Mounjaro/Wegovy with >5 stone/30kg to lose - thread 11!

[MooBaggage]

New thread for anyone with more than 5 stone/30kg to lose. All very 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.

Nothing is off topic and progress photos always welcome, encouraging us all to keep going!

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

@RobinEllacotStrike I use nutracheck for food tracking (about £27 per year) and the free version of Shotsy for jab tracking.
Nutracheck is great and so much better than mfp

Tracking food - I've had a couple of startling/alarming bursts of food noise/call to overeat the last couple of weeks.

thank you - I will check out both Nutracheck & My Net Diary xx

I use Nutracheck and also rate it - great for the food element but also great for measurements and weight logging. And it costs about £38 a year if you go for the annual rate.

Hello everyone, I am still here!!! I’m still plateauing at the moment, but still jabbing.

My last lowest weigh in was end of Nov- where I got to 12st 9. I’ve fluctuates up to 13st and down over the last month but trying to get back on track. I have to remind myself I am over 8st down altogether - a whole person!!

Things are still a bit tough here, but I survived the holiday season. I am looking forward to Spring and feeling less cold!!

My financial strain has peaked I think - and I definitely panicked about not being able to pay for MJ. However, I have taken a long hard look at my spending and I think I am able to make it work. I’ve got debt to pay off and I’ve created a strict budget to do this while still getting MJ. I’m feeling more positive with things now!

I have definitely been self sabotaging in some ways too. But onward!

I hope everyone had a good festive season!

Hello lovely @Darlinghag

there is no way I could finance MJ through a long maintenance phase - I am curious if I would be able to switch to Wegovy for maintenance though - it would be much cheaper. I know many MJ users switched to WG around the price rise but I will need to check with supplier if I could do that for maintaining to keep food noise at bay.

I also wonder if the release of the new GLP this year will affect the price on MJ?

@RobinEllacotStrikeit’s a lot right? I can technically do it, if I am strict and rein in my small spending. But its not something that’s manageable for forever, if the current price remains long term (or gets higher!) or if my wages don’t increase. But I feel strongly that I must continue with a maintenance dose.

I feel Reta must change the market? Was Wegovy ever more expensive? If MJ moved to Wegovy prices I’d be super happy!!! Lots of differing scenarios to consider.

I would consider Wegovy at maintenance if I had to too.

WLI have become very popular among my friend group (although I don’t share my own story with them!) but its already wearing out. Folks who started on 2.5/5 but can’t afford the leap to the higher doses in terms of price and therefore feel its no good to them. One has lost 3 stone fairly quick through a f2f pharmacy but has never calorie counted - instead just follows a rough plan from the pharmacy akin to SW or WW plans and now has plateaued.

And I ordered last night - I got approved in an hour! I’d fully expected a wait what with it being the season of new year diets. Are average folks no longer able to afford it? Maybe the demand will drop a bit and prices come down? Especially with Wegovy being so much cheaper. If I was new to the game now, I would 100% be choosing that one first!!

Is it just me or is anyone else getting a bit eye-rolly with all the threads in MN at the moment about MJ? Theres probably 4, if not more active in AIBU at the moment. Consensus opinion is firmly split into either WLI is a good thing or WLI is for the truly lazy individuals.

I'm hoping in the end to get back down to buying 2.5mg pens and spreading the dose out to every 9 days or so - this is possibly overly optimistic and not something I have to worry about for another 9 months or so, though! For the moment, although I'd love to be saving money for my retirement/moving house, I also can't afford not to prioritise this - it has to come first as has been such a life changer. But once I'm down to a BMI of 24, I'm going to start reducing the dose and spread out the time to every 8, then every 9 days (I saw a video of a Dr talking about tapering and how it was a good plan to increase the days in between jabs rather than just go straight down, so I'll create a plan that incorporates both).

I have a very weird NSV - which isn't one at all, but I'm determined to see it in a positive light... My skin around my tummy is starting to go all crepey.... 😯 It must be a good thing because it means there's a lot less fat, right?! I don't really care at all about it - am just a bit obsessed with looking at it, because my tummy has always been so big and round and now it's way flatter but wrinkly...!

I'm also fed up with the MN threads at the moment - and the BBC articles every 5 seconds which always seem very negative. Am trying not to engage!

I have a question for you all if you don't mind sharing. What were your symptoms like when you first started? I've had two days of feeling so nauseous most of the day - both today and yesterday I've managed a very small breakfast, nothing at lunch (with nausea peaking late morning / early afternoon), and then a bowl of supper.

Will the nausea fade eventually? Will it lessen across the week but come back with every jab? If I'm already feeling like this on the lowest WG dose I dread to think about the higher ones!

Wondering if WG is worse then MJ for side effects? I was hoping it would be the opposite as it's said to be less effective overall...

I love the crepey skin on my tummy @MooBaggage it’s soft and squishy and I am slightly obsessed with it 😂

I can’t decide whether I look like a melted candle or an elephant’s bum 😂😂

@YellowStockings I have been on mj for 11 months and have experienced nausea on and off throughout and experienced 3 bouts of vomiting because of it. I don't think that you need to worry about if getting worse as you go up the doses - as at least in my experience it seems to be more about your body getting used to it. I also wouldn't race to increase the doses- stick with the lowest dose which is effective for you.

I need to order a new pen but can't decide what to do. I went through 2.5 to 10mg last year but in November dropped back down again (due to the cost). My current pen is a 5mg but I have not noticed any effects from my most recent dose. I am guessing that it is because I was not v strict over Christmas- I left it 9 days between doses and did eat a lot of carbs particularly bread, bread sauce and roast spuds. But I can't decide what I should do next with the jabs, still debating trying wegovy or increasing to 7.5 on mj or staying on hoping my improved diet and return to exercise regime help....The food noise is very much back.

