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

Have a look at SwiftDr, they offer maintenance plans that look quite good.

I’ve been microdosing through Healand Clinic for the past four months and have lost about a stone. My weight has been very up and down the past two months and has essentially stayed the same for a month. I can move up to 2.5mg (which I was surprised by as I thought I’d have to stick to microdoses), and I think I will next month. I’ve read a lot about switching providers to keep costs down and wonder if this will be easier once I can evidence I’ve been prescribed a ‘normal’ dose and/or if I should be able to switch now anyway? BMI is now 23

I will be maintaining with SwiftDr (already with them) currently doing 2.5mg, hoping to maintain on 1.25mg a week. I know I stand a chance in hell without continuing to jab.

@kljdhs877 what are the prices for a maintenance plan with Swift Doctor?

@SandwichesAndGingerBeer I’m not actually on a maintenance plan perse but can order pens every 7-8 weeks. A 5mg pen is £169 and a 2.5mg pen is £149. So I hope to order a 2.5mg pen every 7-8 weeks and microdose 1.25 to get it to about £75 a month (that’s MJ)

Thanks all for the info about maintenance. I'm actually losing weight on the starter dose of wegovy so far, and most the 'maintenance' plans I've seen would be similar to what I'm currently prescribed so I was thinking it wouldn't be an option (cost and also presumably if I kept losing weight at some point they'd stop prescribing)

But I will look at swift doctor towards the end of my voy subscription as if they allow spacing out the lower dose prescriptions that would be ideal!

@NomadNohow have you found it? I have about 18 pounds to lose and life is just dreadful atm - SEN kids, brutal divorce, crazy work and stressful life, which is why I put on weight on the first place. It’s making me miserable and I have little capacity/time to do anything to care for myself. Sugar addiction is the problem but otherwise I eat healthily, I did the ZOE programme so know what healthy eating looks like. I just don’t have the willpower or time to plan to be in calorie deficit so can’t see losing the weight otherwise, but it feels like a big decision.

I started on 1mg for the first two months, then increased to 1.5 then 2. The change has been subtle - I’ve had a little bit of appetite suppression but not much and feel
fuller quicker. It’s had no impact on how much alcohol I drink though - and that’s definitely my downfall! I don’t feel as though I’ve changed my habits much at all as I was already eating healthily 80% of the time and I strength training and run regularly, so I’m
not sure how it works, just that it must be doing something because prior to going on MJ I’d spent 6 months losing/regaining the same 2lbs, so although a stone isn’t a massive loss over four months, I’m convinced it’s a stone more than I would’ve lost without it. Healand Clinic is £190 a month for microdosing then goes up to £265 for 2.5mg, so it’s not cheap but I was only just over a BMI of 25 when I started and had no problems getting prescribed the microdose. I didn’t have to send any pics, just had a ten minute consultation and now have a follow up once a month.

You sound like you have a huge amount going on, so I’m not surprised you don’t have the headspace to consciously lose weight. I’d say if you can afford it then it’s worth a go, just that it might not switch off the cravings so it might not work for you. It’s different for everyone though, so you just won’t know unless you try!

@Piccalino3 just to share my experience as I'm also interested in health generally, I haven't done the Zoe programme but listen to the podcast and others re fitness. I also eat healthy meals but either overeat and/or add in too many calories from sweet food, stress eating (usually about work) I'm only 4-6kg over where I want to be, but I've tried and failed to lose that over the last two years and my weight (specifically, my waistline) has been creeping up the last few years. My appetite just seemed so much bigger than my calorie allowance, not helped by being short and in peri.

I'm on my 2nd week of wegovy, so im only on the starter dose but for me it's been great. Subtle but definite appetite suppression from the start; I'm eating my healthy meals and actually eating them rather than ditching my home made chicken salad at work and going to Gregg's. I have had some chocolate but I haven't craved it like I usually would. My meals are similar to before but with the smaller portions and not snacking I'm averaging 1300 calories a day so I'm already losing weight, though Im confident my nutrition is good and my energy levels are fine. I signed up to 3 months with voy, and I expect when I finish that I might try another provider for a low maintenance dose if that's possible. I am hoping though that I'll have retrained my habits enough to stick to them better though.

This is what I can see happening - in the past I’ve lost a couple of stone after having babies. That was hard, I did it on slimming world but really had to apply myself. That was years ago and now I’m peri, it goes on in the middle the way it didn’t before and I just don’t have capacity to cook, plan and count as much as I did before. I get planthood boxes every other week and tend to eat scrambled eggs and avocado, that sort of thing. I have been so good at maintaining my weight for years, but put on a stone since August when my husband moved out and left me with 3 kids who had total meltdowns. The weight went on because I stress ate. I am thinking if I could perhaps just have some help losing it I could control the eating in the way I did before.

I know it would be better to do it by dieting but I can see another 6 months going by and just ending up heavier. I would like to lose a pound a month, I’m not after a quick weight loss, I will eat high protein, might get a walking pad and some light arm weights. There is so much of my life that I need to get in order!

