Mounjaro 10st or more to lose - Thread 6

[Doggymummar]

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I'm in Scotland & my area doesn't offer WLJ (to people in my circumstances anyway) so my GP said he 'can't comment'.

Can people who started VERY large please tell me about how they injected.

i am reading that it needs to go into subcutaneous layer and if it’s injected too shallow into loose fat with too short a needle, it’s ineffective.

A fellow North-Londoner! I’m a Hampstead girl! I used to sing with a tiny choir in Belsize Park, in the 80s…

I joined the Norwich Philharmonic when they wanted new members, then they had masses of new interest and we had to re-audition and I lost my spot because I can’t sight-read. Despite never needing to sight-read because we had weeks of rehearsals and rehearsal tracks are a thing. I paid my subs and was always fully rehearsed, but got booted. Never went to one of their concerts again!!

Now I’m in a fun choir, not big-choral, we have a great laugh, it’s intensely not serious, and I just enjoy it!

I have Scottish antecedents! And my husband partly grew up in Ayr!

I don’t think that’s correct. Subcutaneous just means into the fat layer that’s just a couple of mm under the skin. I have always injected into my very fat belly and had excellent results. I don’t know if I count as very large, but I was 22st at the start, BMI was 50.

Thread 6! I love how active our conversations are!

Introductions - mum of 3 looking to get healthy for my boys.

SW:144kg Jan 2025
CW: 115kg
GW:??

NSV that I didn't know I wanted:
Was at a show this morning and had to move over for someone who wanted to pass. I usually have to stand up because there's just no room to move anywhere, but guess what, I just shuffled my legs to the side and there was plenty of room for the three people to get past, whilst I was seated!!!! 😱😱

Well I've never heard that, and it hasn't been my experience, or that of anyone that I know.

I've always just injected into my abdominal fat, or sometimes my thigh.

There's also a lot of nonsense written about the medication being more effective if you inject it into the fat on your arm. Subcutaneous fat is just that. Absorption is the same, no matter where you stick the needle in.
If it wasn't, diabetics on insulin would be in trouble, as they often inject four times a day.

So I'm not sure where you're getting this from @ohsososo but it isn't true.

Loving reading everyone’s stories - so inspiring!

Ive been overweight all my life and it’s definitely limited me in some of the choices I’ve made. I’ve been on and off all the diets since I was a teen also. I lost 8 stone on SW but it wasn’t sustainable (and based on some questionable nutritional advice as I learned later 😡)

In Dec 2023 I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and that made me absolutely determined to sort my life out. I read Fast 500 and lost about 3.5 stone (also wasn’t sustainable and put it back on in the same year) BUT it taught me about fasting and nutrition and I was horrified to learn that lots of the foods I thought of as healthy (Low fat anything/diet food/fry light) were absolute junk and NOT recommended for diabetes management. We now eat full fat yogurt, olive oil and a lot less carbs.

Anyway, when I was diagnosed with type 2 I asked to be referred to the NHS weight management clinic with a view to having a gastric bypass (still on this pathway) I decided to give Mounjaro a go as a less invasive treatment. I paid for the first 2 months and then the diabetes nurse put me on 5mg.

Since Jan I’ve lost 5 stone and are in diabetic remission!!!! The practice nurse has taken me off one of my meds and I have another to go before they take me off Mounjaro. I’ll probably go private for life at this stage.

I eat super good quality stuff, low UPF and fast most days - dinner at 7 and then nothing until lunch at 1 the day after.

It has been a journey and each bit has taught me something different. Still considering the weight loss surgery. My surgeon didn’t think I’d need it by the time I got to the front of the queue. He also said that his private practice had been decimated and that bariatric surgery won’t exist in the future (he’s going to retire apparently) It really does feel like we’re on the cutting edge of a weight loss revolution!

We were there my friends!!

That's an incredible story - you've done so well!
I discovered the truth about SW and all those carbs when I read Michel Mosley's blood sugar diet book. No wonder SW didn't work for me and many others. All those carbs basically converted to sugar.
MJ is changing a lot of lives.

I was asking because my son who is morbidly obese has titrated up to 15mg and feels nothing. Nada. Nothing at all. He knows what the feeling is as some time ago he started on saxenda and that worked a little. But it’s a daily injection and with his adhd he just forgot some days.

So I have been researching and came across this information. I’ve passed it on to him but I wondered if people on here know anything of this. It’s just so peculiar that he feels nothing at all on the highest dose

I recently turned down wLS on NHS .
When I lost 4 stone I was told I wouldn't meet the criteria if I lost another 4 stone .
I'm currently sitting at over 7 and a half stone loss ,and next appointment is Feb,and I know I will of lost more than half a stone by then .so there didn't seem any point going to the appointment to be told I don't meet criteria.
I could of come of mj and tried to keep my weight under 8 stone loss to have surgery.
But I've had my pre op assessment over two years ago ,and was told my WLS would be nov 24 .
Then I got an email saying another 3 year wait ,
So the appointment in February wasn't for surgery,it was , actually I'm not sure what it was for ,but wasn't surgery.
So anyway ..I only went on injections so I didn't have to have surgery,as I'm vegan ,and everything I've read suggests to me having WLS and being vegan would cause me issues vitamins and protein wise .

@TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne ok so I’ve done a deep dive. It seems that the vast majority of people find 4mm needles fine. But in some people with a lot of fat, the epidermis layer (the layer above the subcutaneous layer) is thicker. So a 4mm needle can not reach the subcutaneous

the medication must reach the fatty subcutaneous layer. If it is injected into the epidermic layer it can prove ineffective .

so for anyone who is very large and finding they are not feeling benefit, it is worth trying either a 6-8mm needle or try injecting into the fat on the top of thigh or back of arm.

this is what appears mostly on diabetic sites which is still helpful as the mechanism is the same but it does appear in some medical sites specifically related to weight loss injections. hope this helps anyone struggling and I hope this will help my son

@ohsososo there is a small percentage of people for whom it doesn’t ever really work for. If your son is on 15mg and has been for 4 weeks and still isn’t getting anything from it then it would suggest that he is unfortunately one of those people. He could try Wegovy perhaps if he hasn’t already?

I agree. But looking online it could be due to the medication not making it into the right layer. If it’s hitting the epidermis it won’t work.

added to the possibility of the epidermis being thicker than typical (which is the case for some morbidly obese) we are also not white. And black and Asians pictures turn out have thicker epidermis. So the combo of an ethnic makeup that includes a thicker epidermis and being morbidly obese make him quite possibly one of the people who need a modified application.

certainly worth trying before swapping to Wegovy as if it is the epidermis thickness then the issue will still be the same. And it’s an easy thing to try!

I’m sure you already know @ohsososo but get proper medical-grade needles, not from Amazon!

Medi-Uk are good, discreet and sensibly priced…

And what you want are called Luer lock types, those are the ones they screw on to the pen.

@ohsososo has your son tried injecting with longer needles?
I'm interested in what you say.
Have you got a link I can read?

Ah thanks @neveroutofthekitchen I was so angry when I read Micheal Mosleys stuff. All of that shite “food” - I was never going to crack my weight problems on such a processed carb heavy diet and at the time I thought it was me- I was broken/useless/un disciplined. Fuckers the lot of them in the diet industry.

@Autumnflowers2 That’s interesting to hear, the longer time goes on the less likely I am to have the surgery. I follow a number of groups and there are a lot of medical issues that can follow AND you can put weight back on. Loads of people on Mounjaro even after surgery 🤷‍♀️

I was reading an article in the times the other week where a doctor was saying that there hasn’t been a scientific discovery that can make such a difference at population level since penicillin! And the next generation of GLP1s are going to be better still! Retatrutide is expected 26/27 I believe and will work for even more of the population.

I'm following a lot of people to who had WLS
Seeing the complications and how many still need WLI ,also made me think having surgery wasn't a good idea for me .
I also have a lot of food issues and a touch of PDA ,( was my downfall with slimming world)
The thing with WLS is you have to follow the exact diet your told to
And I'm not convinced I would of done
I'm currently following a lady who is in early stages after having it done and is already eating exactly what she likes ..that's not going to end well and it wouldn't of done for me either

Oh defo - WLS defo not the panacea people think it is. I’m being totally realistic, this is a journey that will last the rest of my life. I’m never going to be “cured”

Yes 100%
I take my eye of the ball,in a blink I will be back to bmi 54
This journey is for life

He hasn’t yet. I’ve only just been looking into this. I’ve gone off all the sites so I can’t link you but there is information on diabetic research papers and other sites if you search.
4-8mm are all considered ‘short’ in the diabetic world.

but they make these different lengths for a reason it seems it’s quite accepted in the diabetic works that a slight variation of needles can be better for different people but WLI seem to not have as much info although I did find a couple of medical sites from the US and Australia that discussed it.

People seem to have been supplied with mostly 4 & 5 but some people have been sent 8mm (maybe when stocks have had problems?) so it seems there is a range that works.
most sites say 4 or 5mm are suitable for almost everyone. So I am going to suggest he try 6mm or if he has lots of 5mm which he was sent, to press it more firmly into the flesh which is also what some sites suggested for larger people.

Thank you and yes. Only from medical suppliers.

Neither am I, and I'm fine with needing this till I die.
Hopefully the shitey NHS will prescribe it for free in the fullness of time.

I am fascinated by this.
Thank you so much for bringing it to our attention.

I get mine from my local pharmacist and he told me that in a few years time the price will drop drastically when the makers of MJ lose sole rights to make it. Then there will be a clamber for other companies to duplicate it and the price will drop across the board.
That would make it a lot easier for us who will need it as a life long medication.

I have had my first 2 NSV today. Firstly I stepped on the scales ( yes it is a NON scale victory) I noticed that I could actually see the numbers of the scales by just looking down and not having to contort my neck sideways to actually see it!!!

On the back of this I decided that I would set myself a goal to be able to wear my mum's engagement ring once more. It has been hung around my neck for a few years because it wouldn't fit on my finger! I decided I was going to try it once a week so that I could see exactly when it would fit again.
I tried it, not expecting it to go anywhere near past my knuckle..... And it slid on quite easily!!!
So I am now so pleased to be wearing my mum's ring again and feeling closer to her once more. (She died in 2017).

My daughter's birthday today, so food has not been the best, but I have not been interested in overeating like I would have done in the past.