August 25 Starters

[saywhaaaaaat]

Hi everybody! I haven't posted on Mumsnet for YEARS, but I thought it might be a good place to get a bit of a community feeling going.

I'm starting Mounjaro on Saturday 3rd August. It's arrived today but I'm doing a cooking class on Friday, and then we are on holiday for a week. It felt like it made sense to get started when we got back.

I've done the entire yo yo dieting thing before. SW, WW, Noom, Intermittent fasting, Keto, Exante, clean eating... the lot.

And I'm just so tired. I have also started to talk to a therapist about food as well. It became very clear to me that my issues with food are around stimulation/boredom etc. So, while I was a bit anti injections, I am thinking that it might be worth giving them a try just to see if it helps block that route, and allow me to find something else to fill that stimulation gap.

I go to the gym twice a week, I do yoga every week, I run and just did a 5k recently (slow but steady). I work at a desk though and not in a position to easily get 10k steps in a day.

My dh is very, very, very, very anti. He is very old school and of the "well just don't eat junk", "just run 10k", "that's cheating". We had a chat about what I was uncovering about food and my feelings the other day and he just seemed to get annoyed with me about it. He is also the one harping on about being healthy and living longer.

So now with that I feel like I need to prove him wrong now, lol.

I'm currently 94kg, 5 foot 6... my lowest since I was in my early 20s was about 72kg. I lost that doing keto, and then maintained going back to regular eating going the gym, but then Covid happened.

Anyway, long post but looking forward to sharing journeys and support :)

Today is the first day I feel "off" and it followed me eating a bowl of porridge. I think I maybe... overate? It was my normal size portion and tbf relatively healthy, but if it's stodgy and fibrous then... probably going to sit for a while.

I definitely am noticing the difference in myself, and I wonder if a lot of what I was seeing in the mirror was inflammation. Face is less puffy, and I feel slimmer.

This week has been incredibly stressful overall. I just found out that the house my estranged dad and his partner "bought" is actually owned by his partner's daughter. He literally just handed over money to buy a house and is now potentially at risk of being shoved in a home and all sorts of nonsense. In spite of all this, I haven't gone "ahhh sod it I'll order a takeaway" or binged on chocolate or crisps, so hopefully this crap scenario can have a silver lining in it.

Sorry for the trauma dump

That sounds stressful @saywhaaaaaat , sorry you're having to go through the worry and stress. Well done for not reaching for a takeaway though.

I'm noticing that my energy levels are better at the moment. Its the first time in ages I'm not permanently exhausted, it may just be that I'm not at work at the moment rather than the jabs though!

W1D2

Feeling a bit different but not sure if that’s nerves / placebo effect. I’ve started calorie counting again, using MFP. I think I’ll aim for 60g protein per day. Didn’t manage any exercise yesterday, feeling a bit smothered by the summer holidays.

I never drink enough water, so that’s something I want to focus on!

Hope you feel ‘on’ again @saywhaaaaaat . I read your post just after finishing my bowl of porridge (with spoonful of collagen and spoonful of maple syrup…) but feel ok right now!

Received the pens today - waiting in the fridge until Sunday as I've got a full weekend on and don't want to feel sick/dizzy. Nervous and excited at the same time and so hope the side effects are minimal. It's really helpful and encouraging to read other newbie's experiences.

W1D7, my blood sugars are getting more under control, that is the main reason I started Mj a week ago. Another jab tonight, took it in my tigh last time, no side effects on skin.
SW 81.2, CW 78.5, weight loss is less important but I believe will contribute towards stabilizing my T2, and maybe even remission.
I experienced hives last night, they were in one area on my stomach. I immediately took Cetirizine for quick relieve, it worked, and started now Fexofenadine to control it. So far feel better, skin looks les bumpy and not as red. I think Mj made me more sensitive to what I eat. I noticed that diary doesn't agree with me, yesterday might have been a spice mix I used for flavouring my veg. During last week I avoided hot spicy food. I'll stick to salt, pepper, and apple cider vinegar in my salads.

I feel that this topic may need a separate thread somewhere but I hope we can discuss it here first.
I don't know how many of you are familiar with a concept of metabolic obesity phenotypes. There are 4 phenotypes:

• Hungry brain — mainly controlled by the brain-gut axis, and abnormal calories needed to reach fullness
• Emotional hunger — desire to eat to cope with positive or negative emotions
• Hungry gut — abnormal duration of fullness
• Slow burn — decreased metabolic rate

If you were assigned your intervention treatment according with your phenotype your success rate will be much greater than otherwise. I am still trying to "decide" which one I am, one can have a mix of more than one type. Scientist talk about subtypes here, this seems to be very complex area of obesity diagnosis and treatment. I am definitely not SB.

I am definitely emotional hunger and I am hoping beyond hope that MJ will turn off some of the noise around that

I have done my first jab! I was so nervous, my hands were shaking 🙈
But, I didn't feel a thing! It really is easy. Will report back any side effects if they occur :D good luck guys

That’s very interesting, I would say I’m at least 3. Hungry brain, emotional hunger and slow burn (slow burn due to my under active thyroid).

