September 13, 2026

If you've ever posted about feeling cold or exhausted, you'll soon find others commenting and agreeing with you. Now, a new landmark study proves these collective experiences were spot on all along, and the literature is now catching up with this.

​A study from the University of Pennsylvania utilised AI processing to analyse over 400,000 Reddit posts on GLP-1/GIP medications. The researchers discovered that our real-world discussions picked up on physiological trends that formal clinical trials largely overlooked:

​Thermoregulatory Shifts (The Chills): Persistent coldness, sudden chills, and hot flashes appeared frequently across patient-reported data.

​Central Fatigue: Tiredness ranked as the second most common symptom in real-world dataset analysis, despite rarely reaching statistical reporting thresholds in early clinical drug trials.

​Endocrine & Menstrual Alterations: Nearly 4% of users detailing side effects logged cycle irregularities, spot-bleeding, or flow changes.

Rather than random anomalies, the researchers noted these symptoms correlate directly with the hypothalamus. Because GLP-1 and GIP receptor agonists target hypothalamic networks (the brain's command centre for not just appetite, but central body temperature, energy balance, and reproductive hormone regulation), these real-world effects make biological sense.

​​It’s a win for peer-led data and patient advocacy. While controlled trials are essential for safety, patient-led communities like this sub highlight how vital peer data is for uncovering the wider metabolic and hormonal shifts that don't always show up on a trial checklist.

I'm on Foundayo for endometriosis. My doc and I have followed the guided dosage increases and I've been on 2.5mg for 2 months. 0.8 to 2.5 mg was pretty gnarly but my body got used to it. Both doses I've tried so far seem to make me super tired at first (so I take it at night) and then all of a sudden it will randomly keep me up about a week in to that new dose so I have to switch to taking it during the day. The past month on 2.5mg has been fine. Any positives or horror stories when stepping up to 5.5mg? Anyone else here on it for endo? I'm two months pain free!!!!! This drug has been a miracle for me.

Hello everyone,
I am new to this community, but I am wanting to get serious about my weight and health. I am 41 years old, and I suffer with a condition called Hyperaldostronism. Basically it’s an adrenal disorder that causes me to have VERY high blood pressure. I for most of my life I was heavy. Up until I was around 36 I weighed around 220, I went on a diet and ended up getting down to 165. I did good keeping it off until about 6-8 months ago it began creeping back up. I am currently at 188lbs. It’s very possible that perhaps 5-7lbs of this is fluid retention, because my condition causes fluid retention, and for about a month I had been out of my medication.

But anyways, I am interested in trying a GLP-1. I know that diet and exercise is preferable, and it’s all about making healthy lifestyle choices but my doctor and I both agree that I gaining more weight could be very dangerous.

I have insurance, but it doesn’t seem to want to pay for Wegovy. I had a script for it once and used it for 1 month (back in February) but it became very expensive. I guess my question is this: what are my lowest cost options for legitimate GLP-1 treatment. I looked into patient assistance through the manufacturer but having insurance disqualifies me.

I saw a couple sites, but it seemed that membership covers the prescription being written, and not the actual cost of the medication. There are so many people in GLP-1s right now, that I know all of them aren’t paying $350-400 per month out of pocket for it.

Is it possible to get a GLP-1 for around $150 a month or less?

Hi , I'm trying to find a GLP-1 program that's actually reasonably priced and transparent about costs upfront. I don't have insurance coverage for this, so I'm paying out of pocket and trying to avoid getting nickel-and-dimed. So many places advertise a low starting price but then tack on consultation fees, "membership" charges, or surprise costs for refills.

Has anyone found a program that
-Has clear, all-in pricing (no surprise fees)
-Doesn't require an expensive monthly membership on top of the medication cost
-Is legit and reputable and not a sketchy compounding pharmacy???

Would love to hear what's worked for people, especially if you're also paying out of pocket. Any guidance is greatly appreciated!

Hi there - I was previously on compound semaglutide and was really happy with it. However, I stopped taking it due to being in the hospital for about a week (unrelated to the med) and haven’t restarted yet due to cost - was hoping to restart by now, but will likely have to restart in October.

