lessthanhalf
GLP-1 Specialist
I have said this before a few times but why not.
If you are on 12mg of reta and weight loss has ceased after losing 70 lbs, then assuming it is not the effects of other drugs you have added in which sounds pretty likely , and you are not gaining weight. Then what is happening is exactly what the drug is meant to do. If average weight loss for reta is 29% over about a year or so, your start weight 319 , you have lost around 22% of your weight and then weight loss has stopped and you are not putting weight on. This is not tolerance or any loss of effect of the drug, this is just your new normal on that dose at that new lower weight. It might be possible you could lose some more weight if on reta longer without other peptides interfering, or you might just lose a bit less than the average.
With substantial to massive weight loss, metabolic rate drops a lot partly due to lowered metabolic effects of the muscle, organ and fat tissue you no longer have not consuming calories, and partly due to metabolic adaptation to lowered calorie input over time as your body tries to conserve energy. This is combined with increased appetite with weight loss as your body thinks you need to eat more to restore the lost fat. When not taking GLP's this is what makes keeping the weight off so hard. When you are taking GLP's the drug effect balances out the increased hunger with its appetite suppression and reta even gives you a metabolic rate boost of 1-200 kcal/day, not enough to counter the long term low calorie drop but every bit helps. And this new normal is the weight reduced state it can achieve. Now if you are not yet at your target weight this kind of sucks, but I think understanding this is critical to not throwing the baby out with the bathwater in this situation. Staying on it now will allow you to stay at that reduced weight, even if not perfect. a 22% weight loss is a fantastic achievement and would previously have been near impossible to achieve and maintain without GLP's. And more than enough in nearly every case to drastically reduce the serious long term health consequences that come from being severely obese, even if not at normal BMI's.
Stopping it because you have stopped losing weight is almost precisely the wrong approach, all the evidence says most people put most of the weight back on sooner or later.
Staying on it or restarting it will allow you to keep the weight off and maybe a bit more and drastically reduce the long term health problems that result from obesity, and at that degree of overweight they are severe and common, how soon you might get to enjoy having diabetes or heart disease depends a lot on your age, but the process that causes them starts early, and stopping it sooner is much better than stopping it later after irreversible damage is already done. Ask me how I know.
I am not going to suggest adding extra medications in to improve weight loss , as how safe this is or is not depends on your age and health and BMI and I do not know these, but there are options once you get back to 12mg and inevitably stall again. Stalling is not a bad thing , it might be frustrating if you are still overweight, but if it happens at 70 lbs down the drug has done its job, and that is a very good reason to stay on it.
If you are on 12mg of reta and weight loss has ceased after losing 70 lbs, then assuming it is not the effects of other drugs you have added in which sounds pretty likely , and you are not gaining weight. Then what is happening is exactly what the drug is meant to do. If average weight loss for reta is 29% over about a year or so, your start weight 319 , you have lost around 22% of your weight and then weight loss has stopped and you are not putting weight on. This is not tolerance or any loss of effect of the drug, this is just your new normal on that dose at that new lower weight. It might be possible you could lose some more weight if on reta longer without other peptides interfering, or you might just lose a bit less than the average.
With substantial to massive weight loss, metabolic rate drops a lot partly due to lowered metabolic effects of the muscle, organ and fat tissue you no longer have not consuming calories, and partly due to metabolic adaptation to lowered calorie input over time as your body tries to conserve energy. This is combined with increased appetite with weight loss as your body thinks you need to eat more to restore the lost fat. When not taking GLP's this is what makes keeping the weight off so hard. When you are taking GLP's the drug effect balances out the increased hunger with its appetite suppression and reta even gives you a metabolic rate boost of 1-200 kcal/day, not enough to counter the long term low calorie drop but every bit helps. And this new normal is the weight reduced state it can achieve. Now if you are not yet at your target weight this kind of sucks, but I think understanding this is critical to not throwing the baby out with the bathwater in this situation. Staying on it now will allow you to stay at that reduced weight, even if not perfect. a 22% weight loss is a fantastic achievement and would previously have been near impossible to achieve and maintain without GLP's. And more than enough in nearly every case to drastically reduce the serious long term health consequences that come from being severely obese, even if not at normal BMI's.
Stopping it because you have stopped losing weight is almost precisely the wrong approach, all the evidence says most people put most of the weight back on sooner or later.
Staying on it or restarting it will allow you to keep the weight off and maybe a bit more and drastically reduce the long term health problems that result from obesity, and at that degree of overweight they are severe and common, how soon you might get to enjoy having diabetes or heart disease depends a lot on your age, but the process that causes them starts early, and stopping it sooner is much better than stopping it later after irreversible damage is already done. Ask me how I know.
I am not going to suggest adding extra medications in to improve weight loss , as how safe this is or is not depends on your age and health and BMI and I do not know these, but there are options once you get back to 12mg and inevitably stall again. Stalling is not a bad thing , it might be frustrating if you are still overweight, but if it happens at 70 lbs down the drug has done its job, and that is a very good reason to stay on it.