Long Haul Reta users - 1-2+ years

[TriDiddy]

Thanks for the tip! I assume this only works for men?

At 22 u shouldn't be having libido issues. I would recommend you go see your Dr and get your hormones checked. There are benefits of small dose daily use Tadalafil (Cialis) for women, but I'm not sure this would be the solution for you.

 

[Skidude]

I've been on reta for 1,5 years now. I am at my goal weight, so I do a maintenance dose once a week (2mg). I used to do 5mg split into two doses each week.

The only side effect i'm struggling with is the loss of libido/sexual desire. I tried to fully quit for a few weeks, and I noticed my libido increased slightly (but still not at the level it was before). Unfortunately the food noise came back as well, so I went back to reta on a maintenance dose. I'm now going to try kisspeptin, to hopefully help with this issue.

Was this just recent? If so it may be worth looking into testing hormones etc..

Some peps like pt-141 or oxytocin anecdotally have helped women.

Reta is often known for:

Dampening your ability to desire alcohol, drugs, perhaps sex as well.

A good rabbit hole to look into (Reta would also apply here):

Anhedonia (loss of pleasure) and depressed libido from GLP-1 medications like Ozempic or Mounjaro stem from overlapping brain circuits. These drugs modulate dopamine and serotonin pathways in reward centers, which suppress food cravings but can also dampen motivation, general joy, and sexual desire. Severe calorie restriction and rapid hormonal shifts also contribute. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]

Why It Happens

Reward Circuit Overlap: The brain areas managing food rewards also control pleasure and sexual drive.

Dopamine Modulation: Lower dopamine signaling reduces the urge for hedonistic activities, including sex.

Physical Depletion: Extreme low-calorie intake causes fatigue, stress, and drops in vital hormones like testosterone. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]

What You Can Do

Talk to your doctor: Discuss adjusting or lowering your dose, as anhedonia often links to higher maintenance levels.

Check your nutrition: Ensure you eat enough calories, protein, and healthy fats to support natural hormone production.

Review other factors:

 

[BNLFL]

I’m 22

Well, that takes my theory out.

Was this just recent? If so it may be worth looking into testing hormones etc..

Some peps like pt-141 or oxytocin anecdotally have helped women.

Reta is often known for:

Dampening your ability to desire alcohol, drugs, perhaps sex as well.

A good rabbit hole to look into (Reta would also apply here):

Yeah, as a female that age (I assume) you should be a rabbit.

 

[SVT810E]

2. There must be a lot of people who quit taking glps, as once you lost the wieght, dr can no longer prescribe them.

Huh? Of course they can. Long-term maintenance is an indication for these drugs. They get prescribed for this all the time. If your doctor is trying to cut you off a drug that is helping you stay healthy tell him/her to get fucked and find a competent doctor.

As for your question, I’ll have been on reta for two years in September. Never been healthier and never felt better. Just cruising on 12mg. There are people still on it who were already in maintenance when I started.

 

[Shittersfull]

Huh? Of course they can. Long-term maintenance is an indication for these drugs. They get prescribed for this all the time. If your doctor is trying to cut you off a drug that is helping you stay healthy tell him/her to get fucked and find a competent doctor.

As for your question, I’ll have been on reta for two years in September. Never been healthier and never felt better. Just cruising on 12mg. There are people still on it who were already in maintenance when I started.

Interesting, my dr told me she could only prescribe them until I was at a healthy wieght. That was about a year ago. I never took the script. I didn't know anything about glp's back them. A few months later, a friend told me about reta, been grey since day one.

Thank you for shareing.

 

[Omxxl]

I've been on reta for 1,5 years now. I am at my goal weight, so I do a maintenance dose once a week (2mg). I used to do 5mg split into two doses each week.

The only side effect i'm struggling with is the loss of libido/sexual desire. I tried to fully quit for a few weeks, and I noticed my libido increased slightly (but still not at the level it was before). Unfortunately the food noise came back as well, so I went back to reta on a maintenance dose. I'm now going to try kisspeptin, to hopefully help with this issue.

So if you've been on reta for a few months and your sex drive has basically disappeared, you're honestly not alone,It happened to me. it's way more common than people admit and nobody really talks about it. There's usually a few things stacking up at once. Your body just isn't that into sex when it's running on a sustained calorie deficit, especially if you're cutting fast, and on top of that the nausea and general GI weirdness these drugs cause doesn't exactly put you in the mood either. The bigger issue for a lot of people is hormonal though, losing fat quickly can mess with your estrogen and testosterone since fat tissue actually produces hormones, so dropping it fast can tank your levels more than you'd expect. Add in low iron, B12 or zinc which are all super common when you're cutting hard, plus the general fatigue, stress and mood stuff that comes with the meds, and it's a lot working against you at once.

