WLIs to stop food noise? Any advice?

[WLIcurious]

I eat healthily and exercise but menopause and a bad winter means I seem to be in a rut of snacking and emotional eating and I am putting on weight which needs to stop before it gets out of hand, so I am thinking of trying a low dose of WLI just to stop the food noise. Without the snacking my diet is fine and I can maintain a healthy weight.

Mounjaro looks like the best option but where do I start with dosing? Should I start on 2.5mg and then go down, or start on a smaller dose and go up if needed. I just want enough to stop the noise.

Is your weight in the healthy range still? Would you be looking to lose much?

My BMI is currently just under 25 so at the top end of healthy. I would only need to lose about 3 or 4kg to be at my comfortable weight. I’m absolutely not looking to get super skinny.
Yes, I could lose through dieting and willpower but I have been constantly up and down over a few kgs for years and I’m tired of the mental struggle.

Start with 2.5mg and see how it goes. I’m maintaining on less. I think you’ll only be able to get it once BMI is over 25.

@MeridaBrave
What are the differences in the way you feel between 2.5 and a lower dose?

5mt is the first therapeutic dose , 2.5 is a half dose to get your body used to it; some will experience placebo effect and it will work lower, but it’s like taking a quarter of a nurofen when the dose is 2.

How are you planning to get it? You won’t be able to get a prescription, since you are nowhere near the BMI.
And what‘s your plan to address the issue with menopause and eating habits, once you the stop again?

You can turn off the food noise with hypnotherapy/remedial hypnosis; you know logically what you need to eat to lose weight so it's a matter of getting your emotional subconscious mind to turn off the triggers.

I was wondering about your first question too @Cloudconfusion - I can't imagine it's easy to get MJ if you're in the healthy BMI range.

Do you have experience of this? Why aren’t people who have reached their target weight directed to use hypnotherapy rather than going on a maintenance dose? In fact, why use WLIs at all when hypnotherapy is available?

Obviously, like many others, I would lie about my height and weight, but I’m not here to argue the moral point.

I was obese in the past with a BMI of nearly 30. I lost the weight through rigid calorie counting and restrictive, bordering on disordered eating which has meant I’ve have maintained a healthy weight for about 15 years. If I was my starting weight now, nobody would be questioning my wondering whether to go on a long term maintenance dose. And it does seem like many people are considering going on a long term if not lifelong dose.

OP, you can legitimately get the medication from clinics that specialise in what they call “microdosing”, where they supply less than 2.5mg off licence to people with healthy BMIs. That might be a better approach than acquiring it fraudulently.

Also, if your BMI happens to get to 25 then there are pharmacies like MedExpress and Voy who will also supply off licence at that BMI.

Thank you!

Your username is apt, Cloudconfusion. In no way a placebo effect for many. Also, what do you think a quarter dose of Nurofen (your sp) at 0.5 is?

Yes, on myself and yes, on my clients (including Mumsnetters!).

Hypnotherapy isn't profitable for big pharma and, to be fair, it doesn't work for everyone (but there again neither do WLIs) but it's 100% natural and has no side effects. 😊

You may find this works really well for you. I was bmi 22/23 most of my life but up to 26 with peri. Got wegovy and stayed on 0.25mg and lost 5kg in the first month.

I do have cravings now in month 3 but oddly despite eating more cals than when I was dieting before I'm still losing weight, I'm assuming it's the anti inflammatory effect.

The microdosing pharmacies are a rip off (ie it costs significantly more). I’d just let your BMI drift to 25 and use of the ones that will supply off licence at that point.

Yes the microdosing clinics do charge an arm and a leg for their services, unsurprisingly I think. But it is a legitimately available option that is still a better choice than acquiring medication fraudulently or on the black market.

I’ve already done the consultation with some of the providers and have got through to the ordering bit.

From what I have read and heard you can microdose with an ordinary pen by counting clicks so it would be a case of finding the right dose.

I was hoping to hear some experiences of people who had done this for maintenance. Ideally I’d want to avoid the gastric side effects but shut off the food noise but I don’t know if this is possible.

I’m still not entirely sure I want to do this!

@WLIcurious you won't know how you individually react to WLI medication until you try it. It would be wonderful if everyone reacted immediately and strongly to the starting doses, and then could use partial doses to lose weight and keep costs down. However, many people need to build up the medication in their system for it to take full effect. Many need higher doses, and some need the maximum doses to lose noticeable weight.

Gastric side effects are common when you start the medication and when you increase the dose. Whether you get them or not is again very individual. You can do all kinds of steps to mitigate gastric side effects and still get them. I think you'd have to accept that there is a risk of this whatever you do.

I was at BMI 23.5 and microdosed 1mg and then 0.5mg to get back down to my “normal” BMI of 21. I responded incredibly strongly to that dose. I am going to be maintaining on 0.25 as I don’t want to lose any more weight but I want to maintain the other benefits I’ve felt (reduced reflux, period pain, etc). I went through one of the microdosing pharmacies but it is much cheaper to do it yourself with a pen if you can get one. There is a long running thread on here for people with a lower BMI.

Thank you @midwalker - that's the kind of information I was looking for. I will have a look for the thread.

I know from previous experience that cutting out the eating in response to food noise while carrying on with my usual diet (diet as in what I normally eat, not a diet to lose weight) that I will lose the excess and can maintain a comfortable weight, but it takes a lot of willpower. If I could take something that would make it easier and sustainable rather than just relying on willpower, which so often fails particularly as I have menopause added in now.

Yes. I would start at 1.25mg (half the standard starting dose) 30 clicks of a 2.5mg pen for 4 weeks and see what sort of suppression you get. You can there adjust up or down etc. My current pen is 5mg and has lasted 15 weeks (one dose left).

That ‘placebo effect’ helped me lose 8 stone

OP in your situation I would probably consider Wegovy tablets.

I’m interested in this thread, I’ve lost 3.5 stone through calorie counting over 18 months. The last 1.5 stone has taken a year, I’m exhausted and fed up with it. I can maintain beautifully and have sat at the same weight now for six weeks again. Nothing is moving the scale and I’ll have my fifth failed goal in two weeks for another holiday.
bmi is 25.6, I have high blood pressure and take medication for it, I’m on HRT. I am seriously considering carrying on as I am which means battling daily, enjoying my holiday and starting the tablets when I get home to help with this last bit.

Wouldn't it be difficult to take a reduced dose of the pills though? I'm not looking for weight loss, just to shut the noise off.

Yes you’d need to chop it up,

I genuinely think try the drugs, the poster who lost eight stone, by taking 0.25, a twentieth of the lowest therapeutic dose will be very unusual. I’d really not assume you can do the same. It’s like taking a lick of a nurofen.