Mounjaro - How safe is it?

[Biosblbay]

Since my 2 children I have gained 3 stone, in 4 years I have gone from a size 10/12 to now a 14 pushing a 16 potentially. I don’t have time to go gym like I used to, all I do is walk on a walking pad while I work from home which isn’t helping budge the weight at all and I am far too tired to go gym in the evenings having working a full time job and have a just turned 1 year old and an almost 4 year old. My baby still doesn’t sleep well so I am just so tired (this also probably doesn’t help with weight either!).

I really want to do mounjaro, I know so many people that do it with title side effects such as bowl issues or nausea which I can deal with. What I want to know, has anyone else ever experienced much worse than this or it even cause any serious complications. I have read it can be fatal which scares the hell out of me, but how common is this?

Just needs some advice really. Thank you x

Well, it’s been approved in the UK by the MHRA for widespread use via online pharmacies for people who are obese. If it was unsafe then it would not have been approved. It’s as “safe” as any other prescription medication. There are some rare serious side effects but there are currently several million people in the UK taking them and the instances of those sorts of side effects is very very low.

So, yes, some people will have had some serious side effects and they may well come along and post about it. But want you won’t get here is the millions of other people who are happily losing weight with no issue.

I used it, I was a large 14 and I lost over 50 pounds. Not even a moment of feeling unwell.

At a rough estimation, I reckon I know at least 12 women between friends (one of them is a medical research scientist with a PhD and one is my own GP) and colleagues that are on it. Not one of them has suffered side-effects that they have mentioned.

Just do it, I lost weight by myself, lost about 3 stone, struggled and have used it for the last year or so, down another 1 1/2. Got about another 10bls to go. Now I am back at a plateau. Going up from 5mg to 7.mg gave me more side effects with not much more suppression, so I have stuck at 5mg. The anti-inflammatory benefits are great. I wish I hadn't left it so long to go on it.

As @SilenceInside says, if you request anecdotal scare stories, incidents of serious side effects, you'll probably get them. That's not advice though, and it's not balanced data to help you make a measured choice either. Millions of people are on these medications in the UK and US for weightloss and they've been used for decades for diabetes treatment.

If your reference to "fatal" side effects comes from media scare stories, then the likelihood is the full facts in those cases have been neglected in the name of clickbait and scaremongering. There are rare complications which are as much associated with the weight loss itself, or the initial obesity, as MJ or WG and if untreated they can become serious. But rare is the key word there.

well it caused my mental health to plummet after just 3 doses. I had severe anxiety and panic attacks then depression last year it was awful.

@Catsservant I am sorry that you had such an extreme reaction to this medication. As a contrast, I felt and feel amazing whilst taking Mounjaro, a noticeable improvement in mood, positivity and a kind of clarity of thought.

That resonates. I was reluctant to stop
it as I felt so fantastic. It really was a panacea for me.

You haven’t mentioned your diet? Trying to lose weight through exercise alone isn’t going to work, so while the walking pad is a great way to get some steps in, it was never going to help you lose weight. If you do decide to use WLI I would recommend starting off with an entire dietary change, clean healthy foods, make sure you eat enough and this will mini use your risk of side effects. A lot of people who suffer very badly using WLI are also not fueling their bodies properly, which is terrifying.

Fatal? Where are you reading this, it’s been in use for decades, currently about 60 million on it globally and never one death due to correct use of legitimate product,

its the black market stuff you get from your hairdresser that’s fatal.

Millions of people take it every week in the uk and around the world safely.

I’ve lost 5.5 stone on it.

you still need to diet and exercise with it though. It doesn’t melt the fat away.

I find threads like this so odd. It’s a prescription medication. It went through 15 years of trials, it’s approved by all global health authorities, from the WHO to the FDA to the MHRA

are people really so clueless in terms of medication approvals or even incapable of googling.

seriously, yes op it’s a very dangerous drug, people are dying all over the place, all the regulators really fucked up.

