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[madeinthe80z]

I’ve decided I’m doing it. I THINK I’ve decided on MJ rather than WG but now I’m looking at cost options. I’ve read a few people saying they swap and change pharmacy each order to get discounts. In reality is this feasible? Do I just go with a pharmacy I’m happy with for the original 2.5mg and 5mg cost and then go from there.

I also can’t decide whether financially for me WG is worth trying first given I have 2.5-3 stone to lose.

I know nobody can tell me what to do and apologies if this is asked a million times but I am struggling to find specific advice within all the post threads I’ve been reading!

Personally I would go straight for Mounjaro after trying wegovy and finding it less effective, apart from giving me serious constipation, hemhorroids and an £800 bill for private removal surgery 😡
Mounjaro works, but it's more expensive. When I started, I was still in a binge eater/food addict mindset and didn't change my diet, relying on Mounjaro to restrict my intake which it did. However this meant I chased suppression through higher doses and went right to 15mg before the unexpected price hike.
knowing what I know now, I would have changed my diet much earlier to support and maximise the effect of the drug so I could have ideally stayed at lower doses and still lost the same.

It is very feasible to swap pharmacies. I have done it several times to save money. Have you seen the price comparison websites for Mounjaro and Wegovy:

https://monj.co.uk/
https://igovy.co.uk/wegovy-price-comparison-uk/

The discount prices are with a new customer/first order discount, then if you stay with the same pharmacy you would pay the retail price without discount for your next order.

All swapping means is just applying to the new pharmacy, and when you fill out their online form there will be a question about whether you're already taking a WLI, which one and what dose. You would then provide evidence of that, usually a picture of the prescription label on the medication box will do, as it shows your name, the date, the medication and the dose. You can then choose the same dose level, or one lower/higher if you want to change your dose.

It's worth being aware that a few pharmacies do a subscription model where you need to actively cancel otherwise they will charge you after 4 weeks and send out another pen. There is a column on the Monj/iGovy site to indicate if the pharmacy is subscription-based.

@SilenceInsideThis is really helpful thank you. I have looked at monj. I asked chat gpt for the cheapest most reputable companies and the 2 that came back weren’t on the monj list. Is all the companies on the monj list trustworthy??

What are the two companies you've found?

Monj lists most sites, but not all. All the ones listed will be legitimate - you can see their GPhC registration number listed in the table. Monj are a business and there may be some sites that they don't list for various reasons. You can check whether a pharmacy is legitimate by checking its GPhC registration and making sure the details match, along with the CQC if they are also registered with them.

@SilenceInsidethey’re called medicspot and slinic. I’ve done no further research on them yet.

i think I will go with someone from the monj list. Tempted by Asda as I can collect locally!

don’t suppose there’s a spouse discount from anywhere is there?!

I would also go for mounjaro. I started late October with a similar target, and had steady losses up to 10 mg, reaching target in 4 months, and now maintaining and gradually reducing doses.

But I wouldn’t take a risk on an unknown pharmacy - too easy to get scammed. ChatGPT will suggest based on pharmacy mentions etc that it finds on the Internet, not necessarily those that are genuine.

Check monj, ghpc and trust pilot before you order…. And if the price seems too good to be true it probably is.

Spouse discount…. If one of you orders, many pharmacies give you a referral code so you both get rewarded.

ChatGPT will have no idea about what pharmacies are the most trustworthy or reputable, honestly it's such a vague question without well defined parameters.

I have never heard of those two, they might be ok but they definitely aren't the most well known or trusted pharmacies. I'd just go with one of the ones on the Monj list for now, you can always change later.

@SilenceInside Yep thanks that’s what I’m doing now. Looking at the companies with a decent discount price for the first doses but then who arent gonna sting me for the next couple of orders as I don’t fancy swapping quite so regularly!

im basing it on 8 weeks at 2.5mg and then 12 at 5mg just for comparisons sake - is this pretty realistic?!

It's very hard to say about the time on each dose tbh. I would suggest Medicine Market Place as being generally cheap at the lower doses, without needing a discount.

@madeinthe80z are you hoping to take mj for 5 months, at the lower doses, lose the weight and come off?
That's quite a simplistic way of coming at it, because :
a, not everyone responds to the lower doses
b, even if you do and lose all your weight in five months, coming off this drug is not as simple as just stopping when you have reached goal, the titration and decision to stop is the most complicated part of it.
I tried to stop but the hunger comes back, along with the inflammation, water weight, cravings etc, so now I'm on it for life having never intended to, I actually lost the weight really easily, as do most, then comes the difficult bit.
I've been on it for 18 months, but I lost the weight I intended in about 4 or 5 months.

@Cranksbreadsorry nope I am just using those figures for my initial 3 month price comparison as I think I’ll have a bit more headspace and experience after that time with one pharmacy where if I want to switch I can review again. Would be good if it worked like that though haha

Right it looks like Medicine Marketplace or NuLife Pharmacy then! Next Script is working out cheapest but their reviews aren’t as good on trustpilot so for the sake of a tenner I think I’ll discount them. (GetWeightLoss a close 3rd just in case anybody is gonna advise on these!)

@madeinthe80z ok good idea, look at their maintenance policies as it varies as to how low they'll let you go. And whether they expect you to be loyal to keep prescribing after goal.