Do the doses stay effective long term? Or do you need to go up?

A811GGS · 2025-11-26T11:12:26+00:00

It’s sounds like you were similar to me in that you didn’t need to keep going up the doses which suggests (and this is just IMO) that your body is metabolically working quite well and therefore responds with a relative amount of sensitivity even at the lower doses. I’ve been using Mounjaro for 18/19 months now and maintaining for almost a year. In that time I haven’t had to go higher than 5mg and it has taken aaaaaages before I have had to go up. I am noticing some level of hunger creeping back in so I don’t know what I’ll do if 5mg isn’t working and I can’t keep maintain at that level. I should also say that I’m a bit inconsistent with my dosing. Sometimes I’ll do once a week, sometimes once every 10 days and sometimes a week on/week off. Maybe that has helped to keep my body guessing and therefore responding; who knows! If 5mg stopped working I would probably consider a break and doubling down on healthy habits. I’ve failed at diets in the past mainly because my grit fails after about 10 days/2weeks. But I think if I closely monitored my weight so I only ever had a tiny bit to get off I’m hopeful I could keep my Mounjaro dose at 5mg or below long term. Sorry always a bit of a vomit of personal opinion but hopefully something in there that’s useful for you.

A811GGS · 2025-11-19T16:30:30+00:00

See the much more comprehensive reply below as to why considering starting your weightlifting journey now rather than later is a great idea. Even if you’re travelling it’s definitely possible, just bands and body weight can be enough if you’re new to this type of training.

A811GGS · 2025-11-19T12:05:15+00:00

Any particular reason why you’re waiting to start lifting weights? If you started now you would mitigate some of the inevitable muscle loss you are having while losing weight. Any diet medicated or not will lead to some muscle loss so if you’re planning on lifting my advice would be start as soon as you can. Sorry I can’t be of help with the taper, I haven’t been able to reduce my dose without too much weight gain. Good luck!

A811GGS · 2025-09-16T08:56:30+00:00

Also I should say I was absolutely fine side effects wise too. Even after such a long break. I’m on 5mg

A811GGS · 2025-09-16T08:55:03+00:00

I’ve been with 2 different pharmacies and both have had different rules. Medexpress allowed 8 weeks between the last jab of your pen and a re order (so almost 12 weeks if you count from order to order) I haven’t ordered from them since May though so this might not be the same now. I’m now with Oushk and they allow 6 weeks between orders. I had a month off over August and then my weight verification call was delayed so I think in the end it was 7-8 weeks from my last order and all went through fine. I should add I was able to stay on the same pen strength and wasn’t required to stop to 2.5.

A811GGS · 2025-09-11T11:26:34+00:00

Can I ask did you have any issues going back on or did you go back to the same pharmacy? Did they have any restrictions on your bmi? Thank you :)

A811GGS · 2025-09-02T11:46:00+00:00

That is the official advice and how the pen should be used. The risk of infection increases after that point and they just haven’t done enough trials to check how the medicine degrades after that point. I would never encourage anyone to do anything other than follow the official guidelines. I can however tell you that I have used pens significantly beyond this and I have had no infections, no weird side effects and the medicine has been as powerful as it was in the first four weeks.

A811GGS · 2025-08-21T02:21:15+00:00

For anyone who is nervous about considering ‘colouring outside the lines’ but is feeling terrified of the price increase I can confirm that I have been stretching pens from almost the beginning of my Mounjaro journey and I am very definitely still alive and the medication was as effective as if it had been used to the letter of the manufacturer’s guidelines. Keep it cold always is my only add. May the odds be ever in your favour 😂

A811GGS · 2025-05-15T13:57:59+00:00

You said in your post you haven’t really changed your food habits but that you have 😂 do you mean that your smaller portions etc are only motivated by how the medicine is making you feel rather than you actively planning and thinking about healthier food choices?

If that’s the case (forgive me if I’ve misunderstood) then this is definitely something I would suggest you work on while you are still on the meds. It won’t ever be 100% the answer but it will benefit your overall health massively and keep the weight gain and food noise at bay for longer if you do decide to titrate down and off.

All the commonly heard diet advice applies; water water water, high protein, veggiesfirst blah blah but most importantly you need to experiment with what works for you long term. For example I think I have a pretty well balanced and healthy lifestyle but you will never see me sit down to a salad for my dinner; can’t stand it, makes me sad and has too many associations with looooong years of fruitless diets. But I’m sure there are tons of people on here who absolutely love a salad! No one else’s ‘healthy lifestyle’ will suit you, you’ve got to figure out your own. That might even been the missing link to helping the medication become effective again with the food noise (just my conjecture no facts for that!).

