Mounjaro 2.5mg pen hack? Don't want to increase dose on holiday

[TooSoonToTe11]

Hi all, I have just took my 5th shot from the 2.5mg pen a few days ago, I ordered a second 2.5mg pen because I am going on holiday this week and didn't want to risk spoiling the holiday with side effects or not being able to eat anything while I'm away. I will take a dose from the 2.5mg again while I'm still away. When I get back, will I be able to take 2 slightly larger shots from this pen? I'm thinking 0.8/ 0.9mg instead of 0.6mg. Will it get stuck on the 4th shot after I get to the prescribed amount. I tried to get the 'golden dose' from my first pen and it wouldn't turn but don't know what happens if you start clicking before the pen is supposed to run out but you keep going. I want to increase the dose when I get back. I might even consider taking two 0.6 doses on the same day as that would be the equivalent of one dose form the 5mg pen. I know the prescribers don't recommend this. Does anyone understand why? I don't understand and would be genuinely interested to know why this is not allowed. Weight loss has stopped for the past 2 weeks so this holiday is bad timing!

You can twist backwards which allows you to administer the extra dose so I wouldn’t think you would lose anything. No idea on dosing though!

it only stops when the 4 x 25 is done - you could do loads of smaller does if you like it doesn’t limit it to 4 ‘transactions’

It's not really clear what you're asking tbh.

The pens are limited by the total amount of clicks that they have been turned not the number of injections. So that's 4 x 60 or 240 clicks in total plus about 8 or so for priming each time.

They also don't turn past the 1 position, which is 60 clicks or 0.6ml, which is a full dose whatever the pen strength. To do a higher dose, you'd need to do two separate injections or use a separate syringe to extract the medication.

Prescribed don't and can't suggest anything like this because it's not the intended use of the pen and goes against the manufacturer's instructions. So they'd be leaving themselves open to serious legal/regulatory consequences if they did suggest such things and a patient suffered as a result. If a prescriber thinks you should be on 5mg they can simply recommend that you get a 5mg pen.

You should have bought the 5mg pen and done the lower dose through that (30 clicks would be 2.5 or 45 clicks is 3.75).

Taking extra from the 2.5pen is an expensive way of doing it!

The pen has 60x4 ie 240 clicks before it stops.

Thank you, this makes it much clearer. athe pen has a total number of clicks... that makes perfect sense. Thank you! sometimes you do have to have these things spelled out. yes, I should've bought the 5mg pen. I don't know why I didn't think of that and just use less in the first 2 weeks. I will take a larger dose when I get back from holiday and just order a new pen a week early. I have to say this week , with new pen, I don't feel anything at all.. I even checked the use by date on the pen to check it was still in date, even in day one I was feeling 'peckish' , not hugely hungry and I haven't over eaten, but it was a bit worrying! Pen was in date, but interestingly runs out a lot sooner than first pen. Thanks for everyone's input. Anyone here have a good/bad experience going from 2.5mg to 5mg, and does it give the weight loss a boost? mine has been the same for nearly two weeks.

I'm not on 5 but I've read it's not the dose that boosts the weight loss it's the calorie deficit/ exercise and the dose helps you keep within it.

So unless you are rejigging your calories then I'd not expect a change.

Good to know! thank you. I have been increasing my exercise this week as have realised, I'm not going to get anywhere by just not eating biscuits! I lost a stone in the first 2 weeks which has been amazing but I need to lose another 1.5 to reach target weight :-)

A stone in 2 weeks is fast - it will slow down from now on (it’s better that it does). Also weight loss isn’t linear - I have weeks where I stay the same and then lose. Just go with it. The results in the first couple of weeks are the anomalies and it doesn’t stay like that.

I did a month on 2.5, then my second pen I did 3.75 for 6 weeks. Now on 5 but staying here as I only have 5lbs to lose now. (Wk15 for me and 2st loss).

A stone in 2 weeks? That’s an insane amount, the expected amount is 2lbs/1kg a week. It’s unlikely you’ve lost over 5lbs of fat in the first 2 week. A large amount of that stone will just be water weight, and will come back quickly. It’s not surprising your weight loss has stalled after that.

If you're losing on the 2.5 why not stick to that for the next month then see if you want to move up for your next order? I'm 9 months in and am nearly at goal weight on 7.5. The higher doses are more expensive so I've stayed as low as I can to get consistent weight loss (it doesn't stay going down at the initial speed so aim for 1-2lb a week)

I am always interested to hear about large losses at the beginning of the process. I lost 9 lbs in the first week, and I have not put any of it back on. It was a great boost, not something that I expected to last, and it hasn't. Since then, it's been an average 1 pound a week, but that initial 9 lbs, be it water or fat, never reappeared!

