Struggling on 0.8mg Foundayo after 2 yrs on 15mg Mounjaro, has anyone else had success?

[ILoveaSunflower]

I've been on mounjaro for 2 years and lost 4.5 stone which I was pretty happy with but the weight loss ground to a halt and I have been stuck at a plateau for months. I'd got up to the max dose of 15mg
I decided to switch to foundayo as I figured if the weight loss has stopped I may as well maintain my weight with the pills and save some money. As I understand it Foundayo is mainly for maintenance and also it is a third of the cost of my 15mg of mounjaro.

I've been taking foundayo for around two weeks and oh my goodness its like I'm on nothing. My hunger and food noise is back with a vengeance and I've gained 5 lbs. I'm preoccupied with food again and I want to snack and binge all day like the old days.

I really don't know what to do! Do I persevere and keep going up the doses and wait for it to kick in or do I go straight back to mounjaro for some serious damage control? I really need to save some money but I also really can't undo all my hard work and gain more and more weight back waiting to see if the higher doses of Foundayo become more effective.

I was in 2.5mg Mounjaro and was recommended 2.5 of foundayo, how come they didn’t switch you to a higher amount?

I never went higher than 7.5mg and then I slowly titrate a down to 2.5mg and been maintaining on that for almost a year.

The starting dose is not supposed to do anything other than get your body used to the drug. If you were on a high dose of mounjaro you should have started on a much higher dose of foundayo.

I had no guidance from the provider on that they just offered the starting dose. No idea if I can jump up a few doses now as Mounjaro would be out my system for nearly a month

I think most pharmacies were only recommending Foundayo for Mounjaro patients who had already managed to titrate down to a much lower dose of Mounjaro and were at maintenance, because Foundayo is considerably less effective especially when used to Mounjaro.

You’ve gone directly from 15 mg of Mounjaro to 0.8 mg of Foundayo, which is quite a significant reduction in treatment effect. The higher doses of the Wegovy pill are expected to have weightloss effects roughly comparable to around 5 mg of Mounjaro, and I believe Foundayo is less effective than the Wegovy pill.

Given that you’ve come from 15 mg Mounjaro, I’d definitely speak to your prescriber and get their advice about where you are now and what options they recommend for you now.

Are you at a decent provider with some support?

I'm with asda and no the support is not great unfortunately.

I have just changed over to Foundayo from Weygovy pill, I started on 9mg and have just gone up to 14.5mg which seems to be really effective. I am also with ASDA, they sent me a chart when I switched over to show what strength I should change to, I will see if I can post an image to the thread. The 14.5 strength is working really well for me, I am maintaining my weight on it and finding it brilliant for that as it controls food noise & snacking but I enjoy meals and feel well with no side effects, it’s definitely worth talking to Asda about changing the strength if that’s still an option for you.

@ILoveaSunflower here we go, hope you can read this chart ok

I may be wrong but isn't there a limit/max loss on mounjaro/WLI like 15/20% of bodyweight. if you have lost 4.5st already over 2years that may be the max you can loose on WLI

@N0tjustAmum no, there’s no limit to the weight you can lose on Mounjaro. The number you are quoting is roughly the average amount of weight lost on the clinical trials. I have lost 11 stone on Mounjaro, so definitely no limit there!

You will not have seen a “limit/max” on any legitimate information as there isn’t one.

Those were the average numbers are quoted from so many weeks on trials. Some lost more, some less. Then the trial period ended (think it was 72 weeks, but I may be wrong).

If someone stays in a calorie deficit, with support from a glp1 they will continue to lose weight. I have lost over 40% of my body weight on Mounjaro alongside ongoing diet changes over 2+ years.

To be clear - you went from the highest dose of MJ, to the starting dose of FD (which we all know is less effective as a primary weight loss drug) and you wonder why you’re not feeling the same suppression ?

I’m with Asda and on FD. I get loads of follow-up emails from them. Have you checked your Junk folder ?

No I'm wondering if I go up the doses or switch back as the transition period is currently very difficult.
Thanks for the judgemental reply! And yes I find all those emails pretty useless thanks

@ILoveaSunflower I think it may depend on how much of a financial struggle affording the 15mg Mounjaro may be? The cheapest place is usually Medicine Market Place at £229 with the caveat that you agree to order every 35 days. As opposed to £60 to £80 for the next dose of Foundayo. So a big difference.

If finances are the major concern, then I'd just carry on with Foundayo, maybe order the next dose as soon as you can and maybe start taking them after 3 weeks rather than 4. Then repeat that until they start to make a difference.

But, if weight regain is more pressing an issue, then go back to the 15mg now whilst you can still order at that dose level. Then I'd titrate down before swapping to Foundayo at a higher dose than the starting dose.

Are you looking to maintain or do you want to lose a bit more weight?

It might be worth going back on MJ at a lower dose but also joining something like weight watchers or slimming world to help you manage your food better and stay accountable? Some people find the combination of WLD’s and going to a weekly meeting helps them stay in control a bit more easily. You don’t have to tell them you’re using WLD’s.