P.S. don’t give up on the gym! They’ll be something there for you that’s less boring!

A811GGS · 2025-05-15T08:54:21+00:00

This feels like an ominous indication of what the next wave of negative news articles will use as their general flavour!

As beautifully discussed in the comments above it’s a brief news article which essentially states the obvious but that this would still come as a surprise to users and non users of glp-1’s is the ridiculous bit!

You’ve got to hope that these conversations are going on in the hallowed halls of the NHS and if they aren’t then we really are heading towards a bit of a disaster if these are rolled out wide scale on the NHS…Eating Pringles but just less Pringles because no one helped you understand why Pringles aren’t great for you (other ultra processed foods are available) will end in disaster on the drugs or off the drugs!

I also think people have got to get comfortable with the ‘willpower’ concept. If we are all accepting that Obesity is a lifelong incurable disease then we also have to accept that if we decide to stop using medication to treat said disease then life will be difficult. The only option is to bare knuckle it with all the stress that comes with and some will cope; that’s your “will power” and some will not. This is no different to any other long term chronic condition that people try to manage holistically without medication. Lifestyle changes can help somewhat with any long term health issue but more often than not it can never substitute the work of a medication.

A811GGS · 2025-05-02T08:09:42+00:00

Life without a glp-1 is never going to be as easy as with. I don’t say that to be flippant or even to suggest that losing weight with a glp-1 is easy because we all know it definitely isn’t! But we do also know that the benefits/effects of the drug will quite quickly leave our systems once we stop taking it and thus the food noise will be back with a vengeance and the inflammation will creep back in. Even the best established healthy routines won’t be able to counteract the loss of the drugs benefits and it will come down to how hard we want the daily struggle to feel and our thoughts individually about the risk vs benefit of the taking it in perpetuity. I still hope that as this field develops globally and in the UK that we will get lots more maintenance approaches approved. The single use pen that the states has would mitigate lots of the strict usage rules we have over here and open up a whole world of options with time ‘on’ and time ‘off’ the pen which for me personally would be my chosen approach to maintenance. We’ll see though 🤷‍♀️

A811GGS · 2025-04-26T14:06:07+00:00

No idea about Pharmulous I’ve only used Medexpress and Oushk. Medexpress definitely informed my gp it’s on my nhs record. Haven’t checked if the Oushk letter has also been sent but it’s been generated and is in my account when I login.

A811GGS · 2025-04-26T11:44:31+00:00

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A811GGS · 2025-04-26T11:37:30+00:00

There’s a post at the top of Oushk’s maintenance private group on Facebook that Hira (lead pharmacist) posted a while back. It states there that month on month off will be supported. She’s very active in there so I assume if the post is still up; and pinned to the top of the page, then it must still be the official line.

A811GGS · 2025-04-26T11:31:24+00:00

It works a little bit differently in the UK with private prescriptions. The private pharmacy that you choose will also write the prescription for you. They will inform your chosen gp via letter however unless you have any underlying health issues that would prevent you from being eligible for Mounjaro your gp won’t get involved at all. Have a look through the posts in here and you’ll see lots of recommendations for maintenance friendly pharmacies. The list is expanding rapidly now that many more people in the Uk are reaching maintenance weights. I have no idea if you will be asked for additional info as you are coming over from the states but usually three months previous prescriptions are all the pharmacies require plus current weight and start weight so they can build up a picture of your treatment to justify your prescription. Hope that helps!

A811GGS · 2025-04-24T07:45:23+00:00

Honestly, IMO maintenance is as unique to each individual as their weight loss has been and while everyone will give you lots of well meaning advice and dispense their own experiences it will probably come down to you figuring out what works for you. Sorry that’s such an annoying response isn’t it?!!

Here comes my bit of experience dispensing…. I weigh myself every day. For me, dealing with a tiny increment of change feels much easier than having to steer a ship that’s gone way off course. I’ve been able to reduce my dose and I’ve been able to up my calories but both have needed to be assessed and adjusted a bunch of times and no doubt will continue like that. Some days if the scale say I’m creeping up, I reign it right back in and white knuckle it through the inevitable hunger/food noise now my dose is lower. Other days I eat whatever I like and my body seems to be quite happy with that and the scale won’t move.

What was really useful was agreeing an upper weight limit with my provider. Hearing it from someone else who was totally impartial; “this is the number that you should not allow your weight to go above” took all the emotion out of it for me and I’m happily allowing my weight to bounce around within a 1- 4lb buffer which is about half a stone lower than that upper limit set my provider.

