Staying on Mounjaro Forever but £££?

[PumpkinSchnapps]

I believe I may well be on MJ forever and I have no problem with that- as long as I can access it. Does anyone else feel the same or is everyone hoping to taper off? I personally see the hormone/chemical part as the game changer, rather than habits/mindset/lifestyle change.

Also I guess/ hope I would legitimately be prescribed a maintenance dose longterm. But say it's 2.5mg for example, it's true that it's expensive month on month. I wouldn't be able to buy a bigger dose and count clicks to make savings, as I'd just be building up a stash. I know I need to order every month (roughly)
Any thoughts?

Just buy the peptide, much cheaper

This is the thing isn’t it?
The most cost effective way of delivering a maintenance lower dose is through the higher strength pen and click counting then final syringe. Accepting that the pen is being used far longer than the recommended timeframe.

But there comes a point that you would have a stash of pens as you would need to regularly order. Perhaps this works as you titrate down but at some point yes you will have to start purchasing the strength that works for maintaining. Unless guidelines change.

My plan is to do this and then accept purchasing the relevant strength pen further down the line.

I went right up 10 mg but l didnt like it.. im finding 7.5 is very very slowly still working.. im happy to loose like half a pound per week ( I've lost 4 stone altogether).. but if 7.5 just helps me maintain I'm happy with that too.. l will switch to the pill form later this year when they have been approved in the UK.. they are going great in the USA.. plus much much cheaper

@SuitcaseAndSecrets I'm interested in what you say about the pills in America - do you have a link about what's happening with them there? Or about the plans for bringing them here, by any chance?

I’m also on long term. The new orforglipron pill is much less potent in trials so you’d need a much higher dose, for an equivalent mounjaro dose, which could impact the pricing comparison, ie is it really the same price due to dose differences, I think it’d expected in the uk by early next year.

What does this mean?

It means somebody buying unlicensed, unsafe medication.
Quite a few random people pop up on MN encouraging others to risk their life in this way.
I report them and some get removed but some don’t.

I have realised I need to stay on it for life after trying coming off.

I feel so much better on mounjaro.

It treats my inflammation in guts and joints.

My mood is better, possibly because I have less pain.

I like feeling normal in that I have a “full” sensor which is completely absent without mounjaro no matter how much and what I eat.

I wish it was cheaper or that the NHS would prescribe it for me but I accept the reality and appreciate I am at least lucky enough to be able to choose to give up other things so that I can just about afford it.

I’ll be on it for life, I’m only on 2.5mg, have been for the whole year so far and don’t plan to go up. I’ve lost 8.5 stone but still have about a stone to go. I’ve tried coming off and by 3 weeks post injection, I’m back to wanting to binge. Within half an hour of injecting I’d forgotten about food again. So for me it’s obvious I need to stay on it, although I could definitely stretch out doses to once every other week.

I wish the NHS could roll it out faster for more people, I honestly believe it’s saved my life. I can just afford it but it’s getting more expensive each time I order and I don’t want to have to shop around and faff with codes. I think if the NHS can’t offer it, the very least we need is some price regulation so it’s affordable for those who have to go private.

I optimistically believe that they prices will come down sooner or later as new drugs enter the market.

The pills might be less potent for weight loss but perfect for maintenance.

Retatrutide is in the last phase of clinical trials and so far proving more effective than mounjaro. I think that once it becomes commercially available lots of people will want to switch to it which should hopefully push mounjaro prices down.

So yes, we might be on the drugs forever but it won't be as expensive.

if you could maintain on 2.5mg, you could buy say 5mg pens, create a stash, then take 6 months off ordering and repeat the cycle. Some pharmacies will allow a 6 month break and for you to come back as long as your bmi doesn’t drop below their minimum. Would be harder if you needed to maintain on a higher dose I think.

I saw my GP yesterday for a foot issue I have, which is exacerbated by my weight. I can't go on WLI unless I can afford to stay on them for life – I'm a recovering bulimic and can't risk triggering binges. Right now I can't afford it every month. I asked GP when people like me might be able to qualify and she said she thought that was still years off. 😥

It's also my belief that Big Pharma won't want a wider NHS rollout to happen. Think about it – WLIs are successfully relieving other conditions and people are needing less meds. If everyone can access WLIs, Big Pharma won't make money, especially when the patents run out. They're going to milk it for as long as they can.

I'm just going to have to wait until the expiration – prices in India have dropped by over 80% for some doses since the patents ran out there, so there's hope! – and carry on trying to lose weight by trad methods instead.

Yeah I’m not banking on a price drop any time soon, as nice as it would be!

I lost 7 stone without WLIs in 2020 and put it all and more back on. I lurched from bingeing to starving myself and back again.

Mounjaro is literally the only thing that has given me complete control over my own life, I eat when I’m hungry and otherwise I don’t think twice about food, it’s been so insightful to realise that this is how other people live! So to not want to roll that out seems mad to me but I do get what you’re saying about why they wouldn’t

I think they will want the nhs to take it, but onky when they’ve reached saturation in the uk, and take up slows down. I suspect it already has, the question will be how much do they reduce price to pick it up again, v how much do they make off the nhs,

the nhs is years away from widespread implementation. However the who has recommended these drugs become widely available and asked all countries with a functioning health care system, to look at the cost barriers, just I doubt our government gives enough of a shit to be discussing it.

I’d be happy to pay more than the standard prescription charge. Even £100 a month 🤷🏻‍♀️ Just would like to be able to get it prescribed by my GP and easily available without price rises/shortages.

That's a good point about reaching saturation usage. I do wonder if take up is starting to slow a bit after the initial buzz about Mounjaro.

Seven stone loss is amazing – but as you say, it's the keeping it off that's the issue. GP agreed with me yesterday that I need to lose weight for my health and joints now I'm 54, but can't prescribe the one thing that we know would help me after a lifetime of disordered eating. It's mad really – if I let myself getting fatter (which obviously I won't) and develop all kinds of health issues, I'd be a shoe-in for it. But I can't take it now for preventative reasons.

Best keep doing the Lottery!

Madness isn’t it that you’d need to eat yourself into illness to get help 🤦🏻‍♀️

Saw it on the news.

https://care.simpleonlinepharmacy.co.uk/weight/oral

Thanks @SuitcaseAndSecrets

Most pharmacies allow ordering every 6 weeks, (medical marketplace 7 weeks) so it is feasible to use a bigger pen and not build too much of a stockpile.

Yes, the insight into "normality" is eye opening.
I think for people who have a bmi of say 40+ mounjaro is an absolute life changer.
This is not the same as those who just want to lose a stone or two.
To get to this level of weight the person has no full switch and often has a love/hate relationship with food.
Without mounjaro my life is dominated by food.
Even whilst I am still chewing I am thinking about the next thing I will eat.
If I am going anywhere I think ahead about what there will be to eat.
I hate it.
On mounjaro i see how others live. Food is fuel and yes, of course it tastes nice but it isn't the overwhelming obsession pleasure/pain it is to me.
I don't think average people understand this.
It isn't simply the greed they imagine they too could indulge in if they chose.
It is a bottomless pit which is never able to be satisfied.
Although mounjaro is expensive I will cut back on anything else I can to stay on it because apart from the benefit of treating my inflammation and helping me lose weight it is the only way to feel that I am a normal person.

Couldn’t have summed it up better. Off mounjaro I eat until I feel sick and revolting and carry on anyway. I don’t know why, being obese makes me miserable and I know exactly how to fix it but literally cannot stop.

im exactly the same, I will cut back on whatever I need to in order to stay on it.

Excellent summary @GloiredeDijon