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

@midwalker sounds like that's working well for you, it looks like it takes about 6 weeks to reach a maximum level in your system so still time..

I wanted it for joint pain too, I started hrt not long ago which helped and I THINK this has helped some more, now the only pains are in areas where I know I have some damage!

Bit surprised that I've had instant appetite suppression since my first wegovy jab last night, I wasn't really expecting any effect on the starter dose. I'm guessing this isn't likely to last?

I'm eating well, but only because I've been in the habit of planning good meals for a while - if I hadn't made myself eat I could have quite happily gone without.

Well done @midwalker , so pleased you’re also having success with Healand.

I went up to 1.5mg this past week. I’ve lost 3kg in 4 weeks which I’m delighted about. Other benefits are that my inflammation has reduced and my last period was pain-free. My next period is due this week and I’m hoping for the same again.

I quite like that I’m simply not interested in alcohol any more. No more drinking calories that my body doesn’t need.

@NinthBestOption i think the weight loss is generally slower with WG compared to MJ isn’t it? But it must be frustrating to be doing so well sticking to 1200cal but not seeing the scales shift. If I were in your position I would go up for a week and see how you feel. If it’s horrible you can also reduce the following week?

@NinthBestOption I also plateaued last week, though I was on my period so could just be that. I had a bit more of a treaty day yesterday and was fairly able to, but then I really wasn't hungry at all this morning as a result. I think I'm going to move up on my next pen, I might also just go for the 3/4 dose though first and see what happens.

I am on MJ but the same for me. I could feel it within a couple of hours (I did it at about 9:30am on Friday) and since then I could have probably eaten nothing at all without any bother if I'd wanted to.

Thanks @maybethisway. I believe MJ is 'stronger' (it works on multiple different things to affect appetite) I wasn't expecting it on wegovy! I will see how it goes, it might just be an initial effect. Obviously this would make it very easy to lose weight but I don't want to train myself to eat when not hungry (that's what got me here in the first place!)

@ProteinpuddingI’m on my 4th week of 0.25 Wegovy. I had instant suppression too. It ebbs and flows over the week but the effects haven’t reduced so far.

Thanks that's useful to know @OnTheTop I know it's very early days for me but as I didn't start straight away my next pen is due to be dispatched in two weeks - will have to see how it goes as to whether I ask them to keep me at this dose. I've eaten 1000 calories today and it's been a struggle, which is a very odd situation to be in.

@Proteinpuddingi also had immediate suppression, which was an extremely odd but liberating experience. I stayed on the starter dose for 6 weeks but then my appetite started to increase again and so I upped it a bit (now on week 9). I have had to take into account other feelings to prompt me to eat- fatigue or feeling vaguely out of sorts. I’d give it some time as your body will adjust.

That’s what I’ve been doing too. I realise I haven’t eaten anything for a long time when I start feeling worn out or under the weather, as I don’t feel hungry any more.

I wish I had suppression like that! I had it for 2 days two weeks ago but other than that I feel mild nausea and slightly less hunger than normal. My nausea was really bad on Saturday and it got me thinking about whether this is worth it. I stopped after losing 2 stones in 6 months in January this year as the constant nausea was getting me down. I was also missing the joy I get from having a drink and looking forward to food. But then I put on 7 pounds and saw myself in photos so went back on it! I also went back to thinking about food all the time and mentally tracking what I had eaten which I had forgotten how freeing it was to lose the food noise after focusing on my weight my entire life.
I lost the 7 pounds easily but am struggling the lose the last 7 again. Maybe I just have to accept that I will always be slightly over my target weight.

I know I wasn’t obese when I started (bmi 28) but the whole talk of WLI being a long term treatment for obesity has really got me thinking. I was obese as a child from an early age and lost a lot of weight at 18 through developing an eating disorder. From the age of 20-41 I have focused on my weight and gone from diet to diet. I can’t remember a time I haven’t been dieting to keep my weight under control. I think that I have been fighting against my childhood all this time which is why I have found it such a struggle to maintain a healthy weight. I’m so pleased that these drugs are available because my fear of gaining huge amounts of weight has gone as I know there are options to help.

@beachforever now that you mention it, I’ve just finished my period and it has dawned on me that I didn’t have any period pains at all. Normally I am reaching continually for the ibuprofen on day 1. Maybe it is having more effect than I thought. If I don’t get debilitating ovulation pain in a couple of weeks, I’ll be very impressed!

