Mounjaro after gastric sleeve: what shot 26 actually tells us

What did @krissey_weighs_in actually say?

She documented her 27th tirzepatide (Mounjaro) injection, administered in her right arm, and reported a loss of 0.4 pounds, bringing her to 188.6 pounds. She noted a total of 48.4 pounds lost overall, with 34.4 of those attributed to Mounjaro specifically. She also mentioned she had previous bariatric surgery (gastric sleeve), which is directly relevant context. The injection caused minor stinging, which she described as "not bad."

This is essentially a progress-update video, not a medical advice video. She is not making dosing recommendations, not claiming a cure, and not telling anyone else what to do. She is logging her own experience in real time, which is exactly what patient-generated content looks like in practice. That context matters when evaluating what she said.

Does the science back this up?

Yes, broadly. The trajectory she is describing, slow but continued loss on tirzepatide after bariatric surgery, is consistent with published data. The 0.4-pound weekly loss may look modest, but it is within the expected range for someone who has already lost nearly 50 pounds and is likely on a maintenance-adjacent plateau.

The SURMOUNT-1 trial (Jastreboff et al., 2022, New England Journal of Medicine) showed tirzepatide producing mean weight loss of up to 22.5% of body weight at 72 weeks in adults with obesity. What that trial did not study is post-bariatric patients specifically. A 2023 review by Saumoy et al. in Obesity Surgery noted that GLP-1 and dual GIP/GLP-1 agonists show promise for post-bariatric weight regain, but long-term data in this population remains limited. The 0.4-pound weekly figure is biologically plausible, especially this deep into treatment when the body has adapted to the drug and caloric restriction.

Subcutaneous injection site rotation to the arm is also clinically supported. The Mounjaro prescribing information lists the upper arm as an approved injection site alongside the abdomen and thigh.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

Mostly right, with one thing worth flagging. She says this is "shot 27" in the caption but calls it "shot 26 review" in the caption title, then corrects to 27 mid-video. That is just a counting error, not a medical one, and she catches it herself. No harm done.

What she gets right is more interesting. She is tracking her numbers with specificity, she is using an approved injection site, and she is contextualizing her loss against her surgical history. She does not overclaim. She does not say Mounjaro "cured" her regain or tell viewers what dose to take. That kind of restraint is rarer than you would think in this content category.

The scale being "up up this week" before ultimately showing a loss is worth noting. Daily and even weekly scale fluctuations driven by water retention, hormonal shifts, and food volume can easily mask fat loss. Research by Pacanowski and Levitsky (2015, Journal of Obesity) found that daily self-weighing is associated with better outcomes but that individuals need education on interpreting normal variance. She seems to understand this intuitively, which is a good sign.

What should you actually know?

If you are considering tirzepatide after bariatric surgery, her experience is anecdotally encouraging but should not replace a conversation with your surgeon and prescribing provider. Post-bariatric pharmacotherapy is a specific clinical context with its own risk profile. Nutritional absorption, altered gut physiology, and medication interactions all work differently after a sleeve gastrectomy.

The 34.4-pound loss she attributes specifically to Mounjaro is meaningful but cannot be fully disentangled from ongoing behavioral factors. Drug attribution in open-label real-world use is inherently imprecise. SURMOUNT-4 (Aronne et al., 2024, JAMA) demonstrated that discontinuing tirzepatide leads to significant weight regain, which tells you something important: this is likely a long-term therapy, not a finite course. That has cost, access, and adherence implications that are worth discussing with a provider before starting.

Minor injection stinging, as she described, is a common and generally benign side effect. It does not indicate improper technique or a problem with the medication.