Couple of questions to those with experience of WLI

[BlossomBuddy]

Hi, I’ve been toying with the idea of WLI for some time, currently approx. 5 stone overweight. Lost two stone a couple of years ago, but it was really really hard work, and to be honest I’m at the point where I desperately need to lose weight but feel very despondent about how to go about it. Always been larger than I should be. Firstly I have IBS with pretty bad/impulsive diarrhoea, and that’s one of my fears is that the jab will make it worse. Secondly, for some odd reason, I’m worried about injecting myself, I’m normally a fairly tough old bird, but for some reason this is worrying me. Finally, I enjoy my food and am thinking that without that joy, will life feel pretty miserable? Can anyone offer any advice on the above. Thank you

I don't have any experience with IBS but the slowing digestion can mean that it's constipation that can be the issue rather than the opposite. I have also seen anecdotally on threads here that Mounjaro can help IBS symptoms, depending on the IBS type.

The injecting is honestly not anything to stress about. It is so easy and nearly always totally painless. 99.9 percent of the time I don't even feel it and have to look to check it's inserted correctly. The needle is 4mm long, very short, and it's incredibly fine. They are 32g needles which means they are a width of 0.23 mm. The first time you do it, it all seems a bit clunky and unfamiliar, but you soon get used to it.

I would not have stayed on Mounjaro for over two years now if my life was joyless and miserable. I am not sure where the idea comes from that everyone is miserable when on WLI. I still enjoy food, I just eat a lot less of it and choose different things. I find that to be incredibly freeing and a huge reduction in stress around eating. Eating out is actually much much more enjoyable because I am not panicking about overeating, or worrying about what to choose or what I should eat versus what I want to eat, and so on.

You can get wegovy tablets now so no need to inject

Hey lovely, I get that it feels like a terrible decision to have to make.
But ive been there. I had a gastric sleeve at 23stone 10, and got down to 13 stone, had 2 pregnancies and at 19 stone I was like, where do i go now?

That was last March. Im sat here at 12stone 2lb. The past year and a bit have been quite wonderful. The obsession with food has pretty much disappeared. I was always thinking about food. Not so much now. Its not the usual mental torture of being on a diet that you cant sustain.

The injections are teeny, tiny. If you have a friend on WLI ask them to do the first few for you.
Ive jabbed a few of my friends when they've first gone on the jabs.
The needles are about 3mm long and very thin, they go in a fat area and are usually painless.

With regards to the jab making you have a bad tummy, all ill say is, if you know your usual triggers, just be a little more careful around them. I have issues when I have ice cream or frozen coffees...im sure its the sugar content but like you, i had a bad tummy before so I just know to be careful of what upsets me. I went to the states for 2 weeks and my tummy was no worse on the jabs.

Give it a go. It'll change your life ♡

Just sharing my experience of WLI. I was very overweight for 20 years, yo-yo dieting and gaining and losing the same stone forever. I thought I’d never get in control of my weight. I started Mounjaro last year and it’s honestly the best thing I’ve ever done. I got to goal weight in 8 months and have maintained for 6 months after stopping Mounjaro. Total loss was 4 stone 10lbs.

Was it easy? Yes and no. You still have to put in the work eating healthily but luckily I craved salads and protein,with no desire for carbs or sugar. The food noise disappeared and I sometimes had to remind myself to eat.

I don’t have IBS but used to have horrible bloating and upset stomachs. This disappeared almost immediately and never returned. The joy of food has been replaced by joy in feeling and looking so much better, I also get joy from shopping for clothes, I can wear anything I want now, not just the black shapeless clothes I tried to hide in before.

I was also terrified of injecting but the needles are so small I really didn’t feel it. I almost looked forward to my injecting and weigh in day. As a PP said, there are tablets now available. Go for it OP, if you find you don’t get on with them you can just stop.

Have you tried them? I'm interested to know just because we already know that Wegovy is often less effective than MJ but I've also read that the tablets are less effective than the jabs.