Me too, I’ve had pretty debilitating periods since I was a teenager but last month I hardly noticed I was having my period. No ovulation pains either.

If it stays this way then I’m staying on MJ until I’m post menopause!

I am jealous, I went on hrt 3 months ago and my first period was barely noticeable, 2nd normal (heavy and painful) and most recent was wk3 wegovy and it was the worst in a very long time, I dug out the prescription cocodomol I got last year so I could sleep.

Hopefully the next one will be better.

How are you getting on ladies?

I'm now on week 5, did 25 clicks on my 0.5mg pen which is about 0.33mg, so up a little from my starting dose. Suppression still minimal but enough to stick to my diet so I'm fine with that.

Weightloss really slow, I wanted slow and steady but half a pound a week on less than 1200cal feels a bit unfair! I don't want to decrease calories any further, upping the meds might further reduce inflammation and increase insulin sensitivity which might help with loss, I'll see where I get to this week..

Despite my moan I am really pleased, I've lost 8lb and look less bloated. My clothes fit nicely and my cheekbones have returned! No major side effects either.

Hope you're all having success.

Yes I've got cheekbones again @NinthBestOption! I almost feel that's the best bit!

My weight loss has slowed slightly - 1-2 pounds in the last week to 10 days - but I have been on my period this last week and am still a bit bloated so it might be better than I think. I'm still almost a stone down in five weeks though. I have ordered the next dose up - 0.5 - for next time to see if I can get things going again a bit.

I also changed to SwiftDr - super easy, I did it two weeks ahead as I didn't know if it would take a while but they approved in a couple of hours!

I never had cheekbones even at my skinniest, so I won't be holding out for those! Congrats @NinthBestOption and just remember weight loss isn't linear - you might get a bigger drop soon.
I'm only a few days in but have been tracking my food and have been around 1200 calories and 100g protein and it's felt very comfortable - though I'm going to try and eat a bit more as I've accidentally ended up pretty low on carbs, and I don't think that's sensible long term as I'm quite active.

Curious about those 'counting clicks' and having more doses in the pen - I assume you'd have to buy extra needles for that to work, but I've heard that the pens don't necessarily 'allow' more than 4 doses (not sure if there's any tech to avoid people using them that way?) My next pen is due to be a higher dose and I'm debating whether to ask to keep to my starter dose as I don't want to go up too quickly. If I could gradually up the dose from a larger pen that would be ideal but I don't want to waste it!

I read that about the pens but I think they meant 4 full doses, so no golden dose. I'll report back.

I have bought extra needles, same spec as the label on the ones that came with it..

For those of you who have switched to SwiftDr did you get charged for exiting your Voy subscription early?

Thanks @NinthBestOption I just had a quick Google to check what I'd read, and it seems that the wegovy pens prescribed in the US are different so maybe that's where it's come from. I guess the other thing to consider is how many weeks since starting the pen. But I think I'll let them send me the next dose up for my next pen and hopefully I can have a bit of flexibility if I don't feel I need to increase straight away.

I only did month to month on Voy, not sure if they charge if you committed to a longer plan.

There is an exit charge. I am sure I read £50 but can't think where.

I signed up for 3 months and will stay for that.

It said £50 in my t&C's too, it's why I opted for three months instead of six in case it didn't work for me. I guess they offer bigger discounts for longer subscriptions so want to claw some of that back!

Day 3 for me and I felt like I had a stuffy cold & struggled to get to sleep last night and felt a bit rough today, which could be side effects but equally could be related to having a long haul flight last week (dry aeroplane air isn't kind to my sinuses)
Given that side effects are meant to peak 48-72 hours after the jab, if this is it then I must be one of the lucky ones! No gastro effects at all, and appetite is still nicely suppressed. I can eat, I'm just satisfied after a small portion and I'm not craving junk at all. I finally understood what people mean when they say they could enjoy two squares of dark chocolate (usually I'd want to inhale a family size bag of malteasers!)

@NinthBestOption 8lbs in 4 weeks is great! Well done!!

I’m on day 2 of week 5 and I’m down 3.5kg overall which is on track for where I wanted to be by this point. I’m finally seeing the difference too in my body shape.