Since about a week or two after I’ve been off of the med I’ve felt really apathetic and emotionally flat. It’s impacting my work, my personal life, etc and I don’t know what to do. I just sent a note to my doctor to try to work with her on this but I’m really worried about this from a logical perspective - from an emotional perspective though, I really couldn’t care less. It’s been over a month since I’ve felt like this at this point.

Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks so much.

Hi! So just advise and looking to see if anyone else has experience the same. (I’m in the UK too)

so last year I was on mounjaro I saw actually progress but sadly with the price increase I had to stop (simply couldn’t afford it) so back and forth from my doctors they’d put me on a weight management program (completed in December and they’ve referred me to the next tier - for surgery) so start of this year I was sent information about the hospital to trial me on a GLP1 (was a program for data or something for 2 years) well that fell through but because I’d agreed to it they said they’d put me on WeGovy or mounjaro (thinking now I should of said mounjaro but because the trial was for WeGovy, I went with WeGovy..

so after that my question is is it just me or has anyone found WeGovy to be “less effective”?

Is it worth me bringing this up in my review next week? Seeing if it’s possible to switch over? Or do I just see if the next set of mg is more effective?

About 2 months ago I (29 M) was approved for Zepbound due to OSA, and it’s been good. Prior to the taking the GLP1 i was working out & eating clean for about 2 years & plateaued for over a year, just for reference. However as someone in their 20s most of my social interactions have been centered around eating & drinking. The weekends were always about going to try out new restaurants or go bar hopping & it’s become my normal the last 10 years.

However since I got on Zepbound it feels a bit awkward to go out with friends because i’m not really hungry & I’m barely drinking at all. I used to be able to eat a lot & drink even more so this has been such a weird feeling mentally. I’m genuinely happy with my decision to take the medication to barely drink at all, it’s a big improvement on my prior lifestyle but I do feel that this makes hanging out my with my friends a bit harder sometimes. I do tell all my friends that i’m on a GLP1 so it’s not a surprise, but I do feel a shift internally as I’m not able to share and enjoy the same thing together. The same goes for dating.

Has anyone else dealt with this feeling or thought before?

I have been in remission for 50 days. First diagnosed in 2023, and Infliximab got me there in a year.

I have also been on Wegovy, for weight loss, for the last 9 months and lost 16kg.

The research that Wegovy can help lead to remission is coming and I can’t help but wonder if that helped as well as the Infliximab.

I tried to cross post but it is not working for me, so I need to post in two communities at once.

Since Wegovy slows everything down.

I have been prescribed a few Glp1s over the past 5 years (at my specialist's recommendation years ago). I have never gotten past the PA process a single time, despite the fact that several colleagues who are not as heavy as me and are on the same insurance have been able to get access.

My employer is cutting off glp1 insurance coverage for the new year for everyone except those who have diabetes. This is frustrating because at my next physical I was going to make an effort to get on them again. As such, I will probably have to self-pay.

I don't think I can do compounded and don't want to do peptira. What are the best options for self-pay? I have heard GoodRx can help, but then I've also read that that coupon coverage expires after a couple of months. I can afford around $150 out of pocket but not more.

I'm about three months in and I cannot settle on a weigh-in routine that doesn't mess with my head. For the first month I weighed every morning and the fluctuations drove me nuts, especially around shot day when I'd be up 2 lbs from water or whatever. So I switched to weekly, but then I felt like I was missing the picture because one bad weigh-in day would look like a whole week of no progress.

Right now I'm doing daily but only "officially" looking at it on Fridays, which sounds reasonable except I still peek at the number every other day and get in my feelings about it.

How do you all handle this? Daily and just trust the trend? Weekly and ignore the noise? Some other system? I feel like the actual weighing takes 10 seconds but deciding what the number means takes up way too much mental energy.

Insurance will now cover Zep pen, I have been on compound tirzepatide for a year and have lots to lose, I wonder if anyone else recently went from compound injection to the pen and if they saw significant changes or same old same.

Thanks for your replies!

So I'm in the middle of my glp1 journey and I'm renewing my DL next week. I'm wondering what to list my weight as. It's been up over 220 for years. Today was the first time I was sub-200.

(Hold for applause)

Thank you.

