Can anyone talk me through starting mounjaro or wegovy.

[SnappyQuoter]

I’ve managed to lose 2 stone so far on my own, but it’s getting harder and I have less time now due to a change in job. I’m currently 13st 6, and I’d like to get down to anywhere between 9.5 and 10 stone.

I know nothing about weight loss injections other than all that stuff in the new about the prices going crazy so can anyone recommend what I should use, where to get it and how I pair it with diet and exercise?

Yep. There's only Wegovy or Mounjaro at the moment in the UK. You want a GPhC registered pharmacy. There's a website called https://monj.co.uk/ which lists many of the GPhC registered pharmacy with price comparisons and lots of info about each pharmacy.

You just choose a pharmacy and complete their online consultation form. You will be asked to submit various bits of evidence, can be photos, live video etc showing your figure in tight clothes and your weight on the scales. Some places do that during the online form, some you do it afterwards when they contact you, or you book a time for a live video. You pay when you fill out the form. If you are approved then your medication is sent out to you via 24 or 48hr delivery with cold packs and insulation to keep it cold. You keep it in the fridge before the first use.

You can also get WLI from independent high street pharmacies face to face if you prefer that. That tends to be more expensive.

Also have a read of the various threads in this section.

Oh, Wegovy is cheaper but a bit less effective and slightly more chance of side effects. Mounjaro is more effective but much more expensive.

One year in and 6st down…what would you like to know?

The price is one of the issues. I feel guilt at the idea of spending that much on myself! If I go mounjaro. But would wegovy just be a waste of money then? If it’s less effective?

Less effective just means that in the trials people on Wegovy lost around 16% of their starting weight on average. People on Mounjaro lost around 22% on average. Individual results will vary and plenty of people lose plenty of weight on Wegovy.

I was the same but I actually save more money now (not eating crap, takeaways, eating out as much, and totally stopped drinking too) than I’m spending on MJ each month.

I think I just needed to hear that. It’s worth a shot at the lower price I think. Hopefully I don’t end up having to go on mounjaro in a year anyway, if this doesn’t work!

Good luck with whatever you decide with this. I started on Mounjaro in July 2024 with a lot of weight to lose, I’m now down over 50% of my starting weight and it’s has totally changed my life.

There’s a pill coming out:
onlinedoctor.superdrug.com/orforglipron-glp-1-pill.html

When you read the instructions papers in the med box it says there’s risk of thyroid cancer 👀

There's orflorgipron which will be branded as Foundayo when it's approved in the UK:

https://onlinedoctor.asda.com/uk/orforglipron.html

It's not yet available, but should be sometime later this year or into 2027 after Lilly get approval from the MHRA. It's less effective than Wegovy and Mounjaro - patients on the trials lost 11% of their starting weight once they were on the maximum dose, after 72 weeks.

Instructions for which medication?

@Mayflower282 well the leaflets for Mounjaro don't, as there isn't a general risk of developing thyroid cancer.

If you have a family or personal history of certain types of thyroid cancer then you won't be prescribed Mounjaro. That's because of one study done on rodents that showed a possible link to increased rates of thyroid cancer, after the rodents were given huge doses of GLP1 medications during their whole lives. There has never been a case of thyroid cancer in relation to anyone taking Mounjaro and none of the human clinical trials have ever shown any increased rates of any kinds of cancer. Which is why there is no general warning or mention of it as a possible side effect, because it isn't a possible side effect or a known risk.

Because in tests on rats there was a slightly increased risk - there is no evidence yet on whether it is a risk in humans so it's listed as a very low risk because it's required... just like most medications have some very unpleasant but low risks listed. Human clinical trials have not shown any increased risk in thyroid cancer, although of course it could take longer to emerge.

Plus, obesity is the number 1 cause of most cancers, so even if mounjaro slightly increases the risk of thyroid cancer, it reduces everything else overall.

I saw that for wegovy too, but it said not confirmed in humans and only really a worry with a history. My family has zero history of any cancer on both sides, going back several generations. Apart from one case caused by radiation, and he had his kids before that happened so nothing passed down.

But we have a huge history of heart disease, huge! So… getting the weight off and staying healthy is much more important to me than an unconfirmed risk of thyroid cancer.

I haven't tried mounjaro but have been on wegovy for just under a year now and have lost 4.5 stone. I hear mounjaro is more effective but I have been happy with wegovy. I have had long plateaus on it but I don't mind that. Lower doses are cheaper which is what you start on. I'm now on the maximum dose and pay 200 a month. Best money I've ever spent. Fifty quid a week could be wiped out by a takeaway once a week and a coffee/cake...so I don't feel guilty at all.

If you've never tried a GLP1 before and price is a consideration I'd go with Wegovy. Lots of the US celebrities lost a lot of weight on Wegovy (Ozempic in the US).

(There are actually other GLP1s for weightloss, such as Nevolat (liraglutide) but they require daily injections rather than weekly.)

I’m on Mounjaro but using click counting to micro dose from a 5mg pen and that works out cheaper.

I’ve been on it for 9 months and lost 4 stones so far with another stone to go and I’ve not gone above 3.5mg. If you only move up the doses when you actually need to rather than moving every 4 weeks up to the maximum dose, you might find you don’t need to spend too much money after all.

Unfortunately, you won’t know if you can stay on the lowest doses and how well you respond to the medication until you start.

When you read instructions on virtually any medication they will cite possible risks. In the case of WLIs the research was done on rodents, there has been no evidence of actual incidence of thyroid cancer in those taking WLIs beyond what would normally be found in the general population,

If I were you, esp with cost consideration, I would try wegovy first. Anecdotal I know but those I know who hadn’t tried Mounjaro and started on Wegovy have been very successful.

It seems if you were on mounjaro first switching to wegovy is more difficult because it is better as it has the GIP hormone it targets.

I started on mounjaro 13 days ago. Bolt pharmacy. Could have done with more information beforehand about how they operate but there's plenty of info about mounjaro itself available on the net. They asked for official ID, GP details and permission to contact, photos (including face) in form fitting clothes, height and weight. BMI was calculated at 31.2 😬

I lost 6.7lbs in the first week but TMI... TBF I shat it all out on day 5. Stock up on loperamide/ imodium, would be my advice.
Apart from 24 difficult hours, it's been ok. Immediately lost appetite/ interest in food. Just mechanically eating 3 v small meals a day to get minimum necessary calories and nutrition in.
2nd weigh day tomorrow- will see what the scales say... my jeans are saying there's definitely been further weight loss.
Exercise of choice is swimming but I need to add in some weights.

Cheaper pharmacies than Bolt. Google mounjaro price comparison website.

I had my very first dose yesterday OP. I did a lot of research between MJ and wegovy and also checked reviews and details for the places selling the products, including checking they had a pharmacy licences and GMC registrations for the Drs working there. I chose MJ.

Very early on, I wrongly assumed it was a pen a week and not one every 4/5 weeks. Many people move from one supplier to another to get the best deal each month and there are price lists available with discount codes. I chose swift doctor. They have £10 off your first order so my first pen was £130. After completing the medical questionnaire, I had to scan licence or passport, then take a short video of myself saying the date, showing myself in clothes in the mirror then on scales. It was delivered at 8:30am the next morning!

Same goal as me, I started at 13 stone 6, I’m currently 10 stone 6, I started Mounjaro 7th December, happy to answer any questions.

It’s different for everyone. I know people who have done both , it’s just how your body reacts.
It’s really not complicated.