Thanks @Proteinpudding, I was thinking of signing up for 3 months with Voy just to reset me. I’ve put on this weight by stress eating sugar, it’s been my only pleasure and almost a compulsion. Lately I’ve noticed I’m thinking about the next thing I can eat all the time and that’s just not like me. I need to reset myself, as you say, retrain habits. I suppose the things that put me off is the fact I’d be using it not as it’s meant to be used really and scary side effects, plus hair loss and loss of muscle and collagen - although relatively this seems to be from rapid weight loss - which I do not want!

I stupidly threw away the box with my first prescription label on and want to change provider to get a better deal on my 2nd pen. Is there anyway round this?
I have an email with my order number on and date it was prescribed-I wonder if this will suffice?

Did you not order on line? Just snagit from your account with that chemist.

I’ll try that, thank you.

This is very similar to me. Hair loss and muscle loss would only be SE if you lost wait rapidly, you can avoid that by being sensible with your dose (not increasing too quickly) and opting for wegovy over mounjaro (mj is more effective so tends to lead to faster weight loss) And obviously focusing on protein and ideally some strength training whilst losing weight.

I also questioned about how it's 'meant' to be used - whilst it was started for very overweight people, it's been used by many of those people to get down to 27bmi, then lower, down to 21-22 for many. So it is used on plenty of people at the lower BMI's, just that they didn't start that way. I know their needs/feelings around food and appetite will be a little different, but it's not like their bodies are magically different in those ranges compared to you or I!

I’m nearly ready for my 7th jab. I’m still teetering on the edge of going under 10 stone. I’d really like to see that weight consistently start with a 9!!!!

My experience has been that the first half a stone came off really easily. Then the most recent 1 and 1/2 pounds has been much slower. Probably impacted by my cycle and also the heat.

I also wonder about my body trying to stay at its usual “set point”. However, I’ve just kept consistent with my eating and exercise. The jabs really have helped me with being able to keep to a consistent calorie deficit. That aspect of it has felt really straightforward, even while the weight loss has been slower. Usually, not losing weight would trigger thoughts of “fuck it” and overeating. I haven’t experienced that once.

I strength train anyway, so I know I’m keeping as much muscle as possible. I can see the change in how my clothes fit now, which is motivating.

I'm probably only planning on trying to lose maybe 4 more pounds. I don’t want to go to a weight that’s not maintainable.

Thank you for reading this essay 😂. I hope everyone has a good day.

I kept up my running to start with but it’s really tailed off the last few weeks, but I’m putting that down to the heat as well!

I know the message is to do strength training etc alongside WLI because of muscle loss, but I figure I’m not losing a huge amount of weight. I’m going to try to get back on things with running and bootcamp this weekend, but I’m just aiming to keep at it rather than really push for fitness gains. Once I’ve finished my weight loss and not on a calorie restrictions I’m going to really double down on exercise.

What is everyone doing with clothes as they get too big? Get rid or hang on to them “just in case”…?

Yes that does sound similar! I did my 6th jab of 0.25 Wegovy today. Down to 67kg this morning. I'm trying to weigh myself more often so I am getting away from that once a week 'test' feeling. So now I'm at about 3-3.5kg loss over 5 weeks and I'm happy with that. My target is 60kg. I ate not very much at all days 3-5 again this week but that also coincided with being way too hot! But I do think the suppression is still currently there on 0.25 dose. How are you getting on?

I haven’t lost anything this week, despite it being my most normal week food-wise so far in terms of just being mostly at home.
Maybe it’s the weather. I’m also pretty much desk-bound for 2 weeks, snowed under with work, so the lack of movement might be a factor too I suppose. Hopefully next week will be better.

Hello, wondering if I can join? I jabbed my first Wegovy dose on Wednesday. I weigh nearly 12 stone and am 5 foot 3. I’d like to ideally get down to 10 or 10.5. I’m struggling with it so far. I feel like I did in pregnancy: nausea until I eat something, flag, tired. I’m definitely not pregnant (am 48!)

Are these normal reactions/feelings? Anyone else had them? Not sure I can cope feeling
like this all the time!

I felt the exact same, and do still feel like this sometimes. I think the nausea comes from lack of eating to be honest, I feel better if I eat little and often, even if I have no hunger whatsoever. Keep at it. I’m doing my 4th MJ jab tonight and don’t feel half as bad as I did initially. I’ve also lost 4kg without trying.

I was very similar first week wegovy, and awful disrupted sleep too. I still occasionally feel nauseous but otherwise no SE.

Go up nice and slowly, I stayed on 0.25 for 5 weeks, then 0.33, now 0.5.

Welcome @Jenbot78

I started off on Wegovy, lowest dose, and swapped to Mounjaro after 4 weeks as the side effects were proving too much to cope with (including extreme nausea and insomnia).

Some people find the side effects decrease after a while, but we're all different, so it's a case of monitoring how you feel and taking steps to ease the nausea - anti-nausea meds/eating little and often/staying hydrated, none of which worked for me, but do work for others.

It would be worth reading the whole thread as others have posted about their side effect experiences (if you haven't read it already).

I hope things settle for you soon.

I didn’t have any side effects at .25 but I went up to .5 last Friday and felt exactly as you describe for 2-3 days. I’ve just taken my second dose this morning so will see how it goes this weekend!