Late April ‘25 starters - thread 6

[Stasis26]

New year, new thread, new username for me to reflect my the start of my first year of maintenance - I’m a wlinewbie no more!

onwards and downwards (or along) we go!

Thank you for all the kind words everyone. When we all first started our MJ journeys, I was one of the few that 2.5mg had zero effect on (Crunchymum was one of the others, if I remember correctly). It took 5mg to feel something, and 7.5mg for it properly to kick in. I feel like I’m back at that starting point (albeit with a 5st something loss, which I am very aware of and grateful for).

The 2.5mg I took last week had zero effect, I took another 2.5mg at the weekend (no discernible difference), and I took 2 x 2.5mg doses today…so in effect I’ve used the whole pen in a week and a day 😬. Yeah, I know that’s not recommended…but I’ve been here before…!

I was 9st 6lb five weeks ago and feeling on top of the world, not giving a second thought about food as I titerated down because I’d ‘got this’. And once it was out of my system, bang, 8lbs on as of today. What a scary loss of control and I feel deeply ashamed that it’s just happened to me, right in front of my eyes, and I’ve felt so powerless. Made me realise how much this drug actually does to make me forget that willpower and portion control is vital - I think I thought it was my healthy diet and positive lifestyle choices keeping me at maintenance. Nope, it was an effective level of the medicine. Which I now need to build back up to and can’t reorder for what feels like will be ages. We’re off on holiday on Sunday (just in the UK), and I can only hope a 2.5mg golden dose top up next week will be enough to tide me over until we’re back and I can re-order.

Well done @slightlysmallerPoisonIvy 👏👏👏. Reaching goal is amazing!!! Are you planning on keeping going? Xx

@slightlysmallerPoisonIvy ah congratulations that’s amazing , well done @Coventree I am sorry you are going through the difficulties that I am also facing, have put on 7lb without any increase in calories, but the puffiness, bloating and inflammation is very noticeable to me, genuinely can’t quite believe it- I clearly need this medication not for appetite suppressing but for the metabolic / inflammation wonders it helps with. I’m away at the minute just a staycation in the UK but will be ordering a new pen I think when I get back and dear knows what my weight will be as away for 2 weeks . I hoped I could be one of the ones that said yes kept off no problem but alas not the case. Quite disheartening but I’d rather be on it and feel better than feel like this!

Sorry you’re going through it too @StartingApril2025 - and @Discogirl23 too.

Yep, the bloating was one of the first ‘non-scale’ signs I spotted - but if we can help others (well, those of us left!) be aware of the signs, I hope it helps. Fingers crossed holidays are manageable and we can get back on track once we’re home (my poor credit card will just have to take more monthly bashings for a while longer 😢)

😘Thank you @Coventree @StartingApril2025 @wendywoopywoo222

I'm planning to stay on it for the rest of this year and then will decide what to do when my pens run out. I think I will probably end up ordering more and staying on if I can figure it out financially because the reduced pain and inflammation will be hard to give up. But I might take a break and see how bad it is. I don't know, I'll decide when I get there

I'm going to be brave and post some progress pics, I will probably regret this exactly 0.1seconds after pressing post. I'll mark them sensitive so don't feel like you have to click, I don't want to offend anyone's eyeballs

scale pic is the first one I sent to the pharmacy the day I ordered mj, I was 277 on the first jab day and started counting from then, second pic is the day I hit One-derland

my favourite jeans have no belt loops which was a bit annoying when I had to keep buying smaller sizes

randomly noticing a couple of weeks ago that I have skinnier hands now was weird, usually it's butts and thighs and stomachs and boobs that we notice, I can wear rings again

never though I'd be posting my butt on the internet

my first order got rejected because I was wearing jeans and a loose black tshirt in the pics, a different pharmacy accepted the pics because I was very clearly very obese no matter what I was wearing, but I bought a silly very tight tshirt and leggings and ended up using it for my monthly progress pictures

@coventree I hope it kicks in for you soon. I wouldn't worry about moving up the doses quicker, you've been on it before so you know what to expect. It would be very different using the whole pen in a week the first time around.
sorry to hear you're also struggling @StartingApril2025. It's definitely helpful to hear about your experiences so the rest of us know what to expect so please do keep us updated

Wow @slightlysmallerPoisonIvy what an amazing difference in your pics! It's great you kept the same tshirt, it makes it really clear how well you've done!

