Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose - thread 10!

[MooBaggage]

New thread for anyone with more than 5 stone/30kg to lose. All welcome, whichever part of the journey you are on.

We have newbies and those who have got to their targets and lots of us in between at various stages, all supporting each other along the way.

Kiwis and milled flaxseed are still the order of the day, along with water, posh scales, weight loss charts (thank you Infosec!), Vinted and even more water...

We're coping with the Mounjaro palavers and hoping that somehow, we will all still be able to carry on with this amazing journey which is working so well for most of us.

No discount codes please - there is a separate thread for that.

I got the M&S trousers and keeping them, delighted with a size 12 fit, but also ordered a pair of wide leg jeans in the same size and they look bloody awful. Same old, same old (it’s amazing how quickly this sets back my self-esteem!)

Haven‘t weighed yet this week, not expecting any surprises.

@InfoSecInTheCity What about a glitzy top to wear with black trousers? I often wear a glittery top and big earrings as my nod to glam and it can be done quite cheaply if you are not likely to wear glitz regularly

@dimples76 I ordered the trousers too as I'd been dithering even after my friend recommending them. I was coming on to say I thought they were snugger than other M&S stuff, so the opposite of your thoughts! I have some size 16 jeans which fit but I can now get up and down without undoing so debated trying a 14 but I'm glad I didn't as a 16 is a snuggish fit in the trousers. They look good but I couldn't get any smaller
I'm weird with sizes though, I regularly see people on here who weigh more than I do taking much smaller sizes so I suspect it's me who is the oddity 😖

@QueenOfHiraeth, I often have that experience* *too. I think that it's just about where you carry the weight isn't it. I think recently I have noticeably lost weight from my thighs which seems to have made a big difference to trousers. I am going to try and order in a 16 too. I also ordered some nice cord trousers from M&S and they are also on.
the looser side.

I am spending too much on clothes at the moment. This is the happiest I have felt in my own skin for a long time so I am just trying to enjoy it. I can even see my abs trying to emerge! However, I really need new bras and that is not such good retail therapy. I have been going for comfort over shape/style for a long time but I think that my chest could definitely do with a bit more support/uplift

I'm having a stall 😭
Any advice?
2 weeks at the same weight and I'm doing everything I should be, have possibly reduced fluids a little since the weather turned.

Can someone remind me what everyone is taking to try and minimise hair loss please and that it is working? I don't want to have to make a decision over being skinny and bald vs flowing locks and chub rub!

Thanks x

I don't calorie count (that way madness and utter boredom lies for me) but I do ball park it and I periodically recheck what my new TDEE is at my lower weight, just to make sure I've not drifted into maintenance amounts. I particularly do this if I feel like I might have stalled.

I know you want to stay at a lower dose but if the stall continues, you could think about going up a little bit. However, 2 weeks isn't too long really. You might be at a set point, your body just might be being contrary for a bit, you might need to up the water, like you say. Things will get moving again!!

@AnneinEdinburgh I think biotin is one of the hair supplements people are taking. Marine (?) collagen is another. I boost my iron a couple of days a week with an iron bisglycinate supplement. I know my hair hasn't grown as much as it normally would have done 4-5 months after a cut so it's definitely affected but not the point of feeling like I'm balding (yet!)

Thank you. I'm on my 3rd jab of jabbing closer together, got to get through this pen and one more before I can start in a 5mg. My food noise has quitened these last few days and my calories are fairly low already (I'm short) so my mind is saying why am I not thinking already 🤣
I think I just need to persevere, hopefully I'll have a whoosh!

I had a 2 week stall after coming back from a holiday. To get past it, I went up from 3.75mg to 5mg and have cut meals back to 2 a day. I find it easiest to eat the first meal (breakfast or lunch type food) at around 12 noon then dinner around 7pm.