What's actually helped people (and me) is getting real bloodwork done instead of guessing, ask for estradiol, total and free testosterone, SHBG, prolactin, thyroid panel, ferritin, vitamin D and B12, that'll tell you way more than any supplement will. If you're losing weight really aggressively it might genuinely be worth slowing the cut down a bit, and don't skimp on fat in your diet either since it's literally what your body uses to make sex hormones. Sleep and stress matter more than people give them credit for too, cortisol staying high basically competes with your sex hormone production. Lifting weights instead of just doing cardio also seems to help keep things more balanced hormonally. And honestly just talking to your partner and taking the pressure off helps more than any of this stuff on the physical side.

On supplements, worth mentioning zinc since it's commonly low in people cutting hard and plays a role in testosterone production, vitamin D if you're deficient (which a lot of people are without knowing it), maca root which has some actual research behind it for libido even if the effect is modest, and omega-3s which help more indirectly with hormone production and energy overall. Just get tested before you start supplementing blindly, no point taking zinc if your levels are already fine.

If you're on some kind of medical protocol already, genuinely just bring this up with whoever's supervising it, adjusting the pace of the cut or fixing an actual deficiency usually does more than anything you can buy over the counter.

 

[HARLEYV2]

So if you've been on reta for a few months and your sex drive has basically disappeared, you're honestly not alone,It happened to me. it's way more common than people admit and nobody really talks about it. There's usually a few things stacking up at once. Your body just isn't that into sex when it's running on a sustained calorie deficit, especially if you're cutting fast, and on top of that the nausea and general GI weirdness these drugs cause doesn't exactly put you in the mood either. The bigger issue for a lot of people is hormonal though, losing fat quickly can mess with your estrogen and testosterone since fat tissue actually produces hormones, so dropping it fast can tank your levels more than you'd expect. Add in low iron, B12 or zinc which are all super common when you're cutting hard, plus the general fatigue, stress and mood stuff that comes with the meds, and it's a lot working against you at once.

What's actually helped people (and me) is getting real bloodwork done instead of guessing, ask for estradiol, total and free testosterone, SHBG, prolactin, thyroid panel, ferritin, vitamin D and B12, that'll tell you way more than any supplement will. If you're losing weight really aggressively it might genuinely be worth slowing the cut down a bit, and don't skimp on fat in your diet either since it's literally what your body uses to make sex hormones. Sleep and stress matter more than people give them credit for too, cortisol staying high basically competes with your sex hormone production. Lifting weights instead of just doing cardio also seems to help keep things more balanced hormonally. And honestly just talking to your partner and taking the pressure off helps more than any of this stuff on the physical side.

On supplements, worth mentioning zinc since it's commonly low in people cutting hard and plays a role in testosterone production, vitamin D if you're deficient (which a lot of people are without knowing it), maca root which has some actual research behind it for libido even if the effect is modest, and omega-3s which help more indirectly with hormone production and energy overall. Just get tested before you start supplementing blindly, no point taking zinc if your levels are already fine.

If you're on some kind of medical protocol already, genuinely just bring this up with whoever's supervising it, adjusting the pace of the cut or fixing an actual deficiency usually does more than anything you can buy over the counter.

Simple answer is Dopamine. Glps lower Dopamine. Dopamine is what's responsible for they joys you have in life. Things you used to hold near and dear to the heart no longer matter. Some say Oxytocin will increase Dopamine levels to correct the issue. I find myself looking at my Motorcycle, which I rode weekly before Reta. I haven't got on it for a while . Probably because of the Reta. Oxytocin is pretty cheap I may give it a try myself.

 

[Bep2030]

So if you've been on reta for a few months and your sex drive has basically disappeared, you're honestly not alone,It happened to me. it's way more common than people admit and nobody really talks about it. There's usually a few things stacking up at once. Your body just isn't that into sex when it's running on a sustained calorie deficit, especially if you're cutting fast, and on top of that the nausea and general GI weirdness these drugs cause doesn't exactly put you in the mood either. The bigger issue for a lot of people is hormonal though, losing fat quickly can mess with your estrogen and testosterone since fat tissue actually produces hormones, so dropping it fast can tank your levels more than you'd expect. Add in low iron, B12 or zinc which are all super common when you're cutting hard, plus the general fatigue, stress and mood stuff that comes with the meds, and it's a lot working against you at once.

