{"id":273568,"date":"2026-02-04T13:04:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:04:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/273568\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T13:04:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:04:10","slug":"woman-says-stopping-mounjaro-was-scary-ive-never-felt-hunger-like-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/273568\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman says stopping Mounjaro was scary – ‘I’ve never felt hunger like it’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Charli-Dee also noticed a significant change in her eyesight while taking the drugNeil Shaw<\/a> Assistant Editor (Money and Lifestyle)<\/p>\n

07:57, 04 Feb 2026Updated 10:58, 04 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

\"Charli-Dee<\/p>\n

Charli-Dee Johnson now (Cover Images)<\/p>\n

A woman who dropped to her target weight thanks to weight-loss jobs says stopping the medication was ‘scary’ as she has ‘never felt hunger like it. Charli-Dee Johnson, 39, weighed 11 stone when she started taking weight-loss jabs and stands at 4 feet 11 inches.<\/p>\n

She says she had been battling her body and food cravings for much of her adult life. Charli-Dee, from Blackpool, said: \u201cI\u2019ve honestly never not been on a diet. One \u2018cheat day\u2019 would turn into a full binge. I\u2019d eat until I felt ill, hate myself, promise to do better, and then repeat the cycle.”<\/p>\n

In June 2025, Charli-Dee decided to try Mounjaro, starting on the lowest dose of 2.5mg. She stayed on that dose for four months, never increasing it, a decision that didn\u2019t come easily. \u201cI was terrified,\u201d she admits. \u201cThe injections scared me so much that it took me two weeks to actually do my first one. I was having panic attacks just looking at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Charli-Dee<\/p>\n

Charli-Dee Johnson before her weight loss in June 2025 at 154lb<\/p>\n

When she finally took the plunge, the fear quickly faded. \u201cThe needle is tiny. Honestly, nothing. I couldn\u2019t believe I\u2019d been so scared.” Over four months she lost 14lbs (6.4kg).\u201cThat was the first time the cycle really stopped,\u201d she said. \u201cFor once, I wasn\u2019t fighting my own head around food,\u201d she says. \u201cMy life wasn\u2019t ruled by food anymore. The constant noise in my head just stopped. Mounjaro changed everything mentally. It gave me space to actually learn.\u201dBut while the weight loss came steadily, the journey wasn\u2019t without its challenges. A few weeks in, she noticed something unexpected. \u201cMy close-up vision started going blurry,\u201d she says. \u201cPhones, computers, anything close up. I also had really bad eye sensitivity and dry eyes.\u201dAn optician later confirmed her eyes were healthy but that her vision had declined significantly. After trying heat packs, eye drops and exercises, she reported the issue to her prescriber and shared her experience online, where she discovered many others describing the same thing.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s careful to stress that her story isn\u2019t medical advice. \u201cThis is just my experience,\u201d she says. If starting the medication was frightening, coming off it was even harder. \u201cThat part scared me more than I expected,\u201d Charli-Dee said. \u201cMentally and physically.\u201dThree weeks after stopping, hunger returned, intensely. \u201cI\u2019ve never felt hunger like that in my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI genuinely thought I was going backwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"<\/p>\n

Charli-Dee Johnson today at her happy weight of 112lbs<\/p>\n

Her IBS flared, her appetite surged, and the fear crept in, fuelled by comments from others. \u201cPeople said, \u2018You\u2019ll pile it all back on.\u2019 \u2018Don\u2019t buy new clothes.\u2019 \u2018There\u2019s no way she\u2019ll keep it off\u2019.\u201dSome even accused her of not eating at all. But five months later, Charli-Dee has kept the weight off and has even lost another 11lbs (5kg) since stopping the injections. The difference, she says, was having a plan.<\/p>\n

When Charli-Dee eventually stopped Mounjaro, something changed. \u201cMy eyesight improved,\u201d she says. \u201cThat really made me stop and think.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, she weighs just under 8.5 stone (119lb\/54kg), a weight she has maintained consistently off the injections, dropping from a UK size 14 to a size 6. \u201cFor the first time in my life, I\u2019m not constantly dieting,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m maintaining, and that feels better than any number on the scales.”<\/p>\n

She added: “There\u2019s so much negativity around weight loss medication, especially the idea that everyone puts the weight straight back on,\u201d Charli-Dee explains. \u201cBut I\u2019m proof that you don\u2019t have to if you have structure and stick to a good plan.\u201d<\/p>\n

She says maintenance requires just as much intention as weight loss, but without restriction, obsession or panic. During this time, Charli-Dee realised she had long struggled with binge eating patterns. \u201cIt made everything real,\u201d she says. \u201cBut it also helped me understand myself properly.\u201dShe learned that hunger returning didn\u2019t mean failure. \u201cIt meant my body was finding its balance again,\u201d she explains. \u201cAnd it did.\u201dCharli-Dee says she eats in a way that supports her petite frame and activity levels, focusing on protein, routine and awareness rather than restriction. \u201cI try to stick to around 1,200 calories a day,\u201d she explains. \u201cIt\u2019s about eating enough to feel well and fuel my body, not punishing myself or cutting things out completely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Charli-Dee<\/p>\n

Charli-Dee Johnson now in 2026 at 112lb<\/p>\n

She tracks everything, not out of obsession, but awareness. \u201cProtein first, always,\u201d she says. \u201cMovement I actually enjoy. Even a walk helps my mindset.\u201dShe\u2019s also learned that maintenance isn\u2019t about control, it\u2019s about understanding yourself. \u201cRoutine over motivation,\u201d she says. \u201cAdjust calmly when life happens. Go out, enjoy yourself, then get back into routine without spiralling.\u201dToday, she says life in maintenance feels \u201cso good\u201d. Looking back, Charli-Dee believes the medication wasn\u2019t the magic, the learning was. \u201cI always thought it was just the jab doing its thing,\u201d she says.\u201cBut what you eat on it matters. Once I switched to cleaner meals, protein first, fibre and water, the nausea and bloat basically disappeared.\u201d Motivated by the fear and misinformation she sees online, Charli-Dee is now developing a maintenance plan aimed at supporting others who are coming off weight-loss medication.<\/p>\n

\"Charli-Dee<\/p>\n

Charli-Dee Johnson now (Cover Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cSo many people are terrified of stopping because all they hear is failure,\u201d she says. \u201cI want to show that maintenance is possible if you approach it calmly and consistently.\u201dAt just 39, Charli-Dee says food no longer controls her life. \u201cComing off Mounjaro was scarier than starting,\u201d she admits. \u201cBut it taught me that I\u2019m capable of maintaining this, and that\u2019s something I never believed before.\u201cThis is just my experience. Everyone\u2019s body is different. But if you\u2019re scared, you\u2019re not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Charli-Dee also noticed a significant change in her eyesight while taking the drugNeil Shaw Assistant Editor (Money and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":273569,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[163,85,46,482,8924],"class_list":["post-273568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-medication","tag-weight-loss-injections"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273568\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273569"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}