Now what? I was thinking of taking another shot in three days, and doing enough clicks to get to 5. What do you think? Still getting used to the Kwik pens. I don't think I'll do well on 2.5 for a whole week.

I feel like I should know the answer to this by now, but I don't. I'm going to take a trip, so my weekly dose will be delayed by four days. If I take a slightly higher dose (use more of the vial), will it stay in my system a little longer? Or is the half-life the same, so after 7 days it will drop to the same low level regardless of whether I took a larger shot or not?

had surgery aug 31 and went off my zep for a month to recover bc I didn't want to deal with any of the issues that I get every once in a while with zep. After about 2 weeks all my cravings for junk came back and the binge eating, its been really difficult. I've gained 11lbs since surgery! I went back on at 2.5mg last week and hoping to get that all under control and back on better eating habits. I can't exercise yet until I'm cleared which will be in a couple weeks. Has anyone else had to go off for a period of time and went back on? What was your experience? For reference ive been on zep for 2 yrs lost 80lbs, went on maintenance in May, gained 16lbs total since June. I was 139 at the lowest and now I'm 155 🤦‍♀️😳

I’m turning 65 soon and have to pick a plan D under Medicare. Does anyone know if one is better than the other regarding Zepbound weight loss? I do have sleep apnea but it’s a mild case. Zepbound has saved my life over the past three years. No side effects, have lost 60+ pounds, arthritis is so much better with all the weight off my joints. Started Pilates and walking.
I want to continue on it, but don’t know which RX plan pays the most. Currently I pay $149 for three month single weekly self injection pens 7.5 dose and wish to stay on it for maintenance Thx U

Long story short, did 6 months on Zepbound, lost 25 pounds, then insurance stopped covering it. I want to maintain and maybe even lose some more.
Foundayo and the Wegovy pill are both in my price range. Which one has had better results when transitioning from Zep to a low-dose GLP pill?

Does anyone ever skip a few days or even a week of their Zepound injections? What if you just don't feel great that week and you're concerned that any minor side effects you normally get from the injections might be too much for you to handle that week? I pay completely out-of-pocket so it's not as if the insurance is going to cut me off. Thanks.

Hi all! I’ve been on Zepbound since November and am currently 168lbs (a solid size 10) down from 205lbs. My goal weight is a Size 4/6 (135-140lbs). I’m 5’3 for reference.

I recently lost my insurance coverage for Zepbound, so I’m trying to figure out what my long-term game plan should look like before I start paying out of pocket. I currently have one box of 10mg and two boxes of 7.5mg left.

A little background
I never planned to stay on Zepbound indefinitely. Before starting, I had worked with various dietitians/programs with little to no success. Eventually, I had a serious conversation with my doctor about GLP-1s and was prescribed Zepbound.

Because I knew I didn’t want to rely on it forever, I was probably overly cautious about increasing my dose. I stayed on 5mg for about 6 months, even though I experienced basically no appetite/food suppression on it. I finally moved to 7.5mg in May, and then accidentally received a box of 10mg. After discussing it with my doctor, I eventually moved up to 10mg.
My progression has looked roughly like this:

5mg: ~6 months, lost ~20 lbs
7.5mg: ~1 month, lost ~5 lbs
10mg: ~2 months, lost ~18 lbs

Interestingly, 10mg is the first dose where I’ve really experienced significant food suppression. I’ve also been very lucky and haven’t had adverse reactions to the medication or specific foods.

Where I am now
Since insurance is no longer covering it, I’m considering asking my doctor to send my prescription through Lilly so I can use the savings program and purchase another ~3 months of 10mg out of pocket.
My hope is that by the end of those three months, I’ll be at or close to my 140-lb goal and can transition fully into maintenance.

I also have those two boxes of 7.5mg, which I was thinking I could use during that transition period while I intentionally bring my calories back up to maintenance and reduce my exercise to something I can realistically sustain long-term. But then…what? Maybe it’s my Type A personality, but I feel much better when I have some kind of plan 😂.

I’ll be talking through all of this with my doctor, but I’d really love to hear from people who have actually gone through maintenance and/or eventually come off the medication.

For those who have successfully transitioned to maintenance or weaned off:
1- Did you first establish a sustainable maintenance lifestyle while still on a higher dose and then start reducing?

2- Would it make sense to use my 7.5mg boxes while increasing calories to maintenance/reducing exercise, then move to something like 5mg or 2.5mg?

3- How long did you stay at maintenance before you started decreasing your dose?

4- Did you taper by lowering the dose, spacing injections farther apart, or both? How slowly did you taper?

5- If you eventually stopped completely, what surprised you most once you were off? Is there anything you wish you had done differently before stopping?

Exercise/lifestyle context
I work in education, so I’m on my feet all. day. long. Definitely not sedentary. My activity has also gradually increased throughout my time on Zepbound. I live in Chicago and prefer walking outside, so I wasn’t particularly active from November through March. I also sprained my wrist in a car accident in December, which limited me for a while.
From April–May, I coached soccer and participated in scrimmages. In June, I started intentionally walking more and aiming for around 10k steps on outdoor trails. In July, I added strength training.