@AnneinEdinburgh the hair loss is likely to be telogen effluvium. Basically a delayed reaction to your body undergoing periods of stress. What I've read is that it eventually does grown back

At one point I felt like I was moulting like a husky (I have waist length hair!) and I can notice some thinning on top of my head. Dd who likes to practice hairstyles on me also commented on it. It is growing back now but I've got loads of short wispy hairs at the front now which will soon begin annoying me. I do take biotin though.

warning to anyone taking biotin. It can interfere with the results of some blood tests, especially thyroid, vitamin d and troponin (heart attack indicator) tests.

I think I've noticed a positive difference re: hair loss (and it now starting to grow back!) since starting to take Biotin - took a few weeks, but I think it's starting to grow back..!

@Emas82 I can't remember how long you've been on MJ, but my weight loss has gone into a different pattern now I've been taking it for several months - it's not unusual for me to lose nothing for 2 weeks and then lose a couple of lbs in week 3 - frustrating, but stick to the plan and it'll happen in the end! Increase your water intake again and up your protein and all should be good 💪

I've lost 1lb this week, giving me a total loss of 75lbs so far - and a BMI of 31.5 (do we get a party when we hit 30?!) 😃

Can confirm that the hair did come back in my case. It's very like the baby hair regrowth that I had after both of my pregnancies.

I'm not going to name the pharmacy but I was genuinely shocked this week after registering with somewhere new (chasing those new customer discounts) that although they took photos to verify my BMI they did not request ID or proof of my previous prescriptions before dispensing a 5mg pen.

@Emas82 Like @MooBaggage , my weight loss is very much plateauing for 2 weeks of the month, and losing for 2 weeks (it is now averaging 5 pounds a month, 1 year+ in), so stick with it. I got an unexpected woosh of 2 pounds off this morning, after nearly 2 weeks of nothing. While the scales stick, I definitely change shape and measurements are eye-opening (and encouraging).

I don't count calories either, never have, but I am very low carb. I eat the same as I did when I started (quantity wise). Hang in there, it will come off.

@AnneinEdinburgh Hair loss, definitely Biotin (I would recommend an entire wholefood Vit B spectrum. Garden of Life Raw is superb, but pricey), collagen (I swear by Nutrition Geeks, like others on here, but PP's have said they don't get on with it, so bear that in mind. I've been using collagen for years, and I can't say I noticed any impact until I switched to Nutrition Geeks). I would also recommend you look at kelp (it has iodine in it but is less of a "hit" to your body and bioavailable and safer than experimenting with full-blown iodine). As always, do your own research, but all 3 should help with hair-loss. Make sure you are having lots of protein too. Hope this helps.

I had a weird NSV this week (we need them in the 'stalled' weeks!) - a proper WTF moment...

My size 18 jeans are getting a tiny big baggy, so I ordered a size 16 pair from Vinted - M&S 16L.

They arrived this week and I was sooooo disappointed - I took them out of the bag and they are TINY - I thought FFS it's going to take months, if ever, to be this small. Was proper cross about it.

Later in the day I thought I'd just put them up my legs to see how far I could get them, so I'd know how far I've got to go - AND THEY EFFING WELL FITTED!!!!

How weird is that?! My eyes literally cannot believe my size 😬 They're snug - will be more comfortable in a few weeks, hopefully, and they've got 3% elastane in them, so are a bit stretchy, but I still can't believe that I can get my bum in what looks to me like teeny tiny clothes 😃

Thank you. Scales have gone down a pound this morning and I'm trying to up the fluids (I don't think the weather is helping, I was easily drinking 3L over the summer!)
I'm also trying to get outside with the dog for a second walk in the evening, as my steps are pitiful with an at home desk job!

@MooBaggage that's brilliant and it's so weird, isn't it? I finally FINALLY wore my size 16 Tu straight jeans from 20 years ago, out and about in town, on and off trains and tube and they were proper comfy (not "well, they're fine as long as I don't breathe when I sit down comfy" 😁) And yet they still don't look like they should fit me.

Yep @MooBaggage the sizes looking way too small thing is weird and really hard to get past.

i am now picking up size 10 clothes and they fit. This is insane because i have never been a size 10, even when I first moved to adult clothes as a tween, i was in size 12 but also because they look impossibly tiny on the hangar and yet they fit on me. Also because I’ve discovered this also means I can fit in kids clothes, which is helpful because I have the fashion maturity of the average mardy emo/grungy teenager.

