February 2026 starters

[Crossfitgirl]

Hi all, I have my first pen on the way and as far as I can see there is no starter thread for Feb, so I hope it's ok to make one.
All welcome whether recently started or looking to start this month - I think by the time mine arrives it will probably be February!
Hoping for support, experiences, recommendations, more support and the rest!

I am nearly 40, 2 young kids and full time job, starting on wegovy, with the goal of lowering my cholesterol (and reducing my huge belly).

Well done for those with continued losses, and sorry to hear some of you are still really struggling and possibly having to give up. If side effects can't be managed with adjusting diet or eating pattern, have you tried anti sickness medication? I got some cyclizine with mine (though I haven't needed it yet). I have used diarrhoea tablets once so far and it helped. Drinking electrolyte drinks (a lucozade sport) also really helped with my side effects initially. It does sound like you may be better stopping @Wambamaloomaawambamboo gastritis and being in agony sounds quite extreme and i would be worried to continue tbh. Is there an alternative you could try? I've found a few appetite reducing supplements and natural things that I plan to use after I finish the Wegovy, not the same I know, but there are always other things to try. And I'm sure the weight loss medication era has only just begun - there will be more tolerable drugs coming out I am sure.

I've also not told a soul. Absolutely nobody! Not even DH. I've been having it delivered and jabbing the same evening then stashing it in the bathroom! So far it hasn't been questioned, but I'm considering having it redirected to the post office next time. DH is very observant usually!

I've just told everyone I'm eating healthy / on a diet and making effort to go to the gym (both of which is true). When I've left food on my plate, I'm simply maintaining that I'm trying to stop eating when I'm full and making effort to have smaller portions.

I actually may have to keep the next one in the fridge, as I plan to delay it a couple of days. Anyone got any decent fridge hiding places? I'm trying to think of something DH isn't going to eat, cook with or try to throw out...

The concealment is a problem I’m struggling with. I don’t want my teen to see it and they are always fridge rummaging for food and my DH is an obsessive fridge tidier. I threw away the golden dose last month simply as I had the new one and couldn’t work out how to store it so needed to start it.

Another that hasn't told a sole.
I'm hovering around the 1 stone loss, typically it went up a couple of pounds on weigh day, after 6 weeks so happy with that. Still need to sort out my diet though, I'm ok in the morning/lunchtime usually just eat mid morning but then I'm hungry about 3 so have something like crackers and cheese/ham but them I'm not hungry at dinnertime so don't eat a balanced meal and snack later.

For storage I read the instructions the first time as I didn't want to put it in the fridge and as long as you store it somewhere cold (I think it was under 15 degrees might have been 10) then that is ok before it's opened. I've been putting it in the loft room which has no heating on but maybe if you have a garage/shed you could put it in there for a few days, could always use an ice pack too if you wanted.

I'm not particularly hiding mine; DH knows I'm on it, but I don't want it on display if I open the fridge while visitors are here. I keep it tucked behind the box of suet in the fridge door, and the contrast always amuses me.

If you wanted to conceal a pen, how about putting it inside an ingredient box that teens wouldn't use?

@starmoonsun unopened pens need to be kept in the fridge, or in a place where they will stay between 2 and 8 degrees C.

@RedApplePie once a pen is open/in use then it can be kept at room temp for the 30 days it can be used for. So you could keep it in a drawer or place that your DH is unlikely to look in.

@Crossfitgirl could you get a tube of garlic or sun dried tomato paste etc and just remove the food and slide the pen in there? I think the Gia ones still come in a cardboard box? You can always wrap the pen in kitchen paper or something so it doesn't rattle?

Put it in the fridge door at the top where it's less likely to be moved for a couple of days? That is going on the assumption you have an odds and end shelf in the fridge like me!

And no worries on your response to my earlier post to you, hope you are feeling much better.

Hello all, I've been reading and lurking again. Been a bit of a crap week for me side-effects wise which is the first time I've really experienced anything other than tiredness.

Last week after my jab, a couple of days later I felt really hot and sick when out so had to take a cyclizine tablet (provided by Voy with my jab), it did pass quickly but it wasn't a nice feeling being in a situation where you can't escape!

I took my jab a day late this week - I did it Saturday morning rather than my usual Friday night before bed and I can really tell the difference with taking it in the morning vs night. I had a gripey stomach all day Saturday and just felt off it and exhausted. It doesn't help that my period was due (it arrived yesterday) which disrupts my sleep at the best of times.

With my period arriving properly yesterday, I felt I had to tear myself out of bed both yesterday and this morning. I still can't shake off the tiredness, which really intensifies when I'm on my period.

I ate a small gut health salad from M&S at work yesterday which I think caused me terrible stomach pains in the evening, it kicked in a soon as I had finished my evening meal and I had to run to the loo. I can only put it down to the salad as it was an outlier and my dinner was tofu, veg and rice which I have on a regular basis.

I haven't been weighing myself as much but did this morning. My weight remains at 12st 3lb (1 stone off in 7 weeks) and I assume it will go down by a couple of lbs after my period. My DP saw me getting undressed last night and remarked she could see I was "getting smaller" - I have definitely reduced in the hips and stomach area, looking more defined already. I was getting a big stomach which is a massive no-no with my family history so am hoping some of it is visceral fat.

I have received my 1mg Wegovy jab, 1 more 0.5 to go this Friday. If all calms down I will move up to the 1mg next week.

Feeling rubbish today. Was sick this morning and feel nauseous snd shaky and am having palpitations. I'm assuming it's the jab I did on Sunday

Yes, I can manage opened ones fine, it’s unopened that’s the issue. It means I can’t have a stock at all, I have to pick it up on the day I plan using it. Pills would be so much easier as I already have to take a number for an unrelated condition so one more wouldn’t even be noticed.

