Almost everyone starting Mounjaro, Wegovy or an oral GLP-1 gets some side effects in the first few weeks. Most are predictable, most are manageable, and most settle. Knowing which is which is the difference between pushing through a rough fortnight and abandoning a treatment that would have worked.
This is the advice we give at check-ins at our West Bromwich clinic — and the reason we build check-ins into treatment in the first place.
Nausea is the side effect people notice most, usually in the days after a dose increase. What helps: smaller portions, eating slowly and stopping before you are full, avoiding fatty and fried food, sipping water through the day rather than gulping, and not lying down straight after eating. Ginger and plain, dry food genuinely help some people. If a dose step is rough, staying at your current dose for another few weeks instead of climbing is a legitimate option — tell us rather than quietly stopping.
These treatments slow the gut, and appetite suppression means most people eat and drink less, so constipation is almost inevitable without a plan. Keep fluids up deliberately, get fibre in from wholegrains, fruit, vegetables and beans, and move every day. If it persists, ask us — the right laxative depends on the problem, and matching one properly to your situation is a two-minute conversation at the counter.
Feeling flat in the early weeks usually reflects eating far less than before. Protein at every meal protects muscle while you lose fat, keeps you fuller, and steadies energy. Losing weight quickly without enough protein and some resistance exercise means losing muscle alongside fat — the outcome nobody wants, and the one we most often have to steer people away from.
Come back to us or seek medical advice promptly for severe or persistent tummy pain, especially pain that goes through to your back, or vomiting you cannot keep on top of. The same applies to signs of dehydration, or any severe pain in the upper right of your tummy. These are uncommon, but they are the ones that are not part of “settling in”. If you are ever unsure, call us on 0121 500 5756 — we would far rather check.
Free check-ins for every clinic patient · 1 Lyng Lane, West Bromwich B70 7RW · 0121 500 5756
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