Right. Where do I start?

[agatamum]

Hello, just came on to this topic as I’m pretty overweight and considering WLI. The threads that I’ve seen so far all appeared to be from
seasoned users, and nothing very helpful for Newbies.
any websites you’d recommend?
what are the differences between the products?
where do you go to get them?
any advice for a newcomer welcome. Thank you

Watching with interest. It’s overwhelming. How do you know which one to pick? Always struggled with my weight and now at highest ever point following second baby. Did anyone start injections quite soon after finishing breastfeeding?

Also watching with interest.

I’m definitely in peri and have gained 3 stone. Nothing is working to lose weight, in fact, it’s still creeping up and I’ve no idea how.

I wonder if this is the answer, or if it’s less likely to work when hormones are haywire.

I’m similar. In peri, weight creeping up further. I just want to know how to begin.

Mounjaro works the best according to science.
It’s an injection that you do yourself once a week. The needle is very fine and you are doing it into your fat so you don’t even notice it.
You get it either from an online pharmacy or a in person pharmacy. Online, you fill in information on the website and you have to take photos.
There is a comparison website for pricing.
Everyone starts off at 2.5ml and you get a month supply and see if you want to start on a bigger dose after a month.

https://monj.co.uk/discount-mounjaro-price-list/

What are the side effects? Are any safer than others? Any contraindications? What is the criteria to qualify for a prescription?

There’s only two types you can get in the UK, Wegovy which is the weight loss specific version of Ozempic, and Mounjaro. Both are weekly injections. There are no other generic versions.

You get them from a pharmacy, either online or a local high street one if they offer them. You fill out a consultation form to apply online which is then reviewed. You’ll be asked to provide id, photos, video (maybe live or recorded whilst applying) to prove your identity and your weight/BMI. Once that’s been reviewed you will be approved and your medication will be sent to you.

Mounjaro is more effective but more expensive than Wegovy. It has slightly fewer side effects on average than Wegovy.

Make sure that any online pharmacy is GPhC and/or CQC registered. You can find a list of them on this website, with price comparisons: https://monj.co.uk

@agatamum google is your friend here, all this info is readily available. Any of the online pharmacies have pages and pages of info which anyone considering starting should read.
I’d also recommend getting a round of blood tests done if you can before you start to make sure there’s nothing else going on and to give yourself a baseline

Prescription criteria are a BMI greater than 30, or 27 for some ethnicities, or 27 with a weight related health condition.

Both Wegovy and Mounjaro are as “safe” as any other regulated prescription medication - they come with the risk of side effects but the judgement is that the benefits of losing weight from obese to healthy is worth the risk.

Side effects have been minimal for me. I had some diarrhoea on day 2 of my first injection. And when I went up a dose initially, I had some mild nausea and dizziness when standing up. It wore off 2 days after the jab, and happened for the first 2-3 jabs of the new dose. Early on, if I ate something particularly fatty or oily, I’d be sick but I quickly figured out what I could/couldn’t tolerate.

I use Oushk Pharmacy. They have good offers for discounts frequently and also give you points when ordering and you can use the points against orders.

The criteria is a BMI over 28, I think (I may have that wrong).

Top tip would be to stay on a dose for as long as possible, you don’t need to increase the dose every month. As long as it’s working, stay on a dose for as long as you can - both for cost purposes, and so you’re not rushing up the doses and hitting a plateau early on.

Another tip is to ensure you calorie count. The pen itself won’t cause weight loss. It slows down your digestion which keeps you fuller for longer so you eat less, but you still need to ensure what you are eating places you in a calorie deficit.

I definitely had the BMI wrong there!

I started 11 months ago but did a bit of research first. Here’s the stuff I learned.

