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

I went on mounjano last summer with 2ish stone to lose and lost 1.5 stone and stopped at Christmas as I was sick of feeling constantly nauseous. I have regained 7 pounds so going back on with the aim to lose another stone.
i just wanted to warn everyone that it doesn’t always work at lower doses. I was so jealous of people getting suppression at 2.5 when I had to go up to 7.5 before I felt anything. So I was on it for 5 months in total, lost nothing for 2.5 months then lost 21 pounds in 2.5 months. I used the extra dose to go up to 7.5 earlier than I could get the pen.

Good to know, thank you. My mum has been on it and said she had to go up to get suppression so it might be the case with me also.

It definitely affected my sleep when I started taking it and still does sometimes on jab day. I know how you’re feeling about suppression and having to force yourself to eat, it’s not pleasant. It’s very weird because I took my last dose last Tuesday, and yesterday and today haven’t been very hungry and have felt very full after a light supper, which is bizarre because over the weekend I had an appetite and ate loads. This hasn’t happened before 🤷‍♀️

I think the suppression is starting to wear off a bit for me 😩. I was fine all day yesterday then started to feel quite hungry last night. Fine, had a decent dinner and a snack, hit my protein goals etc. Then I took my antidepressants (Mirtazapine) and it was game over! It’s an appetite stimulant and the cravings I get on it are insane, I’ve never experienced anything like it. Ended up binging on half a packet of biscuits, three cream eggs and a yoghurt. So disappointed and disgusted with myself. I have an appointment with psychiatry next week and I’m going to ask about changing my meds. My next jab is Friday night so I just need to have some self control until then. I’m gutted as it was working so well. I’ll see how it goes over the next few weeks but I guess I might have to go up to 5mg.

If you took your last jab last Friday it’s quite normal for it to wear off after about five days. You could either try upping the dose or jabbing more frequently, i.e. every five days. The latter would be my preferred option because the SEs shouldn’t be as bad and it maintains a more even dose in your system instead of getting more pronounced peaks and troughs.

Day 4 for me. Day 2 and 3 I had a very odd prickly sunburn sensation all over. I was really worried about it being an allergic reaction but spoke to Voy who were very reassuring and it has passed thankfully. I have just had a purition shake with skimmed milk for breakfast and oh my goodness I am so full. I feel like I've eaten a house! This is very strange for me as I usually have no problem over filling my stomach. I will definitely sip it over a longer period next time, I am quite uncomfortable. I'm trying to decide if I should have a peek at the scales or wait the full week. What is everyone else doing weigh-in wise?

That’s really helpful, thank you! Do you know how that would work with ordering my next pen if I’m doing every 5 days?

I signed up with Voy thanks to this post I had been googling perimenopause, glp1 for months. Lost 20kg 2 years ago with sheer hard work & determination, didn’t socialise for months! 10kg of that has creeped back on. 2 years older (46) & very obvious peri symptoms along with a bmr of only 1300, even with healthy eating & regular exercise it is just impossible to live a normal life so restricted & lose any weight. I did my first injection of MJ on Monday & so far suppression is good the only side effect is nausea but it’s mild. Good luck to everyone I could have written 90% of the posts already in here.

Most pharmacies allow you to order after 2-3 weeks, and if your pen contains the 5th dose, at least for now you’ll be ok….

Also, now you have a prescription, you can also probably change supplier fairly easily- try Medexpress. They allow you to re-order after about 2 weeks.

Youvdign up and say you’re already taking mj, they will want proof - eg photo if the box with prescription details.

I took my first injection Monday and feel fine, maybe a little nausea but that isn’t unusual for me. I had food suppression yesterday but not so much today. I am just back from an 8km hill walk though so that may account for my peckishness. I hope the food suppression kicks in more because it is my chocolate grazing that has been my downfall.

@happymumday I weigh myself every day and record it in an app called Happy Scale that smooths out the minor fluctuations to show your overall trends. I find it easier mentally to do it every day rather than letting it go for a while and then going through all sorts of mental gymnastics about when to do it to get the “best results”. Sometimes this means that I have a few days where the scale stays steady or goes up and I find that mildly disappointing but as overall I have been losing weight steadily since I started WLI 5 weeks ago it is not the mental torture it has been in the past. I am now about 8 lbs down.

Just checking in! I’m now 5 days post jab and the effects kicked in yesterday (so I think my body took slightly longer than ‘normal’ to absorb). I had good suppression whilst still being able to eat fairly good portion sizes, I was just much fuller than normal which made it easy not to snack etc.

the good news is my BP is already coming down, which I am over the mood about (it was the main reason I started MJ). Tough wood side effects have been minimal, just some nausea and slightly upset tummy but nothing major. So far so good!

