Three weeks on MJ 2.5ml - no effect whatsoever? Really upset

[localnotail]

Hi - so I have been on Mounjaro for three weeks now, 2.5ml - and, as title says, I feel no different in any way! I'm not a big eater anyway, though I'm obsessed with bread and sometimes eat too much of it, but my weight gain (25kg over 2-3 years) was mainly due to menopause and antidepressants. I walk a lot - average 10k steps a day - so I'm not inactive.

I had various other issues with extra weight, and failed many times to lose it through dieting, so after a lot of deliberations I decided to go on weight loss injections - especially as a lot of my friends done them, and were really happy.

So after starting it, and after being on MJ for three weeks now, I still feel hunger - I skip breakfast (I was advised that interval fasting works well with Mounjaro) and feel so hungry by lunch time I feel like I could pass out. In the evening, I feel hungry again. I have not lost even a bit of weight. I watch what I eat, I eat small portions and dont have sweets or bread.

Is this normal? I asked my med provider and they said my body is adjusting. But I was expecting to feel at least a little different? My friend says she felt no hunger at all. What is going on?? Will it get better or should I give up? I already got a next 2.5ml pen, so have to do it for at least another month...

Because I already bought a 2.5ml pen? What else could I do?

Skipping breakfast and starving yourself to the point you almost pass out by lunch time is utterly ridiculous. MJ will help support a balanced diet but you have to put the effort in; not eating isn’t the answer.

@localnotail hang in there! I started on 2.5mg and felt the effects on that, I couldn't ever go above 4.25mg. I am known as the wimp in our support group 😂

I didn't start to lose significant weight until my second and third pen. I started in August 2024 and lost 4st. Start having breakfast, something like fruit and full fat yoghurt for protein, I add in nuts and seeds. In my opinion you should feel hunger, you need to eat!

What it does is suppress the food noise, the cravings are no longer yapping in your head.

Because you have another 2.5 use this month to have a detailed look at your food intake, I use Nutracheck. Also 10000 steps doesnt mean you are exercising, that could be a lengthy stroll at a sedentary pace. Good luck xx

You could:

1. inject twice on the same day from that pen to give 5mg

2. inject 2.5mg and then again after 3.5 days to give a split dose of 5mg per week

3. buy a 5mg pen and save this pen for when you’ve reached goal and are reducing your dose, presuming the best before date is far enough off.

Options 1 and 2 involve using the pen up in 2 weeks (or a bit more if you use the extra syringe doses) and so are relatively expensive, but option 3 has a higher immediate outlay.

Ok I guess you’re not even reading uour own thread as people already told you.

Well said.

Just buy a 5 pen now, don’t waste another month!

I have been on max dose of MJ for over a year and it has made absolutely no difference except I feel sick for the first two days of taking it. Someone else posted about the same issue.

its v frustrating when you see all the ones who have lost a load of weight!

It was helping to control my diabetes but it has stopped doing that (am now having to avoid my diabetic nurses’ calls)

Why on earth are you avoiding her calls if you’re on too low a dose and it’s not working?

You can double up and buy a new pen in 2 weeks or increase to 3.75 and buy a new pen in 3 weeks. It's annoying but seems better than 'wasting' another month.

Thank you everyone, I contacted my medicine provider to get a higher dose.

I did skip some of the answers, as there were people discussing their own issues in the middle of the thread (as is completely normal) and I was in a hurry last night. But this has been very helpful and thank you all for replying.

This doesn’t tally with my experience at all. I have been on Mounjaro 10 months, I have lost 42kg which is 30% of my starting weight. I have no objections at all to moving up a dose, in fact I have tried 3 times to get to the 5mg dose but each time the side effects have become intolerable and I have had to reduce again. I don’t feel much suppression but enough not to snack and to maintain the calorie deficit. I could never have sustained this for this long without MJ, I’ve tried and failed over and over again for most of my adult life.

Just this week I tried to move up from my dose of 4.25 mg to 4.5mg. I woke in the middle of the night 36 hours later and vomited food that had been there far too long. I have developed gastritis which was proved by an endoscopy. I have regular bouts of constipation and diarrhoea still. I am pushing through these side effects because my BMI was 50, my health was in pieces and I need to get to a healthy weight. My blood sugar levels have reduced as seen in blood tests, my blood pressure has lowered and my sleep apnoea is improving and there is now hope I could one day come off CPAP.

I just can’t comprehend the argument that all of the above is all in my head / placebo/ a delusion and the MJ isn’t actually doing anything to my body as I’m still below 5mg. I’m not a special case, there are many others with similar stories.

To the OP - I also recommend going up a dose if no effect on 2.5mg, definitely don’t give up, there’s much more to try yet and this drug can be life changing.

All the advice to change dose etc - I’m not sure I would want to take medical advice from randomers on MN 😀

The OP can check with her provider, who will likely advise to follow the standard published titration schedule if the OP is not experiencing any weight loss or noticeable effects during the 2.5mg treatment initiation phase. If you need a reference, for example this - https://onlinedoctor.asda.com/uk/mounjaro-dosages.html Posters suggesting to move to 5mg after four weeks on 2.5mg are giving advice that matches this standard titration schedule.

I am not sure why the OP decided to order another 2.5mg pen already, given that isn't the standard schedule and not what a prescriber would typically advise.

It's not medical advice to say you can go up after 4 weeks to the next dose up. It's the official dosing schedule.

Why did you buy another 2.5mg if it wasn't working??

I was made to buy next dose two weeks into using my first pen.

I actually contacted Med express and they told me I cant change the prescription now and have to have another month of using 2.5ml, and then get to 5ml??? what do I do now?

Change pharmacies.

Have you already got the second 2.5mg pen from MedExpress, or is it ordered but not yet delivered?

You shouldn’t be forced to order after 2 weeks, was it a suggestion or a demand from them?

I'm sorry if I'm being dense but how do I change pharmacy? It was quite difficult to get prescription here (as in a lot of scrutiny and they questioned my medical history)

Edited - I already have another 2.5ml pen

Should add I'm quite new to this and I did read advice online but yhere is so much information and none of it was very clear. There seem to be a lot of different options - even on this thread there are different views.

Pharmacy asked me about my progress when I was ordering the next pen but did not suggest increasing the dose. I sort of expected them to advice me, given how expensive this stuff is.

I just need help to sort this out. It's a lot of money and if i continue with 2.5ml I would be wasting a month of my time doing something that has no effect.

You just apply to a different pharmacy and when filling out their online consultation form you state that you are already taking Mounjaro and the current dose (2.5mg). They should then let you choose to request either 2.5 or 5mg. They will also ask for evidence of your previous prescription which can be a photo of the prescription label from your most recent pen box.

Thank you so much! I will push med express a bit more but if they are still annoying I will go elsewhere.

One last thing - which one would you recommend?

Thanks

MedExpress, where they are notoriously difficult do not suggest people stay on 2.5 for an additional month, thay would have been a choice you made, and if you’ve already bought the pen, as you have, no pharmacy will let you switch.

you need to buy a 5mg.

The effect of the medication varies enormously between different people.

I worked through all the way up to 15mg and never felt anything whatsoever. No appetite suppression and no side effects. It was totally ineffective.

Apparently around 15% of people are non-responders so it’s not as rare as you might think.

They did not "suggest", they simply left it up to me and did not question it. I was only 2 weeks into the treatment and clueless. I would have fully expected them to at least explain it to me.

As for getting 5ml pen - med express refused and told me I have to stay another month on 2.5ml as they "can't change the prescription"