@BlossomBuddy I actually enjoy food more now - I am savouring what I eat much more. Going out is interesting - I don't want to eat as much as before so I choose really carefully and make sure it's something I will really enjoy.

Hi! My only regret is not getting on Mounjaro sooner than I did. I've lose 4.5 stone in a year and feel great.

The needle is completely painless, it's the size of an eyelash, I don't even know it's gone in unless I look carefully. it's a total non event, so don't worry at all.

I still get joy from food. I just ate an ice cream and loved it. I just eat a lot less of it. I was worried at first as food is and was a huge part of my life, it still is but I am not obsessed with it anymore.

Finally, it's cured my diarrhoea IBS and replaced it with constipation, which I much prefer! I take a movicol daily and that's that, a million times better than the diarrhoea I used to suffer with.

Good luck.

The injection is worst the first time because it feels like such a weird thing to do. But like everyone says, it’s painless and once you’ve done the first one, the nerves ease a lot! Could you have someone inject you til you get comfortable?

I agree with the others, it’s the best thing I ever did. Life is better than before. There is a thing called anhedonia which some people suffer with, so do read up on that so you can recognise symptoms if you decide to start. I had it for maybe a week or so, a couple of months in - I felt like I’d no longer ever get enjoyment from food, restaurants, bars, etc again, and my life would forever just be all about restriction. It sounds silly written down now because it’s so far from the truth! Mine passed on its own but even with that, there’s no doubt in my mind how worth it it’s been for me.

The injection is tiny you don’t even feel it, it’s 4mm and very fine, but as a pp said there is pills now if you prefer.

and they slow digestion but if you have the opposite you can just stop,it’s not a commitment, sure you need to pay for a month, but you dint need to take it.

I never really get the angst, you don’t like it don’t take the next injection, or the next pill, it’s no big deal.

My undiagnosed weird stomach discomfort got a lot better on wegovy. I don’t know why; either I was over eating , or it’s something to do with inflammation or something.

i enjoy food a lot on wegovy. I get hungry, I eat good food moderately, I stop. It’s great.

i am losing a lot more slowly than some; in about 7 months it has averaged out about a pound a week for me. At this rate it will take me to the middle of next year to get to goal weight. I’m fine with that: nothing I was doing before was working and I feel a lot better in every way now. My body just loves to hang onto weight - I already knew that.

I’ve lost weight several times in my life and have kind of almost always been in a diet. Despite this I was 4 stone overweight when I started. Losing weight steadily without feeling desperately hungry just frees me to do other things. I think this is what I used to imagine “normal slim girls” felt like - just free and unconcerned.

there may be long term impacts. Who knows. I’m definitely in the last chance saloon so the next 20 - or 30 - years of my life depend on taking action and I’ll deal with whatever when I get there

Go for it -
the needle is tiny and short - it’s not like a flu jab needle -
really small
the squits ? No I haven’t had that problem
had nausea to begin with which was temporary-
side effects for me have been highly reduced appetite and weight loss !!

I'd agree with what others have said. I have a needle phobia and spent days psyching myself up and stressing myself out over the first jab. It was a complete anticlimax and now I don't even think twice about it. It's honestly the most tiny little needle and most times I don't even feel it. It's only skin deep, so more like having a happy cat on you lap, than the kind of deep muscle injections you get for things like flu jabs.

As well as helping me to lose around three stones over the last 9 months, the main benefit has been curing my IBS-D which has been painful and inconvenient for about 20 years. I'm now at my target weight, but planning to stay on a small dose of Mounjaro forever just in the hope that my IBS never comes back. Just wish I'd done it sooner!

Thank you so much everyone for your positive and insightful views. Yes, the ‘squits’ issue is probably my biggest worry and you have made me feel much better that I will still enjoy food, just be happy with less of it. I think I might go for it. Will probably overthink the actual jabbing myself bit, and yes may dither over that for a few days. I can see so many positives, that think I will give it a go. You may even see me on the August 2026 thread! Thank you once again.

