Mounjaro how to

[Titianshe]

Can anyone guide me or point me in the direction of a thread that gives a ‘how to’ guide to mounjaro? I see you start on 2.5 but how long should you be on that and what dosage do you go up to. Do you prepare yourself in anyway. How do the injections work. Where’s the best place to get them. Thanks all

https://uk.lilly.com/metabolic/assets/pdf/mounjaro-patient-booklet.pdf

Look at monj.co.uk for a list of safe registered providers - some are subscriptions so make sure you understand what that means (from their websites) if you go for one of them. The pharmacies will also have further information on their websites about Mounjaro

There’s no one thread, as there are lots of different answers to your questions.

The website https://monj.co.uk/mounjaro-price-comparison-by-monj/ has a price comparison list so you can look at the various providers and see who is cheap and who expensive. The medication is the same wherever you get it from, so I would be mainly guided by price.

To answer your questions, you start on2.5mg and take that for at least 4 weeks, which is one pen’s worth of injections. It’s then up to you if you want to move up to the next dose, 5mg. Many people do, some stay on 2.5mg if it’s working well for them or if they are experiencing almost too much reduced appetite. You stay on each dose for at least 4 weeks, and then you can choose to move up or stay on your current dose. The doses go up in 2.5mg increments until you reach the highest dose which is 15mg.

There are full instructions with the pen on how to inject. It’s not that tricky , it’s just a bit unfamiliar to begin with. Some people find watching YouTube videos of people injecting helpful.

You don’t need to prepare before starting, but Mounjaro slows your digestion down so anything in your digestive system before your first injection might hang around longer than you’re used to. So it’s probably not a good idea to do your first injection after a big meal, a takeaway, etc etc. It helps to drink plenty of water, for digestion and to help the medication do its work.

As always, the two posters above have given you sensible, experienced answers! Thank you both @SilenceInside@WeAllHaveWings

It took me ages at first, laboriously following the instructions. Now I’ve been on it around a year and it takes 30 seconds.
Get the pen out of the fridge and uncap it, screw the needle on, turn a couple of clicks to squeeze a bit of the liquid out, then keep turning till you reach the number 1 mark, pinch your stomach with one hand and hold the pen with the other, using your thumb to push the top of the pen down, unscrew the needle and pop its little safety cap thing back on and put it in your sharps box, lid back on pen and put it back into fridge.
I know I missed out the wiping the injection site first but personally I don’t bother.
Sounds complicated but you very quickly get used to it.
I’ve lost around three and a half stone in a year but I know others lose much more weight and more quickly. I’m very happy as I’ve reversed my diabetes.

Learn about how and why it works, understanding that helps you to figure out any side effects and how to make it as effective as possible.

• Primarily is changes your hormone levels so you create more insulin in response to glucose and so that you are more sensitive to the insulin produced. You can help this by moderating your sugar intake, eat a balanced diet with plenty of protein, fibre, good fats and complex carbs.

• secondary effect is that it slows down your digestion. This makes you feel full for longer and with less volume of food. It does mean that if you eat something that aggravates your belly it will hang around for longer though, so whole, healthy foods are important. It can also affect efficacy of certain medications so they either don’t work as well (birth control!) or they take longer to be effective (pain killers).

You need lots of fluid, water is the obvious one, but any fluid will do if you don’t like water, your body needs it to break down fat, heal muscles etc.

The actual injection is simple, you will get a pen initially that doles out 2.5mg doses, 4 doses per pen so 4 weeks worth. You screw on the needle, remove the inner cap, twist the knob on the end of the pen and couple of clicks and then press the button on the end of the pen. You may need to do this a couple of times to ‘prime’ the pen, when you see a bead of liquid at the tip of the needle it is primed. Then you turn the knob all the way round, just keep turning till it won’t turn anymore and the dial says ‘1’, it’s now ready to inject. Find a fleshy part of belly or thigh, press the needle in, push the button and keep holding it down till the dial is back to 0 then count to 5. Pull it out, put the lid back on the needle, unscrew the needle and put it in your sharps box. I barely feel the needle going in, I do my belly just switching sides every week mainly because I have a fleshy belly and because I like being able to easily see the dial ticking down as I inject.

You can stay on a dose for as long as it continues to be effective or you can move up every 4 weeks, consult your prescriber and listen to your body.

I don’t use alcohol wipes either. I was prescribed as part of diabetes treatment and got a demo session with the diabetes nurse, she said no alcohol wipes is needed for subcutaneous injections so I’ve gone with that guidance.

The paper instructions just say to wipe the end of the pen with a wipe before attaching the needle, which is what I do. There’s no need to wipe the injection site, nor do you need to pinch. Of course you can do if you want, but it’s not a necessary step.

@Papergirl1968. Do Not put the cap back on the needle , just put it straight in the sharps bin . Re-capping the needle is when a lot of sharps injuries happen . Just letting you know what a nurse would do .

@winnieanddaisy the instructions that come with the pen tell you to replace the outer cap on the needle. You’d surely be more likely to injure yourself if you didn’t, and tried to unscrew the needle with the sharp end exposed!

I have pricked my finger once or twice capping the needle but as it’s only myself and I know I don’t carry any serious infections I’m not too bothered.

Awkward to unscrew the needle without the cap on and how do you push it into your sharps bin past the guards when it has an uncovered sharp on both sides? (learned that that sore way!)

If worried about a sharps injury use the needle to scoop the cap up while still on the pen.