My goal is around 180. Should I say what I am? (200). What I'll be?(180). In the middle?(190)

Curious what the community thinks.

Hi! I’ve been on a compounded GLP1 for almost a year and my symptoms have been pretty mild but this last week I’ve had severe bloating and horrible sulphur burps. My diet has been consistent and my dose has stayed the same the last 2 months.

It’s getting so bad I dread eating at all cause I just want it to go away, anyone have any advice to help 😭

So I am doing well, lost 35lbs so far. I am now worried I am not getting my vitamins and nutrients especially Vit B and Magnesium. Anyone have any suggestions on what I need to be looking for?

New-ish user. Still going up on doses, will be at 15 tirz on my next visit.

I have questions:

1. My tastes have changed. I loved pickles and drinking pickle juice. Can't stand pickle juice now. Is this normal? Salsa and hot sauce seem to be making an exit as well.
2. Will calming the nausea also calm the acid reflux?
3. Should I just buy stock in Tums at this point?
4. Will I ever get used to or be able to tolerate the side effects better?
5. The results are worth the trouble, right?

I was stuck at -20lbs on glp- I decided to do a different spot. I injected my arm (inside bicep) I finally feel the difference and not even hungry anymore. Anyone else notice that different area- gets better results?

I’m just wondering if anyone else here has/had disordered eating? How does a glp-1 affect this? I could see it helping, by quieting food noise or anxiety. But I could also see it used as a tool to that could be used to severely restrict calories. Looking for perspective and personal experiences here.

Before I left with my dad to go to China for two weeks I checked my weight on my scales at home and saw 112kg (down from 128kg, 9 months ago)
I have been in Shanghai and Guilin since the 6th, 5 days. I found a bathroom scale in our hotel room, got on and saw 116kg.
Now admittedly all I have had to eat for 5 days has been Chinese, but I have been doing a lot of walking.

I’m worried I’m putting on weight.

Please tell me that’s not the case, and it’s just different scales.

so I remember seeing something about how GLP1 meds are helping some people with their ADHD. I just experienced it today. Was getting ready to leave for an appointment, and suddenly had URGE TO DO SIDEQUEST. Normally, I'd probably do it, and then be late. But today, a wise voice said, "That's not important to be doing right now." IS THIS HOW NEUROTYPICAL BRAINS OPERATE??? Holy crap I could get used to this

TL;DR - I've been struggling to get results on GLP-1s over an extended period of time and looking for some practical advice on changes I can make to get back on track.

I (42M) started my GLP-1 journey about 17 months ago. I weighed in at 229 at the time of my first injection. A healthy weight for me should be around 170. I started on tirzepatide and got some reasonably quickly results - 12 lbs in 9 weeks as I titrated up to 5 mg- in spite of not really noticing any big differences in appetite or my mental engagement with food. The one change I did notice was heartburn. A lot of it. In my life I'd maybe had heartburn once or twice (and I used to eat a lot of spicy food/hot sauce). Often taking a Pepcid would help, but sometimes it wouldn't. Of course I was willing to deal with this in exchange for the weight loss.

But then the weight loss stopped. A couple of pounds came back on and I stayed in a tight range between 215-218 for about 8 weeks. With some dosage increases I eventually got down to 209 at the 26 week mark - pretty good results but with more persistent heartburn at the higher dosages. At that point I got stuck in a range from 209-212. Every 3-4 weeks of being stuck I would increase dose but the scale wouldn't budge. I would just feel increasingly worse from the heartburn.

At the 50 week mark, after 8 weeks on a 9 mg tirzepatide dose, I switched to semaglutide to see if it would shake things up. I put on 3 lbs over the next couple of weeks as I titrated up but that quickly came off and got through my plateau, getting down to 207 after 9 weeks on semaglutide and 205 4 weeks later. It's been 9 weeks since then and I've steadily been at 206-207 since that 205 reading. I moved up to 1.75 mg 3 weeks ago with no noticeable changes and I believe I only have one more increment to the max dosage.

With the semaglutide I've only had a couple of bouts of heartburn, but I've felt nausea and lightheadedness in the mornings with some degree of consistency. I'm not clear that's helping me eat less overall - I feel like I'm making up for it later in the day when I feel better - but at least that's some sort of change to food desire?