Ah that’s great news @KittyQuestions34! Brilliant that it’s working and having a postive effect on your BP already!

I am also day 5 (injected on Saturday afternoon) and am still feeling the effects. I could barely eat my breakfast yesterday and lunch was a struggle. Dinner was better actually. So it’s definitely working. The bad news is that my sleep is really affected on it. I am awake for hours in the night. Luckily I can wfh but do need to go into the office a couple of times a week and tbh, it’s not going to be possible feeling like this. I’ve told work I am on a new medication but not divulged what exactly (obviously) and they have been flexible this week… however I don’t expect that to last so I am worried about that.

I am going to look into microdosing. I’ve had a strong reaction to this lowest dose and reckon on even half it would have an effect (maybe?) but taking less of the drug might help with my side effect of poor sleep. It’s not had any effect on my autoimmune condition (yet!) - which is one of the main reasons I am taking it. I am hopeful in that area though as I know it’s not going to clear up in a matter of days. Apparently even microdosing can help with Autoimmune conditions.

Really not sure what to do. If anyone has any advice - do let me know!

Good luck for today everyone x

Morning! Sorry to hear that @ritala, sounds like you must be a super responder, although on the plus side getting good suppression from a half dose would be a bonus cost wise! I hope you start to feel better though.

I feel like I am starting to get some suppression now but it's not major, I have still been eating but I feel like I'm not wolfing it down as much! 😂 And the compulsion to eat is much less (as is my evening compulsion for wine which is a plus) . I am hoping it increases though as the doses build up, and I imagine I probably will go up to 0.5 next month but we'll see.

I haven't really had any side effects except extremely mild nausea in the morning but it's manageable. Will be interested to see what the scales say at the end of the week.

I can't remember who you are with @ritala but have you tried speaking to the provider about the side effects? They might have some advice.

Sorry to hear that you are struggling with insomnia @ritala. Agree about checking inn with your provider. I haven’t had these issues - instead have had really vivid dreams (think Hollywood action movie level) that leave me exhausted. I guess a few options could be do another week to see if your body adjusts, space out the dosing more or do micro dosing. I had reflux side effects so did do micro dosing and have then been building back up. Has been more manageable this way. I’m on MJ.

If you up your pen to 5mg and take 2.5 every five days it will last 40 days. It depends who your provider is, but Voy allow you to delay your next pen for a couple of weeks.

Hi all, I checked in with my provider but had a slightly better night last night. However, as I am due for dose number 2 tomorrow, I won’t be going for 0.25 again and will be click counting instead. Hopefully that will help.

I am still having food suppression. I’ve not had breakfast yet and that was unheard of for me a couple of weeks ago at this time. I’m just not hungry. I am eating though and am trying hard to hit my protein and fibre goals every day.

How is everyone doing?

Hope that helps @ritala. I am still not feeling a great deal, though out of curiosity I did weigh myself this morning and I have lost a couple of pounds. So I think I am perhaps eating a bit less/smaller portions etc without it being enough to be super noticeable. Interested to see how it goes with the next dose and whether I get more suppression as I understand it does build up.

Day 7 for me and weigh in day. I’ve lost 6.25 pounds! Really chuffed with that. I’m guessing a lot will be water weight but it’s a start! I’ll take my second jab this evening. I’ve not really had many side effects. I felt a bit nauseous for two days after but nothing that stopped me going about my day to day life. Suppression seemed to start wearing off for me around Tuesday evening when I had a small binge but I got back on track and stuck to my deficit on Wednesday and Thursday. I still have an appetite but nowhere near what it was before.

@ritala have you ever tried melatonin gummies? I find them great for getting me to sleep, might be worth a try.

That's fantastic!

It’s really interesting and motivating to read how everyone is getting on 🙌

I’m looking forward to getting started on Sunday evening once I’m back from a weekend away.

Thanks all! Well done on your loss @MessyNDepressy! That’s brilliant!! What a great start! I also weighed in this morning and am 1.5 lbs down, which I’m really happy about - similar loss to you @aquitodavia

@kljdhs877- I have not tried the gummies… do you have any recommendations? Hoping for Amazon for ease of purchase lol

Well done on your losses guys! Very motivating. I weigh on Fridays and I’ve lost 6lbs this week!!! Absolutely mind boggling but there we go! I do feel pretty sick today but I’m due to jab on Sunday so I’m hoping it will die down a little over the next few days, we’ll see! It definitely took until Wednesday to have a significant effect so maybe it will take a little longer to wear off as well.