1. Look on monj.co.uk which is a price comparison site for both Mounjaro and Wegovy. Wegovy is cheaper but in clinical trials, Mounjaro is much more effective.
2. You can shop around each month and use different suppliers in order to get their introductory discounts
3. Work out how many calories a day you should eat in order to lose weight (use an online TDEE calculator)
4. Focus your meals around protein as WLI can cause muscle loss. Also drink 2 litres of water a day.
5. Track everything you eat in a calorie counting app.
6. The jab (for me at least) is like magic. I rarely feel hungry, I never really think about food and whereas before I had a constant mental battle over ‘good’ food and ‘bad food’ and was on and off a diet constantly, all of that is now gone. I could happily go to a restaurant and eat a salad instead of a lovely burger and fries, really enjoy the salad and not even think twice about making that choice.
7. Serious side effects are very rare and most can be dealt with by using over the counter meds. To begin with I had a lot of heartburn and worked my way through a lot of gaviscon but that’s all settled down now. I also have constipation (usually at its worst in the 3 days after I jab) but a sachet of laxido once a day keeps things regular.
8. I’ve lost 3.7 stone so far and have another 2 to go. It’s by far the best thing I’ve ever done and it’s amazing to be free of the mental torture around food. I’m not naive and know there will be a battle when I wean myself off but I’m beyond glad to know that even if I did regain some, I can return to them.

Thank you all so far for your insight. I really appreciate it

Elcella is more expensive, but you might want to do a compare and contrast

@puffysthename I did- stopped breastfeeding and started just under a week later! You cannot breastfeed whilst on WLI so once I started I knew there was no going back……

Elcella is a food supplement, not a prescription medication, with no evidence of any effect on weight loss despite the unevidenced claims it’s inventors state.

I’ve been on mounjaro since December. Lots 8kg in the first 2 months. I am persevering with it despite some quite overwhelming side effects. Awful constipation then it swings the other way when I give in and take a laxative. Nausea occasionally and lots of migraines and the associated aura.
I’m getting it on prescription, I first tried it when it first came out and was only for diabetes. I gave up pretty quickly then.

Why don’t you start with asking ChatGPT these exact questions to get an overview? It’s great for things like that. Then you can hone in on those aspects you want to know more about.

Thank you for the helpful suggestion.
I will do just that
I will also google as that has been suggested also.

The reason however for posting this thread was ( as explained in my original post) that in the WLI topic there are a lot of seasoned professionals well in to their weight loss journey, but there are no threads as far as I can see geared towards newbies. Several other posters are following with interest, so I feel that there is a place for this.

I am not always comfortable with ChatGPT as previous experience has a habit of leading me down a garden path and I need to navigate guidelines that may not necessarily relate to the UK for example. However it has its place.
I am interested to hear real life experiences from individuals, and I appreciate everyone’s input so far

There’s a March 2026 starters thread running for people who have just started WLI, if that’s of any use to you.

Oooh did it work out well with all the hormones settling etc? How did your little one respond? My son has grown so accustomed to feeding it’s hard to break it. He’s 2.5 nearly…

@puffysthenamemy little one was just about to turn 2 when I decided to stop breastfeeding. I had the WLI in the fridge for a few weeks before I mustered up the courage to stop the feeds!! Hormones ect were fine (I did have a few wobbles about stopping feeding but my son was actually fine!!) I definitely felt ready to stop feeding as DC was feeding all night long and I was comfort eating to help with the exhaustion!

That’s very interesting!! I think breastfeeding keeps me chubby, not sure if that was your experience. Find it virtually impossible to drop any weight whilst feeding. Anyway, you have given me courage!!

Voy is a great weight loss provider. They give you access to medical support and you can speak to people when you need to. They are not the cheapest, but they will guide you and make sure you are doing the right thing for you.

Thanks. I’ve seen that and it’s helpful. The folk on that thread have already decided what to take.
not quite there yet. Literally just dipping my toe in…

I started taking it 13 months ago via Med Express. Had to take a photo of myself and do online. They rejected me as my photo was no good, they said my clothes were too baggy. So i wore a pair of leggings that were much too tight and a very tight top that crushed my boobs and showed my curves and that was fine! Have lost 3 stone 10lbs. Started on Mounjaro and moved onto Wegovy around Oct 2025 due to price increase. Dreadful nausea for a couple of weeks going up from 2.5 to 5mg but been fine since. Now on 10mg and intend to stay on that dosage.

Hardly get any food noises now. Shopping for food fills me with dread, everything feels boring to eat, I dont really enjoy food anymore. Before and after photos. I'm 5ft 9.