Of the big 3......

[pokenmoms]

I previously used compounded semaglutide and had some success, but the side effects were enough of an issue that I did not want to continue taking it. I recently started taking reta. I noticed an immediate reduction in appetite on week one with .5 mg. It started to trail off by day 5 or 6. I slowly ramped up to 2 mg, and the appetite suppression is lasting all week, but some days it is challenging to eat enough to get protein goals with squeezing a protein shake in somewhere.

I was a boredom snacker, a watch a movie before bed with some ice cream snacker, a run upstairs and grab a coke and some chips snacker in the middle of work snacker, and the idea of snacking right now doesn't even sound appealing.

When I started the reta, I stopped buying those things because I just did want the temptation to be there, so that helps some too, but now eating has become more about trying to eat enough to get a good amount of protein and fat and less about grazing all day. I may have had similar results had I stuck with the Sema, but I had noticeable negative effects on sema and only one small side effect so far on Reta that is more of an inconvenience than a problem.

 

[Minkster]

I thought about food all the time. If I started a bag of chips I couldn't stop. Taking Reta I have zero interest in food. I struggle to want to make dinner for the hubs. Nothing sounds good. Now if I start to eat something really tasty I could def eat it but I just don't keep it in the house. I'm just focusing on getting my protein in. And it completely turned me off of any alcohol, which I miss a little.

 

[Jerrey]

Well, I have been actively trying to lose weight for the past year. February 2025 I weighed in at 429.5 at a doctor's visit and he had a sit down with me to discuss everything I already knew but was too lazy, stubborn, weak to do anything about. Dieting was always a rollercoaster on the scales and I inevitably always gained more back that I started with. From February to early July I was counting calories and choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator, parking in the back of lot, etc to try and reduce the burden. I was able to lose about 20ish pounds in that 20 weeks, doctor preached slow and steady. Well, I wasn't satisfied, went down the glp1 rabbit hole and ended up here.

I joined in July, created my 'about me' in August, and started Reta in September. I started at 2mg and am now up to 8mg and doing pretty good. Yesterday, my weight was 357.7 so that's 50ish pounds in 5 months with very little exercise added in and admittedly bad tracking of total calories. I am more focused on consuming proteins since I just don't feel like eating half the time or we go out to eat and I can only eat a third of the meal.

Interesting, my scale thinks I have added 7.2lb of muscle mass. Which obviously isn't going to be accurate.

LOL, in my case I never went to a Dr to get the lecture I have a family member who is an RN that has been berating me for years that I needed to slim down. Even on the occasions were I actually tried I made 0 progress. I had a friend who got put on Ozempic for diabetic treatment as expected shr lost a ton of weight. Without insurance that would pick up the tab that was a lost cause. Then low and behold South Park did a special "The End of Obesity" and I started doing some online snooping. A few months later and weights way down spirits are up for the first time in many years I have started to enjoy life again!

 

[latviantower]

And it completely turned me off of any alcohol, which I miss a little.

As a recovering alcoholic 3+ years into sobriety, tirz totally killed what residual cravings for booze that I still had. Dr had me on max dose Naltrexone for a year - tirz did a better job and enabled me to shed 100 lbs as well. Win win win.

 

[kroert99]

I'm a super slow responder in general. With following diet and working out, it still took me 18 months to reach 150 pounds from 190-195. I've been plateaued at 150 for a year now.

But I started on sema and stalled so I changed to Tirz and lost the rest of it. When I was sick of the plateau, I tried Reta but gives me diarrhea once I get to 4mg. I tried dosing 2mg every few days and still my body couldn't handle it. I'm now on Tirz 8 mg a week as maintenace as my body seems happy being 150ish. I'm more interested in gaining muscle vs the number on the scale anyway. I was borderline prediabetic so that's why I stay on Tirz.

 

[Zydeceltico]

As a recovering alcoholic 3+ years into sobriety, tirz totally killed what residual cravings for booze that I still had. Dr had me on max dose Naltrexone for a year - tirz did a better job and enabled me to shed 100 lbs as well. Win win win.

Same. Congrats on 3. I'm almost to 2 myself. One day at a time brother.

 

[Slogger]

As a recovering alcoholic 3+ years into sobriety, tirz totally killed what residual cravings for booze that I still had. Dr had me on max dose Naltrexone for a year - tirz did a better job and enabled me to shed 100 lbs as well. Win win win.

To those that found tirz killed their appetite for alcohol, what is your dose? I have not found this for me (wine drinker) aside from the first month or so. I’m now at 5mg every 6 days.

 

[Sasquatch]

To those that found tirz killed their appetite for alcohol, what is your dose? I have not found this for me (wine drinker) aside from the first month or so. I’m now at 5mg every 6 days.