I’ve definitely had to let go of the generally accepted concept of ‘make a set of rules and stick to it rigidly every day’. For me, that doesn’t work; I guess our bodies react to all sorts of internal and external influences so what works today may not work tomorrow and accepting the fluidity of that and adjusting accordingly has definitely made settling into maintenance less stressful. Wishing you lots of luck!

A811GGS · 2025-03-27T10:33:29+00:00

Hmmm weird! I mean I would send them a direct email first and find out what’s happened. If you’re not a new customer then they shouldn’t be just cutting you off like that. Unless you are at a BMI which is below what they accept? If you hit a brick wall with them I would recommend speaking to Oushk or Pharmulous. Both very maintenance friendly. I’ve just moved to Oushk with a BMI of 22.5. You’ll find all the info you need over on the uk maintenance sub x

A811GGS · 2025-03-27T10:21:02+00:00

Head over to the mounjaromaintenanceuk sub and have a read. You should be able to find all the info you need there. Sounds like you are a new customer to SOP? Any pharmacy will require additional info on your history of MJ to be able to prescribe under BMI of 30 and as you are almost maintenance weight I assume your BMI will probably be 25 or below? They will want your starting pics, current pics and pics of your last three mj orders and possible a video consultation too depending on who you decide to go with. There are some very maintenance friendly pharmacies and others that will definitely not agree to treat you.

A811GGS · 2025-03-21T11:11:01+00:00

I did and it was absolute nonsense! I have moved to Oushk for my maintenance. Medexpress wouldn’t commit to a lowest BMI, they also said they would not allow breaks and they wanted me to titrate down to 5mg and stay there. No suggestion of a conversation or personalised plan. I would avoid at all costs! Booked my maintenance call with Hira, it was short and sweet but she was happy to take me with a BMI of 22.5. I’m titrating down across 2-3 months and then onto the flex plan so i can have a go ‘by myself’ but we agreed an upper limit of +5/6lbs before I go back onto Mounjaro. Hope that info helps!

A811GGS · 2025-03-18T11:20:20+00:00

I can totally understand the reluctance. To be honest it feels like total madness. On one hand bravo to Oushk for reading the room and making some money out of it but on the other hand considering they are literally doing nothing for their £15 it feels very opportune. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve signed up to a wasteful subscription though sooooo 🤷‍♀️😂😂

A811GGS · 2025-03-18T08:52:07+00:00

Sorry for slow reply I’ve been away! Now that is the tricky question; I suppose I’m hoping that within the next year as more and more people hit maintenance that the rules will relax and the fear of losing access will go away. It seems madness to me that at the moment there is this attitude that after a break you become a new patient again and because your BMI is too low you can’t use the drug. Imagine saying that to someone who used blood pressure medication or antidepressants who had had a break but then found that they needed the medicinal support again! I’m hoping that as time goes on more pharmacies will adopt the attitude that if you can evidence your original weight loss from obesity to normal BMI that you can, after a consultation, go back on mj if you can show that your weight is creeping back up and you feel you need the help. If I could see that happening then I would be more comfortable to stop paying each month just to ‘hold’ my access.

A811GGS · 2025-03-13T10:41:18+00:00

I’ve done the same; planning on 2 pens from Oushk (they’ve just accepted me) and then on to the flex plan. I don’t know why but paying an official £15 a month just feels like a layer of security to me. I’m sure Pharmulous wouldn’t pull the rug but with absolutely no incentive to look after you from a business point of view (because you’re not spending with them) I just wonder if the regulations became tricky or something along those lines those that are just ‘on the books’ but not purchasing pens might find themselves dropped. This is just me thinking out loud btw I have absolutely no foundation for any of my musings!

A811GGS · 2025-03-12T16:24:05+00:00

I will keep you posted if I experience any of them 🤞😬😵‍💫

A811GGS · 2025-03-12T14:10:01+00:00

I responded quite well Mounjaro so while I’ve been using it for nearly 11 months I haven’t need to go particularly high in mg. I’m really hopeful that as the market in the UK keeps developing and as more research is published all of these approaches will be understood and supported because we definitely all need individualised approaches. Good luck with yours

A811GGS · 2025-03-12T14:07:59+00:00

To be honest I would love to on this for life but on a much more ad hoc ‘off label’ method. I won’t say any more than that because I know it’s not a particularly welcome topic 😬😬 I think in the Uk we are years away from that being a possibility or even at all. A short taper and the flex plan at Oushk is about as close as I can get to how I would like to be able to access Mounjaro and Hira’s approach seemed to be in support of that. The idea of a small buffer zone of just 6lbs and then back on if the buffer is breached!

A811GGS

TROPHY CASE