What's actually helped people (and me) is getting real bloodwork done instead of guessing, ask for estradiol, total and free testosterone, SHBG, prolactin, thyroid panel, ferritin, vitamin D and B12, that'll tell you way more than any supplement will. If you're losing weight really aggressively it might genuinely be worth slowing the cut down a bit, and don't skimp on fat in your diet either since it's literally what your body uses to make sex hormones. Sleep and stress matter more than people give them credit for too, cortisol staying high basically competes with your sex hormone production. Lifting weights instead of just doing cardio also seems to help keep things more balanced hormonally. And honestly just talking to your partner and taking the pressure off helps more than any of this stuff on the physical side.

On supplements, worth mentioning zinc since it's commonly low in people cutting hard and plays a role in testosterone production, vitamin D if you're deficient (which a lot of people are without knowing it), maca root which has some actual research behind it for libido even if the effect is modest, and omega-3s which help more indirectly with hormone production and energy overall. Just get tested before you start supplementing blindly, no point taking zinc if your levels are already fine.

If you're on some kind of medical protocol already, genuinely just bring this up with whoever's supervising it, adjusting the pace of the cut or fixing an actual deficiency usually does more than anything you can buy over the counter.

This is super helpful, thank you!!

 

[LadderCo5]

I've been on reta for 1,5 years now. I am at my goal weight, so I do a maintenance dose once a week (2mg). I used to do 5mg split into two doses each week.

The only side effect i'm struggling with is the loss of libido/sexual desire. I tried to fully quit for a few weeks, and I noticed my libido increased slightly (but still not at the level it was before). Unfortunately the food noise came back as well, so I went back to reta on a maintenance dose. I'm now going to try kisspeptin, to hopefully help with this issue.

I’m glad I saw this post while scrolling!

I’m 35 year old, and I’m going on 2 months on Reta. I hit 4mg and had to bump down back to 2mg to manage the symptoms. I was planning on only doing 1 cycle to see where I’m at but I did also not plan to stay long term on Reta. So far 10 pounds lighter. I am on TRT and had blood work done. Results showed low libido and low iron, doctor said it could be a result of the Reta. I am starting to phase off TRT and will go through a cycle of HCG and Kisspeptin to see if it can help me boost natural testosterone again after losing weight.

 

[DC_143C]

...I am on TRT and had blood work done. Results showed low libido and low iron, doctor said it could be a result of the Reta. I am starting to phase off TRT and will go through a cycle of HCG and Kisspeptin to see if it can help me boost natural testosterone again after losing weight.

Have you considered enclomiphene instead of kisspeptin? I read that kisspeptin can trigger receptor desensitization when I was checking it out. Enclomiphene did exactly what I wanted it to, taking 12.5mg 2x weekly. Brought my total T up roughly 50% from 316 ng/dl to 484 ng/dl after 8 weeks, while my shbg/estradiol stayed perfectly in low-middle of normal ranges almost where they were originally.

Felt subjectively much better all the time. Slept a bit better, mood was incredibly stable and positive or at least content, like I was just at total peace with myself and confident in my place in the world/my direction in life. Felt like I was getting more gains from the gym without changing anything up. Diet was easier to control. Honestly all positives, I had no bad side effects to report, other than mild moodiness during the first couple weeks of taking it, but that faded quickly. I ran out before sourcing more, stupidly, and am just waiting on a new order now. Been off it for a couple weeks, and now it's just proving to me how much of a difference it was making lol.

 

[LadderCo5]

Have you considered enclomiphene instead of kisspeptin? I read that kisspeptin can trigger receptor desensitization when I was checking it out. Enclomiphene did exactly what I wanted it to, taking 12.5mg 2x weekly. Brought my total T up roughly 50% from 316 ng/dl to 484 ng/dl after 8 weeks, while my shbg/estradiol stayed perfectly in low-middle of normal ranges almost where they were originally.

Felt subjectively much better all the time. Slept a bit better, mood was incredibly stable and positive or at least content, like I was just at total peace with myself and confident in my place in the world/my direction in life. Felt like I was getting more gains from the gym without changing anything up. Diet was easier to control. Honestly all positives, I had no bad side effects to report, other than mild moodiness during the first couple weeks of taking it, but that faded quickly. I ran out before sourcing more, stupidly, and am just waiting on a new order now. Been off it for a couple weeks, and now it's just proving to me how much of a difference it was making

Thanks for the tip! I’ll keep that in mind before i return to TRt. I only ordered a supply for one short cycle of kisspeptin and HCG 5000. I’ll get labs done in October and see how it goes. With your results, did it change your hemoglobin?