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Mounjaro is the brand name of a drug called tirzepatide. This drug is used to treat diabetes and cause weight loss for people who struggle with weight issues. This drug is known as a GLP-2 agonist, a class of drugs that is growing in popularity lately. If you’ve heard of Ozempic, you’ve heard of this type of drug, but others like Mounjaro are making a splash alongside it.
Mounjaro can bring about significant weight loss, though there is a chance that your sleep could suffer. When your body is getting used to a drug like tirzepatide, there are several side effects that can come with it, and knowing what you might be in for is important. Sleep is important, and if your sleep patterns are significantly affected by Mounjaro, using it might turn out not to be worth it.
Though if weight loss is a priority for you, you can figure out how to manage it, or even just wait it out. Not everyone experiences every possible side effect of Mounjaro, and for some people, they eventually go away. So how will your sleep patterns be affected when you take Mounjaro? Keep reading to find out.
What Is Mounjaro?
Mounjaro is an anti diabetic medication that is used to treat diabetes and excessive weight gain. It is used to treat adults, and taken as a once weekly injection. Mounjaro is meant to be taken along with an improved diet and more physical activity. When used in combination with significant lifestyle changes that can bring about some changes on their own, Mounjaro can cause significant weight loss.
To be prescribed Mounjaro, you need to visit your doctor for a prescription. You have to fit a few different criteria to get a prescription, and once you get it, your doctor will demonstrate how to take the weekly injection to make sure that you know what to do. You need to inject Mounjaro under your skin, in the stomach, the arm, or in the upper thigh. You should also use a different injection site each time you use Mounjaro to avoid irritating any one part of your body.
Mounjaro comes in a pen that contains several doses. It can be used until it runs out, and then you will need to switch to a new pen until it runs out. There are 6 pens with 6 different dosages, and they come color coded. The lowest dose is 2.5 mg and the highest one is 15 mg. You can always have the dose upped or lowered based on your needs over time.
How Does Mounjaro Work?
Mounjaro is a GLP-1 agonist medication that mimics a natural substance in the body. It takes over for the malfunctioning GLP-1, and then works to lower blood sugar, blood pressure, and appetite by working on the pancreas. It prompts the pancreas to produce more insulin when the body’s natural GLP-1 is unable to do the job. GLP-1 agonists make a great replacement for natural GLP-1 and will get your body back on track.
As Mounjaro gets to work on the body, it helps to regulate your blood sugar. This is ideal for patients who are using it for diabetes. Their blood sugar can stay in control instead of constantly spiking, which will leave them healthier in the long run. Mounjaro will also have a big impact on your appetite, making you feel satiated for longer than usual. When you don’t feel hungry a lot of the time, you won’t end up eating nearly as much, leading you to a significant amount of weight loss. Mounjaro also works quickly, so you will likely start to see results after just a few weeks.
Mounjaro works best when used in combination with an improved diet and exercise regime. It will curb your appetite, and make you have to get accustomed to a whole new diet. Mounjaro will do the work of stopping your cravings, and you will have to keep your diet on the right track so that you can get results. Mounjaro will lower your blood sugar, blood pressure, and your appetite by replacing a natural substance, and how much of that imitation GLP is in your system depends on the dosage. The more you take, the more intense the effect on your system will be.
Who Qualifies to Take Mounjaro?
If you suffer from type II diabetes, you are one of the people qualified to take Mounjaro. Mounjaro is primarily used to treat patients with type II diabetes, so anyone with the disease is a primary candidate for it. Mounjaro will have a person with diabetes back to functioning similarly to the way they did before it, and prevent many of the issues that high blood sugar can cause.
People with a BMI of over 30 are also top candidates for Mounjaro. A person with an over 30 BMI is considered to be at risk due to their weight, and since Mounjaro causes weight loss, it is considered to be a great drug for them. By using Mounjaro, someone with a high BMI can bring it down to a healthy range in a short period of time. That will significantly reduce the risk of experiencing certain illnesses, which makes Mounjaro an ideal treatment.
People with a BMI of 27 can get access to a Mounjaro prescription if they also have weight related illnesses. A BMI of 27 on its own would not lead you to qualify since you won’t be considered at risk from weight alone. But if you have a BMI of 27 and already have illnesses that can come on as a result of excess weight, you will qualify for a Mounjaro prescription. These weight related illnesses include high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and sleep apnea. And if you don’t have any of these but can prove that a different kind of illness came on as a result of your weight, you could still potentially be a candidate for Mounjaro.
