18 months on Mounjaro and not losing

[Polkadotdash]

Looking for other non-losers!
I’ve been on Mounjaro for 18 months now. I had a period in the middle where I lost some weight (about 2.5 stone). Then I stopped losing altogether about 9 months ago. I’ve since put on half a stone.
My current dose is 10mg. My BMI is 29.
I feel very disheartened. I’m in a lovely group elsewhere on mumsnet who we’ve shared our journey with from the start. I’m the only one who hasn’t reached their goal and has actually gained. I feel like I’m some freak.
Anyone else like this?

Ultimately some people are non responders. The aim of the drug is to make it easier to follow a deficit. For me, I managed to lose consistently without having to weigh and count every calorie but it’s clear from this (and other) threads that this doesn’t work for everyone. Some will have to weigh and measure to be really sure they are in a deficit (but will still find that the drug makes this easier) and others will find that the drug really doesn’t affect fullness and appetite enough.

For me, the high cost of the drug meant that I didn’t want to waste the money so that was the reason I didn’t need to log, eg just taking it motivated me further. In the weight loss phase I ate mostly lean protein and green vegetables, it’s really hard not to lose on that.

But everyone is different you’ll have to decide what’s best eg increase dose / accept status quo / decide to reduce and monitor calories. Good luck.

What is ‘proper medical support’?

I got up as far as the 15mg dose and then stopped wasting my money. I only lost 17 kg in about 15 months, and had no suppression, no dulling of food noise, nothing that everyone RAVES about. I could eat for Britain.

Now I've gone cold turkey and just about maintaining my loss for 3 months so far with intermittent fasting and controlled calories (as I had been doing all the while on MJ)

I ve lost 4.5 stone in 13 months, but only a stone or so since Christmas. My provider is pharmacy led, and she tells me that I look the right weight now and the weight loss has slowed because I am where I need to be, about a stone outside the healthy bmi range( but with a very large frame). She told me that I should just stop because it’s all in place to maintain, with a healthy diet and lifestyle. I didn’t believe her tho. And in the 3 weeks since that conversation, I have tried a bit harder, and lost 1/2 stone. I’ve also read the summaries of research, and it’s my intention to have a final month on 15 mg, and lose another 1/2 stone, and then work my way down. I wouldn't tell people what I eat either, because, it’s not simply calories in and out, insulin resistance is real. But drinking plenty of water does seem to help with weight loss, as does getting plenty of sleep. And I’m going to start injecting in my arms. And doing weights( but I’ve been saying that for months). I do loosely count calories, but it is loose. And I eat quite a lot still, mainly healthy. choices.

I would drop it further. My tdee started off 1800 at bmi 32.8 to currently 1470 at bmi 21.8 and I've had to go to 600-700 deficit to lose consistently weekly, I was eating 800 on days off and upto 1000 on work days the last year or so.
I've been on mounjaro 19 months now and I'm still losing when I strictly track and eat less carbs and more protein.
I think its easy to get relaxed with sticking to a deficit or eating higher protein diets etc after a long time on a diet due to diet fatigue and we can eat up eating more treats and takeaways and for me since I've dropped to 5mg down from 15mg, I'm getting more carb and sugar cravings but I've always had insulin resistance which plays a big part. I've also gone through a really stressful period and not sleeping well for weeks.
Does your dose need to increase? It's worth a try as you may have tolerance.

I started 18 months ago on Mounjaro. Literally have no horrid side effects apart from a bit of constipation if I don’t drink enough water. Moved up steadily to 15 mg and then the suppression just seemed to stop last autumn. I’ve now put on a stone and a half whilst on 15mg - how is that possible?! I have various health issues including PCOS and felt fab on Mounjaro from the first dose - it felt like the missing part to my life. I’m convinced that I need to go back to tracking everything and become more active to get things going. I try to remind myself that I’ve still lost some weight and it’s a long, forever journey/battle for me. It’s hugely frustrating though to not get the suppression/full feeling/lack of food noise that I was getting last year.

