What does suppression feel like to those who've experienced it?

[SuePoodle]

Saw this on another platform and thought it was a good topic for people to contribute to. We hear the word "suppression"everyday on various sites but we also know it's not something everyone experiences; it doesn't happen all the time; it's a side effect (wanted or unwanted).

So, what does it feel like for you and do you think it's a good/helpful effect?

For starters, I'm on 2nd 5mg today after 3 mths of 2.5 and for the first time in my adult life, although I was busy sewing, if my DH hadn't told me the time I wouldn't have thought about food!

I have no desire to starve myself and I'll work around this feeling. Just thought it might be valuable to share experiences as this is my first true feeling of "suppression "
xx

I still feel hungry and could sit and eat as much as I wanted but what Mounjaro seems to have given me is the ability to realise I’ve had enough and stop. Also to say no to a snack/treat and then just move on from it without constantly thinking about that food until I give in and eat it.

Feeling full at an appropriate time. Like - I’ve had dinner, I’m full, I don’t need that biscuit. Might have it later. Wander off and forget all about the biscuit. Two days later, there are still biscuits in the packet.

Before, I could have had a meal, and a packet of biscuits - no off switch.

For me, its mainly about the thinking. Before taking Mouranjo I would wake up in the morning thinking about food and what to eat and I would think about it every time my brain wasn't entirely occupied, it was the last thing I thought about at night. Huge amounts of my energy, every day, went into not eating all of the time. On Mouranjo I never think about food. When I am hungry, I eat something, usually whatever is to hand or easiest to prepare and then I go back to doing what I was doing.

I feel free in a way I've never experienced, its changed my life.

This is interesting because none of these are how I would describe suppression! I’ve been on MJ for 10 wks and I don’t get it all the time. So my ‘normal’ MJ experience is I still think about food a lot. I worry about eating enough or eating too much or what to make for the family dinner but I often can’t finish a meal even if I’ve imagined a big portion and although I do still want a snack in the evening I’m happy with a finger of fudge or a few M&Ms - I don’t want crisps at all which used to be a big thing for me.

what I describe as suppression is when I actively don’t want to eat at all. I make a meal and then sit looking at it thinking how badly I don’t want to eat it. I have to force down family dinner because my kids are watching - that’s suppression for me and and I really dislike it - so much so that I dropped my dose this week from 4 back to 2.5 because I didn’t like it.

It's magic I think...

For me - I still think about what I'm going to eat, but rather than thinking that there was nothing in the house to eat, so I'd have to nip out and get a burger, crisps, chocolate etc, now when I open the cupboard/fridge door there's food I want to eat in it. And my grocery shopping habits haven't altered really, so that food was always there, I just wasn't choosing it.

I'm only on week two but in that time I've not had chocolate, pop, haribo, crisps etc. There's been packet of mini party rings in the cupboard that is un touched. Unheard of.

It doesn't feel like willpower because I'm not actually stopping myself from having x ir y, I just don't want it, not tempted, take it or leave it.

For me, it's an activation of my off switch. I now stop eating when I'm full, instead of taking portions that are too big to start with, then finishing my plate anyway. Quite simply, my appetite is suppressed, I'm less hungry so I eat less. I don't eat as often because I don't feel hungry, and I don't snack at all.

Food isn’t giving me the same “hit” as it used to so chocolate, cake whatever no longer fills my thoughts.
I still eat some of these foods but nowhere near as much or as often.
I find myself testing out the MJ effect in that I think about food and how it will taste or feel to eat it in order to see if I actually want anything. Most of the time I don’t really fancy anything particular.
I do feel fuller sooner too.
It feels like freedom after a lifetime of addiction.

I wonder whether I have got suppression when I read what some people say. I definitely haven't any impulse to eat healthier. So that bit requires old fashioned dieting, calorie counting, thinking about protein, fibre etc. which is tedious and not magic.

But I do get full on much smaller portions quite often part way through a meal I can't manage any more. And I am really only doing 2 meals a day - sometimes only 1 because I just don't think about eating.

