UnderTheCaliSun

Hi all, Mounjaro has been AMAZING for me! Like @Tupelo and @vsgchickI lost the regain from hitting menopause and I have lost additional. I am down to 138 lbs which is my lowest weight since college. I'm not underweight at all. I worked my way up to 7.5 mg and that was my sweet spot. I hit maintenance and have slowly stepped my way back down to 2.5 mg. I was still losing on 5mg as I stepped down but so far I haven't lost anymore on 2.5. I'm on my second month of maintenance at 2.5 mg and I bounce between 138 and 141 depending on salt intake and Water weight but I'm very happy with my weight and size. Once my coupon runs out in June, I'll likely transition to something else as I cannot afford the retail pricing for semiglutide or terzepitide. The difficulty is that my BMI is now 23 so I would not qualify under insurance for obesity medication. We are submitting info for a PA under Insulin Resistance, PCOS, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver and preventative/maintenance of WL after surgery to see if we can get either Mounjaro or Ozempic approved. I am hoping to stay on Mounjaro. It works amazing for me and I never had any big side effects. I agree that if this had been around before my surgery in 2018, I probably would not have had or needed surgery but I also believe that it is HIGHLY effective for those who have had any regain after WLS. It gives a very similar feel to that first 90 day restriction.

Thank you Sleeve_Me_Alone, yes, I have studied the medication and talked with my doctor. I understand how and why it works but I would love to hear more personal experiences with it especially from people who had previous WLS.
My friend has had mild side effects. She gets nauseous the day of and after her shot but she has learned to wear a sea sick patch which seems to fix that. She hasn't had any other side effects except for the one time she over ate. She said the result was the same as when she overate after surgery. It was awful. She hasn't done that again and she considers that a good side effect for her. I am hoping to find others who have experience too. It's a new medication so there may not be many. I'm currently on Metformin and will stay on that indefinitely so this was of interest to me but the costs are high. I Just thought I would ask. Thanks!

Hi all, Mounjaro has been AMAZING for me! Like @Tupelo and @vsgchickI lost the regain from hitting menopause and I have lost additional. I am down to 138 lbs which is my lowest weight since college. I'm not underweight at all. I worked my way up to 7.5 mg and that was my sweet spot. I hit maintenance and have slowly stepped my way back down to 2.5 mg. I was still losing on 5mg as I stepped down but so far I haven't lost anymore on 2.5. I'm on my second month of maintenance at 2.5 mg and I bounce between 138 and 141 depending on salt intake and Water weight but I'm very happy with my weight and size. Once my coupon runs out in June, I'll likely transition to something else as I cannot afford the retail pricing for semiglutide or terzepitide. The difficulty is that my BMI is now 23 so I would not qualify under insurance for obesity medication. We are submitting info for a PA under Insulin Resistance, PCOS, Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver and preventative/maintenance of WL after surgery to see if we can get either Mounjaro or Ozempic approved. I am hoping to stay on Mounjaro. It works amazing for me and I never had any big side effects. I agree that if this had been around before my surgery in 2018, I probably would not have had or needed surgery but I also believe that it is HIGHLY effective for those who have had any regain after WLS. It gives a very similar feel to that first 90 day restriction.

@UnderTheCaliSun congratulations on your weightloss journey and finding a way to keep it off. I just had a Revision done of TORe and I’m just now hearing about Wegovy, Semaglutide and Mounjaro. I’m looking to get prescribed semaglutide to go along with my revision to ensure I hit my weight loss goal and help regulate my glucose and cholesterol.

Hello! Mounjaro has been great for me. I lost the remainder of my regain and 10 additional pounds. I am currently under my lowest sleeve weight and see my bariatric office in 2 weeks to discuss a maintenance plan. I didn't go higher than the 10mg dose (the highest doses are 12.5mg and 15mg). I didn't have any crazy side effects. GLP-1s seem to be a game changer for a lot of people...especially veteran WLS that need a boost but don't want revisions.

It’s been more effective than anything I’ve tried. I truly think it has the potential to replace surgery in the next decade or so for many.

I’ve consistently lost 1-2 lbs a week since starting. Below my personal goal (but not underweight 😄).

Like vsgchick, the 10 dose has been the sweet spot for me. Appetite control without appetite suppression. Easy to forget or skip a meal without minding but able to enjoy a meal as well.

