Big price increases thread 2

[LifeOfAShowGirl]

Lots of very useful discussions going on on the old thread, so I thought I would continue it!

@Puppylucky I was answering a direct question.

I think Juniper are the only/cheapest supplier of 15mg pens for new customers. Or certainly one of only a few small pool of options. I'm answering direct questions.

At some point they won't be, but right now they are. So, when someone asks a direct question about that (two people in this case) I'm going to answer.

I respectfully disagree it's spamming. It's just that lots of people are asking the same, or similar questions, which I have an opinion on, as a fellow consumer in a similar position.

I could equally say that Curate are awful, which they have been in my experience. And Juniper have been great. I recommend them.

Juniper have 15mg showing as in stock @Pinkpelicanwinstherace and @SwitchingUpWLI 🙂

Same I did that to ..and they keep emailing me asking me as well despite saying no to what I need

I'm trying to order 15 from juniper,but all it will let me do is order 2.5
There's no where to speak to them or send a , message

I'm in a bit of a quandary that I'm on 5mg and have been for some months. I have really slowed loss wise over summer due to increased socialising and alcohol. I was considering going to 7.5mg for September but seeing price increase I don't think I can afford it. And also can't afford to stockpile pens. Is it worth ordering a 7.5mg on old price now and using it as a boot camp dose to get back on track and then going back down to 5mg due to affordability?? Or will going on 7.5mg render 5 ineffective entirely for me in future?? Appreciate thoughts/advice from those on 7.5 or 10.

I've only ever ordered once, so I'm not an expert or anything, but have you completed all of the questions? Uploaded evidence your current prescription, ID document, photos of yourself, and all that bit?

When I ordered I did all that, then selected the dosage pen you want (add the discount code at this point to get the money off) and it asks for card details and takes a holding payment. That is the lowest price (it was £114 when I ordered, the price of a 2.5mg pen).

The following day a real person looked at my request and ultimately approved me buying the 7.5mg pen. Then at that point they changed the extra £40, so the 7.5mg pen cost me £154 altogether.

Hope that helps? If you've gone through the initial consultation questions and holding payment, you'll get a text message - I'd ask questions through that. Seems to be a real person at the other end.

Something else to consider is getting a 7.5mg pen but taking doses of 5mg from it weekly (by counting clicks) so that it lasts longer? Or maybe taking 5mg from it every 5 days instead of every 7 days?

Obviously you've got to consider risks in that, since the manufacturer sats use within 30 days. So high levels of hygiene, store in fridge at all times, etc. But it's something I have seen lots of people talk about.

If I went up a dose as 'bootcamp' I'd worry that when stepping back down again it would be less effective.

Unless you're finding 5mg totally ineffective I'd stay on it. You know why you aren't losing. Cut down on the alcohol, which will also save you some money to go towards the higher prices.

This might be academic anyway as 7.5mg pens are currently very hard to get. I'm titrating back down as I'm almost at goal and am having to move to 5mg sooner than I would have planned.

@Changingnameagain I'm similar that I've stalled on 5mg for about three weeks now BUT I know I've had a lot more alcohol and extra bits in those same weeks. With term starting shortly and back to basics I imagine it will shift. I have 14 doses stored so I'm staying on 5 and see where I am at Xmas. I've still got 2-3 stone to lose ideally, having already lost two, but even if I only lost one more I'd be significantly better off than I was. I would prefer to stay at the lower dose to mitigate the impact of eventually stopping.

Sounds like we are in a very similar position! I too have 3 stone to go and once term starts again hoping I will be back into routine and on it a bit more! Congratulations on your loss so far!

Due to hedging my bets and ordering from two different suppliers to make sure I got at least some stock before the price rises, I've ended up with 3 pens in my fridge. By using each pen for 5 weeks, I've worked out I can order every 6 weeks and mitigate the increased costs that way for at least the next couple of years, which should hopefully see me close to goal.

It literally won't let me do that
I had an account from 10 months ago ,where I filled all the information in , but didn't buy the pen
So it thinks it has all my details,and just keeps taking me back to pay £189 for 2.5 mg
I've emailed customer service twice and they are saying the same as you ,to fill the forms in ,but it's not taking me to any forms ,just to pay the £189

This is why I ended up staying with the same expensive provider,I found it to difficult to swap.

Update from friend
Her Lotus monthly order (existing customer, maintenance at 2.5) placed on Tuesday was approved quite late last night.

I've not found it difficult to swap. What's the issue currently I think is that all the pharmacies are too busy and so processing queries has slowed.

I've gone through the initial set up with 7 different pharmacies (not bought ftom them all, mind) and thr process generally takes about 10 minutes each time. You just need certain things to-hand when you do it. If you're not used to swapping you might not have these. But for example, I

• take a photo of the lable on the box as soon as I get a new pen
• save a photo of my driving licence on my phone
• take a photo of me with the date once a week and a photo of me on the scales

By having these things ready, filling the form in and paying is easy (if you have space on a credit card). The ball-ache I've found with some suppliers is waiting after this point until the order is actually processed.

Curate, Pharmaesthetics Central and Flyde for example have all stalled at that point with next to no comms for over a week. I'm really unhappy with these. Juniper were great, and fast with hood comms. I suspect the difference there between you and I would be I was a paid customer. Whereas it seems your query is as a non-customer. I bet Juniper, like all pharmacies, are currently inundated with emails, contacts and questions to answer that they are de-priorising in order to have time to process orders.

I wouldn't let this put you off moving in-and-of itself though. If you want to move you can, it's not difficult to do.

It can be harder if your BMI is now below 30.

for me all the forms even with all that’s stuff ready is a faff!

I also have medical conditions and loads of medications I have to add, which slows it down.

It can be tough if you have other medical conditions as some providers are risk adverse and are only looking to take on straightforward cases. For example, MMP has always been the best value because they rely on quick sales but they don't accept T2D or people with hypothyrodism. The providers who are willing to do more monitoring tend to be a bit more expensive.

Oh definitely. My medical history and current BMI means it's very straight forward for me to order. That won't be the case for everyone.

With Med Express, we don’t have to list all medical conditions. They show a list of those that may be problematic and ask us to tick whether, or not, we have any of those. Then it asks some specific questions.

Med Express won’t dispense if you’re on certain medications that other suppliers (and my GP) are happy with.

the new requirements for proving you were originally eligible BMI when you started is going to start proving tricky for those of us who started MJ a considerable time ago. I started Apr 24 with boots and I was never asked for any evidence, not even a photo so I have nothing to prove I was eligible other than my prescriptions/orders .

sounds like this will really make it tricky to move suppliers

would recommend anyone in the same position who wants to maintain to move before 30 BMI now , especially if you’re with someone who doesn’t support maintenance

I’m in a similar position @SpecialToMe but am not too worried. I can show my original order from March 2024 and a couple of dreadful photos from New Year 2023. It’s clearly me and I still have the top and I am clearly obese. I deleted the photos I had to send with my original order but have some from June 24 in gym gear and I still look pretty big.

I think real life photos from your pre Mounjaro days will be fine.

And a huge surplus of pens.