I don’t get physically hungry that often anymore, which I guess is the slowed down digestion. I do make myself eat three regular meals a day, as I don’t want my eating patterns to become disordered (in a different way to before!) by the novelty of not being hungry. I also rarely get cravings or that low blood sugar feeling where healthy eating goes out of the window and you just mindlessly stuff yourself with whatever is closest/easiest. I definitely see food more neutrally and objectively and not as an emotional prop. So it’s easy to focus on macros, protein intake, enough fruit and veg, without feeling hard done by.

I’m only on w5 (just moved to 5mg) and for me, it’s as though all my internal struggle over whether to eat ‘good’ food or ‘bad’ food is gone. I seem to have just fallen into the ‘food is fuel’ way of thinking and it’s really liberating.

I woke up this morning and pre-MJ, as it’s Father’s Day I’d have woken up thinking about the big roast I’m planning and debating whether to have a big breakfast or a small breakfast plus what time it’s acceptable to drink wine on a ‘special’ day etc. It’d be a full day of ruminating over what I was going to eat followed by ruminating over what I’d just eaten and what I might eat later if I could ‘find room’. It was like a constant background chatter.

Instead this morning I woke up and had a coffee and thought, ‘I should probably eat something’. I had a piece of toast and it was purely a functional thing to do without any emotion attached to it. Dinner later - I could take it or leave it. In fact, I need to go and sort out some boxes in the garage first and oh tidy up the garden.

That’s ‘suppression’ to me.

It’s really interesting reading the replies here. I’m almost 2 months in and from day 1 it completely removed the desire to eat for the sake of it. I haven’t had (or wanted) crisps or biscuit or cake or fried food. I wanted chocolate once during my period but had half a bar one day and finished it the next with no desire for any more. When my family get takeaway I am not jealous, I can see/smell that’s it’s nice but I’m perfectly happy with whatever I am having. When I do try to join in I’ve managed 2 small slices of pizza and then hit what I call a ‘hard stop’ and cannot take another bite, that also happens with other meals and I have had to reduce my portion sizes significantly. I want to eat low carb most of the time as it agrees with me and feels good. However I still really enjoy the taste of good food, that hasn’t been diminished. I can still eat out but mezze/tapas/small plates with careful choices has been the answer. My desire for wine is vastly reduced. Can take it or leave it.

I learned that I have to remember to eat little and regularly or I get dizzy and nauseous. My hunger cues aren’t the same so that’s really important. If I feel a bit rubbish and realise it’s lack of food, I have nuts or dates to snack on.

Basically it has changed food into feeling like it should - as fuel and nutrition, not a reward or comfort.

I definitely think, based on the experiences of others in my month thread, that I don't get as much suppression as some.

What I have - and I am on 10mg so quite a high dose now - is:

I don't feel hungry for meals really at all - had this since the start

I don't crave food for the sake of it - completely stopped passing by the fridge for a small bit of cheese

I am less interested in caffeine and alcohol - not completely uninterested but just a lot less fussed

But when I start eating a meal, I can definitely still put away a decent portion, if I go out for a pizza, I find it easier to stop half way and take the rest back but I absolutely could just keep going and I get the sense others don't have this

Once or twice on MJ, I have had this "oh cannot eat another bite, the idea is just repellent to me" and I think others get this more consistently? The "hard stop" referenced by @wlinewbie0425 above.

I keep going up the doses kind of chasing to have a bit more of that but so far no luck so maybe it's just not how MJ will work for me

I still want to eat, I still think about food but I do have more self control, the cravings aren’t as strong and I’m able to eat less. Consequently I’m a slow loser !

I have different experiences. The 2-3 days after my jab I often just don’t want to eat. Yesterday for example I didn’t eat until 2.30 and then only ate because I felt a bit faint. I have mixed feelings about this.

the second half of the week is much ‘healthier’. I feel hunger at appropriate points of the day but generally then am happy with small to medium portions, I tend not to want too much junk food and I track calories, usually finding it super easy to stay on target.

I do still think about food but it’s a useful hunger signal for me - if I think about lunch it’s time to eat. The revelation is I don’t think about it when I’m stressed or anxious like I used to. I dont get a hit off it.

