Women over 50 | Food Noise | Mounjaro | All the challenges that come during and after

I'm not on any of the weight loss drugs, but I am interested in the effects they have on food noise. I asked an AI Assistant the general consensus and I'll share what it found here, for anyone else that is interested.

" Will stopping Mounjaro mean food noise never goes away?
Many people fear that once they stop tirzepatide (Mounjaro), their “food noise”—that constant mental chatter about eating—will roar back so strongly that lifelong injections become the only way to stay sane. Here’s what the evidence shows:

Why appetite and weight bounce back after stopping
• Mounjaro mimics the gut hormones GLP-1 and GIP to blunt hunger and slow gastric emptying. The moment you stop, your brain’s built-in appetite signals rebound.
• In clinical trials, patients switched from Mounjaro to placebo regained roughly half of their lost weight within eight weeks of stopping treatment.
• Pharmacists report that within one to two weeks after the last injection, “rebound hunger and appetite” often return to pre-drug levels.

Does this mean lifelong injections?
• Regulatory bodies generally cap GLP-1 drugs at two years of NHS-funded treatment, but many experts acknowledge that stopping cold “sets patients up to fail” unless strong behavioral tools are in place.
• The drug isn’t fixing a permanent hormonal defect—it’s managing appetite while you’re on it. Once off, the body’s natural “set point” nudges you back toward previous weight and cravings.

Can you silence food noise without drugs?
Yes—with effort and the right strategies. Key approaches include:
• Building robust eating habits: protein-rich meals, high fiber, consistent meal timing.
• Stress and cue management: mindfulness, trigger-spotting, alternative reward systems.
• Behavioral support: cognitive-behavioral therapy, coaching or structured programs to rewire food-related thoughts.
• Gradual tapering: slowly reducing dose gives hunger hormones time to adjust rather than crashing all at once.

Is there a point of no return for hormones?
• No clear “point of no return” exists where your body irreversibly loses hormonal flexibility. Appetite regulation remains plastic—but it demands sustained lifestyle shifts.
• Those who taper off Mounjaro while cementing new habits maintain weight far better than sudden stoppers (59% maintain loss at six months with a slow taper versus far fewer with abrupt cessation).

Even if you choose to stop Mounjaro, food noise can be tamed without lifelong injections—but only by intentionally rebuilding your relationship with food and leveraging proven behavioral tools. If you’re planning to come off, work closely with healthcare professionals to design a taper and support plan that fronts your long-term mental and metabolic health. "

I've got to my goal weight on Mounjaro over the course of 12 months - I never got up to the top dose, and it happened to fit in with a massive lifestyle change (leaving my job, moving to the country, getting a dog!), which made it very easy.

I've stopped taking the meds and, without doubt, the food noise is back - but it's not as bad as it was before, and by retraining my habits I'm not falling back into my old (bad) choices. It's an effort, for sure, but it's nowhere near as hard as it used to be.

I'm weighing myself weekly, and if the weight starts to creep up I start tracking calories with MFP until I'm back to the weight I want to be.

I think the biggest difference is that, in the past, the mountain seemed too high to climb - if that makes sense? I needed to lose 3 stone, and that meant sticking to a deficit for a looooong time. Mounjaro made that bit easy, and now I'm where I need to be, sticking to maintenance (as someone who'd been on what felt like a permanent diet) is relatively easy, and when I do need to reduce my calories I know it's only for a week or two, which is frankly no time at all!

So yes, the food noise will return, but it's simply (for me) less of an issue. I hope this is useful.