Mounjaro 10 stone or more to lose - Thread 10

[TheBroonOneAndTheWhiteOne]

Well, some of us are new, some of us are nearly at our goal weight and the rest are still in the trenches.

Everyone is welcome here. This is a safe and supportive space for people with a lot of weight to lose.

Actually I've just given myself a mental slap after writing that, I need to remember a bit of loose skin and thinner hair is overall a small price to pay really for losing a tonne of weight and the health benefits and longer life that go along with it! Plus there are things that can be done to improve or disguise the skin and hair I guess, but I can't disguise or hide from being obese. Giving myself a reality check haha

Here's to all of us recovering our magnificent hair, and swanning around like we've just stepped out of a salon! The Hair + Me thing is £14.99 a month to start but then jumps up, I suspect I'll be prescribed Minoxidil too but I'll wait and see.

Actually, on the hair front, I'm a bit concerned about minoxidil as one of the side effects can be unwanted facial hair growth - and ladies, let me tell you, I am already sporting a magnificent curling whisker that makes me look like I'm about to invite passing children into a gingerbread house! It came from nowhere and I'm scared of plucking it off in case I suddenly grow a beard...

I remember as a child being horrified one of my aunties had a huge whisker growing out of bump on her face ..it was all I could focus on when talking to her ...
How life loves karma ... because what do I have now age 52 ..oh yes ,same dam whisker ..only mine gets removed,no waving in the wind for any whiskers of mine . definitely have not grown a beard ..you are safe to remove it x

So funny @Anotherstressedmother - karma indeed! I've noticed so many things happening to me in the last few years (I'm 56) that have reminded me of my mum/other female relatives. Mainly making noises every time I do anything - sit down, and it's 'oof', stand up and it's 'aah', literally everything seems to come with a soundtrack! I remember it used to really annoy me when my mum did it! Like so many things, it's now mine, all mine, and I get to see my youngest (18 yr old daughter) roll her eyes at me. Just you wait, I tell her...

My venture in to antidepressants did not last long ..so I'm back just managing anxiety with propranolol,and positive thinking
Gave me the constant munchies when I was taking it so no weight loss since Dec here .
Keeping it light and breezy for the purpose of the thread being weight loss ..but it's been a difficult decision to come of them .. anxiety seems to be the bane of my life

So sorry @Anotherstressedmother - frustrating to have tried to help yourself in one way only for it to not work, and in fact sabotage you in another way. You must feel like you can't win. There is definitely a link between anxiety and obesity I would say, a very complicated but real relationship between the two. I totally get it. Sending you hugs and positive energy, and hope you don't feel too dreadful. Just keep reminding yourself when you do that it will pass eventually x

Yes ,I'm over 10 stone down now ,so I had actually assumed the anxiety was down to the additional weight..I had assumed obsesity was causing the anxiety.i thought it would of eased somewhat with the weight loss ..sadly not yet it seems

It is complicated, @Anotherstressedmother. I suspect a lot of us on here eat our feelings, and the underlying problems - anxiety, depression, general dissatisfaction with life, whatever it may be - are linked to us being obese. Then being obese makes you feel even worse, and there's a whole toxic circle of cause, behaviour and reaction. Losing the weight doesn't make the problems go away, it just gives us (I should say me - I'm not claiming anybody else's experience!) a distraction, something aspirational and positive to focus on maybe? Humans are complex creatures!

Tuesday weigh in and 1 1/2 lbs down taking me to exactly 10st 7lbs and a bmi of 25.2 - 0.2 to go until I’m a normal weight! I don’t think I’ve ever been in that category.

When I first started, if you’d have told me I would have lost loads of my hair I would have been mortified, my hair was the best thing about me, everyone commented on it, I was fat but had beautiful hair. Now, I’d rather be where I am every time with thinning hair and wobbly loose skin.

I have a Philips ipl lumea machine that I use to stop the bearded lady look, it’s absolutely brilliant - we’re not really selling ourselves are we 😂

Ive always been happy with my supplier so I've not shopped around ever, anxiety would make that impossible for me anyway. I believe BMI 28 is the lowest you can start at, unless you are certain ethnicity which allows 27.

@Onenotsosmallstep in terms of maintenance providers and moving providers when your BMI is lower, the Monj site has a list of providers who are ok with this:

https://monj.co.uk/mounjaro-maintenance-pharmacies/

The starting criteria - BMI over 30, or over 27 with a weight-related health condition, or for specific ethnicities - don't apply once you have started treatment and have a history of prescriptions. So you can move around as long as you can show your previous prescriptions, which is just a photo of the prescription labels on the boxes.

I'm currently using Swift, who have been fine so far, and will let you move to them for maintenance with a BMI down to 21.

Just a quick PSA on Minoxidil - it's mega toxic to cats (and possibly also dogs I think?) so if you have pets just be aware of that!

Yes very complex xx

It's definitely very complex. I was listening to a podcast about this and it compared people who have never been overweight a day in their life, to someone who was trying to lose weight. They said something like "you're comparing someone at a relatively prime fitness level, probably young, loads of time on their hands for gym etc and comparing that to someone who may be at their highest weight, poor level of self-confidence, overwhelmed by the journey ahead, family, menopause etc". With person 1 not understanding why person 2 struggles. And basically you can't compare the two.

And this made complete sense to me. I've now lost 7.5 stone and now I'm starting to enjoy exercise and feel confident etc. But it's taken me a long way to get here.

Thank you, that makes sense. Honestly it still feels like a fever dream that I’m fast approaching a BMI under 30. I’ll park it as something not to worry about for a while then.

