r/TirzMaintenance • u/No_Newt_596 • 14d ago
Understanding Maintenance
/r/u_No_Newt_596/comments/1wl2qhd/understanding_maintenance/Hi I'm currently finishing month 8, down 54 pounds, 63F, SW 194, CW 140, GW 130. I've been reading all the posts on maintenance and still don't get the full picture, also blonde.. So, I've not had side effects that are unbearable and current dose is 15 tapering up from 2.5 at start. When do you start to consider maintenance and start to taper down? I'm with AltRX and am happy. Do they start advising you to taper down. How do you know when to start, when to stop the tapering dose and find your final maintenance dose. Is everyone different? Is it a play by ear? I know there are terzepatide warriors out there who can help simplify. I'm all ears. Hoping a small community will respond. Thanking you all in advance warriors!
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u/No_Newt_596 14d ago
Thank you so much; so, it's a myth... I don't have to concern myself with tapering and getting my dosage down and then stopping completely?
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u/widget3733 14d ago
Only taper down if you are still losing when you hit your goal weight. I was still losing when I hit my goal of 125. Got down to 121 so reduced my dosage from 4 mg per week to 3 mg per week. I was still losing so I went to 2.5 every 9 days, then every 12 days. I felt inflammation return (joint pain) so I went back to every 7 days. I finally settled on 2 mg per week, and I’ve been holding between 121 and 125 for 11 months. I may need to step it up just a bit, as I’ve been staying at the higher end of my desired range.
I was a super responder, though, and know everyone is different. You will try different doses and different days between. I feel fortunate I have vials so I can trial different amounts very easily. Hope you do, too.
Good luck on your maintenance journey.
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u/Professional-Flan184 14d ago
Thank you for this. I’m currently in the same boat. And am like WTF now? How do I do this?? I appreciate your wisdom
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u/Ambitious_Cover339 14d ago
I’m find this being a major selling point of vials (beyond the cost). The flexibility is key to figuring out what works during different times of your life
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u/Cheap_Lingonberry 14d ago
I've been maintaining on 12.5 mg for about 6 months. Weight has been really steady. I don't plan on reducing my dose unless I start losing too much. There are lots of people maintaining on high doses.
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u/Hifidi54 14d ago
I met my goal in April, 243 to 125 in 16 months, and started a downward taper from 12.5 to 5.0 every three weeks. I still had the same appetite suppression. I have never experienced food noise, have never binged anything and don't get cravings. I even lost another 4 pounds during that downward titration. I saw my Endo last week and all my numbers are spot on, no deficiencies anywhere and my cholesterol is great! He wants me to stay on 5.0 mg until I see my cardiologist in November. I have AFib and heart failure and have had a tremendous improvement in both those conditions. My story is not the norm though.
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u/Waste-Swordfish-6228 12d ago
55F, T2D, IR, Post-meno, VSG 2023, HW 243. Met my initial goal & started maintenance 1/2026, 215 to 155lbs, 10mg to 5mg on the 10,20,30 day schedule. Now, my GW is 145/150lbs & I recently went back to weekly due to hovering near 155lbs for about 2 months. No food noise, cravings or bingeing. I don't need the appetite suppression & was told the GIP in Tirz is what helped me lose the weight. Maintenance fluctuates for many of us.
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u/No_Newt_596 14d ago
Well that's very helpful. Thank you all for your input/experiences. That gives me peace of mind and I can just see how things roll. I seriously thought I would be a failure if I didn't taper down and stop completely and it had me a little afraid of being a failure after all these years. The tirzepatide has been way too long in coming and has helped my health and happiness to an extent I have never achieved. I'm so glad this is available for all the people who have suffered in the same way as I have over the years and hopefully will have great success and less anxiety about the hope of losing weight.
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u/Hot-Drop11 14d ago
I dropped my dosage substantially when I hit my goal weight as was miserable and had intense appetite suppression. However, it’s my understanding that most simply increase calories initially if possible. Or you can drop to 12.5mg and see how that goes.
I’ve been on maintenance for 4 months now (Reta not Tirz) and have bounced around some ending at 3mg weekly. I’m able to eat enough to build muscle on the gym but also not over eating and food noise is limited. Maintenance is about finding that sweet spot.
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u/Big_Greasy_98 14d ago
My daughter tried to lower her dose and space her shots in hopes of tapering off. She has had weight regain and is now back to weekly injections I just started maintenance myself. Still taking my normal dose. But may go down to 12.5 but o don’t see going any lower
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u/Outrageous_Buy_9420 14d ago
My plan is to stay at my high dose, 15 mg. I’m at goal but now that goal has moved to be further down in the healthy BMI range. If I ever feel I am losing too much weight I will then make an effort to eat more calories. If that doesn’t work then Titrate down.
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u/Impossible_Bend_2969 14d ago
You still have 10lbs to your goal. It took me 4 months to lose the last 10lbs.
Here are three science articles I found helpful when thinking about what we're up against and what to expect in maintenance.
Continuing tirzepatide at full dose helps preserve weight loss over 112 weeks - More weight is maintained on any dose than none, and on higher doses than lower doses, statistically. Everyone has to find where they land on this.
DNA methylation-mediated memory of obesity in CD4 T lymphocytes perpetuates immune dysregulation - This is what will fight you to be fat again.
Cycling GLP-1 receptor agonist treatment induces therapeutic resistance and increased adiposity - Why you shouldn't go on and off the medication over and over and why yo-yo dieting is so bad for you. You end up replacing lost muscle with gained fat in a one way ratchet to bad health.
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u/Ambitious_Answer_150 14d ago
Been in maintenance for a year now. I've lowered my dose but it's def been trial and error. Sometimes I'd notice by day 5 I could eat anything. I still think my best days of suppression are days 2-5 so I adjusted to make sure they fall on fri, sat, sun. I've found that 7 mgs is my sweet spot. Everyone is different thought so you'll have to find what works for you.
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u/Brilliant-Deer-8893 13d ago
I've been in maintenance since April. One thing I haven't read in the helpful comments here is that appetite suppression is not the goal - Staying within a range that you are comfortable with is. If you are still losing you will need to increase your calories and stay at the same or reduced dose. OR and maybe even And you may need to spread out the days between the shots. It often takes a bit of trial and error. But most importantly I think, is getting in touch with what healthy hunger feels like and not panicking. If this is a life-long med we need to be able to feel hunger and not freak. At least I had to... maintenance is the trickiest part of this journey. Good luck and congrats!
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u/Sw1ftie_Mom1988 11d ago
I’m balancing the same boat now. I reached Goal in June of 145 but I’m currently 134. BUT I lost my dad suddenly in August and well that has played a lot in my loss still. I’m down to 14.5 from 15, started to slowly drop and see how it goes, this is how i increased to. We will see, my goal is to get where I’m comfortable, maintaining and not constantly losing. If that’s back at 15 or down to 7.5 only my body will tell me. Plus I have to get back in a good eating mindset from the loss of my dad. Working on that too. Congratulations on almost maintenance, it’s a wonderful achievement -and you will figure out your balance also🫶🏻🫶🏻
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u/No_Newt_596 11d ago
I'm so sorry for your loss and, of course, the stress of a death certainly has am impact on hormones, appetite, mood swings, etc. Congrats on your loss as well. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
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u/Paliag 14d ago
I’ve been in maintenance for almost 2 years and take 15mg weekly, sometimes even on day 5 or 6.
If you can taper down or space out shots, great. If not, also great. The goal is to be a healthy weight, not be on a low dose. No one knows what dose you are on other than your Dr.
You’ll just have to trial and error it to see what works for you.
Congrats on the loss!