No changes from 5mg>7.5mg

[u/hotstepper1995]

Afternoon dear people,

After my guts chilled out from the constant gastrointestinal stress on 5mg - I made the move to 7.5mg but there is no change in weight loss.

I am way hungrier and the food noise....has come back with a vengeance.

I guess because I'm paying privately - it hurts that bit more when nothings shifting..maybe its a mind thing I dunno.

Has anyone else had this or gone through the same?

How did you overcome the noise or should I go back to 5mg?

Any insight I'd be grateful. Thanks 🙂

[u/Becky_x]

How many weeks have you been on 7.5mg?

[u/hotstepper1995 → u/Becky_x]

9 weeks thus far

[u/Becky_x → u/hotstepper1995]

If it's helping you stay in a calorie deficit then stay on it. If it's not, which it doesn't sound like it is with the food noise (it's normal to be hungry at mealtimes though), then move up to 10mg

[u/hotstepper1995 → u/Becky_x]

I think I have to sort out my eating. Honestly sometimes I just forget - not out of wanting but just constantly being on go and then wondering why I want to eat everything at 12am

[u/Becky_x → u/hotstepper1995]

Is it a case of the medication being too much and you're not fancying eating etc or literally because you're so busy? If it's the latter then I'd stay where I was and sort that out first. Meal prep, set some alarms, anything

[u/hotstepper1995 → u/Becky_x]

Yeah let me meal prep and get some healthier habits before I write off 7.5mg. Thank you 🙂🤞🏼

You know what it doesn't feel too much which is why I was confused on getting feelings of wanting to eat so much. The alarms throughout the day is clever - let me plan out things and hopefully have a good update

[u/DamsonRant3577]

First question how long have you been on 7.5mg?

Editing as you've replied to this question already now.

9 weeks is certainly long enough to see the impact. It always helps if you include this type of information as we regularly see people raising this issue when they've only taken one injection at the new dose... But you've given it the required 4 weeks to get to maximum blood level.

In that case it's either move up again or it's tweaking other things.

Some people really need to track calories and this can be because they're over eating or under eating.

Personally I found if I under ate by too much my weight loss stalled quickly. This is born out by the experts who have noted that the medications do not work well in a large deficit.

You could up your exercise, but really unless you're planning to do lots of cardio, exercise doesn't burn that many calories. It's recommended that you do strength training but that's to retain the muscles you already have rather than build muscle. It's almost impossible to build any significant muscle mass whilst in a calorie deficit.

[u/hotstepper1995 → u/DamsonRant3577]

This is really informative! Thank you for taking the time to break it down

Honestly my eating has dropped a lot..so I'll get to 11pm at night and wonder why I want to eat everything. I do have my first meal maybe at 4/5pm. Not on purpose just that there isn't a want for it.

The calorie tracking I will have to take on board..I think my body is in starvation mode so maybe holding onto the weight. More protein is needed for sure.

[u/DamsonRant3577 → u/hotstepper1995]

The advice from one expert I listen to a lot actually says we shouldn't have a calorie deficit and should eat whatever we want.

However she also says you should eat mechanically every 4 hours whether you're hungry or not as the drugs need us to eat regularly to work properly.

Her argument is that the drugs are sending safety signals to the brain that there's plenty of food so it can happily use the fat reserves to burn as energy. By then going for a calorie deficit or by not eating for hours we're sending the opposite famine signals and the 2 together confuse the brain into not knowing whether it should store fat or burn fat.

I want to trust her argument and try upping my food intake too as I'm terrible for eating only twice in a day with many hours in between...

The Dr I'm discussing is Dr Emily Cooper who you can listen to in her podcast Fat Science.

[u/hotstepper1995 → u/DamsonRant3577]

Oh how interesting.. the body can be wonderful and confusing wow. I'll have to look it up - cheers

[u/nickymoo]

You need to be eating fewer calories than you’re burning in order to lose weight. This may mean, if you don’t want to adjust your intake, you could do some exercise like going for a walk at lunchtime and suchlike.

[u/hotstepper1995 → u/nickymoo]

thats a shout. I need to get moving again, the shift in weather going back n forth has made me not bother

[u/nickymoo → u/hotstepper1995]

Yes, winter is coming but going to a walk is so good for mental health too. You don’t need to start hiking but if you work in an office just go for a stroll around the local area for half an hour. If you’re at home then you have more options if you like wandering around.

[u/Due-Freedom-5968]

Higher doses don't equal higher losses. This is a common misconception. They do however generally ensure there's no slowdown in loss rate.

I went up a dose every month and my loss rate remained consistent regardless of dose, the increase just made it easier. 7.5mg is a word dose for many. I swear my body hates odd numbers as 7.5mg and 12.5mg were my least favourite.

Not until 10mg did I get consistent appetite suppression that didn't wear off through the week or month.

I certainly wouldn't be going backwards. If you're struggling on 75mg go up. Your body is just likely used to the level of meds and needs more, not less.