BMI under 27 - Off Label/less to lose

[ritala]

I am mid 40’s and just can’t lose the weight like I used to. I’m fed up of losing and gaming the same two pounds. I’m about a stone and a half more than my happy weight (where I would be approx bmi 23).

I have tried to find a thread for people who have been approved ‘off label’ Wegovy or Mounjaro with less to lose but couldn’t find one, so thought I’d start here. I have a BMI higher than 25 but less than 27 with a couple extra health conditions. Hoping to start after Easter. I’d like to stay with a very low dose if possible. Half a pound a week loss would be good for me. I really want to avoided side effects.

Anyone who is in a similar boat and wants to share experiences or ask questions, please join! X

@hellobaby24 thats probably most of my 'food noise' now too, thinking more about protein and what I should eat rather than craving chocolate, although if I had some I'd eat it.

According to the figures I've never eaten enough protein in my life, I find that hard to believe. But don't want to risk it.

So frustrating to have that doubt put in your mind isn’t it? I’m pretty sure I got a decent amount in my system as I can feel the effects already.

It was my GP who advised against the use of anti histamines for insomnia, because apparently, they offer poor sleep quality, cause grogginess, dizziness and build tolerance.

As per 'Dr Google', they often cause dizziness, dry mouth, urinary retention, constipation and cognitive impairment, while potentially raising long-term dementia risks.

All of the above (with health problems that the above would negatively impact), aged 60, I can do without.

It feels safer for me to see if a drug swap from Wegovy to MJ will remove the sleep problems encountered with Wegovy.

Edited to add this -

Trouble sleeping? Experts say skip antihistamines

My daily update (for myself as much as anything)

Day 5
Down 0.3kg (put that back on with cup of tea!)
Sleep was a bit better, maybe 6 hours waking up a few times
No appetite suppression or feeling like I can't eat but also no cravings

My diet yesterday was near perfect
Yoghurt and seeds x2
Dhal
Scrambled eggs on small slice sourdough
Roast chicken slice
Small amount of cheese and nuts
Apple, 2 prunes
1100cals, 80g protein, 30g fibre
So still short on protein but no way I could eat more.

Wishing you all strength

So day 6 after having 0.5mg MJ and I’ve lost 1kg. I’m pretty amazed to be honest.

I haven’t had any SE. I’ve not really noticed any appetite suppression but I’ve never been a big eater or snacker. I’ve always eaten roughly 1000-1200 cal a day, tried to focus on protein and only eat meals with nothing in between and that hasn’t changed the last week. I’m hungry at meal times and have eaten my meals as normal.

I’ve not exercised any more than normal. A couple of weights classes, a spin class and daily dog walks.

I’ll be delighted if this is how the next 6 weeks continue.

For those struggling with sleep, I can highly recommend melatonin. Perimenopause has killed my sleep but I got DH to get me 10mg melatonin the last time he was in the US and it’s been a game changer. In the uk you can get it from online pharmacies.

I did struggle to sleep last night actually after taking my third dose, was awake till gone 3. Can it kick in later like that, after being alright for a few weeks? (Other possibility is I've just started dating someone I am quite excited about for the first time in ages 😂)

I'm still otherwise not really having side effects apart from the occasional bit of mild nausea but not even enough to bother with the nausea meds Voy sent. Am down half a stone in two weeks so very pleased with that!

Re drinking, I have an event to go to in a couple of weeks at which there will be a lot of it. I actually have been still fine with alcohol and am having glasses of wine but just don't fancy as much. Does anyone (perhaps with a similar experience of tolerating alcohol quite well on WLI) know if I will just naturally not drink more than I can handle, or is there the chance I might suddenly get violently ill?? I don't mind if I feel bad the next day so much, I just don't want to have an adverse reaction at the event.

I drank 4 cans of cider yesterday, didn’t eat much for dinner and had a terrible nights sleep and a dodgy belly so that wasn’t worth it!
Third jab yesterday. Lost 4 pounds the first week (probably water weight) but nothing last week.

I'm 3 days after 3rd jab, and the side effects are flooring me today. I had to leave work early with sickness diarrhea and headache, and I'm absolutely exhausted. I've been reasonably ok until now. Its been working well and I'm 3.5kg down. I spoke to the clinician at voy who basically said the dose is just reaching it's peak in my system now. Anyone else struggling, or come out the other side? At this point I can't imagine another dose at the weekend 😢.

Are you eating a clean diet, with minimal fat or sugar?

Congrats on the new beau @aquitodavia! Exciting!

I had half a bottle of wine yesterday - over the course of about fours hours and mixed with tonic water. This is much less than I can usually tolerate but I was sort of enjoying it and didn’t have any bad effects whilst drinking. Had a bit of a rough night though - sweating and mad dreams. Is it an age thing (44 and feeling elderly) though? I feel absolutely shattered today and had a stinking headache. Probably should have stuck to plain tonic water.

