Mounjaro Update: Week 27

Over Half a Year on this Expensive Crap

So, yeah, I’m being irreverent again. I’m calling the magic potion that has helped so many people and saved so many lives “expensive crap.” However, I am trying to maintain my perspective. This is a foreign substance I’m injecting into my subcutaneous fat weekly, one which has no business being there. My aim is to accomplish my objectives, then taper off the stuff and hope that I am not locked into an addiction cycle I cannot break. That is why I do not regard Mounjaro as my almighty savior. Instead, it is a high-priced prostitute, pimped by Big Pharma, to whom I am paying big bucks, knowing that my momentary good feelings come at the risk of some serious long-term consequences. Let’s hope nothing falls off!

While I am still making progress, I will persevere with Mounjaro. What I fear the most is when the time comes to taper off, a rebound effect will reverse my gains. I hope I can avert that disaster by making permanent changes to my dietary and exercise regimens in the meantime. I will have lost a bunch of weight, and with rapid weight loss comes depletion of muscle mass, which in turn lowers metabolic rate. The reduced metabolism causes one to gain weight while eating less, and fear of gaining weight is what drives many people to become addicted to GLP-1 drugs such as Mounjaro, Ozempic, Wegovy, and Zepbound.

In Big Pharma’s Grasp?

Being realistic, I do not have many years left on this planet. I would prefer not to spend my remaining days as slave to pharmaceutical products. When I think of the many people who would do anything to get their next fix of one of the GLP-1s, it makes me sick. Losing weight they have been unable to lose in the past is a powerful addiction enabler, and fear of the process reversing itself keeps them addicted. But for me, my desire is to take as few drugs as possible. Mounjaro is one of four drugs I’m taking since Dr. DeLorean (not his real name) took me off metformin. Next, I would like to get off Lipitor, but I’m not sure that I can. I’ve been taking statins for about the past quarter century.

This week, I’m a little late in getting this update out to you because of several commitments on Monday. One such commitment is my long-awaited visit with a physiatrist (physical therapy and rehab doctor), which I’ll report on below. The impetus for seeing him, as you may recall, stemmed from my back issues, which flared up during my August/September vacation. I have been performing physical therapy for strengthening core and stretching back-related muscles, which has produced decent results, but I have a lingering issue with numbness and burning in my right thigh, which suggests either meralgia paresthetica or nerve root compression stemming from my lumbar spine issues.

My goal with the back problems does not involve a complete cure. I just want to be able to comfortably hike for 7-10 miles at least once per week. A subgoal is avoiding surgery. In the past three weeks, I have hiked 8+ miles twice and then 6+ miles last week. The first two hikes were comfortably within my back’s capabilities. However, I had a setback on the most recent hike, as Jenny can lay witness. The last three-quarters of a mile was painful. I was walking uphill on soft sugar sand when my back stopped cooperating. So, it was a slow, hard, uncomfortable trek from that point. I should not expect miracles, based on how bad my MRI looked, but I will not shy away from hiking. As a capstone on Thursday’s back episode, I was able to complete Friday’s and today’s gym workout pain-free.

Physiatrist Visit

I got my ten minutes with the physiatrist, who I’ll call Dr. Rabbit (not his real name). After viewing my back MRI, he reviewed a couple of problem areas with me, focusing on the potential cause of my right thigh numbness and burning. He asked enough questions and did enough manipulation to narrow down the issue with the lateral cutaneous femoral nerve to two possibilities: nerve root impingement, or pressure where the inguinal ligament crosses the nerve (meralgia paresthetica). To resolve between those two, he scheduled an EMG (electromyography) and nerve conduction tests for me next week. I’ll certainly let you in on the results. In the meanwhile, I’ll expect to see many more internet ads regarding back pain and leg numbness.

The Week on Mounjaro

My blood sugar is under good control despite being off metformin for a couple of weeks. Average morning glucose was 92 mg/dL (5.11 mmol/L). Overall average glucose was about 101 mg/dL (5.61 mmol/L). My weight was up one pound (450 g) this week, which means I am stabilizing. After my 52 lb (23.6 kg) loss in five months, I deserve a break! But weight loss was never the primary goal of the Mounjaro therapy, so I am happy with this plateau and wouldn’t be upset if I could stay right here.

That’s it for another week. I’ll be back next week right here with more egocentric clinical rambling and acerbic opinions. I hope my personal horn-blowing will provide some benefits to others considering Mounjaro therapy for type two diabetes. Until then…