Is it confirmed that jabs are for life?

[RoundandSad]

Hi

I posted here a year or so ago thinking of trying this but I had a terrible experience with Saxenda so decided against it

Still big have lost about 5lb

over the last year, it looks like you have to take it forever

Reconsidering you guys will understand,. I feel like being fat is a problem in every walk of life.

But that's an expense that has to be paid forever, isn't it?

Please don't be flippant about taking medication for life. The difference between the reason you're taking it and those who take things for chronic conditions is that they really suffer if they stop taking medication. You may just gain weight, so you won't suffer as soon as you stop.

I think OPs point is that life long medication for anything isn't to be taken lightly.

Okay, here's my experience.

Started Mounjaro in August 2024 at 11st 7.8lb (BMI was 31, I also have chronic hypertension). Stopped Mounjaro at the end of December 2024 without tapering, just full cold turkey and I was 8st 11.6lb at this point.

By June I was 8st 5lb, not through trying to lose, just trying to maintain. Today I am 8st 3lb (just weighed myself as I do daily weighing!).

I've not struggled to maintain my weight loss BUT I had no underlying medical issues that caused me to gain weight, and I had no food issues either. If we're being brutally honest, I was overweight because I ate and drank way more than I should have, and I was lazy. This is what I've turned around for myself.

I never miss my daily step goal as it makes sure I am moving - I work from home a lot and without forcing myself to move, I'd average around 2,000 steps a day. I watch what I eat, to an extent, but I don't calorie count and I drink plenty of wine - I'm just hyper aware that if I am going out for dinner for example, I eat lighter through the day. I don't eat takeaways as I'm no longer fussed about them, and I've stopped eating food like pizza and pasta which I found had a negative effect on me. I crave vegetables so my diet is very heavy on vegetables with chicken or fish. I'm just more mindful generally about what I am putting into my body - I survived an all-inclusive holiday this summer and came back weighing exactly what I was before I left, but ultimately I love to eat, I've just changed what it is I eat.

So no, it's not confirmed that you need to be on jabs for life BUT I think it's highly dependant on the reasons you were overweight in the first place (which isn't always that straightforward), the relationship you have with food, and the healthy habits that you put in place while you are using the medication.

ETA: I went into it knowing I didn't want to be on it for life - I'm already on lifelong medication, I didn't want another. I wanted to lose the weight, and reset.

Slower is actually better as tends to be more sustainable and means you meep muscle. But dont not use the jabs because of it. You can use the jabs for a bit and stick with your better diet.

I would agree with this. I do think there is a vast difference between you starting at BMI 31 and me starting at BMI 51. I had lifelong issues with food (I’m late 40s now) and as I mentioned above none of it was about not knowing what to do, just not being able to do. I think there is probably a range of BMI where people can use, lose and come off just fine and people who will need it long term. I wonder if that is related to the health issues that being massively overweight brings or if it’s just simply once you get past a certain level of obesity.

I agree @blackwhitepink - I really do think it's different for different people and different situations.

Also, I've come off and maintained but I wouldn't judge anyone who stays on it. If I had have struggled to maintain off it, I wouldn't have been opposed to going on to a low dose to help.

Weight gain isn't a 'just' especially for people who were formerly obese. You need to not take that lightly.

I was chronically unwell as a result of being morbidly obese. So I may stop and not gain weight instantly but I would eventually. All my issues would return. It’s probably important to remember there are a lot of life long medications that would not make the person ‘really suffer’ immediately after stopping. If this medication can help me maintain a healthy weight for life then of course I will take it for life.

Type 2 diabetes - gone
NAFLD - gone
Anxiety - gone
High blood pressure- gone
Sleep apnoea- gone
Cholesterol- lowered
Inflammation - improved
Pain - better
Focus/Ability - improved

Yea it’s not just about the weight. My brain works so much better on MJ.

That’s not how obesity works, sadly.

The answer is yes. They’re like statins for cholesterol. They work when you take them - stop and you go back to normal.

It might be possible that you keep weight off but only if there are non-negotiable lifestyle changes which would have affected your weight anyway (e.g. you suddenly have a long walk built into your day)

No one is being flippant, inc this poster. Why would you assume anyone was flippant, none of us are idiots, we are adults, taking control of our health and making educated decisions. The risk associated with obesity is huge, the struggle for many people, mentally, physically to maintain a non obese weight astronomical, no one, is flippant.

You don’t think obesity causes chronic health conditions?

I think you need to educate yourself.

I have no idea yet if I will need to be on them for life .

I have currently lost 80lb , (about 6 stone ) in the last year.

I would imagine that I still have another year of weight loss to go.

i imagine that I would try either going on to a lower dose (to help with cost too ) or spreading doses out .

husband has stopped taking them about 3months ago, he has put about 4lb back on. We can’t afford two jabs though, I’m hoping some sort of maintenance pill is developed at some point

I'm not expecting to be on them for life. I can maintain quite easily, I have done for years even though I was obese. I put weight on in certain periods of my life and tended to stick there for 10yrs+.