The effects from last Saturday’s 1/4 dose had totally worn off by mid week and I was looking forward to increasing to a half dose today. However, as I’ve been so tired and not feeling great, it went wrong.

I got out the pen - counted the clicks and jabbed away (still have to watch my emotional support YouTube video haha) and guess what? I think I counted the clicks wrong! Such an idiot. I wanted a 0.12 dose (half of starter dose) but instead of counting 19 clicks on the pen, I counted 12! I’m pretty sure that’s what I did. I packed all the bits away and was thinking ‘shit - I’m sure I only counted to 12). Oh well. At least I didn’t go over.

@happymumday- are you on MJ or Wegovy? Have you been keeping your water levels high?

Well done @NinthBestOption- you sound like you are doing well! Are you keeping to the same food most days?

I think I have gone off the wagon as the food suppression went last week. I also had a couple of instances where I was literally ravenous. Today I woke up fine and haven’t really eaten much at all. I put that down to not feeling good though.

Hoping for some advice. I plan to start my MJ journey once I get home from a cruise this coming Friday. BMI was 29 when we left 2 weeks ago so I’m hoping to be approved as it’s certainly going to be higher than that now!

The issue is when to start. We are hosting a special event at a golf club for our 25th wedding anniversary a week after we get home. It’s a 4 course meal for all our family and friends and I really want to enjoy it as we’ve saved long and hard for it and we are really looking forward to it!
Should I wait until after this event before starting? I’m so keen to get started but don’t want to not enjoy the food on our special evening!

@ritala I'm on Mounjaro. I'm trying so hard to do everything right, lots of water, plenty of protein, small light meals. I've felt side effects on day 3 after every jab so far but they seem to be increasing each week. I'm hoping this is as bad as its going to get. There's a graph on the voy app that shows current medication levels , and today is the highest its been so far.

@Notsosweetcaroline
I am! It's the best I've eaten in such a long time. The only thing I'm wondering about is that I'm drinking quite a lot of (skimmed) milk in protein shakes etc. Not unusual for me, but I'm not normally on MJ. Maybe clutching at straws?

You are doing brilliantly. All you can do is do what you’re doing and be mindful of drinking plenty and eating the right things. I know what you mean, it can be scary to see the levels increase each week. Well, I find it scary! Just monitor it and know you have options. For example:

• staying on one dose for longer so your body gets used to it
• splitting your dose, so doing half on say Wednesday and half on Sunday
• click counting (this is what I do - or try to do) so you’re taking less of the recommended dose as the side effects are too much.

I had to do this because of the insomnia I had on week 1 of Wegovy. I can handle one or two nights of really bad sleep but not more than that when I’m working full time, driving, running a house etc. It’s not a side effect I can really manage without medication (antihistamines or melatonin) and to be honest I don’t want medication to knock me out to sleep as my body has got used to that kind of thing in the past (sleep is not my strong suit) and it’s had long term consequences where my body reduced making melatonin on its own (or something like that!) Anyway, I had quite good sleep hygiene now so for Wegovy to come along and mess it up was quite distressing for me. I didn’t have any other side effects, just wonky sleep and some extra burps.

See you how feel this week and then consider leaving it longer between jabs. Or look into click counting.

@Greenfingers37
I'm only on week 3, and looking through these posts everyone has a very different experience, but for me I was feeling very full, very quickly from the day after my first jab. I'm only just getting other noticeable side effects now but the drop in appetite and fullness were pretty instant for me, and a 4 course meal would be wasted on me now. Good luck 🤞

@Greenfingers37 it's a special occasion, def don't do it before and actually leave it a couple of days after becayse I read that the food you eat before the jab can cause side effects.

Eat healthily for a few days after your dinner then jab.

A cruise and a celebration sounds wonderful!

Thanks so much. Good luck on your journey!

Great advice, thanks so much x

You're probably getting 10-15g lactose per shake, it could be quite a lot of sugar for your reduced quantity of food. And lactose does tend to cause d&v if you become sensitive to it. Could try a nut or soy milk and see if it helps.

Also if it doesn't settle with anything you try @happymumday, you could try Wegovy, it does seem some people get on better with one or the other. It's also a bit less potent, so weight loss might be slower but you might find the side effects less. But the others have given you excellent advice to try first!

I do eat the same breakfast everyday and a plant based lunch, then whatever dinner the family is having as long as its reasonable - fajitas tonight, I skipped the wraps. I'm eating chicken slices at random to try to get protein, I tried protein powder but hated it.

I can imagine falling off the wagon if the effects wear off before the next dose, it is a dull way of eating! I think I'm currently on willpower alone, that won't last long so i hope I get some good effects with my next dose.

Note to self, do not play a game of netball (in centre no less) if you were too suppressed to eat properly that day 🤢