Does this just prove I am insulin resistant or something?

[Elfunke]

Long story short, was morbidly obese for years, lost a lot of the weight but then started MJ to lose rest.

Stopped MJ and gained some back easily.

Couldnt lose any.

Started MJ again just one week ago and didnt feel much suppression so kinda ate normally (thought i would ease myself in) but have lost 5lbs!

5 lbs with no real changed to diet so the drug must be helping me in some other way?

Is there a test for insulin resistance?

Im just baffled at the difference this drug makes to my ability to lose weight even without making diet changes (which I will do of course in the long run!)

Makes me thing theres something going in biologically

I've wondered similar - I've done years of different diets and feel like I've definitely had periods where I've been as consistent with eating in a calorie deficit before and not lost weight as easily - it's like it does something which makes the weight come off more easily than previously even if I'm eating very similarly. I have no scientific or factual basis for this though, just my own experience!

I think (all just thoughts/bits I have read) most of us that have/had obesity are probably insulin resistant to varying extents due to our current/past food environment (processed foods, high carb and sugar/sweetener diets) and lifestyles (sedentary, stress, sleep issues) impacting how our bodies respond and store/burn fat. I don't know what a test for insulin resistance would add.

Mounjaro improves insulin sensitivity which might make us burn fat more effectively/how our body stores fat.

I think after we reach a healthy weight it will still take time to "reset", if we ever do, from the "damage" that has been done. We might never return to a pre-obesity metabolism (many theories on set point theory, fat cell memory etc etc etc), but we can have a healthier balance than we have now.

I get you, OP.

Having been a very overweight child from a ‘thin family’ in early childhood, and the subsequent dieting/gain weight cycle that has followed for 50 years, Mounjaro for me seems to be the miracle fix for something I never knew was broken.

Yes, I think this applies to me as well - and to a lot of people who are overweight and find it difficult to lose without the jabs.

If you see your GP he can arrange for blood tests which will help determine if you are insulin resistant or pre-diabetic.
(In England, a health screen is offered on the NHS, to all over 50 yr olds and includes the blood tests.) but if you are younger, this is something you can ask for.
If you find you are indeed insulin resistant there are easy dietary tweaks/swaps that will really help this, and subsequently help you maintain/lose weight whether or not you wish/need to stay on MJ.

This is interesting. I know that I have PCOS and I’m starting mounjaro this week. I’m consistent with my eating and exercise so don’t feel like I will lose much weight, but I’ve just got this huge hope it sorts my insulin out to make the effort I put in work! So I’m pleased to read people are finding this works.

I asume so.

I have PCOS. When I am pregnant, the weight FELL off me. I didn't do anything different, or at least not consciously. I always assumed it was becuase my body was doing what it was supposed to in terms of not "having PCOS" while I was pregnant. I ended both pregnancies around 10 kg less than I started them. It came back fast though, especially with DC2.

@SunshineSipRepeat I hope to start later this year and can't WAIT on the basis that it's developed for people like us.

Yes, i am the same. I am losing weight on this far more easily and it is not just the appetite suppression.

The NHS doesn’t routinely test for insulin resistance. It will check your blood sugar levels but nothing deeper than that. It’s a shame as in the US it’s far easier to find out what’s going on with your hormones. To find out if you’re insulin resistant you need either private tests or an endocrinology referral (and that can be tricky to get if your symptoms aren’t severe or your GP is sceptical).

I also lost weight easily when pregnant and tried to get a referral for PCOS testing on the back of it. And was told that the NHS wouldn’t see me for investigation if I had no fertility issues, despite all the other issues I had.

You could get a cgm and test your blood sugar response yourself which would give you a good indication of the extent of your insulin resistance. Abbott may even still do a 2 week free trial of one.

yeah, I think that's pretty common. Annoying though.

If it's any consolation, even outside of fertility, if they know you have it, the sum total of support is usually, "Take the pill - it will regulate your periods".

I was after Metformin to help with weight loss! But now I have MJ.

A blood sugar test isn’t a reliable measure of sub-diabetic insulin resistance although high blood sugar is an issue in itself.