Yes, it seems to happen to a lot of people. It was 9lbs in first week, 3lbs in second ( which I do realise is actually just under a stone to my mind when I think of it, it's about a stone!) Then has just stopped. It sometimes goes down a pound or two and sometimes goes back up a pound or two but I have not gained that first big chunk. I look better and my clothes fit better so I'm still happy. I wonder what it is? my waist went from 41inches to 36inches in that time too. It was such a great boost and so encouraging I've been wanting to eat less in the hope of seeing more results regardless of how effective at suppressing my appetite the 2.5mg pen has been. I have been drinking my usual amount of wine since I've been on holiday which is weird, ( and a bit worrying..) and not much appetite suppression but because I've been eating so much less for the past month I don't want to eat loads anymore. my husband assures me I am still most definitely eating less. Going back to my original post though, it was a mistake to get the second 2.5mg pen. I thought I'd be able to get to the 'golden dose' easily and get 2x 2.5mg and 2 x 3.75 mg doses but I was wrong. So, I am going to take one 3.75 (0.9mg)or 5mg (1.2mg) when I get home. Unfortunately will lose the 4th week and then have to buy a 5mg pen to continue with. And perhaps the jump up all have a similar effect to that first magic week on the 2.5pen! I hope so..Would love to lose another 4/5 pounds in the next month.

can you describe/explain twisting backwards? What happens when you twist it the other way?

When I decided to go up from 2.5mg to 5mg, rather than use the extra dose to extend the original pen to 5 x 2.5mg doses, for dose 4 I injected the last 2.5mg from the pen as normal, then also injected the extra dose using a separate syringe, giving 5mg total.
This means from the pen you get 3 x 2.5mg and a final 1 x 5mg. Is that an option for you?

I’m losing 1kg a week consistently but I have managed to very strictly stick to an approx 1000-1,200 calorie diet. I would never manage to stick to it without the MJ… would just be hungry and think about food. I’m also exercising. That would normally make me hungry but because of the MJ it doesn’t.

breakfast 225g fage 0% 75g berries and 5g chia (I soak from night before)
and coffee with skimmed milk

lunch - salad with protein (eg tin tuna) dressing 5g olive oil, balsamic and grainy mustard

mid afternoon- apple and protein shake

dinner - protein (fish or chicken) and veg (cauliflowe broccoli etc)
treats 1 square dark chocolate and 1 mini twister

Yes I would do that, and that good thinking, but I'm very keen to move my dose up as soon as I'm back from holiday. I will have 2 doses left. So I pretty much have to take dose 3 and 4 at the same time. Or, dose 3 plus half of 4 ( followed by half of 4 plus bonus dose the following week) but I'm then stuck with 2 x 3.75 in a row. Maybe I need to get a tiny syringe to get 0.6ml out. Is that right 0.6ml or 0.6mg? Or is that the same thing?

It’s not the same thing. “ml” is a measure of volume, it describes how much liquid there is. “mg” is a measure of active ingredient dosage, or strength or concentration. I.e how much medication is in that volume of liquid. A full dose from any strength pen is always 0.6ml, the same volume of liquid every time. The amount of medication in that 0.6ml depends of the strength of the pen.

You sound very disciplined. That's really inspiring. I need to get a bit more organised. I guess I thought MJ would do all the work but now I realise I have to put more effort in. And that's totally fine because with MJ it is actually really possible!

You have two regular doses left and an extra dose in the pen. That's 3 x 2.5mg or 7.5mg total. So yes, you have two 3.75mg doses. And yes, you could take one and a half doses as your third, then the final half does and the extra dose as your fourth from the pen.
A dose is 0.6ml (there's 2.5mg in a 0.6ml injection), so you need a syringe of that capacity for the extra dose.
But note, you will need the appropriate syringe to get that extra dose, you won't get round this. So you need to be sure you are confident in doing that, if this is what you intend to do.
If you are not confident, just take the final injections as intended, and wait for your next 5mg pen before you move up.

That's is so helpful..Thank you. Yes this makes perfect sense and is very logical. Thanks for explaining!

Thank you. I will look into that correct syringes and make sure I do that properly and am able to measure exactly 0.6ml.

I’m managing to be disciplined in a way I couldn’t be normally! The MJ helping - ie would normally need an insane amount of willpower. But yes key is planning in advance what to eat.