Mounjaro- worth it?

[Rainboat]

Hi everyone! Hope everyone is having a great term break.
i’m thinking about starting Mounjaro but feeling a bit anxious. Could someone please let me know of the side effects that you had and how do you manage them? I already have a bit of constipation issue, so I’m just scared that I’ll make it worse.
also, what happens to all the fat on your body? Does it just hang loose when you loose the weight?
I’m 5ft 7in with BMI 33.

I started on 2.5mg, I have half a stone to go still so not maintaining yet. Hopefully will go lower than 2.5 to maintain.

It varies so much though, I dont think you can necessarily plan how you do it Basically most people seem to stay on the lowest dose they can that helps them lose weight still

Its so helpful to hear real life experiences to help mske decisions, no one is giving medical advice on here. We all had some medical input before the jabs as you have to, GPs aren't particularly knowledgeable about them really though. Clearly some people iie, I mean no one will get it for being 8lb over a healthy weight surely but majority of posters will have.

So my experience has been disappointingly mediocre, just to balance things. Overall, I'm glad I'm on them though, so I would say if you can afford them, I'd do it.

I have lost 6lb in 4 months. Of course I was hoping for more, but at least it's a loss. I think after hearing all the posts that said it changed my life or I lost 5 stone etc I maybe viewed it as a miracle, but for me it's been very much less dramatic than that. I still crave and binge chocolate, I still finish my plate - the tales of not wanting to eat or going off sweet stuff are a bit alien to me.

I feel like I did before, with a bit of the edge off, but it's not what I'd call mind-blowing. However, there has been a slight change, so for that reason I'll stay on them. But it IS expensive - just the only option I have I suppose as like everyone nothing else has worked.

Wow that’s really low, but it doesn’t work for some people I think 15 percent, so you could be one of them. What dose did you go up to?

It’s brilliant. Full stop. Any small side effects are far less difficult to manage than the health risks of living with a bmi of 33.

I haven’t taken it but my brother has. He struggled with his weight all his life. I don’t know exactly how much he lost but I would say at least 4 stone. Side effects were minimal compared to the benefits. He’s now a me to cycle and do stuff he couldn’t before. He’s so much happier.

I would say go for it. You can always stop if it’s not for you.

This is a genuine question as a family member may be offered these weight loss injections due to a very high BMI what is the difference between the injections and the more natural route of eating less. Taking into account of the possible side effects which don’t sound good to me. I am usually on a diet and could do with loosing a stone or so but would not even consider the injections as loosing weight centres in the mind I know if I eat less and move more I can get rid of those pounds.

If people were able to lose weight 'the natural way' they would have already done it! Clearly the people who are still obese are not able to do that for any number of reasons, so the medication makes it possible.

Yeah, I think that's my biggest fear, that this won't work for me, that my body just doesn't respond. I've tried so much over so many years I really thought this would be the thing that changed it so I'm really disappointed. Like, I have cried many tears over it - silly and vain in some ways but I think it's fair.

But it's still a loss, and psychologically I'm not ready to come off them because I don't feel mentally strong enough yet to try another way (again).

I'm on Wegovy, been on 1.7 for the last 4 weeks so one more dose up I suppose, but the lack of effect on any of the doses so far doesn't have me hopeful, and it's more expensive - I'm barely affording it now.

The difference is that the injections actually work.

It is still in the mind, you nee to eat healthy and be in a defecit to lose weight, the fat doesn’t magic off.

and you know you need to lose a stone, you know how to do it, but here you are, not having done it and maintaining at the weight you wish. What does that tell you?

it tells you that doing it, sticking to it, and maintaining it are very difficult. It isn’t about knowledge. And you’ve only a stone. And even with all you’re knowing you’re still sitting there a stone over weight. Can you not imagine how much harder that is when it’s several stone.

Yeah, I specialist is a better bet, rather than a GP. I hear you, but with these things there is always a worry that people will just focus on what gives them comfort... not saying everyone, but it happens. Hence why I would always opt for a specialist. With a little luck they would be able to paint a full picture, rather than isolated, individual experiences.