@Hottoffeesauce THANK YOU! You are the first person who has responded who is gaining weight on a high dose of MJ. I’m not alone!!! I do wonder if its efficacy ‘tops out’ so to speak and the expectation is that you will lose all the weight you need to in a 6/9 month period.
The other thing I read recently is that weight loss isn’t physics, it’s physiology. So the simple energy in vs energy out calculations don’t give the whole picture.

This is a rare but very sensible post. For people who have been very overweight, it is far far far better to lose a reasonable amount of weight and to maintained that weight in the long term than it is to spend months and years fighting your body to get to a weight thst is not manageable in the long term

For some people that means acceptance that you will likely stay 'overweight ' but you can stay there for the foreseeable future rather than going back to obese or morbidly obese. Surely there cones a time when your weight ( not your eating habits or diet but your weight) should stop being such an obsession

I’m also in exactly the same situation as you OP. Been on Mounjaro for 2 years, but weight completely static for the past year, sometimes gaining.
Dose is 10mg but I spend 1-2 days every week feeling unwell after injecting - so it’s difficult to plan journeys and even driving is difficult around that.
The constipation continues to be awful, doubly so when needing to travel.
I was wondering if we still have some sort of inbuilt Neanderthal winter weight and summer weight genetic thing to further fight against - hoping to continue losing again now we aren't cold and hunkered down.
Calories in Vs calories out and eat less/move more simply do not work on my own body and my own physiology.
I’ve been hard aerobic swimming for decades on nothing, fasting, everything…and my weight just does not shift at all.
Been dieting for 54 solid years, regularly exercise even now to the point of physical exhaustion, way beyond what most people might do - but my body doesn’t shed.
At age 70, I exercise a LOT, and physically it’s impossible do do more than I am already doing.
As a pp says, maybe I just have to be ok with being overweight, and satisfied going forwards that at least I am no longer obese.
Agree totally with what you say about not listing all the healthy well considered nutritious / protein foods I’ve consumed - for others to pick apart that I had an extra lettuce leaf with my poached egg…
I too need to get away from decades of doing this, obsessing over it and it taking over my life.

You’re definitely not a freak ❤️ honestly weight loss has been much more up and down for me than I expected too. I had periods where things completely stalled and it really knocked my motivation. I’ve had to focus more on keeping routines steady and not comparing myself to everyone else’s results.

BMR is the MINIMUM amount of calories your body needs to function.

If you eat a lot lower than this for a period of time (months), your body/metabolism adjusts and slows weight loss.

Your calorue deficit (reduction) should be deducted from your TDEE not your BMR.

Maybe your body isn't getting enough calories, which is why you're not losing.

Having a large deficit can be counterproductive.

For example, burning 700 calories with exercise but only eating 1000 calories... how many calories is your body actually getting?

If you eat a lot lower than your BMR, your body will use stored energy to make up the difference. You will lose weight as a result.

I don't disagree with what you're saying, sustained calorie deficit might reduce BMR if other actions aren't being taken to keep the metabolism up. But if the OP is not losing weight at all, they are not consistently eating under their BMR. It's that simple.

ETA: I highlighted their BMR because it's important to note that their BMI may not be what the online calculators say it is.

You’re assuming she has stored energy... also that will only work up yo a point.

If she eating 1000 calories and burning 700

Then the remaining calories aren't enough to fuel the body...

She is eating right and doing a lot of exercise - but her body is actually telling her that it isn't getting enough fuel.

I cannot see how it is possible to gain weight eating 1000 calories a day. Were you weighing and measuring everything you put in your mouth?

If her BMI is 29 she has stored energy! Fat, muscle, other tissue... obviously we want the body to take the fat first but it's all energy.

It's quite clear that something is wrong with her calculations. Overestimating BMR/TDEE or underestimating calories or both.

If her body was telling her it's not getting enough fuel she would be losing weight.

Honestly, you're taking the 'starvation mode' theory beyond the point of common sense. Of course undereating can cause your metabolism to adjust and be more conservative in how it uses energy but it doesn't reverse biology and cause you to put on weight, that's just not possible!

Sounds like me. I’ve been on MJ for about 2.5 years, am now on 10mg where I’ve been for a long time. When I go up to a higher dose the side effects are too much. I’ve lost 22kg and am about 7kg above a healthy BMI - but that was true about a year ago. Since then I just sit here. If I let go at all, I gain, easily. I jumped 4kg recently and losing it was painful, though I got there again. If I go low carb I always do lose a bit more, but I struggle with it for long periods.

