Sema non-responders, have you had better luck with tirz or reta?

[HungryBarbie]

My husband once tried to hop on sema for half a year up to 1 mg dose. He had NO reaction to it at all. No supression, no weight loss. Just felt "tired". Will there be a better chance if he tries different agonists like tirz or reta? Have you got any experience with non-responders?

 

[lessthanhalf]

Unfortunately, so far there is zero scientific research on this subject. I would suggest go straight to reta, if the response is poor to glp-1 agonists it might not be to it plus gip and glucagon, or cagri or eloralintide as they work on a entirely separate system , amylin. There are genetic variants on the GLP-1 receptor itself and in the downstream signalling pathways that can be a cause for a poor response to GLP drugs, and this is probably the reason why 5-10% of people lose little or no weight on them. Eventually there will be studies done regarding what to do if this happens, but nothing yet. I would say the odds of a poor response to tirz or reta are fairly high, definitely worse than average, but no good data to go on. But they are amazing drugs for most people and it is worth spending a month or 2 or 3 trying out reta to see if it seems to work. And if not then try cagri or eloralintide.

I cannot say I lost any weight on ozempic, being on low doses for a year, it made me tired and feel a bit ill and a bit nauseated the whole time, but it did reduce appetite a bit to make it a bit easier to maintain a 70 kg weight loss. Thankfully 15mg of tirz plus 5mg of reta plus 0.5mg of cagri had much better appetite suppression and less nausea than 0.8mg/week of ozempic, and I lost another 14 kg or so on it over the next year

 

[FarmgirlRebel]

There are a lot of variables that can affect response rates.
One of which is type 2 diabetes, and or certain medications e.g. Gabapentin.

Many people have switched from Sema to Tirz or Reta and have gotten better results.

It would certainly be worth looking into Tirz or Reta, imo, before writing the entire class of glps off.

 

[Chili777]

I was on Sema for almost a year. Lost 10 lbs the first two months and then nothing. Very little appetite suppression and I felt like shit. Switched to Reta and it was a whole different ball game.

 

[GiffMeReta]

My husband once tried to hop on sema for half a year up to 1 mg dose. He had NO reaction to it at all. No supression, no weight loss. Just felt "tired". Will there be a better chance if he tries different agonists like tirz or reta? Have you got any experience with non-responders?

I think I can shed light on this!

I got sema through my PCP and titrated up for 3 months. I had some appetite suppression but was fatigued. I lost no weight during 3 months and my PCP took me off of it.

I got a Mounjaro (lowest dose), got minor nausea from it but I did lose some weight (probably water weight) that same week I took it. No fatigue, big time reduction in eating habits (can't look at fried food, can't overeat as easily, etc.)

1 week after Mounjaro I got ahold of reta (which I'm on now). At 4 weeks I've lost 7lbs (I started with 1mg and now I'm doing 2mg). Not as impressive as some others but I'm also exercising and taking Creatine and Whey powder protein. I hope the reason for the slow weight loss is some muscle; I've definitely gone down half a shirt size. My shirt size was XXL and now my XLs fit comfortably again. I notice changes though it's not something anyone would comment on yet (slimmer face and my belly stopped portruding). I somehow crave fiber and salads now and still can't do fried food easily (last night I ate 2 french fries but the whole salad off my plate I wanted more of).

So yes, high chance of reacting positively to Tirz or Retra even if Sema did nothing for you, is my anecdote. I'm super excited to continue 🙂

 

[lastresort]

Unfortunately, so far there is zero scientific research on this subject. I would suggest go straight to reta, if the response is poor to glp-1 agonists it might not be to it plus gip and glucagon, or cagri or eloralintide as they work on a entirely separate system , amylin. There are genetic variants on the GLP-1 receptor itself and in the downstream signalling pathways that can be a cause for a poor response to GLP drugs, and this is probably the reason why 5-10% of people lose little or no weight on them. Eventually there will be studies done regarding what to do if this happens, but nothing yet. I would say the odds of a poor response to tirz or reta are fairly high, definitely worse than average, but no good data to go on. But they are amazing drugs for most people and it is worth spending a month or 2 or 3 trying out reta to see if it seems to work. And if not then try cagri or eloralintide.

I cannot say I lost any weight on ozempic, being on low doses for a year, it made me tired and feel a bit ill and a bit nauseated the whole time, but it did reduce appetite a bit to make it a bit easier to maintain a 70 kg weight loss. Thankfully 15mg of tirz plus 5mg of reta plus 0.5mg of cagri had much better appetite suppression and less nausea than 0.8mg/week of ozempic, and I lost another 14 kg or so on it over the next year

Ditto this one, I tried ozempic and tirzepatide. Both only helped so far to mildly curve appetite but I lost no weight,