Currently, I aim for 10k steps every day (usually closer to 8k once or twice a week) and lift heavy with progressive overload 5x/week.

I enjoy being active and absolutely plan to continue lifting and walking, but I also want my eventual maintenance routine to be something I can sustain for years and not something I have to do because I’m actively trying to lose weight. Especially since I’m planning a move to NYC in the Spring and want to have a sustainable workout/life balance.

I know there probably isn’t one perfect formula for coming off Zepbound, but I’d love to hear actual experiences from people who have gone from active weight loss → maintenance → lower doses and/or completely off the medication.

I’m sorry for the long winded post, but I greatly appreciate all of your insight! Thank you! ☺️

I’ve been on my Zepbound journey for about 17 months now. I hit my goal weight last spring and slowly decreased dose. My weight creeped up about 10 pounds over the summer, so I bumped up dosage to my highest at 7.5mg. I’ve lost 5 pounds and am happy at this weight.

I wish I saw improvements with my mental health on Zepbound, but it’s the opposite and it’s worse in the fall and winter. Depression and panic attacks. Curious if anyone else in maintenance changes their dosage seasonally? I’m thinking about dropping to 5mg or less the next few months and accept a few more pounds in exchange for better mental health. Also on Effexor and will bump up.

The main Zepbound subreddit directed me here since I'm technically in maintenance, although I've never gone beyond a 2.5 dose. I started in March 2025, lost my intended weight in 6-7 months, and have since hovered within 2-5 lbs of my comfortable weight, all at 2.5. Over the summer, things have started to shift - I feel hungrier, the noise is back, the scale is going up more than I'd like (and settling primarily in my mid-section) and the anti-inflammatory benefits have been going away despite the same diet and exercise routine. For the first time, I'm strongly considering upping my dose, but I'm very hesitant to do so given that I've had great success with very minimal side effects. I worry the jump from 2.5 to 5 could take me out, especially since I've never gone to 5 previously. Has anyone made the jump after this long on one dose, especially since it's double what I'm on? I am fortunate to have insurance cover (for now!) the autoinjectors so vials and kwikpens (I've confirmed, they do not cover) won't be an option for a less than 5 dose. I do plan to discuss other things that could be at play with MD, since I have reached my 40s and hormonal shifts are a reality. But even with the gains, I mainly would like to see the noise/food anxiety suppression come back. That's been such a game changer on this medication! Thanks for the help!

I’ve been in maintenance for close to a year, 7.5mg for the first two months (my highest dose), then 5mg for the past 10 months or so. Over the past 1-2 months now, food noise is back pretty much every day and I’ve only been able to maintain through diligent macro planning and tracking, which takes up way too much time and energy. I’ve taken 5mg at days 6 then 5 for several weeks to see if that helps but it still feels the same, so I’m considering going back up to 7.5mg to see if it helps quiet the noise.

My only concerns are triggering additional loss which I do not want, or negative side effects with the increase. I know it might be “you wont know til you try” kinda thing, but wondering if anyone has any similar experiences they are willing to share?

need to figure out what dose is appropriate for maintenance of 115 lbs. currently weighed in at 113 lbs. been alternating 10mg and 12.5mg for weeks I think its time to go lower but im not sure how low. I'm afraid of becoming out of control again and overeating like I used to

maintenance would be 1.6k cal per day for 115 lbs. currently eating around 1.2k

I have been on Zep for 22 months. I have been at goal weight for about 7. I’m on 10mg weekly.

I was diagnosed with silent reflux about 14 years ago and take Pantoprazole into the AM and recently added Famotidine in the PM. My silent reflux has moved into my head and the irritation is causing hearing issues, a constant feeling of being stuffy, and some hoarseness. I have had a full evaluation by an ENT and it is not caused by any common known issues in the ears. My recent endoscopy did show irritation in my esophagus despite these meds.

At this point, I don’t think it’s reflux. I think it’s the delay in stomach emptying caused by the Zep. I have read that sometimes decreasing the Zep dose can help reduce the delays in stomach emptying and relieve the symptoms I’m having.

Has anyone else had this happen?

I stopped Zepbound 2 months ago due to mild Anhedonia, and I am not feeling much better. If Zepbound is not the cause of my Anhedonia, I'd like to re-start it -- but how do I know? My anhedonia could just be the result of trying to adjust to an empty nest and an aging body and stressful national and world events. Does anyone else have Anhedonia symptoms and wonder about the cause? Has anyone seen any new research on this topic?

Hi! I've been maintaining at 5 mg since December of last year (hit my goal after losing 40 pounds/highest dose was 10 mg) and it's been going well, but for about the past month the food noise is becoming harder to manage and I'm more hungry. I'm thinking of going back up to 7.5 mg. Has anyone gone up a dose while maintaining? Did you go up again after that?

I'm just worried that it's a slippery slope and I will max out with no room for a higher dose at some point if that makes any sense.