What are you referring to?
When I added retatrutide to tirzepatide it caused strong anhedonia for me. I only used 1mg three times and it was very noticeable and unpleasant. After stopping the retatrutide and moving to twice-weekly tirzepatide everything improved a lot. Testosterone would likely help once you start that.
I am in a similar spot. I lost 60 pounds and am 15 from goal but feel mentally stuck and less motivated than when I began tirzepatide. I am considering changing my goal weight or setting the scale aside for now so I can get my old energy and interest back. I worry the medication that helped me reach this point is now holding me back from enjoying the health I regained. I hope the stall is just temporary while my body adjusts.
I feel the same pain. If small things like tools used to make you happy you might need some outside support rather than another compound. I am looking forward to seeing your blood results. I started testosterone replacement three months into my own journey and have not had a truly bad day since. Low testosterone can definitely flatten you. I began at 380 pounds and 52 percent body fat. People told me to wait until I had less body fat but that turned out to be wrong. My estradiol is balanced, red blood cell count and hematocrit are fine, and I have added muscle while in a big calorie deficit and lost a lot of fat with tirzepatide. The body recomposition is real. My libido is very high, blood pressure is normal without medication, and it has made a big difference. Still, track your macros. When I feel flat it is usually because I am eating far too little because of the GLP effects. Laughter helps a lot so I go to stand-up nights and watch comedy shows.
Exactly. I go south a few times a year and pick up the same medication for less than my usual copay along with other prescriptions. The higher-strength tablets cost about the same as the lower ones so I always get those. When I run out I notice within days especially the return of nighttime bathroom trips. I am 60 and everything functions but it works better with the medication.
Start the testosterone now instead of waiting until you are twenty pounds closer. I like you and think you are funny but right now you sound defeated. Get on the testosterone, enjoy time with your partner, then go handle whatever is bothering you. You will feel like a different person.
Concern about chest enlargement while using hormone replacement probably isn't worth stressing over much. Fat accumulation around the pectorals becomes frequent once body mass index climbs, but it consists only of adipose without any glandular growth and fades once the extra weight drops off. That's what explains most instances of noticeable swelling in that area for men. Actual gland development during normal dosing levels shows up rarely in the data, with rates usually under five percent and commonly one to three, while cases leading to stopping therapy remain minimal. Medical groups list it as a known yet infrequent drawback. The issue tends to appear more often once amounts exceed standard replacement ranges.
Drinking enough water to drop your sodium level is by definition too much and enters the territory of excessive fluid intake that can cause real problems. Interestingly the GLP medications may actually help with that condition but if the intake is intentional then reducing fluids is probably wise.
Use less retatrutide and more tirzepatide. I agree with others that your body has reached maintenance. Pay attention to what it is telling you. I hope lowering the retatrutide eases the flat feeling. Begin the body recomposition work and consider the testosterone. Hope you start feeling better.
I do not understand why some people on a diet drink gallons of water every day. Getting enough fluid is reasonable but multiple large bottles seems more like a performance than a necessity.
Even then you might only need a very small amount of an aromatase inhibitor if you actually feel symptoms and your estradiol is quite high.
I buy several packs at once and they last me about two years. It is inexpensive and works well. The biggest downside for this medication was being linked mainly to erectile dysfunction because many men assume taking it means they have that problem and avoid it. There is a wide range between a fully reliable response and actual dysfunction and most men past their twenties notice some natural decline. I never had erectile dysfunction yet the medication still improves things both sexually and in other ways.
I have not been able to check this thread since yesterday morning and yes I really regret it. If anyone here knew me personally it would be embarrassing but I am looking forward to reading all the suggestions when I have time. Happy Friday everyone.
Hug. There is a choice between pushing through and pausing to reset. You know yourself best. For me tirzepatide was the least problematic. Semaglutide caused suicidal thoughts and retatrutide raised heart rate along with the other effects. I stayed on testosterone the longest. My current thought is that I may have a vitamin D or magnesium issue. When I was able to stay on a low dose of tirzepatide for a while the electrolytes helped a lot. I used two packets the day before the shot and two on shot day. I would not sleep all the next day otherwise. The electrolytes do not contain the vitamins but they got me through. Trials showed vitamin D dropping and I have not checked the data myself but magnesium depletion would cause similar results. I just worked out the magnesium part today so it is still an early idea. Most people are low in both and the GLP medications seem to make it worse. If that is the case it is a fairly simple fix. Anhedonia is awful. Everything feels flat and starting any task is the hardest part. Good luck.
I have only been on retatrutide for three months at low doses from 0.5mg up to 3mg. I went from 220 to 200 pounds at six feet so my goals were different. I was just looking for a small assist and lost about a pound a week which was fine. Then anhedonia hit hard. I do not enjoy anything except mindless scrolling. I stopped working out, lost interest in my kid and dog and video games. It is bad. So I am going to stop the retatrutide. I also checked my testosterone and it was in the 200s but I will wait until the medication clears and retest to see how I feel.
What I am really saying is that many people claim all the side effects from these medications are just from the weight loss itself but I am not sure that is accurate. I am certain the retatrutide is causing how I feel so I am stopping. I will update later but it is worth pausing certain things to test.
I returned to normal after stopping the main GLP medications after short trials. Add a multivitamin that includes trace minerals. I use a basic adult one. I am still figuring out the small details but for some people anhedonia might tie to a deficiency. Most people in this country are low in several areas and trials showed vitamin D dropping. Magnesium and K2 are connected and both affect vitamin D levels with the same outcome. Vitamin D is fat soluble so the body does not clear extra the way it does with B vitamins. Only a blood test shows where you stand. Most of us are low and it is more likely the farther north you live. I understand the feeling of flatness and how much it sucks. Try to keep moving through basic actions if possible so when things improve there is some structure in place. A short walk instead of a full workout still counts. Treat small steps as progress while you wait it out.
I began retatrutide early in the year and have lost 40 pounds. I am ten pounds from goal. I had to reduce from 3mg every three days which gave peaks around 8.5mg down to 2mg every three days. I felt emotionally flat at every level including with my wife which prompted the change. Three things are helping now. First is PE-22 which gives mild effects but I noticed a clear drop in the flat feeling when I paused it for twelve days and then restarted. The other two I began at the same time so I cannot separate their impact yet. I added saffron because research supports it for mood and I also started tesofensine which I suspect is doing more of the work. On the first day with 250mcg of tesofensine my workout felt strong for the first twenty or thirty minutes and then faded but I felt alive instead of just going through motions. That feeling has continued and lasts longer each day I take it.
This is exactly what happened to me. I stopped caring about anything except work and my daughter. Everything else felt numb. I switched from retatrutide back to tirzepatide a week and a half ago. Sex drive is still gone and scrolling still feels rewarding but I can sense a small return of interest in things.
It is interesting that tesofensine helped your anhedonia. It has not been studied in humans as an antidepressant but chemically it acts like one so the effect is not surprising and it works that way in animal studies. It can also increase heart rate like retatrutide and one human trial combined it with a beta blocker for that reason. It is somewhat in limbo because it produces solid weight loss around nine percent but that is less dramatic than the GLP results. Using it as an add-on could still make sense.
What is interesting is that even after adding the tesofensine my heart rate during sleep has dropped a lot. I thought it might be from the saffron which is known to lower blood pressure but that would be expected to raise heart rate according to what I checked. I am not sure what is causing the change but it is the lowest it has been since I started retatrutide.
Can I ask which saffron product you are using? I have been looking into it and there are several options. I have ADHD and have heard it can help naturally with that instead of stimulants.
I use the high-potency saffron extract from Nootropics Depot.
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