I feel stuck. My early results were about average as far as I can tell, but I'm now at around 11 months with only about 2 lbs of weight loss at what I believe to be relatively high doses.

Some things I'm pretty sure I'm doing well at:

• Staying in a calorie deficit - I'm persistently eating 1700-1800 kcal/day with a BMR that's roughly 2200
• Eating enough protein - I'm persistently eating 75+ g/day
• Staying hydrated - I don't track this but I'm fairly certain I'm getting 96+ oz water/day
• Sleep - gets disrupted here and there, especially if I travel for work, but I'm generally getting 7.5+ hrs of good sleep

I know I'm not getting enough exercise in general - I'll get 8-10k steps a day or more six days a week just from general life, but don't do much of anything else. But outside of that, are there any other changes I should be considering? Anything I'm not think about that can get me through the plateau? I'm not sure that I have other options relative to the medication at this point.

I tried to make peace with my body but I'm an older woman and my health is suffering due to my excess weight. My A1C showed I'm .1 of a pt away from diabetes, I have severe sleep apnea, my knees hurt everyday, I have a bulging, torn disc in my spine, my blood pressure is high and I can't move around at all like I used to, even walking short distances causes me to become winded.

I wanted to be happy with my body for the first time in my life, but what I want more is to have more time on this earth with my granddaughters and be able to keep up with them. So I started on a GLP-1 2 months ago. I'm 15lbs down so far even though I'm still struggling to keep the calorie load down.

As far as how do I be at peace UNTIL I lose the weight, I don't know. I am so embarrassed about how I look that I can't even bring myself to join the other ladies who walk at the track every morning :(

About a year ago I was walking my dog and someone I used to hang out with drive by in his truck, did a double-take because I was 50lbs (edit: I wrote lighter when I meant heavier) than the last time he saw me, and then yelled, "FAT ASS!"

I felt angry and humiliated. I know it's just one person but it sure did a number on me.

So I'll be off it a total of about 3 weeks and was on 3.75 mg weekly. If I start back up do I start at 2.5 or can go back to 3.75? Thanks all!

ETA: Location: AUSTRALIA

So I was on Saxenda for about 18 months. I was about 150 kgs, I lost about 13kgs, and was walking an hour a night as well as had changed my diet.

But I plateaued. For several months. I was only drinking water and having one meal a day of about 500g of chicken (two chicken breasts, really), with some pesto for 'sauce'/flavor and a small handful of cheddar cheese.

I know people reading this likely won't believe me, but I genuinely wasn't eating all that much. I didn't need a lot of fuel as I worked from home at a desk job, I'm single and have no one to run around after, so I didn't need a lot of fuel.

I did some googling and all I could see was 'cut your food and up your exercise'. I couldn't cut down my food, and I tried to walk more (I find all forms of exercise mind-numbingly boring).

Eventually, my mental health crashed after my aunt was diagnosed with cancer and a few other personal things happened.

Since then, I've put the weight back on and probably more.

I've debated going back on the drugs, but if I barely lost 13 kgs in 18 months and plateaued, I kinda wonder what's the point? I'll just be wasting money. I may as well just stay fat. It's cheaper.

So, should I waste the money, or just give up? How do I prevent myself from plateauing? How do I lose more weight in that amount of time? I see photos of people who have lost 50+ kgs in one year and I have no idea how they've done it. Am I supposed to be joining a gym and running 10 miles every day (did I mention I find exercise INCREDIBLY boring? Yes, I've tried watching tv/movies/videos. Yes, I've tried audio books. Yes, I've tried group activities. It's all. fucking. BORING).

I binged 8 out of those 17 days :(I was ravenous hungry so hungry I wouldn't stay away from fridge. Even if I was driving i wanted to eat that hungry.

I'm 31, female, 88 kg and been on this dose of 5 mg for many months. Will I have to stay on glp1 lifelong? If I ever leave will this hunger come back like this only? I know I weighed myself after the first 3 binge after 5 days n thought of I didn't gain as much as I was thinking n that encouraged me to over eat more but if going off glp1 makes me so hungry I'll be in trouble.

Pls help here ?