Awful side effects all of a sudden.

[TeaFather]

I started Mounjaro in April and increased the dose as recommended each month. All ok, a bit of constipation but manageable and steady weightloss. Due to go up to 10 on Friday and pen waiting in the fridge. I did my last 7.5 last Friday but injected into my thigh rather than tummy as usual. Since Saturday evening I’ve had awful diarrhoea, stomach cramps, sulphur burps. I can’t barely eat or drink anything. I’m pretty sure it’s not a bug. I am now terrified to inject the 10 on Friday. I’ll speak to my provider as it’s still bad now, but I wondered if anyone had had a similar experience. I’d be grateful for any input. Thank you.

I had terrible diarrhoea for a while when I was on 10mg. I eventually spoke to my GP who said to delay my next jab for a while, which is what I did. you can go for a month or so before carrying on back on the same dose - I only went a week or so while my tummy sorted itself out, started up again and have had no problems since. Keep your fluids and electrolytes up and don’t use immodium in case it IS a bug- you want to flush it through rather than have it linger in your bowels.

Thanks so much for your reply. I think I might ask if I can do this, I didn’t know you could take a break and it does feel like my body needs to sort itself out after this dose.

That’s interesting and possible. I’m apple shaped so my legs aren’t that fat and I did bruise badly after this last injection. Think I’ll go back to picking a different abdomen site each week, it seems to suit me better.

Why are people doing this to themselves and not just portion control and eating way less sugar and junk?

@Pinkflowersinavase that is genuinely such an utterly unhelpful comment. Don’t you think that people have tried to control portions and eat less sugar and “junk”?? Do you think people don’t know that? The issue is that once you are obese it becomes harder and harder to do that and you need to do it consistently for a very long time to get to a healthy weight. It’s well known that it’s extremely hard to lose weight through “willpower” and “control” alone. The vast majority of people taking Mounjaro have no or only mild and manageable side effects. Most unpleasant side effects resolve within a few days. It’s absolutely worth the risk of possible side effects given how effective Mounjaro is at producing weight loss. I hope that answers your question.

Yep I had terrible tummy problems at 2.5mg and 5mg. So bad I would be up all night in pain and had endless diarrhoea. I very nearly quit at that point. 7.5mg and 10mg have been better but not reliably so.

The other day I was on a plane wearing a smart cream trouser suit because it was an important business trip, and about 20 minutes before landing I felt my bowels go momentarily and uncontrollably…

Did ye, aye

'Just portion control and eat way less'.. well, well, well. You haven't the slightest idea have you, of what people go through? Why are you even on this thread? I'm not even going to waste my time answering your smug, disingenuous and unintelligent question, other than to say they will have spent probably most of their life so far, desperately trying to 'eat way less'.

Gosh. Thanks for mentioning that. None of us would have thought of just eating less otherwise.

You have a good day, now.

Perhaps there is something in that, definitely going for a fattier bit next time. The advice says that there is generally enough subcutaneous fat on the front of the thigh but I just don’t think there is on mine.

It’s horrible isn’t it? I’m sorry that happened to,you. I struggled a bit with constipation at the start but at least I didn’t feel that I couldn’t leave the house with that.

Maybe count the clocks on your 10mg pen to 7.5mg and see how that week goes?

Yes I thought at least a couple more weeks on 7.5 counting the clicks and injecting into a fattier area might be the way to go. I might delay for a few days too as still the same and injection day is Friday.

I've just had this.

W4D4 on 2.5 mg and out of nowhere I've had horrendous symptoms for the last 3 days (having had none before!) and have had to take 2 days off work. I feel awful and can't make peace with taking something that makes me feel this way no matter the upsides.

Shame because I've just received a 5mg pen for the next 4 weeks!

Have you felt the need to up your dose each month, or were you just following the instructions? As more people have considerable experience with these drugs, there is more of an emphasis on only increasing when you lose suppression/stop losing weight. Plus the option of going up more slowly by counting clicks. Basically the lowest effective dose.

Pharmacies are now saying "you can choose to increase to the next dose after four weeks" or similar.

There's another thread on bad reactions after months of taking MJ. I'll post a link for you.

It's all about the dose. Some people are more sensitive than others. You will have the highest level in your blood on week 4 of starting (or of increasing your dose) so that could be why you're only having side effects now. You can count your clicks and take a lower dose. I started on 1.25 and am now on approx 4mg per week having lost 2 stone.

You can see the effect of different doses on your blood levels here:

glp1plotter.com/

Even Eli Lilly advise that increases beyond 5mg are to be made depending on your response, see screenshot.

mounjaro.lilly.com/how-to-use-mounjaro

I've got the upset tummy too. I've been taking MJ for 2 months with not a single issue. I was due to start my 7.5mg pen on Monday morning but an hour or so after breakfast I suddenly got awful cramps out of nowhere and everything just fell out of me. Yesterday wasn't too bad so I ate very lightly and just had a couple of boiled eggs for tea. 2 hours later awful diarrhoea again. Today I've had water only and have just added some of those sachets to replace minerals as i'm feeling headachy. I didn't associate it with the injections as it was at the very end of my week, when the effects of the last dose would have been wearing off.

Well my loss has been quite slow compared to others - 5lbs over 3 weeks - so I thought increasing might help. But the symptoms started on the 4th dose of 2.5mg. Interestingly the GLP plotter you posted suggested that the levels would be highest on Monday early hours of morning - which is when I started feeling ill. Feel marginally better now - and the levels have dropped to something I'm more used to.

So I guess I'm really sensitive to it and wouldn't be able to tolerate 5mg. But nervous even to count clicks and try 2.5mg again after this experience. Maybe I could have a week off and let the levels drop and then try 2.5mg.

It's not necessarily that you can never tolerate 5mg, @loopylou459, but that you'd need to work up to it more slowly. The medication is increased in steps to allow your body to acclimatise, but some of us need a slower process.

You could take 2mg next time. Also some people are doing split doses to avoid side effects. The half life is 5 days so a smaller dose every five days avoids the highs and lows. You can plot whatever you're thinking of doing to see how it will pan out.

With 2-5 and 5 I had 3 good weeks suppression then struggled with food noise in the last week, I ordered the 10 pen a while ago, assuming this would happen on the 7.5 but it has been less so and now with this, I’ll be counting clicks to,take a lower dose after a few days break from it, and only then if i feel back to normal.

It’s odd isn’t it? I felt really happy on it. My cholesterol has gone into the healthy range after the doctor telling me I needed to consider statins a few months ago. My arthritis is so much better and I’m hardly taking any medication for that now. I don’t snore anymore and get out of breath all the time, but this week has just wiped me out.

The dose plotter is brilliant thank you for sharing that. Think I’ll,slow the weightloss down a bit. I haven’t gone over the top but I could go a little slower.