Doses Where Tirzepatide and Retatrutide Start Working for Weight Loss and Stacking Experiences

30 lb is great. I am also a slow titrator and so far have had no sides. I had no appetite before starting and could not lose even at 900–1100 calories, so my metabolism was clearly not cooperating. Reta actually brought my appetite back, which I hope is a good sign. I still have good control around food and sugar cravings are mostly gone. I suspect under-eating is part of my problem now, so I am aiming for 1200 calories with a protein shake plus collagen and flax as an evening option. We cook mostly whole foods at home. Exercise is inconsistent because of pain, but tirz has helped that a lot. When I stopped tirz the pain returned, so I am keeping both.

That is good to hear and still a modest dose. I had no appetite before starting either and could not lose even with phentermine and other attempts. It is discouraging to see people drop 10–12 lb a month when it has taken me more than two months for just over 2 lb recently. Still, it is better than before, so I am trying to stay grateful.

What dose are you at now? I am sure the scale will move again soon.

You sound like a strong responder, similar to my husband who is still on 1 mg. I am going to try 2 mg this week and hope it moves the scale without hurting sleep. Responding well at such a low dose is fortunate.

I just started 5 mg this week. The stall might be from creatine I took last week; I forgot it causes water retention.

I am definitely not at a healthy weight. I started with more than 50 lb to lose and still have about 40 lb left. 8 mg sounds high, but I hope I can increase without sides. Everyone reacts differently.

Creatine can definitely cause retention. Hormonal shifts and other factors can too. Next week should make up for it.

That is what the data indicate. There is little difference between 8 mg and 12 mg for reta. On tirz I had no sides at all and actually felt better because food noise disappeared. On reta I developed skin sensitivity at 8 mg, so I switched back to tirz and am very happy with it. I have lost 60 lb in a year on 10 mg.

Congratulations on 60 lb. I have not reached 3 mg yet and will keep increasing only while results improve. I do not want to lose sleep or run into other issues. I am actually sleeping better than before starting both. Tirz has also helped noticeably with pain, though not completely.

Glad the weight is dropping for you. I hope you reach your goal soon. I already had little appetite before starting and still do not think about eating much, but I am working on getting enough calories. Long-term very low intake probably was not helping me.

Maybe the heavier lifting is adding muscle that offsets the scale. Have you been including carbs? Some people find they need them to lose on reta.

At your current rate you will pass my 30 lb mark well before six months. We seem to have a lot in common, including exercise habits. Years of 900–1000 calories without loss usually means the body has adapted and is conserving energy. The fact that reta restored appetite may be a positive signal rather than something to override. It is still hard to tell whether reta is clearly stronger for you. I ended up staying with tirz and will probably save reta for later, possibly only at maintenance.

I am looking forward to seeing bigger numbers too and will just keep going. The 900–1100 calorie range was my norm for years with no loss. Now I aim for about 1200, which seems to be the recommended minimum for women. I agree the appetite return on reta could mean something was reactivated. I have been stacking since week two. I had planned to drop tirz but pain started returning after a week, so I kept both.

I guess I will have to keep increasing if this week at 4 mg tirz and 2 mg reta does not produce movement. I hope that is not necessary since I am only two and a half months in.

How long did it take you to reach 7.5 mg?

I started on tirz, then decided to switch to reta. After stopping tirz I realized it had been helping with pain that I had not noticed until it returned, so I added it back.

I wondered whether there is an advantage to having less glucagon activity and more of the other two receptor effects.

That is impressive. I wish my results were moving the same way. The past few weeks the scale has been stuck even though I added exercise and am eating less because appetite is lower. I started a new cartridge of tirz last week and may have taken 5 mg by mistake because I used the wrong reconstitution volume. I had planned to reach 5 mg anyway, but still no loss. You are getting great results. Did you stall and increase because of that?

I have not stalled. I have increased based on how well symptoms are tolerated and on measurable markers. The main temporary plateaus have come from water retention caused by TRT or, more recently, creatine; the creatine retention does not resolve unless the creatine is stopped.

I was wondering whether each increase happened because the previous dose stopped working. That may be what I need to do, just keep going up.

You do not see meaningful plateaus in my data. With a large amount of weight still to lose, staying low and slow can waste time. The trials titrated on a fixed schedule and produced predictable average results. I am above those trial doses but expect to lower the dose later once I reach a maintenance equilibrium.

Not at all. What tells you it is time to move up? I still have 40 lb to lose, which feels substantial. I am usually sensitive to medications, so I have increased slowly to stay functional. I am now at 5 mg tirz and will split 3 mg reta this week. Any side effects for you?

That chart is impressive. How has your energy been over that long period? Congratulations on the progress.

I increase when loss stays under about 1.1 percent per week and sides plus other markers stay acceptable. I have missed no work days from sides. Energy is fine aside from occasional tiredness linked to sleep. RHR is up roughly 8 bpm. HRV can dip with increases but has not been a real concern. No upper GI issues at all. Sleep can be affected but my tracked sleep debt has not exceeded five hours. I also have about 40 lb left. I was going to the gym daily until March and need to restart that habit.

I am a 205 lb guy using 2.5 mg tirz and 2 mg reta. Things really started moving two weeks ago. I am fairly active and after a three-hour bike ride finally broke a plateau. It took more than two months without the medications to drop from 210 to 202 on diet alone. Now I am losing about 2 lb a week without much effort. A big training day or a true fast day might help others break through too. I also realized how much my liquid calories, especially beer, were affecting results.

You are not losing too fast at all and have already dropped more than half of what you wanted. My sides have been minimal so far. I do not know my resting heart rate from before, but it is now in the 70s. I have also noticed fewer GI issues than before starting. Sleep was poor previously and is a bit better now. We both have 40 lb left. I am sure you will finish well ahead of me at your pace. My issue was never how much I ate, probably too little, but something internal that no doctor has identified. Some people just respond differently. I am tired too.

I judge increases by keeping sustained weekly loss around or below 1.1 percent. With a large total to lose I expect to need a higher dose during the cut. Maintenance will likely be a different equilibrium point between dose and my body's set point. My resting heart rate sits in the high 60s to low 70s, which does not worry me. Good luck managing your situation.

I would like to speed things up from the current stall, so I probably need to keep increasing. I just do not want to feel terrible or run into problems. Thanks, and I hope the nap was good. I can rarely allow myself one unless I am sick. Hope you slept well afterward too.

Is that really the general consensus? On safety or efficacy grounds, if the concern is total GLP-1 exposure from both compounds, consider that 7.2 mg of semaglutide is an approved dose with full clinical safety data. The roughly equivalent tirzepatide dose would be in the 50-plus mg range. Trials are already testing tirzepatide at 20 mg, 25 mg, and possibly 30 mg without apparent safety halts. So combining the two and worrying about GLP-1 load may not be the issue some assume.