I felt exactly the same before starting. The injections were much easier than I expected, and with she med and Wegovy I still enjoy food, just with better portion control. If you have IBS, I'd definitely discuss it with your prescriber so they can advise what's best for you.

Hello @BlossomBuddy
I'm on my second try with Mounjaro.

I also have IBS -D and the first time round it was dreadful and caused me to give up. Since then I have improved my gut health using Symprove and removing ultra processed foods from my diet.

This time the mounjaro seems to be helping and I haven't had diarrhoea at all.

Apparently fatty foods, spicy food and fizzy drinks are the worst with MJ- exactly what I was eating the first time round.

Regarding getting pleasure from eating - for me there's no one thing that has replaced that pleasure. I have to find tiny pleasures elsewhere and I often photograph them to remind me.

And for me there's a certain pleasure in getting to the end of the day and feeling that I have succeeded.

Also, you get used to injecting. Good luck

I was also terrified of the injecting - but after a very nerve-wracking first time, it's been fine ever since. Now I do it without even thinking about it.

I still very much enjoy food - just don't have the cravings & tendency to over-eat anymore. For the first month or so I found it killed my appetite so much that I almost struggled to eat - but now it's fine. I just don't think about food all the time now!

Can't help on the IBS - although my sister's on MJ and has IBS, and she hasn't mentioned it being any worse or better.

I have lost just over 5 stone now and am now in the healthy BMI range - I can't tell you how happy it's made me. I just never believed it was possible, I had been struggling with my weight and yo-yo dieting for so many years. I'm in size 10 jeans today - jeans that I bought in 2011 and dreamed of getting back into. If your experience is anything like mine, you'll be kicking yourself that you didn't do it sooner...

Eat "clean" on the day you first inject is my best advice, and drink tons of water. Minimises side effects.

Diet improvements majorly improved my IBS the only issue was constipation

The needle is tiny as pp said, and like most people on mj I had constipation rather than diarrhoea. My appetite was reduced so I ate less but weirdly I found i enjoyed food more, especially healthy food. I only wish it had been available years ago when I was younger, go for it!

I have been on them for 20 months. I lost 4.5 stone although this year has been very slow and I am currently switching to Wegovy so been maintaining for a couple of months. I hope to loose another stone.

I don’t have Ibs but I haven’t experienced any diarrhoea or vomiting. Side effects were manageable. Some nausea, bloating that sort of thing. I still enjoy my food, just had to be careful with high fat foods and more generally when starting or moving up a dose.

The injection is easy. The needle is tiny and it takes seconds.

It’s changed my life.

Hi,
I think MJ is great in general as it makes you feel you are in control. I would encourage you to try it. I always ate very cleanly just dropped a lot of carbs and focused a lot more on protein. I drink 3 L of water a day. The injection is super easy especially if you find an area with a lot of fat to inject it.

HOWEVER, on the IBS front, it has been excruciating by every standard.
it has been an absolute agony. I have been able to control my IBS for years with fewer major episodes every few months. It has been hell on MJ. The water and gas pooling in bowels, the twisting and turning of the bowles is worse than most IBS episodes I had. I tried everything, massages, increase/decrease water intake, spreading my walking over the day and after every meal, nothing works. Increasing/decreasing fibre…the types of fibres, the constipation, the constant change in stool, it is awful for 5 days a week.
I walk 10,000-12,000 steps a day. Nothing seems to work especially the first 4-5 days a week.
I have been on 2.5 mg and only moved to 3.25 mg for couple of weeks. I have not lost weight for several weeks and I think it is because of my IBS and instability in my digestive system/bowels and that’s why I increased the dose which made these symptoms worse.

I don’t want to discourage you but I want to give you an honest preview of my journey and my IBS was never that bad. MJ has wrecked havoc in my system.

My advice is to still try it but microdose, start with 1.25 mg and see how it goes from there. Best of luck

I felt exactly the same before starting. Wegovy helped me ease into it with clinical support, and the injections were much easier than I expected. I still enjoy food, just in smaller portions, but with IBS it’s definitely worth discussing your concerns with your prescriber first.