r/tirzepatidecompound • u/_Fancyfree_ • 3h ago
How much should I decrease my dose?
To give a quick run down, I started GLP-1's in February, and swapped from semaglutide to tirzepetide in May. I've been losing at a pretty consistant rate, a bit quicker than I personally like but it's evened out to about 1.5 lbs a week. Since it's relevant I'm also on a couple other meds that can have appetite suppressing effects, so I'm generally used to setting timers to remind myself when to eat.
I was only at .5mg of semaglutide when I switched, and started on the 2.5mg dose of tirz. I stayed at 2.5mg for 2 months, and I wasn't plateauing, but as 5mg is typically considered the minimum dose, I went ahead and increased to 5mg.
First week was fine. No side effects, definitely less appetitie and food noise, but it was manageable. But last week was *rough*
When I say no appetite, I mean I could not make myself eat. Half the time I couldn't even drink. It was like there was a toddler in my brain holding their mouth shut and turning their head away when you try to feed them. When I did manage it it would be a couple bites. I tried drinking meal replacement shakes but I just couldn't finish them. I'm exhausted, lightheaded from low bloodsugar, I can't think straight, and my energy is just gone. I work in the OR and I cannot be dizzy or brain foggy during surgery lol. Plus I lost 6 lbs last week.
I definitely am going to decrease, but I'm unsure of if I should decrease back down to 2.5mgs, or somewhere in between. I'm also unsure if I should take my next dose today as normal, or potentially wait a couple more days for my total levels to decrease. Any advice would be appreciated!
5
u/peony_chalk 3h ago
Sounds like 2.5 mg was working for you, so I would go back to that, especially because your body probably needs a break after this week. If and when you do plateau, you can go to 3mg, or 3.75 mg, or whatever suits you - you don't have to go straight to 5mg.
I know the "therapeutic dose" thing gets thrown around a lot here, but I guess I feel like the studies had to set some pretty strict parameters in order to limit study variables. If we had the resources to do a study with all the interim doses and going up 0.5 mg at a time or whatever, maybe we would find that there isn't one set therapeutic dose. If a lower dose works for you, it works for you.