I was so nervous and nearly packed it all up, but didn’t want to regret and then not have enough needles!

Definitely emotional hunger. Whenever I do eat "properly" and move my body etc, I shed weight fairly fast, I have a fairly decent metabolism and a small frame too. I just get bored.

So my second pen was dispatched last night, Royal Mail 24.... it's stopped tracking in the Midlands and I'm going away tomorrow afternoon for the weekend. Fingers crossed guys it'll arrive tomorrow before 2pm. 😥

You are really lucky! You seem to have shedded weight very quickly and responded well.

I only could manage 1000 cals yesterday and I’ve been in a deficit for two weeks and barely lost a kilo. I really really struggle to shift any weight. Bizarre

Thank you for this. Which one are you if your body holds onto weight for dear life? I’ve been in a deficit for two weeks and had a few days of only 1000 cals and am barely shifting anything.

im just not sure what would work for this?

Also I’m significantly overweight so should drop fast initially in a deficit .

@Maplebean this classification is new to me too. I think that private companies in US have "tests" which I haven't seen described in details anywhere yet.
Current research shows that mounjaro is most effective with #2, gut-type overeaters. Maybe you are #4? The slow burn phenotype has been characterized clinically by low muscle mass and abnormal metabolic rate. Do you know your body composition?

I was the same on Sunday night. After a year of to-ing and fro-ing about it, and having finally decided to leap I was then paralysed by fear. In the end I got my OH to sit with me as I read and reread the instructions and finally felt calm enough to do it (I'm very anxious about SE).

I'm so glad I made the decision now though, and although I don't know how I will do long term at least I'll have given it a shot (ha ha).

@Bluefloor I also read that #4 is possibly an under active thyroid.

Is anyone else struggling to know what is the 'Mounjaro Magic' and what is placebo? I feel as though it's easier to resist certain foods (OH offered me half a chocolate doughnut yesterday 🙄) but I don't know whether it's actually a bit of appetite suppression or just me wanting not to eat badly now.

I certainly think spending so much on expensive meds helps focus the mind......it's going to be an awful waste of money if I scupper my chances of success by making daft food choices.

I feel the same - e.g. I've started leaving half a meal when I'm full, which I never did before, but I suspect that at least some of that is that I feel like I now have 'permission' to do something I've always struggled with (not finish my plate). Ultimately, placebo or no, it's a positive change I wasn't making before and now am, so I'm still counting it as a win! I agree with you that the money concentrates the mind - I did read something speculating that the NHS results won't actually be as good as the private as people are much better at sticking to the protocol for medicines they've paid for and much more motivated to use them to the greatest effect. As far as I know that is just speculation, though.

I am at W2D5 and hungry. I had a slice of toast for breakfast and for the first time since I started I wanted a snack mid-morning.

I was really good with eating just 3 meals a day and maybe some fruit but today is bad.

It seems it works better if I cut the carbs and increase protein.

This is really interesting. I am a life-long #2, but in the last few years have also, I think, become #4. I have been a binge eater and an emotional eater since childhood but largely 'got away' with it in my teens and 20s with a mixture of compensatory periods of undereating, being quite physically active and a fast metabolism. I put on a lot of weight while pregnant, which I lost easily after DC1 but not after DC2 (I put on a lot more weight that time round - I had terrible pelvic pain throughout most of the pregnancy which meant I really struggled to walk further than the end of the road). I was mid-30s then, and stayed the same overweight weight for several years before in my late 30s starting quite steadily to put weight on - despite concerted efforts to lose it, and starting to do more exercise and eat better overall. The reason I decided to try Mounjaro was because this had tipped into obesity and the absolute best I seemed able to achieve was holding that steady - I couldn't lose weight and if I allowed myself to eat 'normally' the gain started again. So I do think my metabolism has slowed significantly, possibly as a result of peri-menopause (I've been tested for thyroid and that all seems fine), but the underlying cause of my weight is emotional/binge eating. I know that's the pattern I need to break, as even at a healthy weight that isn't a healthy way to eat.

I'm W2 D5 too and feel so hungry today. I was out most of the day and didn't have a proper lunch and it's really messed up my eating. I had an ice cream and too much coffee, just making a decent dinner now of fish, new potatoes and veg but I expect I'll end up feeling sick if I try to eat much.

Was your order through asda @saywhaaaaaat , if so how long did it take them to dispatch it after ordering? I'll be having 3rd jab on Friday and don't know when to order my next pen. I'm staying with family and I can't easily store it in the fridge (I haven't told anyone) so I ideally want it to arrive as close as possible to needing to use it.

We’ll be starting the same week@RalphtheMouth, I’m away on a trip so I’ve got it waiting in the fridge. Not sure if I should take it Sunday night or Monday afternoon. I’ve read somewhere that it might be better to take first dose in the daytime so you are aware of any side effects rather than trying to sleep through them.

What the heck is the click chart all about?

I’ve told various friends and close family about taking Mounjaro.Friends are either on it or thinking about going on it. Family concerned!

No. Medexpress however it’s fine. It turned up today! Postie left it outside and didn’t ring though 🙈