Thanks all for the hair loss advice - I will get shopping!

Absolutely @MooBaggage I have gone from a size 20/22 to a 12. My brain knows size 14 is now too big on top and borderline bottom and that when I try something on I should take 12 but my eyes are telling my brain there is no way a 12 will fit but they do. Some things will definitely look better when I lose another 7lbs but that’s what I am aiming for as a minimum now. I need to lose 12lbs to reach a healthy BMI having lost 5 stone 7lbs so far.

I am going to make an effort not to buy another more clothes until the end of November when I reckon I will be closer to my goal weight

Weigh in today and I have at last made it to a BMI of under 35 and have lost 5 stones. Great way to start the weekend.

In not such a great start to the weekend nasty side effects have resurfaced, in particular diarrhoea, nausea and sulphur burps. I spent most of the night in the bathroom. Seems odd as I actually reduced the dose (from 7.5 to 6mg).

Congrats on the BMI, @dimples76!

It's my weigh-in and jab day today.

Start Weight: 211 lbs, BMI 34.1
1st Goal Weight: 190 lbs (10% bodyweight loss)
Current Weight: 196 lbs, BMI 31.5
Total loss: 15 lb

Mounjaro, 2.5
Week 1: -1.4 lb
Week 2: -4.4 lb
Week 3: - 2.6lb
Week 4: - 2.4lb

Week 5: - 1.8lb
Week 6: - 2.4lb

I've started to get stomach overhang and the skin in the fold is red and itchy. Do any of you have any tips?

@UnimaginableWindBird I had that for a long time with my C-section overhang. After showering dry gently with a hairdryer on a cool setting. When it's inflamed I use La Roche Posay Cicaplast to calm the irritation, but Sudocrem works too. Once it had cleared up I would periodically use a bit of Cuticura medicated talc to keep it dry. Hope this helps!

Thanks @UnimaginableWindBird I use Jock Itch Extreme Balm for Women which works well for me

@UnimaginableWindBird I get that in my c section fold. Mostly just keeping it clean and dry - I try to lay down after a shower to let it fully air dry rather than just towelling and chucking clothes on. But if it gets bad, Canestan athletes foot clears it up brilliantly.

I actually felt smaller today. Was in one of the side rooms at my gym which have 3 walls of mirrors and could actually see a difference. I’m two sizes down from the start of the year, but this is the first time I could actually see that.

Not felt well this week though, have had to be within dashing distance of a toilet… stomach bug or side effects?! Bit worried about taking my normal dose this weekend as we are off on holiday next week! Need to work out what’s best. Might lower dose a little, don’t want side effects to get in the way of enjoying ourselves.

@UnimaginableWindBird its called intertrigo. Have you tried tucking in a thin cloth like a babies muslin cloth in the skin folds where its getting sore? Itll wick away moisture and stop the skin rubbing together and getting even sore-er. Dont use talc thougn. When you start getting sweaty the talk will start to cake, making things worse.

@UnimaginableWindBird As others have pointed out this is usually a fungal infection which loves warm damp places. The NHS advice is:

• Wear loose-fitting clothes made of cotton or material designed to keep moisture away from the skin.
• Maintain good hygiene by washing affected skin areas daily.
• After washing dry thoroughly, especially in the skin folds.
• Avoid scratching affected skin, as this may spread the infection to other sites.
• Do not share towels, and wash them frequently, to reduce the risk of transmission.
• Wash clothes and bed linen frequently to eradicate fungal spores.
• Use a topical antifungal cream* *if there is mild, non-extensive disease. @OnwardsDownwards mentioned Canesten which would be my first choice too

Totally NOT official advice but I sometimes use a little lavender essential oil which is a natural antifungal

If it recurs and you need something for prevention you would be best with a barrier cream, Drapolene is the most easily found one, we always recommended that for the old ladies in care homes who would get it under their boobs in warm weather. We found Sudocrem went sticky and sometimes made it worse so, personally, I avoid that although many love it.