If you were to start knowing what you know now…

[madeinthe80z]

How would you prepare before your first ever jab in the days and weeks before?
What would you do differently from day one?

I’m asking this mainly to anticipate and reduce / anlleviate any potential side effects that I am feeling anxious about. I’d rather be proactive and not just wait and see! But all tips and thoughts welcome.

I wouldn’t have eaten so much on the first jab day (I ate a bag of nuts on top of my normal food) I jab just before bed, and still had a lot of food in my stomach. For a couple of days after I felt like I’d never have an empty stomach again and it was miserable.

Related, I’d have counted clicks from the start and worked up from a start point of maybe 1.25mg / 30 clicks of a 2.5mg pen.

My DH has started jabbing about 6 weeks ago and he’s counting clicks on the basis of my experience and has had a much easier time than I did.

Decide ahead what kind of eating plan you’re going to follow, and stock up on the food.
Know that everyone reacts differently. Some people will have horrible side effects, others won’t. Some will have bigger weight losses than others. Some people will fly along, others will plod. Don’t compare yourself to others too much. Stock up on a few nausea/constipation meds just in case. Pick a good supplier that you can talk to if you do have problems.
Plan what exercise you will add in too. Even simple walking will be good.
Read through loads of previous WLI threads - old and new. You’ll notice that it’s not as easy as you think and lots of people have plateaus. Weight loss is likely to slow down a fair bit after a few months. And that’s fine - if you keep going you will continue to lose. Just don’t think that you’ll have big losses all the way through.

I'm on wegovy week four, I don't feel any different so far.

Oh yeah, pepto bismol is amazing stuff. I was worried about keeping it down because it tastes like germoline but it’s brilliant at settling things down

If you are losing weight (even slowly) on low doses, don’t rush to go up. Stay on each one as long as you can.

I’d agree with this one. I went up the doses quickly but in hindsight didn’t need to.
Other than that, I haven’t had any negative side effects beyond a bit of hair loss (due to rapid weightloss due to the aforementioned dose climbing), no sickness or nausea, just jabbed at night and went to sleep. Woke up with no appetite and had to sit down and properly concentrate on getting the calories in.
But really, I’ve been absolutely fine and have managed to still eat some of what I wanted the whole way through. 20 months in now and never felt better.

Consider if you can afford to buy it for life if its not free for you. The price increase caught many off guard and whilst there is hope alternatives will be available (and cheaper soon) i cant see why the manufacturers would charge less when they know people will buy the wli anyway.

Exercise. Not for weight loss, for body conposition, mental health and longevity

Yes. Absolutely.

But equally don’t feel a failure if you do need to move up. It seems to be a thing lately that people “lost seven stones in a year without moving off 2.5mgs” and some people seem to post that they’re still on 2.5mg after four months but they are struggling- almost as though they feel they shouldn’t move up. Do what works for you.

And be aware that some of us won’t get many affects even on the higher doses. I haven’t had any appetite suppression in 11 months, and I’m on 12.5, about to go to 15.

Just interested .. what do you mean by counting clicks ? I'm hoping to start soon .

I would say ( depending on side effects ) don’t forget to enjoy the first couple of months. It was such a novelty to not want to eat junk food and to see the weight shift . After a while you do need to be more mindful, but it can be a good experience too!

@Contrarymary30
The pen makes a clicking noise when you prepare your dose. A full dose is 60 clicks, 30 clicks is half etc

I saw loads of people talking about counting clicks and had no idea what it meant until I got my first pen and looked at the instructions to be able to work it out.

I wish I’d looked on YouTube… I bet there’ll be videos on there that will explain better than I can… it’s a lot easier than it might sound

The only thing i'd change is I'd have started sooner! I bought it and let the pen sit in my fridge for ages cos I was scared of side effects.

I also started on 1.25 for 6 weeks which put my fears at rest, gave me time to get my head around it and I still lost a stone in that time.

Amazing thank you all. I have been wondering if it is possible to start on a lower dose… with the click counting would you for example administer 1.25mg twice a week or per week and does it last that long in the fridge?