I'm not quite at maintenance yet, but only 3 pounds away. I think i dont want to confront the thought of titrating down because I know it will be hard. I took a week's break to go on a five day holiday and lasted 11 days before I jabbed again, I was just so hungry so quickly and my weigh went up really sharply after holiday.
All I can think to do is titrate down as slowly as possible but even then I know it will just return more slowly.

Wow you can really see the difference @slightlysmallerPoisonIvy…and great butt photo 😁

I’m not sure what the answer is @Coffeeandallthebooks but coming off the injections in the way I did (titrating down and off over about 2 months after about 2 months of maintaining) clearly didn’t work for me. I do wonder if the minimal/micro-dosing for an extended period is the way to do it (that’s what you’re doing isn’t it @Merlin23?)

@coventree I am trying to go down really slowly I am now doing 3.5mg but going down 1 or 2 clicks per week.
I am also going to try Dr Andrew Jenkinson's metabolic reset. No added sugar for 30 days. Everything homemade and natural. to see if I can reset my weight set point.
I am so desperate to stay where I am i am healthier and fitter than I have ever been.
Good luck!

@slightlysmallerPoisonIvy fantastic! Well done!

How are you finding your lipoedema? I don't get much pain now, but it's all still there.

I'm still losing, albeit slowly, and almost at the 40% loss, which is really cool. No plans to come off it in the medium term, I don't think I would dare.

Thank you @Coffeeandallthebooks @Coventree @Hawkmoth 😘

@Coffeeandallthebooks it's a scary thought, we are all desperate to keep the weight off and there's so many scary stories of rapid regain. Ideally we'd all stay on a dose that works for us forever, but for various reasons, side effects and finances mostly, some of us will have to figure out how to manage without it, but I am not ready to face that yet!

@Hawkmoth wow 40% is amazing well done! I'm at 28.4%. Yes all still there and losing a lot of the regular fat around it can make it more visible and noticeable but the difference in pain has been huge

@slightlysmallerPoisonIvy agree - tight jeans and very carefully curated tops all the way. My backside looks like a disaster zone, I hadn't realised the extent of it tbh.

Congratulations @slightlysmallerPoisonIvy 😁
It is so frustrating to hear the weight is coming back for some, I'm not looking forward to slowing down/stopping. What is micro dosing and is anyone doing this successfully?

Another 1lb this week, getting closer to see a 9 at the start, just 3lbs more 🤞

I am microdosing. I have 2 5mg pens and 1 7.5mg pen.
I am taking 1 or 2 less cicks every week. I am now at 3.5mg
It is working. Once my pens run out I will stop. But should be down to under 1mg by then.
I am also eating clean I only have minimal processed food.
I have been maintaining since March.
So far so good, but very worried about coming off completely.

Hi everyone great to see the updates from those of you who are still checking in here - I’ve been a bit snowed under with work and life recently but off for a week now and it’s great to pop on here and see your progress! Amazing progress pics @slightlysmallerPoisonIvyyou’ll need a new version of your username if we get to another thread as you’re more than slightly smaller.

@Coventreeand @StartingApril2025ive also gained a bit recently - sitting at about 4-5lb up, though it wobbled up to more than half a stone above my maintenance average that I’ve been at since Christmas a couple of weeks ago, not panicking yet as it’s still lower than my initial goal and clothes all still fine but taking it as a warning not to let it slide further. I did also start HRT so I think that’s part of it along with being a bit lazy with eating habits due to life stress. Don’t let it get you down, we know how to reverse it now, and spotting it when it’s just half a stone or so means it’s very quickly fixed, not like the old me who was scared to stand on the scales and in denial as stone after stone went on.

