Thread 2 - BMI under 27 - Off Label/less to lose

[Beachforever]

New thread from:

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight-loss-injections/5509897-bmi-under-27-off-labelless-to-lose

I had a call with them a few weeks ago - the doctor went through the potential side effects etc. and asked if I had any questions. She didn't make me stand up and do a twirl for her or weigh myself in front of me or justify why I needed/wanted WLI.

Same, I’ve told absolutely no one! I even bought myself a little fridge for my home office and said it was for cold drinks in all the heatwaves. I store it in there, inside a small flask. They would definitely be discovered in the main fridge in my house

I tell anyone who’s potentially interested. I’m keen to break down the stigma of taking it at a lower BMI, I think it’s going to change society (for the better!)

Mines in the veg drawer in a brown paper bag, it would definitely be discovered if I had a drinks fridge!!
Tbf it's only my DH at home and I do think he'd be supportive if I told him, I think he'd just feel bad that I felt the need to do it, ie about the pressures women are under compared to men.
I haven't told other people IRL but then I don't discuss weight with anyone, I wouldn't necessarily hide it if it came up.

I’ve been click dosing (.375 from a 0.5 wegovy pen). I was very close to a weight I’d be happy with, but weight loss has now unfortunately stalled - I’ve been on holiday, have stopped making much effort with meal planning and the result is I’ve actually put on a couple of pounds.

Im thinking of increasing to 0.5.

Has anyone here done 0.5 click dosing from a 1mg pen? The price is exactly the same for 0.25/0.5/1mg, so obviously the 1mg pen is much better value.

Thanks, just had my call with MedExpress. They said my BMI is 26 so they can’t issue prescription unless I have another underlying condition - waste of time unfortunately.

I think the general consensus for BMI 25-27 is that Voy are more likely to prescribe off label so maybe worth a try with them?
MedExpress advertise that they do but I've seen a lot of people saying the same as you.

Thanks, will try that! Voy are just more expensive but if that’s my only option..

You only need to do for a month, once you’ve got your first box that’s your ticket to another provider, just don’t sign up for a subscription.

It’s frustrating MedExpress isn’t upfront about criteria before the call.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll do that

I don't know if it'll be any cheaper than their 'new customer' offer, but feel free to DM me for a referral link for voy if it helps.

Also I know this isn't what Voy advises, but I signed up for 3 months, did one month at their intro offer (about £90 I think) and then with my higher dose second pen I bought extra needles and split the doses. I did that because I was doing fine on the starter dose and didn't realise they'd automatically send me a higher one, but it did work out a lot cheaper! At the end of the three months I went to cancel and they offered me £50 discount off my next two pens too.

I told DH at the weekend after a month. I wasn't quite sure what he'd think. Being 6ft of male, he can lose weight fairly easily by upping his running and a slight bit of extra care in his diet. He knows that I've been frustrated by my lack of progress in the past year or two. I've been using things like portion control plates to encourage more salad and reduce carbs.

The only other person I've mentioned it to is a colleague that I know has used them at moderately overweight too.

While I haven't been happy with my few surplus kg, I'm still smaller than a lot of people, and I carry it between my ribs and knees so it's not that obvious so I think most people would be a bit that I'm taking it.

In progress I'm low 63s this week (BMI 25.7) progress is stalling, but I'm in the thick of my high appetite luteal phase, and the Wegovy is containing that compared to usual. I had had some mild queasiness so for pen #2 I opted to stay at 0.25, so hopefully it's a hormonal blip rather than the dose being lower than what I need.

Part of the reason I have gone down this route was that I spend a third of my time being sabotaged by luteal phase hormones and can't make progress against that.

I put mine in the salad drawer in the fridge... no one in my family opens it!

I love that so many of us hide our pens in the salad drawer!

@BlondieQueen can you knock an inch off your height?

Ah thanks but I’d already knocked a couple of inches off. Have now been accepted by Voy, hooray!!

Hi everyone, I am midway through my third pen and have remained on 0.25 through choice. My starting weight was 67.4kg and a BMI of 27. Today I am 62.8kg and my BMI is 25.4. I am really happy with the progress, I have even been on holiday and didn’t put any weight on (which is a first). I am due to go away again next week for 10 days and am debating whether or not to take my pen as it will have one dose left. Has anyone travelled long haul with their pen - any advise appreciated.
I’ve had minimal side effects (I inject into my thigh). However on two occasions I have injected into my stomach and have then suffered severe cramping - so not doing that again. Well done everyone!

If I had one dose left in a one, I’d take it with me. You can then just discard it after your last dose.

The advice I’ve read when researching is to buy a travel case with cool pack from Amazon if you’re unsure that you can reliably keep it below 30 degrees. Also to put the pen in your hand luggage (the hold will get too cold and liquid potentially freeze) and needle(s) in your hold luggage.

Can I ask about splitting the doses?
Does this mean for example that you get a 5mg pen and you make it last 8 weeks? ( by having 2.5 / week instead of 5/ week?)
Do they let you postpone the next pen?

Is it safe to leave the pen for 8 weeks?
Ps also in the salad drawer 😆

Hi, yes that's what it means. You can buy insulin needles, they're the same as the ones that come with the pen and they're very cheap, a box of 100 for less than a fiver. So I have been using my 0.5mg wegovy pen to take x8 0.25mg doses.
Personally I'm comfortable with 8 weeks, it's what the NHS advice is for the similar pens that people with diabetes use, though there's people on here who have used them for much longer.
I believe it's a little less reliable for mounjaro rather than wegovy because mj is a less stable drug, so it might lose effectiveness (and with the caveat for both that if it turns cloudy etc you need to bin it)
Obviously it's at your own risk though.

Im still with Voy and they don't let you delay the pens much, I've postponed the odd one a week or two, so I'll have an extra pen in the drawer drawer for a while, but I'm only planning to have five overall from them. I believe that swift doctor allow up to 8 weeks between pens, though I haven't tried them myself (I was going to switch and voy offered me discounts to stay!)

I understand! Thank you!
I can see why that is tempting...
I read about your discount so that was my plan too, pretend to leave to get some money off. It certainly is expensive!

It is! I upped my dose now to 0.5 so I'm not splitting my current pen. I'm looking at the overall cost because I don't think I'm far off my target weight, but if I were to get any more after these I think I'd switch. If you were to be on them a long time or for maintenance you'd really want someone who allows a bit of flexibility with ordering!

Well I’ve had to skip today’s tablet. The nausea was awful yesterday and add into that the heat I really struggled. That being said I’ve still got a good suppression today and struggled with my breakfast.
will take tomorrows as planned and see how I go: no weight lost yet but easily managing to stick to 1200 calories which is down on what I was eating so once the heat drops off I’m hoping the scales will too!

Definitely make sure you really prioritise hydration, I really struggle on WLI if I’m dehydrated, it’s helps with nausea as well as headaches. Plus it’ll be worth in this weather. I try to aim for 3L.

Can I ask another question. How many calories should I eat and do you count them?
I don't really want to count calories but will if that's the only way it works. I am on voy, do they tell you somewhere on thee app?
Thank you 😊

@Tauranga I’ve not counted calories, personally don’t think it’s healthy, I’ve personally focussed on protein and fibre and let the suppression do the rest which has naturally curbed my cravings. I lost slowly, but surely.