For me it’s stopped me eating as a hobby! I’m appropriately hungry at meal times but when I am full I just stop rather than finishing my plate/the DCs leftovers just for the sake of it. It has completely removed the desire to snack and my sweet tooth has all but disappeared, I can eat a small amount of chocolate and not go back for more.

Also I am no longer minded to use good as an emotional crutch, I deal with emotions as they come up rather than comfort eat and this has meant I feel more grounded and calm in general. I have been on 2.5mg for around 5 weeks and have no plans to go up in dose while it is still working so effectively for me.

I kind of sneered at the term ‘food noise’ as I didn’t really think it was a thing until mine disappeared!

I could go the whole day without eating, don't think about food or have any hunger whatsoever, I have to literally force myself to eat. Thats suppression for me and I've had it from the beginning and stronger on 5.

Take this with a pinch of salt as I’m only on day 4 but I feel like I’ve already eaten when I haven’t eaten anything. Before mj I was already intermittently fasting and didn’t eat before 12pm 90% of the time, but come lunchtime I was moderately/ very hungry. Now I’m struggling to eat an average lunch portion of food.

Likewise at dinner time yesterday I ate my protein and veg but I hardly touched my rice as I felt so full - like I’d already eaten a big roast dinner before I’d started. It’s like the Vicar of Dibley where Dawn French has to eat 3 Christmas dinners in a day 😁I guess this is suppression?

I am interested to know if anyone has had their suppression increase as they go up the doses

My impression from reading a lot of threads on this is basically no - that although lots of people say 2.5 is just a starter dose etc actually most people feel suppression from day 1 pretty much if they are going to and going up maintains that level of suppression rather than increasing it

@Febnewbie yes I would say mine changes. 6 months in now on 7.5 and my suppression is way higher than it was. I have felt it since day 1 (I am quite a good responder I think) but it has got more acute.

Felt suppression from day one, I'm about 3 months in now, it's never felt the same as that first week, although I have stayed on the same dose a couple of times, I feel hunger now which is good, it's got to be manageable when I stop.

Mine means that I wander around the supermarket and buy food but nothing stands out as something I really fancy eating. I do eat and try and keep my protein up but it's less enjoyable as I get full quickly and no longer eat all the food on my plate. I will often have leftovers for tea the next day for example. Never had any left overs before I started on the MJ.

I felt like this at the beginning too but it changed for me. I now crave unhealthy stuff so allow myself some but usually 1 biscuit and that is more than enough. When I first started the thought of anything unhealthy turned my stomach. Like you I thought it was magic! Perhaps my body has adjusted now. To be honest though, having the odd treat is more sustainable for me so it’s probably worked out better.

Would be interested to hear if anyone else has the same experience as me?

Appetite suppression - hunger greatly reduced & having to actually remind myself to eat.

Saiety - this is the big one for me! Actually feeling full, previously this would take a large quantity of food, even when doing low carb/keto which should signal this but I still struggled to feel full until a decent amount of time had passed from finishing a meal (so I'd still be over eating). Now, I'm probably only half way through a meal & I can feel it, & that's with much reduced portion sizes to before. It really feels like it's what I've been desperately missing for 40+ years of never ending diets!

I've only been on MJ 5 weeks but if feels much easier to make better food choices for the majority of the time & food noise is almost non existent, but slightly there from around 5 days after dose at the moment. Hopefully this will improve as I increase dose, but not doing this quickly as I have a lot to lose & need to be on this for at least a year, I must be realistic with my goals going forward.

To add to my earlier post, it’s my first day of 5mg today and I’ve been busy most of the day doing jobs around the house. I had breakfast at 8am and was suddenly amazed to notice it was 2:30pm and I’d not even thought about lunch. The only clue was that my stomach actually growled even though I didn’t feel hungry. I suddenly thought I should probably eat something just to keep energy levels from crashing. I had a protein shake and halfway through felt bloated. I finished it and now I’m catching up on some water.

For me (on 2.5mg) I am hungry, but that hunger is not consuming my thoughts. It's easy to forget I am hungry. I am not craving rubbish.

I am eating approx 1500 very healthy kcals a day. If I was doing this without the help of Mounjaro I would be thinking about food non-stop and would likely chuck the towel in sooner or later and binge. I know I would be finding it especially hard to sleep.