I feel like others; it is life changing for me to be a smallish 16 instead of a 22, to be so much fitter and more comfortable in my own skin. If this is where I sit for the rest of my life, I’ll take it.

Just jumping in, I realise it’s a while since you first posted OP. I’m on 10mg. I was 18st 1lb and got down to 11st 9lb. Suddenly plateaued and now am 12st 4lb again. I have been on MJ for 18 months. Constipation has been an issue throughout on and off- sometimes barely but one or two nasty bouts!
Supression has decreased but not consistently, some days are great but for the past couple of months I have been eating things I haven’t eaten for over a year; crisps, chocolate, cake. I’ve felt like having a binge and I thought all of that was behind me.
I have upped my exercise massively in the past month and been much better with water.
Im pretty sure alcohol is the one thing that screws up my weight loss and I gave up smoking in February- I’ve absolutely craved sweet stuff since then.
So… I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I probably need to build a controlled amount of sugar back into my diet, that my body is resetting because of the new exercise regime. That my liver is surprised and coming to terms with far less alcohol and that constipation and fluid intake are in a state of flux!
Im going to hang in there; track like mad again, keep on with the regime! Its that or go back to copious amounts of vino and a couple of fags a day which seemed to allow me to lose nearly 7 stone!
This is not a linear process for me but I will not be despondent.
How're you getting on OP?

@Nighttimeistherightime thanks for your post. I’m still the same weight as I was this time last month. I’ve just finished my latest 10mg pen and I’m now pondering getting a 12.5mg one and making it last 5 weeks just to get me through to August and then giving up. I feel like I’ve have to accept that I’m never going to be smaller than a size 16/12st 10lbs. I will probably pile weight back on over winter but at least I’ve had a bit of time at a lower weight. I was so optimistic this time last year that I could crack getting a normal BMI, be able to wear shorts in the summer and not have to live in ‘slimming’ black clothing but I think this is it for me. It’s worked a bit, but it’s not been a miracle for me.

i'll probably get flamed for this, but i have been on mj since march 2025, ive counted every calorie that has passed my lips and ive lost 9 and half stone and ive never plateaued. ive never had the huge supression people get, but im spending money and was determined to make it work. i use nutriacheck to count calories and adjust it as ive lost weight. the bottom line is theres no such thing as starvation mode, if that were true, people wouldnt end up anorexic, prisoners of war starved wouldnt be skeletal etc. the uncomfortable truth is people hate the thought of calorie counting, but if you arent losing weight, you are eating to maintainance and if you are gaining, then you are eating over maintainance calories. and i say this as someone who had overeaten most of my life. readjust calories, increase exercise to increase deficit and it should fall off or maintain happily where you are now.

@northernlight20 well done on losing 9 stone. it’s great that it’s worked well for you. I don’t agree with the two extreme examples you’ve mentioned to debunk starvation mode. They are both cases of humans living on the barest amounts of calories for long periods of time.
Saying it again - it’s physiology not physics. Human beings are not machines.

Saying it again - it’s physiology not physics. Human beings are not machines.

I'm sorry but the laws of physics absolutely do apply here as they do in all aspects of life and the universe. All living things require and use energy to operate.

I understand the confusion around this. There's a whole diet culture and another whole anti-diet industry which exists to convince you to try this thing or that thing and if that didn't work it's because you're different, you're special, try this other thing instead. That stuff is equivalent of a mechanic tuning a machine to make it more fuel efficient but it doesn't alter the fundamentals of physics:

Consume more fuel than your body requires = body stores fuel.
Consume less fuel than your body requires = body uses stored fuel
Stored fuel = weight

You could try switching to Wegovy but at a higher dose. It's about half the price of Mounjaro.

That’s complete bollocks @Sugarnspicenallthingsnaice , insulin resistance, oestrogen, cortisol, testosterone, sleep deprivation, ghrelin, leptin. All things that affect weight gain/loss. All extremely individual to us as people.

You’re wrong, it isn’t as simple as the laws of physics at all.