Saturday 12 October – Planning my dose increases for the next 6 months

It’s been a very busy week as I get nearer to my holiday. It feels like I have crammed a month worth of stuff into the last fortnight before I go. The good news is it means I am not really thinking about food, calories, or dieting. I have only lost 0.4lb this week. But, as I have said before, I have never had an experience of losing weight every week, week by week, for over 4 months so I am not disappointed.

I have not even been aware of any specific side effects this week. I am going to the loo regularly, and the burps have reduced. These have really only been my 2 major side effects through the whole experience.

It is my birthday on Monday, so I have decided to delay my jab this week until Monday night. We are going out for dinner, and I would like to be able to enjoy it. So, next week I will jab Monday night, then on Sunday Morning, just before setting off for the airport for 2 weeks in the sun.

My hope is that on holiday I stay within about 7lbs of my current weight. Definitely not to go back over into 15 stone. Anything less than that and I will be delighted.

When I get back, I think I will order 10mg as my next pen. I am not feeling a significant impact of the 7.5mg so maybe it is time to go right on up to the next dose. I will still have spent 10 weeks on 7.5mg

The recommendation is that you do a minimum of 4 weeks on a dose before moving up. Because of the ‘extra’ dose, it means doing a minimum for 5 weeks if you use the extra for a 5^th week. I already have my second pen ready to go, so I will have done 10 weeks on 7.5mg before I move up.

I know many people are moving up month on month, but I was keen to eke out the doses for as long as possible, as once I hit the max of 15mg I will have nowhere else to go, and I am expecting to be on this for at least a year.

So far I have done…

Dose	Pens	Weeks	Total
2.5 mg	1 pen	4 weeks	4 weeks
5 mg	3 pens	15 weeks	19 weeks
7.5 mg	2 pens	10 weeks	29 weeks

At this rate, it could go like this…

Dose	Pens	Weeks	Total
10 mg	2 pens	10 weeks	39 weeks
12.5 mg	2 pens	10 weeks	49 weeks
15 mg	2 pens	10 weeks	59 weeks

So that is my plan. Minimum of 2 pens before moving up, depending on symptoms and progress. To be honest I am pleased I have done this. I kept worrying about how it was going to be once I had hit the max dose, and this reassures me that I am doing it at the right rate.

I hope this helps anyone else thinking about how to space out their pens. It really is a case of learning on the go. We are the pioneers!