I just finished my second last pen of a stash I’ve had a long time, first time I’ve not had a pen ‘in hand’ so will soon be getting ‘back in the system’ and ordering for a few months again, my last purchase was November!

keep up the great work everyone - holiday season probably will mean more gains but as long as we keep the bigger picture in mind and return to good habits we know that’s ok 🙂

Hey @Stasis26, lovely to hear from you. If you don’t mind me asking, out of interest, how will you be able to order more if you’ve had a gap (but presumably not back into the obese category to start again!)? I know there are some maintenance programmes out there (Swift maybe?) so just interested in any feedback on how they working out, if that’s what you’re using.

hi @CoventreeI placed an order last autumn with Swift doctor (when I didn’t really need it but still had evidence of prescriptions to that point if I had been dosing by the book rather than subdosing ) and asked them about ordering gaps if I stopped, they confirmed to me that I would be able to restart with them with a gap of up to 12 months (and bmi above 21 I think),I will need to order a 2.5mg and work my way back up for a few months until I build up a supply that I can subdose from then will have another gap. I’m very confident understanding the dosing that works for me and I cannot bring myself to pay the 2.5mg price for every dose when I could buy a 5 or more and carefully click count. I’ve yet to hear of anyone having issues using the pens past 30 days despite clearly 1000s of us doing it since the pendemic. My pens have been lasting me for several months each. We each have our own risk assessment we are comfortable with - I would never buy from an unregulated source but taking smaller doses of legit meds with careful storage and hygiene works for me.

Ah, thanks @Stasis26, think I need to look at Swift Doctor then for that start/stop option - I’m surprised more aren’t offering or advertising maintenance options. And yes, totally agree we know what works individually for us and what we need now (look at me using a whole 2.5mg pen in 8 days 😳) - it wouldn’t bother me at all to have a stock pile of pens to use over an extended period

Actually I’ve just emailed who I’m with (Ashcroft Pharmacy, as they often have a discount code in the website banner each month) to see what options they offer for stop/start - maybe they do it and I’ve just not realised! Will update once they’ve replied.

@Coventree Pharmulous also allow you to not order for up to 12 months if you are on maintenance with them. I’m doing the same as stasis26 and will order again when my stash runs out. More and more pharmacies are offering similar.

I’ve been mia too, and that’s not necessarily a good thing. I meant to reorder this month but we were away and I forgot. I’m still on 15, but really I’ve stayed the same for months, so I was starting to question the economics.And now having missed a jab, I am 3 pounds heavier. So I will reorder. I have to stick with my current provider because I’m in a pickle with married and maiden names. I don’t feel like my eating is out of control, I had a snack today, small handful of crisps, some cashews , sunflower seeds and apricots. And I had crumpets for breakfast, but Im not secretly snaffling McDonalds. Sitting here tonight with a bloated belly, which I havent had for months.

Message from Ashcroft Pharmacy (about whether they allow a start/stop approach when people are trying to maintain): ‘Absolutely! Do not worry - we realise this happens a lot and generally can re-start/maintain after a maximum 6 month gap without having to hit the initial BMI restrictions.
So long as you tolerated it ok and are sensible/honest then we are all good’

Hurrah!

Still here, still plodding. Had my first significant gain since starting this week (I'm still on my weight loss journey). 2.2lb gain! I average the week rather than take a point in time, and all my daily weights this week have been 2lb up so I know it's a real gain not just normal fluctuation. I dropped from 10mg to 7.5 a couple of weeks ago as I started getting some yucky side effects, so that's the only thing I can think it is, which doesn't bode well.

I'm getting a bit disheartened with the whole thing to be honest, my losses are minimal for the expense, and hearing about maintenance struggles just makes me think what's the point? I'd be having the exact same struggles without spending £200+ a month. I'll finish this pen and see where I am then.

I have emailed Oushk as my maintenance plan runs out next week. I have asked if I can go back if my weight goes up even if my bmi is under 25. I will let you all know what they say.

Has my first person tell me yesterday not too lose any more weight. I’m still 13 stone 7 and size 14/16 so definatly not too thin. I do wonder her thoughts in saying it. Is it just because I look so different 🤔🤔🤔.
has anyone else had this or any ideas ??