For Justine Martin, the allure of a cinnamon doughnut was once a siren song, a symbol of a lifelong battle with food. That battle, she believed, had been won after three months on the weight loss drug Mounjaro. But when she stopped the injections, the intense cravings and obsessive thoughts about food, which she describes as a "screaming" internal howl, returned with a vengeance.
Martin reported losing 15 kilograms (33 pounds) on Mounjaro, dropping from a size 16 to a size 10. She described an almost immediate cessation of appetite upon starting the medication. "From the day I had my first 2.5mg jab, I'd had absolutely no appetite whatsoever and had to practically force myself to eat," she wrote. This lack of "food noise," as she termed it, was a profound relief from a decades-long struggle with her relationship with food.
Her history with food began in childhood, with comfort foods like Vegemite toast and jam doughnuts, but evolved into a destructive cycle. At her heaviest, Martin weighed 125 kilograms (276 pounds) and wore a size 24. She attributed her children's overweight status to her own struggles and described food as an addiction that controlled every aspect of her life.
Weight loss programs had offered temporary success, but Martin saw Mounjaro as a potential long-term solution. The drug not only helped her shed weight but also silenced the constant mental preoccupation with eating. However, an attempt to increase her dosage to 5mg led to severe side effects, including headaches, blurry vision, and nausea, making it impossible to continue.
Upon stopping Mounjaro, Martin initially felt the effects of the drug still in her system, maintaining her reduced appetite for about two weeks. But the scent of a doughnut signaled the return of her old habits. Cravings for all types of food, including candy, which she had never previously desired, became overwhelming. Her appetite returned with what she called "a vengeance."
Despite her efforts to maintain her healthier eating habits, including avoiding keeping snack foods in the house, Martin found herself ordering takeaways and struggling to control her intake. She described the mental effort required to choose a small steak over fish and chips at restaurants as "hell."
Three months after stopping the injections, Martin had regained approximately 2.5 kilograms (5.5 pounds). While proud of this minimal regain, she expressed a persistent fear of relapse and a lack of trust in her ability to maintain control without the medication. The experience has left her in a state of exhausting mental gymnastics, constantly fighting the return of the intense "food noise" and an appetite she fears will never be satisfied.