeing people on Facebook reels that lost loads quickly, and there is someone on the June thread who says they have lost 1.5 stones in the first 10 days. I can’t get my head round it. What are they eating?! We all seem to have slowed down to more normal amounts. It’s got to be better for you. And hopefully the MJ will keep us on the straight and narrow until we get there, whereas we might have otherwise fallen off the wagon.

I probably need to do more exercise. I walk the dogs and muck the horse out daily (although walks are shorter nowadays as one is getting old), but I could do with a bit more. I’d love to swim, but wouldn’t get in a swimming suit in public just yet! Yesterday I painted a room (second coat today) so that’s got to count for something. The Voy AI bot was telling me to stop and do ten squats every now and again- but I thought painting and running up and down the stepladder was probably just as good!

(Sorry- I do such long posts!)

Weigh in today and as predicted I haven't lost anything at all.

I'm ok with it - had some non-scale victories, and generally a difficult week. Still pleased with my loss of 6kg in 5 weeks.

Well done to all you losers 👏 😁

Forgot stats:
SW 102.2kg
CW 96.6kg

So actually not quite 6kg 😁