Is anyone else obsessed with WLIs?

[gotmyselfintoapickle]

I am preparing for a pile on here so I will first say that I think these drugs are amazing for those who benefit from them and also for society. I know that I have fucked this up, I know it's on me.

I have got myself into a bit of a pickle and wonder if anyone has felt the same. I have an addictive personality and have previously (20-25 years ago, as a teenager) suffered from anorexia and bulimia (I was not bad enough to be hospitalised but I wasn't very well or very happy). As an adult I got to a very good place with my weight, body image and relationship with food. I have been a healthy weight all through my adult life. Since having kids I have been struggling with my MH. I have been unable to be as active as I was previously and for a multitude of other reasons I have been quite unhappy. I have been drinking too much (not getting drunk but a few glasses of wine most days as a baseline so it mounts up and I know I was drinking for unhealthy reasons) and I was about 7kgs heavier than I was pre-kids.

I was feeling lost and hopeless and I read something on here about Mounjaro making people drink less. My BMI was 23/24 at the time so I lied and got prescribed MJ. I've been taking it 6 weeks and I have lost the 7kgs and barely touched a drop of alcohol. Amazing! The only thing is, I can feel myself getting a bit obsessed about losing weight and about the drug itself. I look forward to jabbing so much, even though I have high suppression and I'm not struggling to lose weight. It's like my brain has stopped obsessing about wine and started obsessing about the WLIs and weight loss. I spend loads of time on these boards reading other peoples experiences. I am hooked.

I know I just need to stop when I finish this pen but I am already feeling anxious about it. I don't really know why - I am not worried about putting the weight back on particularly, it's more like I am going to miss my obsession - can anyone else relate at all? I know I sound mental 😭

You need to stop taking them, you know you do. Can you establish a good routine of food and exercise? This is how a very similar friend controls her obsessive nature, routine.

You are right. Being able routinely exercise keeps my brain in check - the endorphins / dopamine etc I get from it satisfy my addictive personality. I need to find a more healthy way to keep my brain on the straight and narrow. I have done this for many years before I had kids so I know it's possible. It just feels so much harder now.

Name changed for obvious reasons!

I initially started Mounjaro for weight loss, have lost five stone and feel great. I had it to loose!

However, I agree completely about the alcohol issue! I got into a bad habit, as did many of us, during Covid of drinking too much. That, I suspect, led to a lot of my weight gain (along with menopause issues and HRT, which I have now ditched.) I am now titrating down in Mounjaro dosages but I have also realised that I am having to actively think about not drinking, whereas before it didn't really cross my mind. That makes me want to stay on a higher dose than perhaps I need to for weight reasons, and just for the added bonus in alcohol curbing.

Why not stay on it and microdose for maintenance? Lots of my friends have done this once at goal weight. If it’s helping your alcohol issues, it can only be a good thing.

I did lower it and then stop it for a few weeks a while ago (I did a half Ironman so needed serious fuelling!) but noticed the urge to have another drink went up. Well, it did on the days I wasn't training!

I know it's being used / trialled for addiction and can see why. Hence, I am edging up dosage a bit as I love that aspect of it and how it makes it effortless.

Madly, I didn't think it was an 'issue' until it stopped being one! Not that I was going nuts and falling all over the place, but I certainly had to make an effort not to have as much as I wanted, or could drink. Now, if I am at a friends' for dinner for example, I can easily sit with one glass all night whereas before I could easily and happily finish off a bottle! I don't think it'd be a food / lack of exercise issue that would make my weight increase again, but the demon booze and associated grazing.

ps thank you for not doing a MN style telling off at my 'fessing up! x

@FormerFatty People who have had ED's are NOT allowed to use these injections for the very reasons OP has described and she is being incredibly sensible getting help to stop. Please do not project your own experience or that of a friend onto OP. ED kill a lot of very intelligent, wonderful women who struggle to overcome them once they get a hold. OP is seeing herself slip into irrational behaviour and needs to listen to herself and stop now and find other ways to create a long term routine that gives her peace of mind.

You can do this OP and you do not need jabs to help. One day at a time. You are a healthy weight and need to set goals around strength and fitness to help yourself focus on health. Take care.

Yeah - it's so liberating literally never thinking about drinking. I used to think about drinking a lot. Now I'm not just not drinking, but I am not even consciously not drinking. It just doesn't occur to me. I am dreading the cravings coming back when I stop but I know I can't stay on the drug. My drinking habits were not good for me but neither is reigniting an ED. Maybe I need therapy 😅

I could be wrong but I think FormerFatty may have been responding to the PP rather than me. Thank you for your concern and I know you are right. I have no desire to go back to being constantly at war with my body. 💜

@gotmyselfintoapickle Precisely that. I think it’s the equivalent of the ‘food noise’ reduction that other people had.