From 10mg on up, @ 15mg now. Strangely, Wine is the only thing that doesn't make me nauseous. I used to be a big tanquerea gin drinker. I don't know much about the crave. I never did have much of a crave. Just knowing how sick it'll make me is enough.

 

[Slogger]

From 10mg on up, @ 15mg now. Strangely, Wine is the only thing that doesn't make me nauseous. I used to be a big tanquerea gin drinker. I don't know much about the crave. I never did have much of a crave. Just knowing how sick it'll make me is enough.

Thanks! I don’t typically do a lot of hard alcohol but every two months or so enjoy a vodka martini. I guess it all comes down to awareness and moderation for me.

 

[DjJoshua]

Well, I have been actively trying to lose weight for the past year. February 2025 I weighed in at 429.5 at a doctor's visit and he had a sit down with me to discuss everything I already knew but was too lazy, stubborn, weak to do anything about. Dieting was always a rollercoaster on the scales and I inevitably always gained more back that I started with. From February to early July I was counting calories and choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator, parking in the back of lot, etc to try and reduce the burden. I was able to lose about 20ish pounds in that 20 weeks, doctor preached slow and steady. Well, I wasn't satisfied, went down the glp1 rabbit hole and ended up here.

I joined in July, created my 'about me' in August, and started Reta in September. I started at 2mg and am now up to 8mg and doing pretty good. Yesterday, my weight was 357.7 so that's 50ish pounds in 5 months with very little exercise added in and admittedly bad tracking of total calories. I am more focused on consuming proteins since I just don't feel like eating half the time or we go out to eat and I can only eat a third of the meal.

Interesting, my scale thinks I have added 7.2lb of muscle mass. Which obviously isn't going to be accurate.

In the background of the diet and the medicine/peptides the choice to take the stairs instead of the elevator, parking in the back of lot, etc Is a AMAZING thing to keep doing, I also added cutting all surge drinks etc. Keep up the good work you will get there.

 

[Zydeceltico]

Thanks! I don’t typically do a lot of hard alcohol but every two months or so enjoy a vodka martini. I guess it all comes down to awareness and moderation for me.

In my experience, it IS all about "the crave" not so much about alcohol.......alcohol just happens to fall in line with al of the other craves that the tirz helps me mitigate. Basically, tirz has curbed my crave for excess of most anything that I could put in my mouth.

In other words, if you only have a martini every month or two or even once a week (why would you want to give that up?), that is not the crave and tirz will likely have no effect on your having that glass or not.

ymmv

 

[Slogger]

In my experience, it IS all about "the crave" not so much about alcohol.......alcohol just happens to fall in line with al of the other craves that the tirz helps me mitigate. Basically, tirz has curbed my crave for excess of most anything that I could put in my mouth.

In other words, if you only have a martini every month or two or even once a week (why would you want to give that up?), that is not the crave and tirz will likely have no effect on your having that glass or not.

ymmv

I do appreciate your comments, thank you, and I don’t have an issue with the martini every once in a while. It’s more that I’m a wine drinker (see previous post) and I’d like to not crave and drink wine every single night.

 

[latviantower]

To those that found tirz killed their appetite for alcohol, what is your dose? I have not found this for me (wine drinker) aside from the first month or so. I’m now at 5mg every 6 days.

15 mg every six days

 

[HereKittyKitty]

Same. Congrats on 3. I'm almost to 2 myself. One day at a time brother.

As a recovering alcoholic 3+ years into sobriety, tirz totally killed what residual cravings for booze that I still had.

Congrats to you both! 39yrs and counting. LOL

 

[lessthanhalf]

Ok. So i want experiences.

I have tried sema. Lost 46lbs. Have stalled. Not sure if i want to add cagri or just go to Tirz. Even reta.

I would love to all yout experiences with the 3. I've hears reta is the best, but tirz is the best at appetite suppression. I feel thats what I need since im a bored snacker. So how is reta better? Hell, I even snack when im full!

Not sure the route to take

Suggestions?

I would prefer to know how overweight you are, if you are 200lbs overweight still, it is a different issue than if you only wanted to lose another 20lbs or so. Age and how long you have been overweight are relevant as well as previous attempts to lose weight.

Obviously, especially if you are older or have other medical issues, getting a medical checkup and ideally advice on treatment would be a good idea.

The dose of sema and what side effects you had from it are relevant too. If semaglutide has been working and you are not at maximum dose of 2.4mg/week and have zero side effects then just up the dose.

Otherwise switching to reta or tirz would be fine, tiz probably has the least side effects, reta is a bit more effective and would be the best choice if you had a lot of weight you wanted to lose.

