I’m taking Mounjaro on a private prescription in the UK. At my current dose, it’s costing me £150 a month.
My weight has yo-yoed since my early teens. At one point, I was so drastically underweight that my periods stopped. At another, at my heaviest, I was over 200lb and obese. My wardrobe is bursting with clothes that range from a size 8 to a size 16, that I can’t throw out because they’re in constant rotation. I’ve seen every weight on a wide spectrum. I’ve experienced every weight comment from friends, family and strangers that you can think of. I’ve felt every emotion from elation and pride, to crippling shame and suicidal thoughts. I’ve done every diet, I’ve done the calorie counting and rigorous exercise programs, I’ve done the self-care and the self-doubt, I’ve gotten the results and reneged on them over and over again, I’ve done everything and nothing at all, and thanks to Mounjaro, at age 31, I am finally done with all of it.
I cannot express enough how much of a miracle this medication has been for me. It’s like injecting a mind control drug. I have diagnosed autism, and probably undiagnosed ADHD, and the stability this has given to my mental health – which is directly tied to my weight – is actually difficult to believe, even after 6 months. I’m even keeled. I never think about food. I never think about my weight. I eat healthy without trying. I exercise because I want to, when I want to, and enjoy it. My anxiety was crippling before I started, and now it’s manageable. For this first time in my life, I feel normal. It’s astonishing.
I’ve been at my goal weight for a while now, so my husband asked me when I’m coming off MJ and he was shocked when I told him I’m planning on taking it forever. I don’t care if its expensive, or what future health issues may arise – they are new treatments with unknown factors, but if I found out down the road this medication had ruined me somehow, I wouldn’t care. It would be worth it. We were fence sitting about kids but not being able to stay on the prescription whilst pregnant is a major reason as to why I’m now heavily leaning towards no (word is it’s less effective if you stop and restart).
I have autism, and work is burning me out. I was thinking about dropping down my hours, or changing jobs to something less stressful but honestly now I can’t afford to. Even that is worth it. I have no real side effects to speak of, except I can’t really drink alcohol much now without really regretting it later, and KFC is off the table. I’m fine to live with that.
My best friend has similar weight struggles, and was shocked when I said I’m not coming off it. We’ve jokingly been talking for years about how amazing it would be to pay a subscription to saying thin without trying, or have a pill that fixes all our issues with food, and I honestly feel like that’s what I’ve been given. For £150 a month??? I’d give up everything else to keep paying for this.
I eat what I want now, and my appetite regulates by itself. I don’t deny myself, because I don’t need food the way I did before – the way an addict does. I don’t want or need or crave, I’m just fine. I enjoy fruit and veg and they’ve become my default choice. Junk food holds no compulsive appeal, I happily share my food or throw away what I can’t finish, and the rest just takes care of itself.
What could coming off this medication possibly achieve but my awful old normal, that I am so happy to have escaped from?
This comes with a heavy dose of judgement from people who think it’s the easy way out. Everybody’s experience is different, for me, it’s been blissful. But I don’t understand why it should be hard. If I was working hard for these results, what difference would that make to anyone? Why should anyone else care?
I haven’t expressed this fully to anyone, I don’t think they would understand. I’ve tried to discuss with my husband but he came back with “long term medication isn’t really a solution the way going to the gym is.” Yeah, ok great except I’ve done that already and it wasn’t the solution everybody kept promising it would be. It was just really fucking hard in a different way until I fell flat on my face again. He said I didn’t need to justify myself to him so I didn’t. But I wanted to confess the truth of it all somewhere.
Yes, I will take the easy way out. Life is hard enough. If I’m a failure, OK. I’m done pretending not to be.
Comments
Have you researched the side effects…? No free rides in nutrition. I have heard of bone density loss, for a woman is devastating. Please check that.
If it makes you feel any better. People in the US are paying more than double that for the exact same reason.
Good job. If you can afford it and it doesn’t cause anyone harm, you’re all good in my book. Fuck the gatekeeprs.
EDIT: and congrats!
I’ve watched a friend of mine literally melt. She says the same thing about the cravings just being gone. That it’s literally changed her thought patterns. If I could afford it, I would be on it too. More power to you. I’m glad you’ve beaten the food demons. Who cares what it takes to do it.
Good for you, we’re already ingesting all kinds of chemicals, so we might as well take those that help us.
I’ll talk about that molecule to my dad, it might help him too (obesity, sneep apnea, probably pre diabetic)
As long as you can afford it, do it if it makes you happy. You don’t need to justify it to anyone.
Why do you feel guilty about it? YOUR E SAVING YOUR LIFE. Weight has a lot to do with mortality and quality of life when it comes to health.
Enjoy it and see it as an investment in your future.
SHINE BRIGHT: when you do so you give others permission to shine.
Mounjaro isn’t something you’re meant to “go off of.” If you do, the hunger returns (and generally the weight alongside it.) Your husband and best friend don’t seem to understand how this medication works; don’t let their confusion confuse you.
Incidentally, this is why I’d never want to depend on a drug for weight loss, but that’s me.
The way you feel about food now is how the rest of the world feels about food normally!! They don’t understand “food noise.” So they will judge you. Fuck them. It’s not their life. It’s not their body.
And long term medication is important for a lot of conditions including ADHD, or thyroid issues, or heart issues, etc. Sometimes our bodies and brains are lacking and medicine addresses those imbalances. We’d like to think we can handle it all ourselves but sometimes it’s not scientifically possibly. And that’s ok!!!!
They are looking at GLP1s now in regards to other addictions like gambling and alcoholism, btw.
you are definitely not a failure and i would for sure do the same thing in you shoes. addiction of any kind is a bitch.
If you’ve hit your goal weight you can microdose to maintain and that will also stretch out your prescription longer.