Losing the weight is where I struggled, I need to eat very small meals and not think about food 24/7 for longer than 10 days to actually lose more than a couple of lbs.

I'm 71lbs down and in a healthy BMI, currently tapering down the doses MJ and extending the time between jabs.

I never had any 'willpower' around food until I started using MJ. MJ is willpower in a syringe for me. Not only with food but alcohol too.

They can prize that syringe out of my cold dead hands before they take me off it!

I'm sure I saw someone recently (sorry to be vague) say that the mechanism of willpower doesn't exist

Here we go:

Willpower doesn't exist. Why so much of your health isn't your fault www.bbc.com/news/articles/c98nd0d61d0o

For me, I started MJ in October 2024, bought 4 pens in total, never went above 5mg and finished at the beginning of February 2025. Lost over 3 stone, went from BMI of 33 to around 25 and been off the Jab for close to 9 months. I’ve gone on to lose another half a stone even though I wasn’t trying to, I was just trying to maintain the loss.

I couldn’t afford the cost to be on it for life as that could well be another 50 years when I’m only in my late 30s.
I gained weight through pregnancy and breastfeeding 3 kids cos the hunger was horrendous but I’ve never gained during the periods in between. I stopped bf to start the jab. When I stopped the jabs, I didn’t have any extreme hunger, I was just back to how I was before getting pregnant. I’ve not struggled to maintain (lose more really). Went on an all inclusive holiday in Aug, gained some weight, still less than what I weighed when I finished the jab in Feb and I lost the weight within 3 weeks of being back home. I eat 3 balanced meals a day and snack mostly on fruits and vegs but some healthy snacks too.

I’m not against anyone using the jab for life because there is no one size fit all.
How we all gained the weight is different so how we lose it and maintain the loss will always be different.
All I know is that no matter what route anyone takes, maintaining weight loss will always require constant vigilance so I’m not taking anything for granted.

Crikey you are brave to say this! Completely right but brave.

I think people lose at different rates.
I've lost 2 stone but it's taken me 5 months.
To get to the middle of the healthy bmi range I need to lose another 2 stone😭
It's been glacially slow and with fluctuations in weight but generally is moving (slowly!) in right direction.
I also know people who have lost it quicker but they have either
A) been men
B) been younger
C) eaten virtually nothing to the point they actually passed out on occasion.

I'm 5'2 and a 54 year old female, working full time in a sedentary office job it's bloody hard work!
My TDEE is is only about 1100 calories a day according to TDEE calculator 😭

I'm hoping as my stomach shrinks and habits change I will naturally become less hungry but maybe I will need a low maintenance dose?

Time will slowly tell but I definitely hope all this effort and expense won't be for nothing.

If you are female I strongly advise losing weight before the menopause!

I have been on the jabs for 3 months, only lost 18 pounds but I have lost about 7 pounds more than i intended

i was maintaining at 12 12 but just couldn’t get down at all, i have an underactive thyroid and pcos so find losing weight very hard as I have to eat as few calories as I can get away with….last time I successfully lost weight by myself it was on 6000 calories a week which is incredibly hard to maintain

the jabs have got rid of the food noise, my blood pressure is now normal and my brain has really calmed down

i would stay on them for as long as possible but really shouldn’t be spending £170 a month on them

have another 3 pens of 2.50 so will use them properly til January and then lower to 1 and see if that works

I took them for a year, lost 5 stone, and am now maintaining on MJ. I think I will be on them long term…

for me, I consider it a long-term treatment for obesity, not a cure.

I am taking 10mg (my top dose) every ten days and have been maintaining for 3 months. I will titrate down a little over time and see how it goes, but I can sense the difference in mindset when I’ve stretched the dose timings longer, so I don’t think I would be able to maintain without any MJ at all.

🤣🤣🤣🤣

i agree entirely! pre-MJ, I was successful in every other aspect of life except weight.

Not any more 💪💪💪💪💪

Thing is i thought i would do it til i was around 12 3, i thought it would be harder to maintain if i got lower, today I am 11 8 (keeps going up and down 1 to 2 pounds) and im annoyed that Im not lower

its weird

The way people suggest we are weak for having no ‘willpower’ as if the self loathing for being so weak for 30+ years isn’t bad enough. I hated myself. I felt weak, pathetic, useless and thought I would probably be better off just dying. I was terrified to try MJ and decided it didn’t matter if it killed me because I was worthless anyway. Otherwise I had a wonderful life with a husband and children who love me. But the willpower thing, you know, it made me feel so close to the edge mentally. It’s never as simple as just needing willpower. The day I took that shot changed my life forever. Literally.

Just to add to my above post, that’s the way pejole think of obese women. We are fat and lazy and lower than anyone who is a normal or even average weight. I have experienced now first hand what it’s like to be ‘normal’ when out and about. You would be amazed at the way I’m treated day to day compared with how things were when I wore a size 24. The difference is like day and night.