Total loss here in week 21 is 30lbs, which I consider great since I was already pretty far in my journey to a goal weight and relatively inactive.

Thank you Sleeve_Me_Alone, yes, I have studied the medication and talked with my doctor. I understand how and why it works but I would love to hear more personal experiences with it especially from people who had previous WLS.
My friend has had mild side effects. She gets nauseous the day of and after her shot but she has learned to wear a sea sick patch which seems to fix that. She hasn't had any other side effects except for the one time she over ate. She said the result was the same as when she overate after surgery. It was awful. She hasn't done that again and she considers that a good side effect for her. I am hoping to find others who have experience too. It's a new medication so there may not be many. I'm currently on Metformin and will stay on that indefinitely so this was of interest to me but the costs are high. I Just thought I would ask. Thanks!

To follow up, I did start HRT this summer and instead of gaining, I actually lost 7 lbs and my worse symptoms of menopause subsided but I quickly realized that any further weight loss was going to be really hard. My doctor prescribed Moujaro and is a big fan of it (who knew?). I started it right after I posted this thread and I'm already down 20 lbs. Holy smokes! The appetite suppression and restriction (yes, I do feel it much more now) is crazy. I relate it to the feeling I had about 90 days out from surgery. I can eat what I want but just not very much of it and I'm rarely hungry. I didn't expect to lose so much weight so fast and I really only want to lose another 10 lbs so I doubt I will hit the max Mounjaro dose. I'm currently on 5 mg with no side effects beyond nausea the day after my shot.
If this medication had been around when I had surgery, I don't know if I would have needed to have WLS but I am thankful it's here for me now. My doctor loves it to prevent recision surgery and regain in patients who are 36 months or longer out from their past surgery.

Thank you! I appreciate your response. I would love to hear more about your transition to Mounjaro as you take this journey. I really like how you phrase it as turning off the food voice in your head. My friends says the same thing. She calls it a reset, not because it actually shrinks her stomach but she seems more physically aware of her restriction again. Maybe it is because the emotional food voices are more quiet? I don't know but GLP-1's do seem like a great tool for previous WLS patients. Have you had any new side effects that you didn't have on Saxenda?

You're welcome! Both medications delay gastric emptying, so that can definitely bring back the restricted feeling. I haven't had any side effects with Mounjaro yet. I ended my Saxenda run at the highest dose, so the beginning dose of Mounjaro (2.5mg) probably won't be an issue. I move up to 5mg next month, so we'll see what happens then. My side effects with Saxenda happened early on and were very mild...fatigue and a little nausea during the first week. I was fine after that. I am grateful to have a bariatric doctor that is educated on GLP-1s and open to prescribing them when needed. I didn't want to go the revision route (and probably wasn't a candidate because even with the regain, I've maintained over 70% of my original weight loss). I just needed an additional tool. [emoji4]

I had severe acid reflux before I had my mini. I had a hiatal hernia too. That was fixed and my mini was done last year. I have since lost 120 lbs. I don't have any acid reflux, none at all. I may have had one small episode of bile reflux last fall but I'm not sure. It didn't last but 10 minutes and went away with a few swigs of mylanta. I don't take any medication for reflux but I'm prepared to take Nexium if need be. They sell it pretty cheap at costco and I have a friend who gets bile reflux after she had her gallbladder out. She said Nexium works very well.
As for eating, I can eat anything. I don't dump, I don't crush pills. I just eat very small amounts of food 5 or 6 times a day and stay on my healthy diet. I had a small piece of cake at a wedding and a cadbury egg at Easter but I have lost my sweet tooth so I don't crave that stuff anymore. It was really satisfying to allow myself a treat and find that I didn't want to finish it all. I just was not interested. I really love meat, veggies and fruit. I drink a Protein Shake every morning. I use a straw daily. I take my chewable vitamins and so far I have no complains. This was the best decision I ever made.
My philosophy is that nothing is perfect. I can either deal with the health issues that come with being obese along with how uncomfortable I was and that I hated my appearance OR I can deal with the very few health issues that might come with WLS. So far, it is one episode of something (maybe bile reflux) and a lot of extra skin. I"m good with that trade off.
I hope that helps!

