Don’t know what to do- side effects again- do I stop ?

[ehatto]

I’ve been on MJ on and off since May 24.

my first bout of severe side effects happened in June 24. I was very sick, bad stomach ache and in bed for a couple of days.

I came off it and had my stomach aches investigated. Ultrasound, MRI etc and they found I’m all good to continue.

I started again in September / October 24 and have been on it ever since. In that time I’ve had another 4 episodes like this. The first was in September when I restarted. Then I was absolutely fine until this year September where I had an episode like this and I’ve just had it happen again. It’s always around 1 day after the injection and it’s horrendous.

I barely eat 1-2 days after the injection because I don’t want to aggregate it. Alas, whatever I did this week, aggravated it and I was in a lot of pain ( upper stomach all the way around and also back ). Lots of nausea. I didn’t sleep all night and the only thing that made it better was lying on my left side and time. I had some diarrhoea too. But managed not to actually throw up this time, but nearly did.

anyway I’m down from 100 kg to 80 kg. But I need to get down to around 65-70 kg.

I don’t think I can do this anymore but I’m so scared to regain and to never get to my goal. I was trying so hard before and nothing worked. My losses on MJ are also painfully slow. I’m always stalling and lose maybe 1 kg a month at the moment. I don’t eat a lot and count calories and I’m very active on top of that, but it’s an absolute slog- with the help of MJ but without MJ I am afraid it’s going to be impossible.

I am worried that if my stomach keeps going like this, one day something serious will happen and it won’t resolve.

I am on 8 mg at the moment. The highest I went up to was 10 mg, but I came down as I was constipated on that dose.
any advice appreciated.

I don't much about the injections, but with that having happened 4 times - there's no way I would be taking it. Is there a different weight loss injection you could try?

*know

Don’t mean this to sound rude, but if you don’t know much about them - how come you’re commenting ?

anyway, I also tried ozempic and was sick once on that too. The year before, in 2023.

That sounds to me like gallbladder problems. Did they specifically scan and test you for that?

It does sound like it's not agreeing with you. I probably would stop taking it, personally. Maybe you could try Wegovy instead as it's a different medication? But I would request tests on my gallbladder first.

Ah sorry, just saw you suggest tried Ozempic. Maybe these medications don't suit you then?

they scanned my gallbladder last summer indeed and nothing wrong. Obviously something could have changed since then. But yeah they did look at gallbladder, liver, pancreas. I’ve also had recent bloods that looked fine. But not specific for gallbladder or pancreas problems. But liver function and lipid profile.

In that case I would just stop taking it. It's a real shame, but you do get some people who can't tolerate certain medications (not just Mounjaro, all medications). Maybe you'll be better with one of the new drugs currently in development.

You’ve said that you do t each much the first couple of days after an injection and then on another post said you don’t each much again, so I wonder if that could actually be contributing to our side effects.

Besides feeling the cold a lot more, I’ve been lucky enough to never have any side effects, but I have always eaten at least 1200 calories a day, more like 1600 when I was at my starting weight. I changed my diet completely to reduce carbs significantly and focus on protein, fibre, fat and lots and lots of water.

What does your diet look like on a daily basis?

I could have developed gallbladder issues as it’s been a year since my scan, but it’s probably unlikely, as I had the same reactions before anyway.

I think it’s just how my stomach reacts to the slower emptying. It can’t take it for some reason. It’s also a lot of anxiety for me. I thought I was past these severe side effects, as I didn’t really have it for a year. Now I’ve had it twice in the space of a month or two. It’s not nice at all.

I’ll just have to stay motivated without it. I’ve come so far.

The days around the infection I’m really careful not to over eat. The day of the inaction this time I had two chicken thighs with a small salad for lunch ( no breakfast ) and then later on in the evening I had small slice of mozzarella and some tomatoes.

on a normal day it’s : milky coffee ( no sugar ) for breakfast, then I have my first proper meal at lunch time - some chicken with salad or fish, some potatoes if I have them, then for dinner the same. I have soups sometimes which I make myself. I generally stick to protein, veggies and some carbs too if I feel like it. I’ll have a piece of fruit here and there. I tend to come out at around 1000-1200. Sometimes less, sometimes more. I eat Greek yogurt a fair amount as well.

This is no life
come off
stay off

How does your diet differ when flying solo without the injection?

@Overdonecabbagesimilar, just bigger portions.

I was always at an ok weight and then just really struggled after I had my second baby 3 years ago.

Yeah I will come off.
but I’ve lost a lot of weight and feel a lot better for it. My life has improved a lot. It’s better than being fat. But I won’t continue. Being fat is no life either.

Bigger portions of is surely going to still result in weight loss.

step 1 of flying solo. Honesty with yourself about your diet

milky coffee ( no sugar ) for breakfast, then I have my first proper meal at lunch time - some chicken with salad or fish, some potatoes if I have them, then for dinner the same. I have soups sometimes which I make myself. I generally stick to protein, veggies and some carbs too if I feel like it. I’ll have a piece of fruit here and there.

I am honest with myself about my diet, thanks… otherwise I wouldn’t have lost all this weight. It’s 7 am, I’m just giving you a rough snapshot. I weigh it all out and use ChatGPT to help me as well as my fitness pal.

OP if you were losing good amounts still then I might be tempted to stick it out but it’s just not worth this pain for so little loss.
I would try wegovy first maybe

Yeah I’m not, but I never did. It’s just been very very slow. And it’s the same when I was losing weight naturally without the injections. I just needed to shift my mindset that even a KG a month, adds up, as it has in my case. I’m very very determined so maybe I’ll be able to keep it going. I’ve dropped my dose anyway and I was still getting ‘ results ‘.

I am tired of feeling like crap. I was on Wegovy for a bit too actually and I didn’t have any issues on it. If I find it impossible, maybe I can try Wegovy. Although I don’t think I qualify anymore as my bmi isn’t 30 anymore. But some you can get if your bmi is 27 I think ? Is that right ?

Op why are you up at 8? What was it like at say 5mg?

@ehatto You said you were sick on Ozempic too? Wegovy and Ozempic are essentially the same thing, it's the same drug. Although if you were only sick once, was that actually due to the drug or were you just ill?

Mozzarella would give me side effects, anything too fatty or too much dairy will give me bellyache and the runs.

I struggled on a dose higher than 7.5

Have you tried dosing with 5 or less? If that’s not going to resolve it then maybe it’s just not compatible with your body.

You have done brilliant work losing weight, and there are more medications in the pipeline that might suit you better if you want to try that route again in a year?

At 5 mg was the first time I ever had the sickness episode. When I first started.

but it’s just been so random. I was on 10 mg for two months and had no issues with sickness, I just found the constipation annoying, so I moved down to 8.

it’s very hard to predict when it will strike.

I was sick once on ozempic when I first started and it was a different kind of sick to mounjaro.

I was on Wegovy for a couple of months and wasn’t sick. I know that ozempic and Wegovy are the same.

It sounds like you’re dehydrated and not getting enough fibre. Constipation and stomach cramps are core symptoms of both, and with a slowed digestion and less food intake you will poo less, so you need to make sure you’re helping your digestion as much as possible.

Yeah I literally had a tiny piece. But it’s not something I eat regularly. So it may have been the culprit. I do have a lot of dairy but more in the form of milk and skyr yoghurt or Greek yoghurt, not as much mozzarella. Although I have definitely had mozzarella whilst being on the medication. But maybe not the day after the injection. I don’t eat eggs anymore at all as I found they made me sick.