Anyone found lower dose works better than high?

[CymruChris]

I started MJ in November. I have generally moved up through the doses apart from some doses I did 2 months. I've been on 12.5 now for a few months but I've found my weight loss has stalled, I haven't lost any weight for 2 months. Looking back I can see that I lost more weight on 7.5 so wondering about dropping back down?
Anyone had a similar experience?
Loss so far is 2 stone, goal is 4 or 5, depending on how I feel at 4...if I get there!

That's not how Mounjaro works unfortunately- I tried going down an increment to see if I could reduce to a lower dose to maintain and immediately started feeling really hungry, so I did a bit of reading and it seems once you've reached a dosage it's almost always going to be less effective if you reduce that dosage - there's no way that 7.5mg will have a stronger effect on you that 12.5mg. It's probably more that you were more focused on your food intake at that time because it was newer whereas now you've been on it for a longer time and habits may slip a bit. Also you would have been heavier then so your TDEE would have been higher so losing weight was easier.
Better to consider why you've stalled - are you in enough of a deficit? Are you tracking? I didn't need to track for the first 2.5 stone but then I stalled and I have to track a bit more closely now to lose weight because my TDEE has gone down and if I just eat or drink a bit more I can easily wipe out my deficit.
Rather than try dropping down as that isn't likely to help I would go up to 15mg and track more closely and you'll almost certainly see weight loss resume.

I am in this position too. On 12.5mg having started in September and moved up doses on that time. I lost 3 stone easily and another half very slowly. I still need to lose 6 stone to be in a healthy BMI range but I am stuck! I will move up to 15mg next time but it does seem to have stopped working... I track every day in line with TDEE

The months that I have sulphur burps and other side effects are the ones where I lose weight. Honestly none of this on 12.5! Never thought I'd wish for sulphur burps 🤣

If you're tracking and keeping within a deficit then you should be losing weight regardless of being on Mounjaro. When you say it's not working do you mean you aren't feeling satiated/you're having blood sugar spikes etc like before you started taking it? If you're tracking and not losing then it's not a dosage issue it's a tracking issue. Do you eat enough protein?

It is working in those senses, not havingblood sugar spikes and i feel full etc. I use nutracheck and log what I eat. I've lost 2lb in 2 months on 1400 calories. I weigh 16 stone 12 now. Just trying to trust the process

I am not trying to be a know it all but something isn't right - it's impossible that you have lost so little on those calories. Have you changed anything in your lifestyle?

@CymruChris this is me too! Started last year, and stayed on 7.5mg for a good few months from month 3. I'm now on 12.5mg and finding that I could quite easily eat whatever, but I'm using all my willpower to say no. It feels like it's stopped working, but I've still got a way to go until I'm near healthy weight.

Yes to having sulpher burps. I'm not had any for a couple of months now, which coincides with moving up to 10mg, then 12.5mg.

I have to agree with @FortyElephants. 2lb in two months is a daily calorie deficit of approximately just over 100 calories. Something doesn't add up here.

OP, what's your calorie deficit? Taking a probiotic with digestive enzymes is very effective against gastric side effects, especially sulphur burps.

I had moved up to 10mg. But at that level, I started having quite a lot of side effects so stopped taking it. I'll restart again at some point and work my way up to 7.5 then stay there I think.

I only ever lost 1/2lb a week, but was happy with that. I'm a notoriously slow loser and honestly, as long as it's coming off I'm fine with a slow rate. Less likely to get gallbladder issues that way too!

Sulphur burps are a side effect of the drug which typically wears off over time and not a sign that it's working. Anecdotally a lot of people get worse side effects moving from 5 to 7.5.

@Slightyamusedandsilly 1-2 lbs a week isn't slow loss! It's very good and the maximum anyone should expect or aim for.

I have been on 2.5mg for 7 months, I haven’t moved up at all so can’t compare with higher doses but it definitely has worked at 2.5mg as I have lost 5 and a half stone

I went up to 12.5 and hated the side effects but also didn’t lose. I’m pretty much at my target weight but was thinking I could do with losing 5lbs more but have only lost 2lbs in the last 3 months. It worked so well but I think the side effects for me aren’t worth going to the highest. I am maintaining so have gone back to 10mg this month (which is when I lost the 2lbs) and plan to drop to 5mg for 2 months to ease myself off. I’m going to go back to full calorie counting (which I did at the start) as I come off so I keep control.

I've just found that the appetite supression isn't there! Wish I'd have stayed on 7.5 for longer!

If it makes you feel better, OP, you probably would have had the same experience if you had stayed on 7.5mg. You are simply developing a tolerance for the drug.

I'm similar to you! Also started in November, lost just over 17kg but have been stuck for the last 3 months. I'm on 7.5 but have to admit I'm not tracking my food although I'm consuming a lot less than i was. Ive also realised how much emotional eating is involved with me, even whn I'm not hungry, when I'm down i want to munch, its like an addiction. I know i need to try harder to push past this plateau and its also a very stark realisation that i really need to address my life and emotional eating if I want to avoid gaining again.

I wish you luck and sorry i uave nothing to add other than perhaps add some weight training if you're able to? Also see if your measurements are changing?