Tell me about the jabs please 🙏

[Skinsodry]

Considering using

I have maybe 3-4 stone to lose
I have endometriosis and pcos, used to be slim, but it requires barely eating and working out for a couple of hours per day to maintain a size 10
Would a private Dr write me a prescription with these issues? How much is it per month, how much did you lose per month and how does it feel, any side effects? Do you just barely eat? Does it affect moods at all?
Could I be a size 10 or 12 again by summer? (Currently 18)

Any feedback hugely (pardon the pun 🙄) appreciated

Maybe post in the correct section?

Which section? I didn’t see…sorry

It would be far cheaper to access a prescription via a prescribing pharmacy than a private Dr. There’s several available. Have a look at monj.co.uk for Mounjaro price comparison & igovy.co.uk for Wegovy price comparison. I started off on Mounjaro but due to the price hikes I’m starting Wegovy with the next pen.

You are highly unlikely to get WLI on the NHS. I don't know what weight size 10/12 is for you, but I suspect it would take more than 7 months. I also had pcos and lost weight extremely slowly - this didn't change with wli, but they made it easier to achieve weight loss. I have lost 4 stone in 16 months and gone from a size 16 to 12.

You don't need a doctor to prescribe you it, just go on one of the many pharmacies e.g medexpress. The only benefit to having a doctor prescribe is if its on the NHS and those conditions don't meet criteria for NHS funding. How much you lose depends upon how many calories you consume - safe weight loss is 1-2 pounds per week.

Rather than private prescription, check with local pharmacies. I get mine each month from the local chemist and have a 15 minute appointment each time with the pharmacist so can review and discuss issues or concerns. From what I can tell looking at the monj. website I’m not paying any more than online pharmacies but am getting a more personalised service.

I popped a note to mnhq to move it

@Skinsodry you need a BMI over 40 and 4 out of 5 specific weight related health conditions to qualify to be prescribed Mounjaro on the NHS by a GP for weight loss alone. Barely anyone qualifies. Nearly everyone else who uses it for weight loss gets it from online pharmacies via an online consultation and then a private prescription if approved. The medication is then sent to you via 24 or 48 hr delivery, cold chain.

Mounjaro is more expensive than Wegovy, but more effective in the clinical trials. Wegovy starts at less than £100 a month, Mounjaro starts at around £150 a month. Both jabs get more expensive as you go up the doses, whether you need to go up the doses and how quickly depends on how you individually get on with the medication.

You could expect to lose 4 to 8 lbs a month, as with any other diet. You have less appetite and feel fuller quicker and stay full for longer. Many people find that they stop mindlessly snacking and thinking about food.

Barely eating should not be anybody’s aim when using WLI. It’s just another version of disordered eating. I eat at least 1600calories a day, often more. Don’t be in a rush to lose either, it’s far better for you to lose it slowly. I’m 8 stone down on 2.5mg with a good varied diet and no side effects.

I didn’t say the Nhs?

I lost over 5 stones since feb. Biggest loss in one week was 3.3 pounds and that was several weeks in. I averaged a loss of 1.5-2 pounds per week.
Just be mindful you may need to go to the high doses which are expensive. You may also need to take it for life to avoid weight regain so thats another cost implication to consider.

Why would you need to go to high doses?

Because the lower doses might not work for you.

I started in January size 18/20 and lost 4 and a bit stone so far. Now a size 12 and bought some size 10’jeans from next sale (but I think they must be wrongly sized or run large 🤷‍♀️) I took 2.5mg for 15 weeks and then 5mg for the rest. I lost three stone by July and was an 14/12 and the last stone has been slow to come off as I took a few breaks/ maintained. In will pick up again now to shift another stone.

With insulin resistanct/pcos/prediabetes you may need a higher dose. I was prediabetic and the lower doses barely touched my high blood sugar symptoms, let alone do much else. I did follow a strict calorie deficit and so still lost 1lb a week but I really put in the work for this. A higher protein low carb diet works well for pcos too. Once I got upto 10mg, the blood sugar symptoms were resolved so was much easier after that until I got to 10st and then the last stone to 9st took a lot longer (5 months) to get to size 10.
You could start on wegovy but having pcos, you probably need the extra GIP agonist of mounjaro. I switched to wegovy 5.5weeks ago but did 13.5 months of my journey on mj first which took me to bmi 23 from bmi 32.8, I'm now bmi 22.7.

That’s amazing 🤩

If you don’t mind, what was your size to begin with and how long to
lose etc

I reversed my type 2 just sticking with 2.5mg. I don’t think there is much logic to how people respond tbh. The thing is, you just don’t know until you start so I would definitely factor in the potential cost of having to move up the doses

But with type 2 it's usually treated with metformin or other interventions, I was prediabetic but didn't know until this May, I'd been on mj for 8 months by then so had zero intervention. I wasn't big so dose isn't based on size or height etc. I could literally tell at 10mg that my blood sugar symptoms went and I no longer craved carbs and could fast, when I previously couldn't. It clearly had to reduce my sugars first, which took 10mg to sort out as 2.5mg lasted 2 weeks for me, 5mg 5 weeks, 7.5mg 7 weeks amd I was ravenous hungry again each time.
I've since been tested 3 weeks ago and my blood sugars are in normal range rather than highly prediabetic

Is anyone actually on Ozempic? Anything to tell about it?

Some people don't feel the effect of jabs until they get to higher doses. It really depends on the person. Others are super responders on the very lowest dose and some have terrible side effects whatever dose they are on. Some people have no side effects whatsoever.
Personally, I felt funny/whoosy for a day moving up from 2.5mg to 5mg of MJ but I didn't have any issue with any increase after that. I went to 12.5mg but the supression was too strong.

I was a size 14-16 13st 1lbs bmi 32.8 5ft 3' prediabetes hba1c was 45 in sept 23 but I didn't start mj until Oct 24 and wasn't told by my gp about prediabetes and had gained another stone in that time so could've easily been type 2 diabetic (hba1c 48 and above). My symptoms were horrible constant carb cravings, feeling dizzy, faint, shaky when not eating every 3hrs, exhaustion etc Was in hospital a few times with symptoms, no-one tested or told me about my blood sugars. Also had high bp 145/92 and high cholesterol outside normal range. Took 14.5 months to get to 9st size 10 bmi 22.7. All health issues resolved, BP was 110/60, a bit low actually.

Ozempic for weight loss in the UK is called Wegovy. It’s the same medication but marketing for weight loss only.

There are several threads in the Weight Loss Injections section for people who are taking Wegovy. It wasn’t as popular as Mounjaro previously as it’s less effective, but it’s recently become the much cheaper option so more people are now considering it.

My type 2 wasn’t treated. They told me they would redo bloods in 6 months and sent me off. I started at 20 stone and am 12 stone now. Life changing.

I have endo and been on Mounjaro since August 2024. I was a size 20/22 and now a size 12 in jeans having lost nearly 6 stone.

You do need to still think about what you eat but I’ve eaten 3 meals a day the whole way through. I tend to get the ick part way through and stop eating.

Others have given good advice re doses, monj.co.uk and thinking of this as a long long term solution. I’m on maintenance now and intend to stay on it for as long as I can. My endo is improved and inflammation generally is gone. Mentally it helped improve my mood. Side effects wise, everyone is very different