My weight increase, and difficulty pre Mounjaro with losing it, was the drinking and unhealthy snacking aspect rather than something like portion size or a sweet tooth. Unfortunately I can’t order a higher dosage pen at the moment as I had time off so I am now back on having to buy 2.5 and hence doing the opposite of micro dosing.

The idea of not being able to increase due to my BMI is making me a bit obsessed. Mounjaro makes me feel really in control, but more to the point, so incredibly easily in control.

@gotmyselfintoapickle: I’m taking WLI (but I have a high bmi). I think they can trigger disordered eating & have heard of friends of friends who are scared to stop/lying to get the jabs

I think it’s a dangerous road and one to stop yourself going down, is there anyone in real life you can talk to about this?

Not really. No one knows how much I was struggling to moderate my drinking (or how unhappy I’ve been generally) and no one knows I’m on the jabs now. We moved when we had kids and I don’t see my old friends a much.

i could talk to my partner about it. I can tell you with 100% certainty he’d be super supportive, he’d do and say all the right things but I feel so ashamed that I’ve got myself into this mess that I can’t bear to say it out loud.

I was thinking about starting some talking therapy when I was struggling with the drinking, I think I get access to some MH support through my work health cover. Maybe I’ll start there and try and build up the courage to talk to someone in real life.

Oh gosh I am sorry @FormerFatty !

@gotmyselfintoapickle: I think the fact that you are posting here is a sign you know there is an issue to work on, & you are ready to face it ❤️

Accessing talk therapy sounds like a brilliant idea, and if you are worried about drinking AA is always there. Your GP is also a way to access support

If you are not ready to talk to your partner (yet), is there a friend you feel more comfortable confiding in?

And if you are not ready to talk to anyone IRL then keep posting on here - there is lots of support, including a dedicated thread for alcohol reduction support

@gotmyselfintoapickle: if you look on ‘talk topics’ it’s under ‘health’ & called ‘alcohol support’

Thank you 🙏

You're right, I do know I need to face it, all of it. I’ve got stuck in a rut of internalising all my unhappiness which has lead to dysfunctional behaviour and then shame, then it just gets harder to be honest.

@gotmyselfintoapickle: be compassionate with yourself x

A lot of people find their drinking increases as a way to deal with stress/problems - it’s easy to go there, and not so easy to get out of it, but it sounds like you are taking the right steps

Also - I think talk therapy would really help you as you are already thinking things through

I wanted to come and offer some support / advice about moderating drinking. It's really really hard if you have a brain like yours to moderate drinking. I speak from experience! Alcohol by its very nature is addictive and the noise and conversations in your head around alcohol will never go away unless you go teetotal. I've been on this sober journey for 10 years, trilaling moderation, abstinence, taking a break, resetting my relationship etc - the only thing that works is complete abstinence. It's hard at first, but the more sober days you have behind you the easier it gets. Unlike with food, we can remove alcohol completely, and therefore the alcohol noise will go! It's not a daily battle when you remove the option. I would say for anyone who is having a constant daily battle about drinking, moderating, wondering why they can't moderate etc, it's probably time to stop. The peace that comes with that is amazing! I'm now on my longest stretch sober of nearly 3 years and alcohol is just not an option, doesn't enter my head, and it's peaceful and easy. "I do not drink anymore" got my through those early days. Everything is alot easier without alcohol muddying the waters too. All those extra calories from alcohol, the interruptions to sleep, lack of energy to exercise, choosing wine over exercise, all the accompanying snacks that come out with the wine! Stopping drinking won't make everything is better, but it removes a major cause and trigger of alot out issues leaving space to deal with the rest.

Thank you x

Funnily enough the WLIs have actually made the thought of being sober long term much easier. I know it’s easy now because they’re messing with my brain but it’s also teaching me that not drinking isn’t a big deal to other people. That saying no to a drink doesn’t matter, the world keeps turning. When I’ve thought about it previously I think I’ve just found it so hard to imagine doing all the social things sober. I could imagine (and was desperate to) stop the wine at home but the social stuff felt so hard and then obviously you get knocked back into the habit of drinking.

So there we go - stop taking the WLIs I don’t need and go sober. That’s clearly the right path… I’ve just got to find a way to do it 😳

thank you for you support and advice x

There's some really good books about women getting sober. The Unexpected Joy of Being Sober by Catherine Gray, We Are The Luckiest by Laura MCKowan and Quit Like A Woman by Holly Whitaker. They are inspiring and I've read them all. Good luck with whatever you choose to do next xx

Would it be worth seeing a trainer to discuss what exercise you can do? Although my situation is different to yours, I am unable to exercise right now due to a complicated injury, waiting for scan and depending on things might never be able to do the exercise I enjoy again, so I have decided to see a trainer once I know about surgery/prognosis, to get advice on anything I can do instead. Maybe this would help you, I understand the massive boost exercise gives.
About your ED, I can't advise but I would see your GP, as can't they refer you for support?