Mounjaro Tirzepatide

Mounjaro Tirzepatide is a weight loss treatment used for people with a body mass index (BMI) over 30. It is an injection pen which contains the medicine tirzepatide. The Mounjaro pen is a registered trademark of Eli Lilly.

It can also be used for people with a BMI over 27 who have also been diagnosed with weight-related medical problems. These include:

• Diabetes type 2
• High cholesterol
• Obstructive sleep apnoea
• High blood pressure

How does it work?

Mounjaro contains the active ingredient tirzepatide. Tirzepatide is from a class of drugs called GLP-1 agonsts. This is a class of drug which helps regulate hunger and is released by the intestines after a meal.

Due to being similar to GLP-1, Mounjaro regulates appetite causing you to feel fuller and less hungry. This can lead to eating fewer calories and losing weight. Focussing on eating a reduced-calorie diet will further enhance the benefits of Mounjaro.

Is it for me?

Mounjaro should only be used to help with weight loss if you have already tried and failed to lose weight through exercise and diet alone. It is not currently available to buy in the USA, however there are other GLP-1 drugs which are availble. These incude Saxenda, Wegovy and Ozempic.

How effective is it?

When using Mounjaro pens to suppress appetite, you can expect to lose a around 15-20% of your initial body weight after completing treatment.

Dose

Mounjaro comes as an injectable pen. It is injected once weekly subcutaneously. The usual injection sites will be the upper arm, upper thigh or abdomen.

The recommended starting dosage of Mounjaro is 2.5 mg weekly for four weeks. After a month, doses are then increased in 2.5 mg increments, as tolerated, up to a maximum of 15 mg once weekly.

While increasing the dose if you find the side effects problematic for two weeks or more you should discuss this with your doctor or pharmacist.