MounjaroLife #1 W1D3 Mounjaro Tirzepatide Blog

I am a 58 year old man weighing in at 358 lbs with two very bad painful knees who would really like the rest of this life to be fuller and way more active than it is now…. And although I was told I could get knee replacements I kind of want to avoid them as long as I can.  And our local center of excellence for knee replacements categorize me as having too high a BMI to be done in their system … kind of hard to deny being way overweight when they basically are telling me that I am too fat to undergo knee replacements and expect good results.  Kind of sobering really.

I started this blog as I start Mounjaro … this is my first week and when I web searched for Mounjaro blogs I can only find … mostly short tiktok videos and a very few long youtube videos … so I decided I would do synopsis updates of my journey that would not take up much time nor require having the volume on … I do a lot of my mounjaro searching in public places and don’t really want to have to listen in to hear what is being said.

 I read up on the GLP1 agonists (Ozempic, Wegovy, etc) and the newer GLP1/GIP dual agents (Mounjaro) and definitely feel that these drugs could really help me with my weight problem.  And my PCP agreed!

I am obviously way overweight and really felt I could benefit from these drugs but I do not have diabetes so I fall into that unfortunate category of people who feel they could benefit from Mounjaro but really can’t get any breaks on the cost of the drug!  We tried to get insurance pre authorization for various of the drugs (including those FDA approved for weight loss) and uniformly I was told “no”.   Apparently my insurance feels that these drugs are “cosmetic drugs” completely ignoring the fact that obesity is directly tied to diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, cardiovascular disease etc … so they are saving money short term when they could be decreasing long term expenditures … it all seems very short sighted to me.  Ironically too some bariatric surgery is covered… but I do not want bariatric surgery.

I looked at all my finances and making some hard decisions decided to start the drugs out-of-pocket since if I am not worth the effort to improve my health and quality of life then what what am I worth exactly?   I am a father and grandfather and I really want to be around as long as I can be.   Losing weight should help me be around for a much longer time than I otherwise might have.  I realize a lot of people cannot afford these drugs no matter how they look at their finances so I really feel lucky I can manage it … at least for now … although I am not sure for how long.

So when I looked at the costs of the drugs … they were all in the same general ballpark … a thousand dollars per month give or take.    If I am going to pay out of pocket then I might as well get the latest and greatest and Mounjaro has had the best weight loss profile of all the drugs on the market now so that is what I went with.  

Today is Week 1 Day 3 and so far no major side effects for me … no nausea nor vomiting … Yay!    That has been my biggest concern … I hate having nausea and vomiting!

Having made such an investment I decided I need to be all in so I am trying to watch what I am eating and hope to restart an exercise program soon.

My background … I maxed out at 385 lb about a year ago and with strict keto dieting I got down to 317 lb … unfortunately as soon as I get off keto the pounds start coming back on … hence my 356 lb present weight.   Why can I not stay on keto?   Well a lack of willpower apparently …. Too many temptations and “reasons” to go off the diet …. Taking 3 days to become ketotic again each time is increasingly difficult and frustrating when you blow your carbs abut every three days or so…

 Keto “worked” for the eight months I religiously followed it but it was not successful for me as I gain the weight back.  My life can be summarized as having clearly failed at weight control despite having made multiple attempts.

I clearly understand that I need to change my eating habits and lack of exercise as I know in the present system I will not be able to remain on these kind of drugs for life.  I have to form new “habits” that I can sustain when I have to come off this drug.

If there is interest in what I have to share I will add to this blog … if there is no interest then I wish everyone the best!