Dr Ara Keshishian in Pasadena, CA.
He also removed a defective (recalled by the FDA) LINX Reflux Management System device that was implanted around my esophagus in March 2015, 2 years before my MGB. The LINX device only helped with acid reflux for the first year I had it. So I had MGB surgery in 2017 in the hope that it would resolve reflux long term, along with losing weight.

With RNY, you bypass the stomach and reattach at two different places. With MGB, you bypass the stomach but reattach at only 1 place. There is less intestinal re-routing and it takes less time in the operating room. The MGB has much less chance for dumping and is generally safer. It does pose the risk of bile reflux but there are ways to help avoid or minimize that with the anti-reflux stitch and watching portion sizes. RNY has less chance of bile reflux but a greater chance of dumping.
There is no perfect surgery. You can get bile reflux after having a gallbladder out. It happens more than people realize but you don't see the medical profession against removing a gallbladder. I don't know why some won't recommend the MGB for that reason. Overall, it is a safer surgery than RNY.

With RNY, you bypass the stomach and reattach at two different places. With MGB, you bypass the stomach but reattach at only 1 place. There is less intestinal re-routing and it takes less time in the operating room. The MGB has much less chance for dumping and is generally safer. It does pose the risk of bile reflux but there are ways to help avoid or minimize that with the anti-reflux stitch and watching portion sizes. RNY has less chance of bile reflux but a greater chance of dumping.
There is no perfect surgery. You can get bile reflux after having a gallbladder out. It happens more than people realize but you don't see the medical profession against removing a gallbladder. I don't know why some won't recommend the MGB for that reason. Overall, it is a safer surgery than RNY.

With RNY, you bypass the stomach and reattach at two different places. With MGB, you bypass the stomach but reattach at only 1 place. There is less intestinal re-routing and it takes less time in the operating room. The MGB has much less chance for dumping and is generally safer. It does pose the risk of bile reflux but there are ways to help avoid or minimize that with the anti-reflux stitch and watching portion sizes. RNY has less chance of bile reflux but a greater chance of dumping.
There is no perfect surgery. You can get bile reflux after having a gallbladder out. It happens more than people realize but you don't see the medical profession against removing a gallbladder. I don't know why some won't recommend the MGB for that reason. Overall, it is a safer surgery than RNY.

I agree N0VA, if you get where you want to be, it doesn't matter. I just find it interesting that so many doctors don't recommend it or perform it. It just seems like such a viable option. Lots of sleeves get converted so I don't understand why they don't just recommend it in the first place. Personally, I don't know many people that have had it. I have met a lot of full bypass patients and sleeve patients. I rarely meet an MGB person.

I had severe acid reflux before I had my mini. I had a hiatal hernia too. That was fixed and my mini was done last year. I have since lost 120 lbs. I don't have any acid reflux, none at all. I may have had one small episode of bile reflux last fall but I'm not sure. It didn't last but 10 minutes and went away with a few swigs of mylanta. I don't take any medication for reflux but I'm prepared to take Nexium if need be. They sell it pretty cheap at costco and I have a friend who gets bile reflux after she had her gallbladder out. She said Nexium works very well.
As for eating, I can eat anything. I don't dump, I don't crush pills. I just eat very small amounts of food 5 or 6 times a day and stay on my healthy diet. I had a small piece of cake at a wedding and a cadbury egg at Easter but I have lost my sweet tooth so I don't crave that stuff anymore. It was really satisfying to allow myself a treat and find that I didn't want to finish it all. I just was not interested. I really love meat, veggies and fruit. I drink a Protein Shake every morning. I use a straw daily. I take my chewable vitamins and so far I have no complains. This was the best decision I ever made.
My philosophy is that nothing is perfect. I can either deal with the health issues that come with being obese along with how uncomfortable I was and that I hated my appearance OR I can deal with the very few health issues that might come with WLS. So far, it is one episode of something (maybe bile reflux) and a lot of extra skin. I"m good with that trade off.
I hope that helps!

I've been taking prescription Spironolactone since before my surgery for edema in my legs.

Has anyone found a safe diuretic to take after surgery? I get awful bloat during my period and it is more noticeable since I've lost all my weight. It's actually uncomfortable. Perhaps, it was just as uncomfortable when I was much heavier but I didn't notice it. My fingers hurt and I can't wear my wedding ring. I'm nervous to try a Water pill because I don't know how my body and stomach will react to it. Has anyone found a positive solution that works but is safe for people who have had WLS??