How are the fellow c25k-ers doing? Wk2, run 1 completed today- much easier now the ice has gone!

I've only ever moved supplier's once, I'm considering going round all the ones who do maintenance to get the deals, I'm waiting until I'm near target though so if it doesn't go to plan it wouldn't be a disaster being without it til I tried some where else. It's good to know swift do BMI 21 I think that might be less than my final target!

I've not chased deals yet, I'm pretty happy with my supplier and the price is manageable. I'm thinking that I'll save all the new customer discounts until I need to go up a dose, that way the price difference won't be such a shock (big jump from 5mg to 7.5mg).

Quick update from the Christmas Failure in the corner here - have now been on the straight and narrow for a few days, and have already lost 7lbs of the 15 I gained. It's frustrating to be in this position, but the important thing to focus on is that I am addressing the situation, making myself weigh in and check in with you guys instead of ignoring it, and for sure not gaining any more. I think we've all been at that point before many times, where you just think 'oh f*ck it, I've messed things up, might as well not bother any more.' I'm delighted that didn't happen at least! We got some good news yesterday - my youngest got accepted into Oxford. It was unexpected and exciting, and there was a take away and booze to celebrate - I didn't have any of the take away, and celebrated with one small glass of Baileys. If it'd been on Saturday, I'd have used it as yet another excuse to go crazy, and am thankful that after a couple of moments of feeling 'deprived', I was actually okay with it. To misquote Kate Moss, nothing tastes as good as being in control feels!

Re: suppliers - I've always moved around, I think the longest I've stayed with anyone was Medino for 3 pens. But they annoyed me with some poor customer service during the price hike era, and I moved on, and have done so every month since to chase the discount. It's frustrating and time consuming but the price differences are huge, and money is too tight to ignore that. This month I tried Getweightloss instead - they don't offer codes or discounts, but say they keep prices low every month. It's currently £247 for 12.5mg, which looking at monj is a pretty good price. I had an issue with the first order - after being approved and despatched on the day, with tracking, it seemed to go astray. Took a couple of attempts to make them take it seriously and move beyond the 'it'll all be fine, it'll turn up in the end' responses, but yesterday they agreed that Royal Mail seem to have lost it, that they will file a claim with them (because as I pointed out when they suggested I contact RM, my contract is with them, not with RM - that's their problem!) and issue me a brand new one. Just checked my account and it's showing as 'pending'. Hopefully this was just a glitch, because I would like to stay in one place for a while - I checked out a few local providers where I could collect in person to cut out the delivery stress, but the cheapest was £280.

Just fantastic news all round @eibbed999. Huge congratulations to your son, UCAS is stressful at the best of times but an offer from Oxford is dreams come true stuff. Wishing him the very best of luck for the summer. Will that be you with an empty nest (not that they’re ever there- my oldest is still home on uni holidays for another week and a half)?

How good does it feel having the control back too!!! I’m sure the other 8lbs will melt away in no time. I’m rooting for you.

Thank you @Onenotsosmallstep - yes, I will be a part-time empty nester, and I am dreading it. Oldest is 28, he's very firmly moved away and lives a couple of hours drive from us so we don't see him too often. Middle boy is almost 21, he's at uni, but in the same city where we live - he's spent his 2nd year living back at home, which has been so nice, but he's moving out again for his 3rd year in Sep. Youngest (daughter) will be leaving for Oxford in October - so it is going to be very strange! I've been 'mumming' since 1997, they've always been front and centre in my life, and although I know they still need me in different ways (laundry, cash, food, lifts, occasional emotional support...), the concept of the house being empty of all three of my Bringers of Chaos is very odd. Also a little worrying, so I'm choosing not to think about it! Oxford terms are very short so she'll be home a fair bit too! I found it hard to adjust when Son No 1 left, despite having the other two at home, so I'm not looking forward to this - I remember it feeling like a bereavement to be honest, and spent a lot of time crying while I adjusted. This will be even tougher, but it is the cycle of life - you're a victim of your own success if you raise confident kids who go off into the world! We're all very close and get on very well, spend a lot of time going out together, doing things together, so I'll miss the companionship as much as anything. Plus when you have young people in the house, their friends visit, and I love that wild energy they bring!

Brilliant news @eibbed999 both about your weight loss and your son! And Oxford terms are indeed very short 🙂.

I still have a couple of lbs to lose to get back to my pre Xmas weight. Frustrating especially since I didn't even really enjoy the extra food that I shovelled down. Lesson learned (I hope).

NSV today. Went in M&S and they had loads of sale stuff 70% off, I took a punt on a pair of size 18 jeans (un returnable apparently), the main risk being they are old school denim, you know the kind that has absolutely no stretch at all.

They only bloody fit! They are marginally uncomfortable on the tummy because I can’t remember the last time I bought anything not stretchy and my body is not used to it but they definitely fit (and I think a bit baggy on the arse but at £11 down from £40 never mind)

No mention anywhere on the label of being plus size/curve range/whatever other twee terms they use for big clothes, they’re just standard range, hurrah!

Excellent work @Fffreeeeezing! I have a £20 voucher for M&S and am planning a trip this weekend…

@eibbed999 I have every sympathy, we are very recent empty nesters. By pure coincidence, both our boys moved out in the same week 3 weeks before Christmas. I cried solid for the first week, it was awful. They are both still local, and we see them all the time, but I feel like we have moved into a new phase of parenting, one that I was not mentally prepared for. Oh how I wish they could have stayed toddlers forever.