I'm a year now on Mounjaro, 3 stone 2lbs down on weight.

no issue with loos skin as its been a fairly steady drop, some side effects at the start nausea and dihhorea now its mostly a odd day of constipation and a Americano from costa seems to be the cure for that 😂

I did go up to 10MG and since end of jan I have been dropping dose so currently on 5mg and in a month would like to be at 2.5mg with a view to dropping it completely by May.

@Frostinest ,id switch to mounjaro if I were you, it's a double agonist, and usually more effective than wegovy.

Thank you for your reply I do understand how difficult weight loss can be i was previously 3 st heavier than now. Suppose now i am at my winter weight and need a kick to get rid it was easier in my younger years it would be gone in a few weeks. Now a pensioner I am not quite so fussed lol.
I am now supporting my family member so doing it together.
But you have answered my question it is not a magic cure I just wondered how it worked presumably it cuts out food noise.

@Frostinest can I ask, are you counting calories and are you eating under your TDEE? And are you eating a healthy diet? These WLIs help you to do those things but they don’t make weight disappear.
What does your diet look like, maybe some posters on here could give you some tips to help.

Unfortunately for people with obesity, the old trope of “eat less and move more” is fallacy. It simply does not work. Obesity is now a medically recognised condition. People with obesity can have significant hormonal imbalance. Weight loss injections can help to reset that imbalance.
Losing weight is not centred in the mind for people with obesity. Your family member should jump at the chance of WLIs if they are obese enough to qualify for them on the NHS, which you imply. If they meet NHS criteria, their condition is such that these injections may not just help them to lose weight, they could help save their life. This is no exaggeration.

As PPs have said, the service you get from Boots is OK but nothing fantastic.

However, I value being able to pick up my MJ prescription from my local store. I don't want a parcel left on my doorstep.

There can be a gap between the prescription being approved and your order being ready for collection. So I make sure I have 2 weeks' worth of MJ before re-ordering. I bought a sharps box and alcohol wipes for a couple of quid from an online pharmacy supplier.

I had to wait over 2 weeks for new pen once but that was around the time when people were bulk buying so supplies were limited.

I pay something like £189 a month for 5mg, and I get £5 back in Advantage points. I plan to stay on this dose for as long as possible. As long as I'm losing 1-2lbs a week, that's fine by me. Sometimes I lose more. Other times I gain a little but that seems to be down to hormonal fluctuations and it comes off the next week.

I'm in a different position as I am prescribed MJ by my GP to control my blood sugar. I wasn't obese when I started, my BMI was 27, so weight loss was incidental to me. That said, I have lost 20kg and my BMI is now 21. Best of all, my blood sugar is now back to normal.

I found the first dose horrendous. I had such an upset stomach that I shat myself in a work meeting. Thank God it was online. I still get a (mild) upset stomach 48 hours after each shot but it's manageable.

Skin tone etc is like any diet. I'm post menopausal so my skin has lost elasticity.

I don't think this is true, I am on the November starters thread and 2 peolle have had to come off due to severe side effects and 1 is considering it. For many, side effects are minimal/manageable but for some they make it too difficult to get through every day life. Also these people arent necessarily losing at a fast rate either.

For me, I personally feel as you have described but this definitely isnt the case for everyone.

That’s quite unusual to be fair looking at all the other monthly threads.

also sometimes you need to look at the mindset behind it, so many people think it’s easy on these drugs, but if you’re reliant on food as a crutch then sometimes eating the wrong things, not wanting to continue is part of finding reasons not to.

From what you are saying just dieting hasnt been successful for you though? Most people can't sustain dieting for long periods so that is what the jabs help with, also as shown on the WLI boards side effects for most are minimal. On the jabs losing 1-2lbs a week is sustainable for months so no need for crash dieting or fads.

You still have to eat less on the jabs, you will only lose weight in a calorie deficit. Its just a very good aid, and life changing for many, most of which have more than a stone to loss, people losing 10+ stone are in a very different position to you. A little bit of nausea and tiredness for the 1st week or two is manageable for most (not all as the side effects vary hugely but high % are ok)

I don't disagree with that overall but genuinely some of their side effects were pretty severe.

Yes it can be, but again unusual looking at all the monthly threads.

I still would 100% recommend anyone to try it.