Anyone gone cold turkey and happy to share what happened

[Wendyworm]

Anyone gone cold turkey after significant loss and significant time on them.
Just wondering what side effects to expect

Oh ..ok .. didn't know that ..
Obesity really does a number on us

I got to the consultation stage for bariatric surgery and the more I read on Facebook groups and Reddit threads for example about people's experiences the more I realised it wouldn't solve my issue in the way I had thought. I thought it read l was going to be more of a magic fix than it is. Surgery and jabs both require the willpower and life style change. Props to the person on this thread who is counting calories and maintaining, sounds like they've got it cracked, scary how easy it is to slip back to old eating habits.

Wegovy and Mounjaro mimic the natural hormone(s) that get released shortly after you eat which normally only last for a short period of time, hence you getting hungry again after a couple of hours or less. When you take a Wegovy or Mounjaro injection you are getting several hundred times as much of those hormones in your system, that is also designed to resist being broken down by your body. That’s why the effect of the injection lasts about a week.

It’s no surprise that if you stop taking these medications that returning to just your natural GLP1 levels (much lower levels and only lasting for a short time) means that you notice hunger way more than when you were on the medication. You’ll therefore find it hard to manage that level of hunger unless you have done a huge amount of work to put into place solid habits that will help with that.

It’s also why I think tapering down can help, so it’s not such a massive drop in GLP1 levels and so the return of hunger is not so marked.

Realistically I wasn’t ready to come off them mentally but I stopped due to the price increase. But I hadn’t put in place right steps of why I was over eating, established a good exercise routine etc. Tried wegovy earlier this year didn’t make a difference so back to MJ which at the moment I am seeing very little effects of at 5mg Compared to the last time. Edited to say my hunger took months to come back wasn’t straight away at all. Stopped in September and I would say until Dec I managed to maintain my weight reasonably maybe 1/2 stone on

I did. I stopped Mounjaro due to price and gained back just under two thirds of the weight I’d lost (around 5 stone, of a total 9 stone loss). I’m starting again now and plan to be on it for the rest of my life.

The weight went back on because the Mounjaro is correcting something biological which makes me hungrier and more obsessed with food. I knew coming off it that it was likely to be a mistake and that really I should stay on it forever.

OP - how long have you been taking WLI, what dose and how much weight have you lost?

I lost over seven stone over the past year and then suddenly couldn’t get my next pen. It took just over a month to get sorted and back on it. The first week was fine, then the food noise came back along with hunger.

I also did a stupid thing in that I had all the food I’d gone off previously. Bread and potatoes don’t suit me on MJ but all of a sudden I could eat them again….and I did! I put on a stone over the month.
When I got the new pen I lost nine pounds in a week, and it’s working fine now.

DH did so well in Mounjaro. He lost nearly 3 stone last year. Had to stop due to affordability. He's put the whole 3 stone back on plus another 8 pounds in less than a year. He's gutted. His hunger just returned and then some

Maybe? Hopefully? The idea being that your body recalibrates to the new weight and if you spend a significant amount of time reducing the dose slowly whilst maintaining your weight you might be able to continue maintaining after you come off. But some people will need to be on it forever.

I only know one person who has had gastric surgery and yes she regained it all and more

Huh?
Do you know how the medication works? It doesn't melt fat away, it makes it easier to stick to a calorie deficit, so if you continue eating at maintenance after you come off of course you won't gain weight.

Not on WLI but the thread came up in active - also this video came up as a suggestion for me on YouTube earlier this week (I am trying to lose weight) https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=GwZhDggykMQ&pp=0gcJCT8LAYcqIYzv&r
The nutrition scientist from Źoe recommends slowly titrating down slowly and changing diet slightly for maintaining phase by eating more high fibre volume foods which are low in calories

I'm very gradually titrating down so I went from weekly 7.5 to every 10 days for 6 months. Now maintaining on 5 every 10 days and that's fine so starting to think about dropping to 2.5 next. If that works for 6 months I'll consider coming off. It's reduced the cost at least!

I lost 7 and a half stone and have kept it all off apart from 10lb for 18 months. I am now trying to lose this on my own. My hunger didn’t return, but my ability to snack did! I have completely changed my life though, I exercise (run and weights) and eat completely differently.

I had a huge mental health drop within four weeks of going cold turkey. To the point of being suicidal. I don't know if it's linked but it has been an awful 12 months

I have no intention of stopping taking a medication that works so well for me.

I am completely sure that if I stop taking it, the insane hunger and food noise will return.

I think you just need to stay on the meds if you were on statins you wouldn’t come on and off, I have accepted I am on them for life I plan to come down to 5mg and stay there, which will be costly but necessary, I might try and get 6 weeks out of each pen

That’s correct, if you eat at maintenance calories then it’s impossible to gain weight.

but it has to be true maintenance though, no guessing the vast majority of weights and calories etc as we always under guess and therefore eat more than we should.

It might be gall stones. Before I went on WLI I had to have my gall bladder removed due to stones.

No but if you were on statins you'd pay £9.95 every 3 months via the GP rather than £150+ every month as a private prescription!

Staying on them for life is something reserved for the wealthy. I lost 8 stone and I came off cold turkey in the first week of March. Have put a stone back on but seem to have plateued. Hopefully thats it now.

At the moment I intend to stay on them for the foreseeable. I am about a stone off goal. Ive lost just over 3 and a half stone. I have underactive thyroid, post menopausal and no gall bladder. Its been a long slow road for me but i've noticed that it seems to have other health benefits apart from ones associated with weight loss. My auto immune symptoms (hashimotos) are better. Weirdly i seem to be able to see better and had improvements at my last eye test...I'm 56. Digestion is better...less post gall bladder removal side effects..if you know you know. I'm factoring in the cost. DH is on board with this as he's seen it too. He doesnt have a weight issue....and neither did I until early menopause.

I put on half a stone after stopping, but I’ve lost that again and I’m back at my target weight now a year on.

Edit: It took me a couple of months to lose the 7 pounds I put on and I’ve maintained ever since.

Apparantely it can stretch back if you continually push it.

Yes, I have a friend who lost 10 stone with a gastric bypass and she’s heavier than ever now.l, sadly. It o my took her a couple of years to put it all back on.

Lost 4 stone put 1 and half back on in 2 months. Back on it now