“Lost 3 Kg, and Burps Smell Worse Than Farts”... “Mounjaro Beaters” Say Quitting Solo Drinking Is the Drug’s Effect [The Injection That Changed the World 2]

[Financial News]#. Choi Yun-yeong (37, a pseudonym), who lives in Seoul, started taking Mounjaro last July but stopped after four injections. Her weight fell by 3 kg from 83 kg, but she decided to stop treatment because of unexpected side effects: diarrhea and burping. Choi said, “I had indigestion but kept burping, and the smell was truly awful. The smell of farts seemed mild by comparison.”It has been a little over a year since Mounjaro, a leading obesity drug in the GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) class, launched in South Korea. Online, personal accounts abound, from people who say the drug clearly helped them lose weight even if they regained it, to those who say they became “Mounjaro beaters” and lament that it had no effect whatsoever. Even so, expectations online have taken hold as though anyone could lose 16 kg.
Is Mounjaro really effective for everyone? The experiences of the users interviewed by this reporter varied widely. Some lost more than 15 kg, while others actually gained weight; some said changes in their eating or drinking habits mattered more than the number on the scale.

The person who lost the most weight was the one whostarted injections on a doctor’s recommendation after being diagnosed with diabetes—Han Woo-seong (45, a pseudonym). However, Han was not prescribed the drug to treat obesity, and the medication he took was Ozempic, a GLP-1 drug, not Mounjaro.
Han took Ozempic for aboutsix months, lowering his weight from 105 kg to the 90-kg range.Han, who says he still takes a set dose every Sunday at 9 p.m., said that what he most enjoyed hearing was people around him exclaim, “You have a jawline now.”
Yoon Min-jeong (in her 40s, a pseudonym), who received a prescription at a so-called “holy grail” clinic in Seoul, lostabout 7 kg in five months.Yoonsaid, “On the day I got the injection, I was so tired that I slept a lot. I even wondered if I was losing weight because I was asleep and not eating.”she said.
Kang Eun-ha (34, a pseudonym), who has polycystic ovary syndrome and insulin resistance, lost 7 kg, going from 90 kg to 83 kg over four and a half months. Kang said that before prescribing the medication, her doctor had explained, “If you have insulin resistance, you may find it harder to lose weight.”
There were also cases in which weight actually increased. Seo Ji-yeong (37, a pseudonym) used six pens over about a month and a half, buther weight actually increased by 5 kg.Although she cut her food intake to one-third and stopped snacking, a body composition test showed swellingwas severe and her visceral fat had actually increased. The weight-loss effects of obesity drugs, including Mounjaro, can vary depending on the duration and dosage of treatment, a person’s health, and other factors.
In fact, the global phase 3 trial results (SURMOUNT-1) showed that Mounjaro had the greatest weight-loss effect. At the highest dose of 15 mg over 72 weeks, Mounjaro reduced body weight by an average of 20.9%. Wegovy produced an average weight loss of 14.9% in the phase 3 trial (STEP 1), in which 2.4 mg was administered over 68 weeks. For Epe, interim topline results from 40 weeks of a phase 3 trial (key metrics; 448 participants) showed an average weight reduction of 9.75%.
However, these figures are difficult to compare directly because the three drugs were not compared in a single clinical trial. The treatment duration and dosage, the characteristics of participants, and the study designs all differed. In particular, Epe’s 9.75% figure is an interim result at week 40 of a trial designed to last 64 weeks.
The side effects most commonly cited by users who experienced them were gastrointestinal symptoms.Choi’s symptoms were so severe that she could barely leave the house, andshe eventually stopped treatment because of diarrhea and burping; Seo said abdominal bloating had also worsened her pre-existing herniated disc.
Kang saiddiarrhea and lethargywere the hardest to deal with. Each time she increased the dose to 5 mg, her diarrhea worsened, so on both occasions she consulted her doctor and went back to 2.5 mg. Kang said, “Eating is one of my pleasures, but losing my appetite made me feel even more lethargic. It was truly awful, and exercising became even harder.” She added that she rarely felt like drinking water and was now forcing herself to drink it.There were also cases ofemotional changes. Seo, who said she had become angry more often for no reason after starting treatment, said, “I found myself getting furious even when it wasn’t something worth getting that angry about.” Seoalso reported experiencing reduced vision after taking Mounjaro; however, no causal link between Mounjaro use and reduced vision has been established.
Vision-related risks warrant caution. On the 9th (local time), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) required manufacturers of GLP-1 obesity drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy to include a warning in the Warnings and Precautions section of their labels that the drugs may increase the risk of vision loss.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has also listed “nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy” as an adverse event in the current prescribing information for Wegovy and advises people to undergo an eye examination if they experience sudden vision loss.The MFDS also recently distributed a guide to the safe use of GLP-1 obesity drugs, outlining proper use and how to report adverse reactionsas well.
It also emphasizes that the drugs should be used under the prescription of a medical professional by adult overweight patients with a BMI of 30 or higher, or a BMI of 27 or higher but below 30 and weight-related comorbidities such as hypertension.

Not everyone cited weight loss alone as an effect of Mounjaro.Some users saw major changes in their eating or drinking habits.she said.
Yoon began gaining weight because of a habit of drinking alone that started five years ago. After work, it was routine for her to drink beer or wine at home and unwind over snacks. But after she started taking Mounjaro, the habit disappeared. Yoon said,“After work, my routine was to drink beer or wine at home and relieve stress with snacks, but that habit disappeared completely,” adding, “That was the biggest benefit, even more than losing weight”she said.
Her desire to eat delicious food also diminished. She stopped ordering a sandwich for delivery even when there were boiled eggs in the fridge, and as a result,her food expenses also fell considerably,she said. Han likewise said, “Before taking the injection, I think I used to drink too much and binge-drink. Now I rarely feel like drinking, and when I do, I stick to a moderate amount.”
Choi’s weightfell by only 3 kg, but she emphasized that this alone was significant.Choi said, “Before, I was eating uncontrollably, again and again, but it helped me rein that in and stop me from eating,” adding,“Even after I stopped taking it, my weight didn’t rapidly rebound.”she explained.
The experiences of Mounjaro users are difficult to sum up with the simple claim that “you’re guaranteed to lose weight.” One person lost more than 15 kg, another lost only 3 kg, and someone else said that although their weight actually increased, their appetite or drinking habits changed.
Ultimately, Mounjaro changed more than just the number on the scale. Users’ accounts of changes in their eating habits, drinking, and even mood show that obesity drugs are not simply“weight-loss shots,” but are changing people’s everyday livesas well.

[email protected] Kim Hee-sun, Seong Min-seo Reporter