Has anyone stayed on a low dose of Mounjaro rather than increasing?

[SherbetDipDap]

I’m currently in my third week of taking Mounjaro. I started at a BMI of 28-29, hoping to lose around 15-18kg so not a huge amount but enough that I was aware that I needed to get on top of my binge eating before it took over my life.

So far it’s been really great. It’s completely switched off my constant hunger and sugar cravings, I actually feel full and stop eating during meals, and I’ve had no side effects beyond mild nausea. I’m down about 5kg (trying to only weigh myself weekly and not fixate on numbers) and am eating roughly 1,200-1,500 calories per day.

I need to order my next pen. Would it be unreasonable to stay on 2.5mg? I feel like this dose is working well for me, and I don’t want to end up under fuelling for exercise (I train 5-6 times per week) or rapidly lose weight only to pile it back on again. Slow and steady is better than rushing things, right? My only concern is that I get to week 5 and find that it’s not enough and have to wait three weeks to go up a dose..?

Has anyone else just stayed on a low dose?

I stayed on 2.5mg for 14 weeks, then moved up to 3.75mg for a while by click counting rather than straight to 5mg, partly because I found the effects strong enough, partly for cost reasons. 52 weeks in I am now on 6.25mg and still losing roughly 1kg per week.

Yes, loads of us have stayed on lower doses by click counting and making a 5mg pen last longer than 30 days. I’ve been on MJ for about 11 months and only just moved up to 4mg. I’ve still got over a stone to lose but I’m taking it slowly.

If you buy a 5mg pen, you can count clicks and move up slowly each week if you want to, rather than waiting 4 weeks.

My friend stayed on low doses for months, it suited her and is obviously cheaper.
It didn’t really work for me until 10mg unfortunately.

This is what I'm planning to do, but i haven't started yet, so who knows what will happen. I have been watching loads of videos saying you dont need to rush and jump to the next dose every month. If a lower dose works, stay on it. Slow and steady.

I've also been reading that, if you do it slowly you might not get as much hair loss or saggy skin.

I moved up to 5mg after 1 month and stayed there now for the last 11 months, I lost 30 kg.

During my reviews the private GP I see for it is happy for me to stay on the lower dose with loosing between 1-2 lb a week.

Yes, I lost 10kg on 2.5mg over the first 3-4 months, and now worked up gradually to 3.5mg over the last 4-5 months to lose another 12kg. Whilst I was still losing 0.5-1kg a week with calorie counting and without side effects, I didn't feel the need to increase the dose. Only increased the dose when I plateaued for over 3 weeks, and even then only ever very slightly. Now I'm at my target weight, I'm looking at a very gradual reduction to stay at this weight but keep the anti-inflammatory, IBS management, and PCOS reducing effects longterm.

I stayed on 2.5mg for a whole year!

If it’s working, stay on it!

I did and still lost weight but it slowed down.

I’ve been on 2.5 for around 4.5 months, but now planning to slightly increase my dose as I’ve plateaued for the past 3/4weeks.

I did my whole weight loss journey on 2.5mg, it remained strong for me until I hit maintenance where I now take between 3-4mg.

How does it work if you are on a time limited plan eg 3 months? Do they automatically send a second pen with increased dose? If they do, can you make it last longer yourself and keep the third one in the fridge till you need it ?

ETA: I don’t need to lose much but would like to try a long term low dose to see if it will shut off food noise and it makes sense to go on a plan from a cost point of view to start with.

I know 2 people who have stayed exclusively on 2.5 and found it good for them. They are both foodies and didn't want to have big appetite decrease for extreme weight loss and were happy to take it slow too.

Thank you everyone. I think I’ll see how the next month goes on 2.5mg and go from there.

Stayed on 2.5 for about 12 months and lost 5st. Increase was only to 43 ish clicks of a 5mg and have lost a further 1st 2 lbs.

I only went up because I didn't lose on a whole pen. No need to increase if it's working for you.

I stayed on a lower dose for quite a while after switching from Wegovy to MJ because it was working well for me. I preferred slow, steady progress and focused on building healthier habits rather than moving up quickly. If you're still getting good appetite control, it's worth discussing with your prescriber as everyone responds differently

I am working with a doctor. Their practice only moves patients to the next dose after a plateau. As long as you are losing weight, staying at a lower dose means the drugs will last longer essentially. Once you hit the max dose there isn’t anywhere else to go if it stops working.

Thanks for that. What happens if you hit a plateau and increase the dose but still not lose, will they continue to increase the dose again? I am curious as I am in this situation and was wondering what approaches others are doing.
what other things the doctor is advising? I would be grateful if you can share more. Thanks

They can increase the dose or look into other meds. There is also access to nutrition counseling if you want it. I personally don’t find that useful, but some people do.

Im not in the uk, hence having this supervised is the norm. I have to see the doctor in person every 3 months.

@SherbetDipDap Hi. I lost 2 stones and didn’t go higher than 5mg of Mounjaro. I decided to only use 2.5mg over the last 8 weeks before stopping and found that worked just as well.

I have put on about 7lbs since stopping 6 months ago so I am back using 2.5mg again. I’m thinking of just sticking at 2.5 this time round.

I’m 2.5stone down after 10 weeks on 2.5…but order the 5 and do half the dose, save yourself a fortune

Hello, could you explain to me how you make a 5mg pen last longer than 30 days. I’m sorry to sound obtuse, I’m very new to this and am researching to figure out how I can manage it!

I’ve been on MJ just under 8 months and I’ve only been on 7.5mg a couple of weeks. I stayed on 2.5mg for a long time, I’ve only gone up a dose when I’ve felt it isn’t working as well as it was, which hasn’t happened often. I’ve lost 7st 3lbs.

I use a 5mg pen but instead of taking a standard 5mg dose, I count the clicks and take a smaller dose and therefore, the pen lasts longer than 4 weeks.

In every MJ pen, no matter the dose strength, it’s 60 clicks until you see that 1 in the window indicating the full dose. So 30 clicks for half a dose etc.

On a 5mg pen, 30 clicks = 2.5mg, 36 clicks for 3mg, 42 clicks for 3.5mg and 48 clicks for 4mg.

I’ve been on MJ for about 10 months and have lost 4.5 stones and slowly increased my doses by 0.25mg each time I felt the suppression was waning. I’m now on 4mg and hope to go up no higher than 5mg to lose the last stone and go to maintenance.

It’s mostly to save money as I expect to stay on a maintenance dose for at least a year or two but also I think the longer I’m taking the MJ for, the more chance I have of sticking to better habits, so taking it slowly is my preference.

Read through a couple of the previous years MJ monthly threads on here and you’ll see how much has changed due to other peoples experiences. In the early threads, posters were moving up a full dose pen monthly (as initially advised by Lilly), and some people still need to do that if their body doesn’t respond effectively to the lower doses. We’re all different.

https://www.vrgrowth.co.uk/mounjaro-clicks

This is a great click counter courtesy of Fatoldclimber on YouTube.

The fifth dose is disappearing so that part will soon be out of date for all strengths.