Metformin did bugger all to help with weight loss for me. it did help me to keep my weight stable vs being all over the place. But even on a high dose, zero impact on weight.

Except when I had gestational diabetes, my sugar levels have always measured fine. Never had so much as a borderline pre-diabetic result.

doesn't change the fact that I've been pregnant twice and in both cases, I lost astonishing amounts of weight with zero issues. I think it's obvious that the PCOS is a major factor in my weight struggle.

My Gp and my peri-menopause doctor BOTH agree I am a brilliant candidate for Weight Loss drugs, they just can't prescribe them for me.

Anyone starting a diet loses water weight but mounjaro especially reduces systemic inflammation, so a lot of people lose excess water, which is why there is a huge early loss. I actually am prediabetic and it's helped me massively. I've always been bloated from a young age and looked like I was 3 months pregnant at 18 and wasnt able to fast as i would feel faint, dizzy and have shaking hands if i didnt eat every 3-4hrs and would get mood swings. Hba1c and plasma glucose tests can indicate insulin resistance or prediabetes, mine was top of the range for both.

Oh that's so interesting! I lost a lot of weight when I was pregnant, despite living on beige carbs because of nausea (I'm sure I was eating a bit less because of puking, but I literally ate crisps all day). Piled the weight on when I was on mat leave.

I've been told I don't have PCOS because they couldn't see any cysts on a scan, but I have always had a lot of the symptoms. My blood sugar was fine when I was pregnant (tested because my BMI was over 30).

There are tons of people on Reddit who haven't experienced suppression, but have still lost tons of weight on Mounjaro. Lots of people wrongly assume it works only by suppressing appetite, but it's much more complex than that, and you probably are insulin resistant. It's a much more interesting drug than many people realise.

My experience is the same as yours OP. I've been off it for a month and I'm eating the same, but absolutely no loss at all. It's WILD how MJ works. It really seems to just dissolve fat!

I believe there are three criteria for diagnosis and you have to meet two:
Raised testosterone
Irregular periods
"Cysts" in the "pearl necklace" form on ultra sound.

I have the last two. No one has ever mentioned the testosterone to me. But I'm 10 days into taking testosterone as apparently women with PCOS are disproprtionately impacted by even a small reduction in testosterone and I can already feel my libido coming back.

@MageQueen They did check my hormones and said they were fine. I had the tests done maybe 20 years ago and as they didn't find anything, they basically just said it's not that, go away.

I do/have had irregular periods, cystic acne, excessive facial hair and store fat around my abdomen. Also went through a phase of sudden severe pain in my lower abdomen which would come on and then go within an hour or so. I have always suspected I have it.

It sounds very likely. I think it's one of those conditions that knowing you have it just provides a few extra contextual points though. I can't say I've ever experienced like someone leaping up and going "right, you hve PCOS so here's this amazing alternative option for you." Sadly.

I think my PCOS does make my doctors a lot more sympathetic to my weight loss (or lack thereof) issues - but I also get the sense I'm lucky to be looked after by one regular GP and one menopause specialist GP who both have put the time and effort into to understanding PCOS. Most women don't even get that.

I had fertility treatment. It was done privately via work medical insurance. But the way I was treated in the one NHS assessment I had was insane. I have PCOS. I can prove it and have test results and a long medical histoy to prove it. Most likely, that is the reason I was not getting pregnant. I even had more recent test results from the private doctor which I took with me to the NHS appointment.

But I was treated like an annoying child who was asking for a forbidden sweet and told that no, I could not have Clomid until they'd performed 15 OTHER tests on me - including invasive procedures to check my tubes etc - and she would not even DISCUSS the possible impact of PCOS on my fertility until she'd "ruled out everything else". I was dismissed and patronised and left in tears.

As it turned out, 1 month of CLomid and BANG, successful pregnancy! The NHS did not perform all those other tests - I refused to attend the first of the many test appointments and was, in fact, pregnant by then - but the irony that if they'd insisted on all those tests at the cost of £1000s, as well as time, when 1 dose of £5 clomid would have solved the problem.....