Who Doesn’t Qualify for Mounjaro?
Mounjaro can cause some serious side effects for certain people, and if you have certain conditions or are taking certain medications, it is best for you not to take it. if you happen to have certain pre-existing conditions. You cannot use Mounjaro if your family has a history of thyroid cancer, specifically a type called medullary thyroid carcinoma. Mounjaro has the potential to cause thyroid cancer, or even to exacerbate it, which is why you should avoid it if you are already predisposed. This reaction is rare and is less likely to occur if you don’t have a family history of it.
If you have kidney problems, pancreas related illnesses, or issues with your stomach, Mounjaro is not going to be the right medication for you. It can make these problems a lot worse, so you will be better off staying away from it. It is also not a good idea to take Mounjaro while you are pregnant or while breastfeeding since it has the potential to harm your unborn baby. You should also avoid taking Mounjaro if you are taking birth control, because it can affect how well the birth control works.
Mounjaro’s Side Effects
Mounjaro can bring on one or several side effects, and everyone experiences them differently. Mounjaro can cause stomach problems, and they can be mild or severe. If your stomach problems will not go away, you will need to see your doctor about it, but for many people, stomach problems do go away after about a few weeks. Sometimes they may come and go depending on changes in dosage. Mounjaro can also cause allergic reactions, but that mostly applies to patients with a history of allergic reactions to any of the ingredients used to make it.
If you have pre existing kidney problems, they are liable to get worse if you take Mounjaro. This is as a result of the other side effect that Mounjaro can cause, stomach problems. If you lose enough fluids from diarrhea or vomiting, you can develop some serious kidney problems over time from dehydration.
You can also experience changes in your vision or gallbladder problems while using Mounjaro. Gallbladder problems will make you experience stomach pain, fever, jaundice, or clay colored stools. Another potential side effect is low blood sugar. The symptoms of low blood sugar can include dizziness, sweating, drowsiness, trouble breathing, and rapid heart beat.
Collagen can have a positive impact on your sleep schedule, so try having some regularly to sleep when you need to and stay up when you need to as well. And hot cocoa is the perfect flavor to take you to bed.
Mounjaro and Sleep
How Can Mounjaro Affect Your Sleep?
Mounjaro can have some surprising effects on your sleep cycle. The active ingredient in it interacts with the part of the brain that is involved with the body’s sleep/wake cycle, and that can indirectly impact the brain’s relationship with sleep. Mounjaro can make you feel a bit tired, and that is because of its ability to affect normal sleep patterns. Another reason Mounjaro can make you feel tired is because it lowers your metabolism, which can make you feel more tired than usual.
A lower calorie intake can also cause tiredness because there are less calories for your body to take energy from. When you start eating less calories instead of eating at a calorie surplus, your body has to work on storing up energy for needy times. If you get less than the full amount of calories you need, your body will use most of its energy for really important functions like keeping organs running properly. Keeping you awake will become less of a priority for your body if it doesn’t get enough food regularly, but there are ways to avoid this problem.
How Can You Stay Awake While Using Mounjaro?
Despite the possibility of facing fatigue when using Mounjaro, it isn’t something that you are doomed to deal with. There are ways that you can combat this symptom, and it doesn't require any additional medication. The best way to prevent the fatigue that Mounjaro can bring on is eating food. If you can make sure that your body gets enough calories and nutrients each day, fatigue won’t have to be a problem for you.
You will need to do what you can to make sure you eat enough, which can be difficult to do when your appetite is significantly lowered. The main thing you need to do is make sure you get a minimum number of meals per day. You can make sure to get three meals per day, or even four or five smaller meals per day if having smaller meals makes eating enough easier for you. You can also try making individual foods easier to digest. Instead of having raw vegetables, and large pieces of meat, you can try cooking the vegetables and cubing the meat to make everything more digestible and easier to eat. As long as you stay mindful about what you eat and when, you can stave off fatigue when using Mounjaro.
Mounjaro can have an effect on your sleep, but that effect is something that can be remedied with the right actions. You can’t just take Mounjaro and hope it works its magic, you have to still be an active participant in your treatment. And making sure your diet is right can solve a few issues that can come with Mounjaro.