Putting aside people who have positive health side effects beyond weightloss on mj, it is a legitimate question to ask, as in theory most people can lose weight by themselves. It’s not like a medication someone has to take to prevent immediate ill health where there are known serious side effects but the health condition gives no other option. Many people can lose weight at a similar pace as with mounjaro, but it’s difficult, so for those people naturally you want to hear about negative experiences as part of the decision making process. Obviously there are some people whose weight is at a point where it is a no brainier to take WLI, but maybe the op isn’t one of those people.

Oh goody, the old just eat less and move more brigade has joined the discussion.

I’ have been considering taking WLI for a couple of years. I have struggled with my weight since a teenager and lost and regained a lot of weight several times. My bmi was getting close to 40 but I have lost 25lbs since April. I am still open to WLI. The whole point of a forum like mumsnet is to chat through concerns with real people, rather than just Google. Which is what t the op has done here. I, and most likely the op and other people asking questions about WLI, have more than likely googled, read books and looked on forums for information about WLI, no need to just shut down other people who are looking for information.

I completely understand your worries because I felt the same before starting. I had some mild nausea and stomach upset at first, but it settled after a couple of weeks. Most people seem to experience mild digestive side effects if they get any, while serious side effects are much less common, although it's important to be aware of them and discuss any concerns with your prescriber.

I also found this guide useful because it explains the common and rare side effects in simple terms and when you should seek medical advice:

www.clickpharmacy.co.uk/weight-loss/blog/mounjaro-side-effects

Then you should know it isn’t as simple as you presented it. Telling someone struggling they are theoretically able to do it without and it’s a no brainer only at higher weights isn’t a good look.

My husband's cardiologist advised him to take it. He took it himself and lost over 4st. He raves about it and advises all his patients who are overweight to take it.

Thats not what I intended. When i first posted on this thread it was to some extent replying to your comment thar you find threads like this so odd. I was trying to put across some of the reasons why people might ask to hear negative experiences as part of deciding whether to go on mounjaro.

But I wasn’t asking why anyone would wish to hear negative experiences

the op was saying she’s read about it being fatal. Which is bonkers. And wanted to know its safety, I was saying it is incredibly odd as this is a prescription medication, who on earth is approving a medication that kills people for weight loss. No one. Thays what is odd.

Most of the serious side effects are in specific groups of people: for example NAION which can cause blindness is found primarily in people with diabetes, and can be watched for and the med stopped before severe damage occurs. You can't take it if you have pancreatic problems due to very severe issues that can occur with these groups. Finally, there are rare forms of thyroid cancer that can occur but mainly in people who already have had them. Your doctor should screen for these and watch for them. One last concern is that if you want to have any more kids, you CAN NOT take this med while pregnant or trying to conceive.

@FloozyMcGee are you thinking of diabetic retinopathy? NAION is not something that you can watch for and if it happens the effects are immediate and irreversible. It also doesn’t just affect people with diabetes.

No one has actually developed thyroid cancer as a result of using GLP1s, there’s no evidence that it increases the risk in humans. The warning about thyroid cancer applies to a set of specific types of cancer and it arises from one animal toxicity study of rodents that showed a possible correlation with those specific types of cancer. The warnings only apply if you have a family or personal history of those types of thyroid cancers.

Almost exactly what I said...except there are warning signs that can occur with Naion. Sometimes blindness is sudden, but sometimes it causes streaks of light or blurring in the center of vision. I know a person who had the former and recovered from it, but did have to stop using GLP1s.

No thyroid cancer seen in humans, it was seen in rodents in early trials, the drug tweaked and never seen again, but has to go on the box.

naion is a risk but it’s extremely rare and in diabetes patients, it’s 1 in 10 000,

and no like many meds should not be taken if suffering from pancreatitis or pancreatic cancer.

The first person I met that had used ended up in hospital with gall bladder problems. She had been told to come off the medication by her consultant, and was waiting to have it out. Saying that, lots of people seem to be on it now without any problems.

Me too. I've gone back onto a low dose to lose some more weight, after a break and maintaining for a bit. I had forgotten about those additional benefits, it's great.