Anyway, sorry to hear so many are feeling rubbish today. Hope everyone starts feeling a bit better soon.

I always feel bad about the concealment lengths I’m going to. My poor DH is lovely and would never dream of asking about my spending. He just has a total blind spot about ‘fat jabs’. He’s never been fat himself and if he finds himself putting on a few pounds he just cuts the biscuits for a week or two and job done. He just doesn’t get the problem.

i stashed it wrapped up like a present labelled with a friends birthday so it could be chocolate or something

@RedApplePie I too havd teens, twin girls of 17, one of whom has been told she’s underweight and iron deficient and she has had some recent health problems. I agonised for literally a year about telling them and then decided to as I have always had a clear honesty policy. It’s actually been positive, although I still agonise and watch for signs every day that I might cause her further issues. We now talk a lot about high protein, high fibre diets, what she eats and she plans meals with me. Quite unexpected as she normally gets her (slave) twin to cook for her and hates being in the kitchen. It’s such a tricky call, I know. Please reach out and private message me and happy to have a WhatsApp or other chat - same goes for other people doing it on their own. My own best friend hadn’t told a soul for 2.5 years that she was in WLI and only came clean with me when I told her I was going on them (I’m a sharer, she’s the opposite). Well done to all and keep on sharing on here. X

BTW, just changed my name to “Saturnista”!

So I decided to order my pen from med express this time as it was cheaper than everywhere else and I knew I had a day all day where DP was out tomorrow. I did it this morning but they refused my images even though I was in tight pyjamas so I’ve sent another photo but it hasn’t been approved yet so doubt it will get posted today which is annoying!!

So it turns out i have gallstones not gastritis 😭

@Wambamaloomaawambamboo oh no, you must be in agony. That’s awful. Rest up amd take care of yourself.

Hi everyone. Are you working out while taking the weight loss jabs? I’m a SAHM and spend 50% of the week indoors. It’s so hard to get out sometimes as I have twins. I feel like I should be working out more

@Wambamaloomaawambamboo oh shit! You poor thing. Have you been listed for surgery to remove the gallbladder? I can without a doubt say gallstones was the absolute worst pain I've ever felt in my entire life. I would rather give birth 5 times over. My greatest sympathies to you.
My doctor told me buscopan can help with the attacks, and I'd take dihydrocodeine (over the counter strength) which settled it. Eating regularly also helped, oddly - but little and often. Have you ever had anything like it before, or do you think it's come on due to the WLI? I know it's a risk they ask about.

@RIRO25 it's a good idea to do some strength training to help maintain muscle mass while you're on them, as WLI can cause you to lose muscle. But in the midst of mumming twins, I wouldn't put too much pressure on yourself. How old are they? I'm doing 2 gym sessions a week, but I couldn't have done this when my kids were smaller. You could do home workouts though - there's loads of short bodyweight ones on YouTube. Or just do a few squats through the day holding a child as a weight!

@Cookiedough123 oh that's annoying. Did it not meet their requirements or something? Hope they're not saying they don't believe it's you! I know they do decent money off codes don't they? I might look at changing providers after my 3rd pen as I'm not as fussed about the support from Voy now I've done a couple of months.

@RedApplePie my DH is exactly the same. He just has natural discipline. Doesn't care for sweet things. It's easy for him, and he doesn't get the urges and cravings and emotional eating. I also feel bad, but I just cannot bring myself to tell him. It's the first thing I think I've ever kept completely to myself. I'm usually an over sharer!
Have you found you're getting into better eating habits and routines? I'm finding i am actively thinking for longer before giving in to a craving and actively trying to distract myself or find something healthier to comfort me. I'm hoping this is easy to stick to once I've come off the jabs.

@DanaScullysLegoHair that's great you can see the physical changes, and that DP has noticed! I have also found my tummy feels smaller and it's quite motivating. I managed to maintain the week I was on my period which surprised me, hopefully it won't impact your losses. I've also had to take the loperamide today at work as I kept having to dash to the loo! I'm not sure what sets it off as it seems really random, but fingers crossed it calms down for both of us. I'll be going up to 0.5mg, fingers crossed it's not too bad of an increase in side effects x

Commiserations. That can’t be any fun. Hope you get them sorted soon.

Yes. I do 3 gyms sessions a week, one is strength training. But my kids are older so I can leave them in the house. When they were little I did a lot of walking to try and keep fit and had them in swimming lessons so I could have a swim.

Ouch, I’m so sorry to hear that. How are you feeling today?

Oh nooo! I hope you have been given something to manage the pain. How are you?

The relief of side effects easing off……thanks for your support, everyone, so kind.
Can anyone advise on a golden dose needle they’ve successfully used, please?

Morning, after increasing only to maybe 0.3 or 0.4 max of Wegovy on Saturday night (I used the pen and twisted it as far as it would go, rather than syringing out) and my god, side effects are awful at the moment.

Not as bad as some of you, but I've had diarrhoea every day since Tuesday which is really not good as I'm a community worker! I'm currently sat on the loo, I need to set off in 20 mins and my stomach is in bits! I'm going to take some loperamide again, but has anyone had this and does it tend to re appear with each dose or calm down as the weeks go on? I'm meant to be going up to 0.5 next week!
It's not like I can just spend half an hour on the loo in a client's house 🙈

If the diarrhoea alone continues I will have to drop back down a dose, or stop as it will impact my job.

Oh no @Crossfitgirl that sounds horrible. I increased to 0.5 WG last week and I had a bout of really severe runs after eating some home made falafel and tahini sauce. Thankfully that was it. I’m really cautious with anything with a lot of fat/oil when out and about as it can strike very quickly IYKWIM. Grim.