Forum users share personal accounts of zero or minimal weight loss on these medications even at higher doses, while others cite trial data indicating roughly one in ten participants qualify as non-responders. Discussion covers differences between trial populations and the general public, dosing schedules, and switches between compounds. Several note that non-response may stem from individual biology or mental factors rather than the drug itself.
What this discussion establisheswhether New York Times reporting accurately translates trial statistics to the broader population or oversimplifies them
Still openprecise biological or behavioral reasons certain individuals never respond
Nothing here is advice.
An article suggests one in ten people show no response at all to these GLP-1 drugs. Has anyone come across someone who truly got zero effect?
The link is asking me to make an account before I can read anything. Got another way to see it?
It opened fine without any subscription on my end. Here is the same link again.
Still blocked for me. I am sure you are not getting all your reading from that one paper anyway.
It loaded okay here. Maybe an ad blocker or VPN is getting in the way for you.
The actual study only called one in ten of the enrolled trial participants non-responders, and even then it meant weaker response rather than none. That is not the same as claiming one in ten people overall will be non-responders. Trial volunteers already had to meet strict criteria, so they probably were not typical of everyone trying to lose weight.
The link would not load for me either. I already expect the piece to say that a portion of users feel little effect and keep eating through it. Different people overeat for different reasons, so maybe the current drugs only hit the pathways that work for most but not all.
I run a VPN, ad blocker, and everything else you can think of. Even my email is set up to stay hidden.
Looking at the retatrutide phase-two plots, the low-dose group still had quite a few people near the zero line after nearly a year, while the highest dose group showed almost everyone losing a meaningful amount. News articles on science topics like this one tend to oversimplify, so I would not rely on them for accurate details.
Retatrutide did nothing for me even at 10 mg. Tirzepatide was the same. Adding another compound on top still left me with no hunger control. Melanotan II, though, cut my appetite right away.
That paper is mainly after your subscription money.
Those plots are useful. On the low dose, roughly twenty percent still dropped fifteen percent or more, and a few got close to thirty percent. Even at the top dose the weakest responders lost around five percent, while many reached the high twenties. Results might look even better after more time.
One year at the lowest retatrutide dose still gave an average nine percent loss, which beats other GLP-1s at similar levels. That could make it a reasonable choice for people who are only mildly overweight, and side effects stay mild at that amount.
Here is another plot that might be worth a look.
I began at 2 mg and went up to 7.5 mg before side effects made me stop, yet I still lost nothing. I had ramped faster than the studies recommend. After a break I restarted at 2 mg and am now following the published schedule exactly. Three weeks in I am actually a couple pounds higher. I will run bloodwork after eight weeks total. Other compounds I take might offset some side effects even if weight does not move.
Are you on tirzepatide or the other one?
Keep us posted on how that combination works out. I have some of the same item arriving soon.
Plenty of my patients never respond to the semaglutide we use most often here. I had the same experience myself.
The article itself starts with someone who lost almost nothing after fifteen months. I have been a low responder too. Diarrhea hit at around 5 mg so I dropped to 2 mg split twice weekly and have been inching back up slowly. No weight came off for five months until an illness combined with the medication finally produced a small drop.
Someone claimed last year they needed 15 mg of tirzepatide before anything happened. When I asked how they mixed the vial they never answered. Variation is normal, so a few people will respond very little while others respond strongly. Starting low and slow is the safest approach since no one can predict their own outcome.
I said lazy reporting, not lazy science. The point was simply that one in ten trial participants is not the same as one in ten people in general. That distinction matters and the headline blurred it. I am not questioning the study itself, only how the finding was presented.
Sometimes the industry itself is the one doing the sloppy reporting, as shown by recent FDA warnings about missing safety data.
I checked the enrollment rules for one major trial and they were stricter than I recalled, mainly to keep participants healthy and avoid confounding conditions. That helps the results stay valid, but it still leaves open how well they apply to everyone outside those criteria.
I agree the reporting often frames things narrowly, yet the core statistical point stands. Companies have clear incentives to shape trial groups in ways that improve apparent outcomes.
So that would still be a ninety percent success rate, which sounds fairly good.
A bit late, but here is a saved copy of the article.
That compound is noted for reducing appetite through a specific receptor tied to energy balance. Interesting connection.
Thanks for the reply. The tables showed an average age around forty-eight with a spread that included younger adults, and BMI values that were not all extremely high. My earlier comment was only about the wording that turned a trial statistic into a claim about people in general.
The average age was about forty-eight with a standard deviation that put most participants between roughly twenty-three and seventy-four. BMI spread was similar. The headline still used the broad word people instead of patients or participants, which is the part I keep coming back to.
Same here with semaglutide. I actually gained weight on it. Dosing equipment can also be off, which might explain some disappointing results.
That cleared up several things for me. Appreciate it.
The studies I have read were run carefully, and the lead investigator has strong statistical training. Using patients instead of people in the headline would have avoided the overgeneralization.
I am glad the explanation helped. I come here to pick up details from people who have dug into the data.
I wanted to say sorry. I misread what you wrote last week and you were right.
No problem. Turns out I was off on a couple of details too, as others pointed out. Group hug?
I am moving from tirzepatide split dosing over to retatrutide. Appetite control dropped noticeably mid-week after the first swap, so I am increasing the new dose gradually. No negative effects so far. Anyone else made this switch and how did it go?
Side effects at higher doses are the real limit for me, and retatrutide brings its own. People switching often push the new dose too fast or drop the old one too soon. Since you have had no issues yet, you are probably on a good path.
These drugs never helped me drop weight. Keto alone worked faster and felt easier. What the medications did do was make gaining harder. I still hit long stalls no matter what I eat, and the only way I seem to lose anything is by cycling carbs on and off, which brings its own problems with hunger and sleep.
I think part of it is mental readiness. Some people are not in the right headspace yet to make the changes stick.
Results from mixing keto with these drugs seem mixed. Did you try keto again after your body had more time to adjust to the medication?
One person I know got almost no effect from tirzepatide up to 10 mg and felt no hunger reduction. After switching to a low dose of retatrutide she now stops eating halfway through a meal because she feels full.
Sorry to hear that. Have you checked thyroid levels or other labs to rule out other issues?
My husband had zero reaction to semaglutide, even at 1 mg. He only felt tired and lost nothing.
I know someone who got nothing from semaglutide but later responded to tirzepatide.
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