My view is that cagrilintide is best reserved for if standard maximum doses of tiz or reta have stopped causing any further weight loss, when it could be added in at low doses and very gradually increased , it is not light on side effects generally which why the low slow dose would be a good idea.

If you have been on 2.4 of sema you could go straight to 7.5 or 10 of tirzepatide, most likely you would have less side effects, but there is always a chance of worse than expected effects. For reta you could go straight to 4 or maybe 6mg, most side effects would be less but increased heart rate might be an issue jumping in at a higher dose.

In the long term weight control is going to be a problem if you snack on high calorie foods, (high fat/sugar/carbs) there really is no limit to how many calories you can get in per day eating those types of foods in that pattern, and asking appetite reduction medications to fix that on their own is maybe asking too much of them. There are very few good snack foods for losing weight, high protein and not much else is excellent like beef jerky, eggs, high protein low fat no added sugar yoghurt, or just low calorific density foods are good like fruit , a lot of fruits are about 50 kcal/100 grams or less so you can eat a very large amount and snack on them all day long and not end up eating that many calories, if you eat 2kg of fruit it is 1000 calories, but you are going to find it hard to eat that much and if you do you are unlikely to be hungry enough to eat much else that day. And if you eat 1000 kcal/day you are going to lose weight. In my opinion eating only low calorific density foods, less than 1.5kcal/gram is the easiest way to reduce calories in without too much hunger as you can eat as much as you want without too many calories - very lean meat, low fat, fruit, vegetables, low fat dairy not much else.

 

[HereKittyKitty]

When I moved - begrudgingly - from Sema to Tirz I started T at lowest dose. After 6 weeks, I am dosing 5mg T. Loss rate is 1#/w and I am ok with that rate. I am 15# from goal and 20'ish# from my stretch goal. Is it realistic to weigh now what I weighed 19y ago? Not sure but may give it a go.

I stacked 0.2mg Cagri with Sema. No issues but also no movement on the scale. I've always - since puberty - had gut issues so the side effects have not made a dent in my willingness to continue (branded or grey).

From the period in my life when I was obese to once again being HWP, it's been a process and a helluvan education. I have to agree with @lessthanhalf, where we start and where we are in our process matters. 15# from goal, I am not going to lose at the same rate as someone morbidly obese (as I once was) just getting started. Doesn't mean all pep options work the same on everyone. Medicine is not perfect science. We're each different one to the next despite being made of the same cellular matter.

To all who walk this path, do your research, read and read some more, ask questions, find what works for you that doesn't put you in danger or compromise your good health.

 

[Adavis3053]

Well, I have been actively trying to lose weight for the past year. February 2025 I weighed in at 429.5 at a doctor's visit and he had a sit down with me to discuss everything I already knew but was too lazy, stubborn, weak to do anything about. Dieting was always a rollercoaster on the scales and I inevitably always gained more back that I started with. From February to early July I was counting calories and choosing to take the stairs instead of the elevator, parking in the back of lot, etc to try and reduce the burden. I was able to lose about 20ish pounds in that 20 weeks, doctor preached slow and steady. Well, I wasn't satisfied, went down the glp1 rabbit hole and ended up here.

I joined in July, created my 'about me' in August, and started Reta in September. I started at 2mg and am now up to 8mg and doing pretty good. Yesterday, my weight was 357.7 so that's 50ish pounds in 5 months with very little exercise added in and admittedly bad tracking of total calories. I am more focused on consuming proteins since I just don't feel like eating half the time or we go out to eat and I can only eat a third of the meal.

Interesting, my scale thinks I have added 7.2lb of muscle mass. Which obviously isn't going to be accurate.

50lbs in 5 months with Reta? Wow that is crazy! Any side effects? Great story-thanks for that!

 

[Grogu]

Equally for me.

But when i stack just 0.1mg of Sema with my 5mg of Triz, the apetite supression was perfect.

This stack works great for me too, although my doses are higher than yours.

 

[MakeNoPeaceWithEvil]

I thought about food all the time. If I started a bag of chips I couldn't stop. Taking Reta I have zero interest in food. I struggle to want to make dinner for the hubs. Nothing sounds good. Now if I start to eat something really tasty I could def eat it but I just don't keep it in the house. I'm just focusing on getting my protein in. And it completely turned me off of any alcohol, which I miss a little.

It has curbed my drinking a good bit but I can still enjoy a night time whiskey before bed. I kind of wish it had a better effect on my booze, I know no booze would be greatly beneficial. Maybe when I get my dose above 3.5 it will kick in.

 

[MFGamesta]

I won't underestimate the power of retatrutide. I reached me goal and switched to retatrutide. My appetite went up but I kept losing weight on maintenance dose. Burns the fat off for me regardless of appetite.