DS returned to school today, DD goes back tomorrow and I return to work so I have run out of excuses not to be more disciplined. I have lost about 5.5 stone but still need to lose 4 more to get to a healthy BMI.

@RobinEllacotStrike I also use Nutracheck. It's good for tracking, recipes and recording progress so I pay for the yearly one.
I'm not sure but I think I have read that, for many, Wegovy is significantly less effective on food noise than Mounjaro as the GIP component has an extra effect on it.
I'm very fortunate that we have found, since retirement, that our outgoings are a bit less than we had thought as we don't have many big plans so I am prepared to carry on however long I need to.

My biggest challenge at the moment is deciding where to stop. I am currently about BMI 26 and in a very frustrating situation - my face is starting to look older and my top half is a 12-14 which looks good on me but my hips are still a solid 16 and I look like I have a big rubber ring around from one hip to the other making a proper obvious gunt which I would love to get rid of! I don't know whether to keep pressing on or try to maintain for a while and hope things settle and redistribute a bit
@MooBaggage My tummy looks like dough after you knock it back! It's very peculiar - thank heavens for sturdy knickers!

@YellowStockings the only side effect I have ever had is that I am cold. All.The.Time. Theres a picture of me sat on a beach in the middle of summer (it was Scotland though!) wrapped in a woolly blanket.

It's not necessarily a pure MJ thing. I also have autoimmune disease that doesnt do much for my temperature regulation. The 2 together though makes my heated blanket one of my best ever purchases.

@MooBaggage yeah, I've got wrinkly skin as well. Especially on the tops of my thighs, tummy and theres also some serious bingo-wingage going on. Do I care? No. Neither does DH who's realistically the only person who's ever going to see me in a state of undress.

1lb off today:

SW 13.1.25 20st 3lbs BMI 43
CW 6.1.26 13st 12lbs BMI 29.5

I'm only 2lbs off my original target and need to give myself a good talking to, because my original goal date for achieving that was Feb 13th (my birthday!), but then because it's been going well, I've been secretly aiming for when I go on holiday, which is this Saturday - which I definitely won't hit! I might lose another 1lb this week, but definitely not 2lb.

It's sooooooo not important - I realise this - but is bugging me...! Talk about a first world problem🙄

This week's worry - will I be OK taking the MJ pen plus little needle thingies through in my hand luggage? I'm assuming so - don't really want to put them in the suitcase in case the temperature is too crazy.

2nd worry - I'll be away for 3 weeks and unable to weigh myself - the longest time since starting a year ago. Am telling myself this is fine and that with the walking we'll be doing in the sunshine, and swimming, all be will OK.

Either way I'm back on Feb 1st to see what the damage is!! 😬

I took my Mounjaro and needles in hand baggage when I went to the US in October, I left it in the box with the prescription label on and put a couple of needles into the box with it. Didn’t even need to take them out of my bag, they just went through thenxray machine in my bag in the tray.

I stupidly threw away the box - I've got a case thingy that I keep in the fridge and I automatically unpack the pen and stuff and put it in the case each time. I've got a photo of the box though - hopefully all will be OK!

You will be fine @MooBaggage

I went through US customs last year with MJ in an travelling case in my hand luggage - no issues at all.
If you were being super cautious you could pack the needles in your hold luggage - though I think I took needles in my hand luggage.

USA is a massive "phamacutical nation"

and we will all be very popular now their MJ is much cheaper thanks to us sigh!

Happy New Year fellow 5+ stoners ☕️ So I am actually 2lbs up from all festivities and family birthdays meaning I am back to losing 7lb to reach my BMI 25 target. December/start of Jan is tough period with 5 family birthdays who all expect meal out type event, it’s none stop.

I have two 10mg pens left in stash, one of which I started yesterday and then have two 7.5mg pens also in stash. I am not intending to buy anymore 10mg pens. The plan is to use my stash and then maintain at 5mg

House is now cleared of Christmas chocolates, cakes and other treats. I didn't eat huge amounts but it was the evil booze calories that got me. I determined to get rid of this 7lb and back on weight monitoring with a vengeance.

I’ve just mindlessly chomped my way through a packet of hobnobs. Previously would have been a daily occurrence (or at least weekly), but not something I’ve done on my year on Mounjaro (or not to this extent). No idea what came over me - I’m feeling under the weather, but I’m sure I’ve been ill in the last year!! Really hoping it’s just some weird sort of January/illness blip and I don’t suffer too much later (or I suffer just enough to make me pause if it happens again!). Not sure why I’m posting really? For a bit of accountability maybe?

I think it’s the very cold weather, it’s making me snackish too so I have stocked up on Options hot chocolate and the skinny chocolate bars (mint flavour) so that I have something I can use to satisfy the chocolate craving without having to worry about the calories. Also have plenty of babybel, peanut butter and other high protein/fat snacks around to stave off hunger pangs as I do find that I get hungrier when it’s cold.

You’re probably right! And the kids have raided my snack stores (babybels and skinny whips) for lunch boxes. I need to restock the snacks and check I’m eating enough. Thanks!

@Questions1234 slim-a- soup is also good to have on hand, 50 calories a cup for the minestrone one and because it’s so savoury and warm it feels more hearty as a snack than a biscuit or a babybel. Others have previously suggested bovrill, horlicks, bouillon or miso soup for similar effect. I just went with what Asda had in stock on the day I remembered to look.

I’ve been feeling hungry the last few days & I was wondering about the cold weather too.