Wegovy plateau, and how do you ever come off?

[HereWegoovy]

Start weight - 81kgs
Goal weight - 60kgs
Current weight - 70-71kgs

I’ve been on Wegovy for 14 months, lost the first 8kgs in around 4-5 months, then it’s been slow for the last 9-10 months.

This has coincided with staying at 1mg.

I had quite a bit of diarrhea, the jabs make me tired, and a tad irritable plus I was reading about putting weight back on when coming off it so didn’t want to end up on a super high dose and then get stuck.

Last few weeks have been busy and I haven’t jabbed consistently at the same time each week, and I reckon I’ve actually stretched one 1mg pen out over about 6 weeks.

And whilst I somehow seem to be able to maintain my weight I do think I’m skating on thin ice and at risk of it gaining. I’m snacking more, sugar seeking, not feeling full and starting to eat slightly bigger portions again. It’s like I’m going back in time to My Old Self, where I know what I need to do but just don’t do it.

I guess these last few weeks with the food noise have made me realise what it’s like if I decrease, so I’m kind of thinking how the hell would I ever come off it? I know some people expect to be on WLI for life, but I just can’t get my head (or wallet) around that but also totally see why that’s the case.

Then at the same time, my provider (I live abroad, it’s an online doctor set-up, with bloods taken regularly etc) is saying to increase or switch to mounjaro seeing as I’ve plateaued.

I’m feeling a bit naive that I didn’t think the old habits would come back so quickly, yet they are.

And with summer holidays and other chaos I’ve slipped on water, gym, protein and sleep which I know are the magic ingredients.

So what do I do?

1. Continue with low dose Wegovy + supposed willpower to kick start again?

2. Increase Wegovy and deal with side effects and worry about coming off later or face that it might be for life

3. switch to mounjaro, starting from scratch and adjust to new side effects, then deal with coming off later/never…

Anyone else been in a similar situation??

You’ve only lost 10kg in 14 months? I’d have given up by now, lol.

However, you weren’t massively overweight to start with and it’s always more difficult to lose that final stone or 10kg when you’re not far from goal.

As your weight loss is extremely slow at this point, you’re really going to have to get your head into gear and make some decisions.

In your shoes, I’d try swapping to Mounjaro and ditching Wegovy. Also consider that you might need to move up to a higher dose of MJ before the last bit of weight shifts. Plus I’d be strictly calorie counting and increasing exercise as part of a longer term strategy. You know yourself that sliding back into old habits isn’t an option any more.

Finally, you do need to consider the longer term and what you’re willing to do to maintain a slimmer weight? I’ve already accepted that I’ll need to stay on some form of WL drugs for the foreseeable. I’m also hoping that the new foundayo pill might be part of my solution. 🤞

Well I was ok with slow loss as I couldn’t bear the obvious shrinking and people commenting.

Why do you suggest switching to mounjaro? I’ve still got 2 more dose increases left on Wegovy if it comes to it. I know it works due to the initial loss and the plateau makes sense given I’ve plateaued the dose too.

I think I just thought that I wasn’t that dependent on the WLI, and that it was me in a better mindset about it all, but clearly it’s deffo the WLI and without it I’m a bit weak/greedy/unable to control myself so all those horrible shaming thoughts are coming back. I think it’s a realization that this is not a crutch to “get me to a good place” and might be a forever thing and that I just am not strong enough to do it without.

You’re not alone. I see the options as stay on forever or put the weight back on. Only a tiny proportion will maintain without. There’s a reason we all need wli in the first place
Maintaining a slim weight is very hard and needs an iron will daily to not give into the constant temptation. It means fighting it every day. So I will always stay on. I worry they get less effective though as has been said so many times by people
I do worry this has all been a temporary solution and we’re all just gonna be fat again!

I started on MJ with a BMI of 25, I’ve gone down to 21, I know how to eat healthy, it’s not about “learning good habits”, if I come off MJ I will go back to my starting weight eventually (and put on more during menopause no doubt) or I will live a miserable existence trying to fight it.

I’ve just decided to embrace the miracle that is WLI and stay on it for as long as I can financially and medically withstand it. I’ve given up overthinking it tbh. Instead of feeling guilt or shame I feel lucky I have this drug that for the first time in my life has stopped me obsessing about my diet and body incessantly, I can just live. What a privilege that is.

Id probably up your dose and then lose what you need to and figure it out after. Ultimately however you lose the weight you’re going to have to eat less and keep up lifestyle habits or it’ll go back on. Maybe take a bit more time to get used to or figure out what your new lifestyle is before contemplating coming off. Or just come off and deal with the food noise.

@HereWegoovy

Why do you suggest switching to mounjaro? I’ve still got 2 more dose increases left on Wegovy if it comes to it. I know it works due to the initial loss and the plateau makes sense given I’ve plateaued the dose too.

I’m suggesting switching to MJ because your weight loss has been extremely slow. Less than 2 stones in 14 months. That’s a hell of a lot of money to spend on WLI for very little benefit. Most people on MJ will lose that initial 2 stones within 4 months very easily and carry on losing steadily, assuming they were overweight to start with.

I think that you’d finally lose the extra kg’s more easily on MJ and then you can focus on maintenance along with overhauling your Iifestyle permanently.

Your sad shaming thoughts are hurting you and you’re clearly not happy with things as they stand. Whichever drug you decide to use, something has to drastically change as you’re paying out a lot of money every month just to maintain your current weight and still feel sad and unhappy. That’s no way to live.

Wegovy was working until I slowed it down. So my logic is that it’ll work again if I ramp it up.

I’m a bit down now because I think the weight may creep up but actually was feeling quite good about slow and steady loss. weve had a lot of personal stuff going on this year… Fast loss was never my aim.

I think slow and steady is the best way. I'm on it and had 2 months at .25, 2 months at .5, and am now on my second month of 1mg. I've lost 7kg so far, which I'm happy with. You haven't really been on the 1mg solid, if you've used it sporadically and made a 1mg dose last 6 weeks (I hope not the same needle!) then you aren't on it properly.
Can you see a face to face clinician?
You kind of need to get to the bottom of what the food noise is about, now you have lost a good chuck of weight. Is it hormones / stress?
Well done though.

It definitely makes sense to up the dose to maximum before switching to MJ. I’d definitely be doing that.