I’d also have started sooner, it’s been amazing for me, I’ve my life back and am healthy again and I feel great snd like how I look.

i just ate a clean and healthy diet from day 1, never had any side effects, the only thing I got was a needle site reaction for a few months, about 2 months after starting,red raised itchy bit, antihistamines helped a bit and it was annoying, but don’t get them any more.

i prepared and bought all the ginger tabs, Imodium etc, didn’t need any of it, never felt nausea, no sulphur burps, no dodgy guts, just lots of energy,

10mg was my optimal dose, it was perfect, could eat a healthy portion, walk away, didn’t think about it, still got hungry for meals but could wait. No desire for chocolate or crap, my diet became very healthy and it shows in my skin and body. Felt rhe same 24/7.

drink 3 litres of water a day though, eat your protein, 1g per kg of body weight, minimum, it’s critical and do your strength training, you need to protect muscle at all costs, and lose fat, or you won’t like what you see in the mirror when you hit goal, and don’t lose more than 2lbs a week, as again you won’t like what you see in the mirror, muscle wastage, loose skin, empty breasts and a flat arse isn’t pretty. My body is toned with muscle definition as I followed these rules. Religiously.

Good luck done properly you will look and feel fab.

It does but why, do you want to do it or not; 2.5 is just to get your body used to it, the first therapeutic dose is 5mg, take a quarter when you don’t even know how you will react is pointless.

optima for you could be 5, could be 15. You won’t know till you start, but do it properly

There isn’t much I’d do differently. I’d have started sooner too, I spent a few weeks deliberating before deciding to order. With the benefit of hindsight, impossible to know at the time, but I could have stayed on 2.5mg for longer, and stayed on 5mg for longer too. I went up each month because that was the suggested schedule but it took me till 7.5mg to work out that if a dose was working that it was ok to stay on it.

Oh, I also stuck with my first pharmacy for too long because I was nervous of changing, so I spent more money than I could have done. I would have started swapping pharmacies after the first order in retrospect.

Don’t be scared of injecting. I was terrified and kept putting it off. It was really nothing. Doesn’t hurt at all and was very easy once I’d done it.

Also edited to add, if you’re not used to drinking a lot of water then gradually build it up. I felt terrible after thinking I had to drink litres of water and it was too much.

having dieted many times over the years; i was glad i had my scale and calorie/nutrition app ready.
i was a bit scared of the injecting idea, but honestly the size of the needle is the tiniest thing i've ever seen. totally painless.
i was a bit scared of the drug effects and all i've noticed is a touch more will power, which suits me just fine.
another person who wished they had started sooner.

This is really helpful everybody, thank you. I now need to get my head around pricing…. I have been reading up and it looks like I can find a supplier with a deal for my first doses then switch if necessary to chase the discounts. It is a huge investment but hopefully worth it, but I will need to be as savvy as possible to afford it, especially as my husband may be joining in too…

any advice? (I may need a new thread as searching hasn’t quite got me the answers I’m looking for)

Yes. I agree with this. The process is a marathon not a sprint and the longer you take to lose your weight the better equipped you’ll be for the long term and no regain.

I don’t have any advice on prices, I’ve been with one pharmacy since I started, cba with chopping and changing although I do find the reordering process a faff with the pharmacy I’m with. I chose them specifically as you can pick a delivery date which I needed to be able to do as I wfh some days but not others and can’t guarantee anyone else will be home.
Not sure if more providers offer this now but when I first started I couldn’t find anyone else offering this. they also had good options for maintenance at the time but I think others have maybe now upped their options.

Nothing. It all went absolutely fine.

My main advice would be:

a) just get on and do it.

b) take the medication as it is prescribed rather than messing about with amounts and timescales as some on social media may tell you to do.

c) don’t expect the instant results as again some people claim on social media, you will generally need to move up doses till you reach the level which works for you and when you become too tolerant to that dose move up again.

d) record all your calories accurately everyday to ensure you eat in deficit.

This.

I bought various foods thinking I should make sure I had lots of healthy stuff in the house. I’m still trying to get through the dried blueberries etc etc over a year later because I just don’t eat very much anymore.

Do strength-focused exercise and eat protein so you don’t lose muscle.

If a dose is working for you, you do not have to move up. I lost pretty much all my weight on 2.5.

Eat your protein and lift weights. Heavy weights. Ending up skinny with no muscles is not good for your health.

And do not go out buying entire new wardrobe when you are close to goal, but want to lose just a little more. It takes for ever for your clothes size to change initially, but if you are already slim, just a few pounds more and all your nice new clothes will be too big.