I had severe acid reflux before I had my mini. I had a hiatal hernia too. That was fixed and my mini was done last year. I have since lost 120 lbs. I don't have any acid reflux, none at all. I may have had one small episode of bile reflux last fall but I'm not sure. It didn't last but 10 minutes and went away with a few swigs of mylanta. I don't take any medication for reflux but I'm prepared to take Nexium if need be. They sell it pretty cheap at costco and I have a friend who gets bile reflux after she had her gallbladder out. She said Nexium works very well.
As for eating, I can eat anything. I don't dump, I don't crush pills. I just eat very small amounts of food 5 or 6 times a day and stay on my healthy diet. I had a small piece of cake at a wedding and a cadbury egg at Easter but I have lost my sweet tooth so I don't crave that stuff anymore. It was really satisfying to allow myself a treat and find that I didn't want to finish it all. I just was not interested. I really love meat, veggies and fruit. I drink a Protein Shake every morning. I use a straw daily. I take my chewable vitamins and so far I have no complains. This was the best decision I ever made.
My philosophy is that nothing is perfect. I can either deal with the health issues that come with being obese along with how uncomfortable I was and that I hated my appearance OR I can deal with the very few health issues that might come with WLS. So far, it is one episode of something (maybe bile reflux) and a lot of extra skin. I"m good with that trade off.
I hope that helps!

I don't think it smacks of mistrust at all. I think it shows an educated, thoughtfulness with regards to a patients decision for surgery. I didn't ask before hand because I didn't know there were different lenghts but length of bypass is an important consideration and choice. My surgeon spoke openly about it with my husband so that we would know what exactly was done during the surgery. I have no doubt he would have been open to the discussion before hand if I had thought to ask.
I would not use a surgeon that was offended by the question. There are numerous good surgeons out there and as a patient, I'm letting them cut into my body and rearrange my guts so I better be able to ask specifics and not have a surgeon take it personally. It is a medical procedure, there should be nothing to hide. Having a bypass is a big decision.
I say ask and discuss with your surgeon all you want. Most surgeons don't have a hard set length and will discuss the positives and negatives with their patients of the different length options. If they won't, find a surgeon who will.

My doctor said it is ok to use a straw. He said there is zero scientific evidence that it has any ill effect. It won't stretch your pouch and there is no evidence that we take in more air than we should. He said zero, it is old, out-dated information.
I've been drinking from a straw all day every day since 2 weeks post-op. I have sensitive teeth and won't drink without one except for warm drinks. I'm down over 100 lbs. The straw has not hurt me and in fact, I get far more Fluid in each day when I use one. I struggle to get fluid in on days that I don't.

I have coffee daily. In fact, I only stayed with Decaf the first week. I drink 16 oz of coffee every morning. I mix in unflavored Protein collagen and a tablespoon of Creamer. I drink it 30 minutes after my Premier Protein drink in the morning. My doctor has no issues with it and my body is happier.

I agree N0VA, if you get where you want to be, it doesn't matter. I just find it interesting that so many doctors don't recommend it or perform it. It just seems like such a viable option. Lots of sleeves get converted so I don't understand why they don't just recommend it in the first place. Personally, I don't know many people that have had it. I have met a lot of full bypass patients and sleeve patients. I rarely meet an MGB person.

It's pretty normal to not feel much restriction right after surgery. I freaked myself out with how much and how fast I could drink my fluids including Protein Drinks, Soups etc... at first. I didn't get much help during the pureed stage other than I went longer in between meals.
However, once I moved toward solids, the restriction was evident. Hang in there, you will find that particularly with meats, you will get full fast. At about 5 or 6 months when all the internal swelling has gone down, you will find a new level for restriction and be able to eat a little more in one setting but not a lot more. Now that I'm farther away from post op, I don't eat as often during the day. I have 3 meals and one snack plus my liquids. If I get hungry, I eat a spoon of Peanut Butter and I'm good for a few more hours.
With weight loss, I lost a lot the first week and stalled for several weeks after surgery. Everyone is different but I tend to lose for 2 or 3 weeks and stall for a week or two and repeat. I'm down almost 100 lbs so the surgery did work. You'll find your own losing pattern and it will become predictable for you, just stick with the program.