Reta - To Split or not to Split, That is the Question

[collioureviews]

I've (vaguely) heard both sides of the debate. The trials showed phenomenal results with 1 pin weekly, whereas the ~6-day half-life could lead to diminished efficacy at the tail end, plus a split dose lowers peak serum levels, which blunts side effects.

What I'm hoping to hear is if someone might be able to synthesise these insights? For instance, a 1-week pin is better for individual X or goal A, whereas split dosing is superior for individual Y or goal B. Or perhaps I'm under a grave misapprehension, in which case I'd welcome correction.

 

[lessthanhalf]

There are 2 possible reasons to split doses, one is side effects that happen a day or 2 after a dose and then are not a problem for the rest of the week, so caused by peak blood levels after a dose, so splitting doses will give you smaller more frequent peaks and avoid those side effects. Mainly useful if still needing to lose weight or still hungry despite the dose you are on and would like to be able to increase doses, but would be limited by side effects otherwise.

The other is hunger that is only an issue 5 or 6 days after a dose, where the minimum blood level is not enough to suppress hunger, so split doses give you a higher minimum twice a week, the alternative is just increase the dose instead in this case.

For most people the 6 day half life is not really that noticeable, differences in blood levels from day 5 to 6 are going to be quite small. The huge advantage of once a week is simplicity as it is nearly impossible to stuff up, once you start dosing more often it is much harder to be sure , is it 2 days or 3 since the last dose? So unless you write all the doses down, you will most likely get mixed up at some point. I found I could remember every second day dosing or weekly but anything else in between I ended up messing it up.

 

[collioureviews]

Do you have any recommendations for transitioning from split to once weekly? For instance, increasing the first dose and decreasing the second, up until the full dose is on a single day. Or would that be negligible?

 

[lessthanhalf]

Mainly out of lazyness I never did. I had to use 2nd daily dosing with ozempic to reduce horrible nausea even at low doses so when I swapped to tirz plus later a bit of reta as well I just stayed on 2nd daily dosing out of habit mostly. What you are suggesting with gradually increasing one of the doses and decreasing the other sounds completely sensible, doing it suddenly could definitely be an issue. The other advantage of split dosing is while increasing doses, so that if you get side effects that are unpleasant , generally the smaller individual doses will wear off faster than one bigger weekly dose.

 

[anhydrous]

I have experienced both sides of this coin. I have had phenomenal results with 1 pin weekly even in spite of noticeably increased desire for food on day 5-6-7. Day 1 I've had mixed results. Days 2-3-4 I don't give a shit about food at all and have to make myself eat. Then I feel like as an almost imperceptibly small reward, something akin to finding a $5 bill in your pocket that you forgot about when putting your clothes through the wash, food begins to have some appeal and I start to feel increasingly like eating an actual meal, and then maybe on day 6-7 actually feeling like eating 2 portion controlled but still real meals. Honestly it just feels like it all evens itself out.

 

[cat_walk]

Hi. Sharing experience here.

I initially started split dosing while on tirze trying to lose weight. Initially I was pinning weekly on Mondays at 2.5mg. As I started noticing food noise getting back by the tail end, I decided to add a small dose on Friday for the weekend at 1.25mg.

I then moved to reta and implemented a 2x equal dose on Mondays and Thursdays.

For me the benefit is knowing there are less peaks and troughs hence a more stable concentration in the blood.

I am now on maintenance with reta at 1mg x 2 times a week. Weight stable, sugar levels are optimal, no sides. Life is good.

 

[woundcarping]

Point of clarification, 2x weekly dosing isn’t hard to keep track of, I pin Monday evening and Friday morning in theory. 3.5 days between pins, ezpz.

There’s no extra magic either way, do either and if you want to change there’s nothing stopping you.

 

[Sarsippius]

I was stalled split dosing 12mg of reta. Changed to once a week and started loosing again.

 

[Beardboost]

Pin every 6 days has been the sweet spot for me, all depends on what your body is telling you, only you can answer that

 

[collioureviews]

I reckon, based on all I've heard, I'll move to a single dose. Thanks for your perspectives/insights, all.

 

[sheilarae74]

I seem to get slightly better appetite suppression when I pin reta every 6 days. I have yet to try splitting the dosage.

 

[Rolltide61]

I reckon, based on all I've heard, I'll move to a single dose. Thanks for your perspectives/insights, all.

There you go. And if it doesn't work well try 2x a week.

Notice how it works differently w/ each rat on here?

Wild ain't it?

 

[Cannonball72]

I've (vaguely) heard both sides of the debate. The trials showed phenomenal results with 1 pin weekly, whereas the ~6-day half-life could lead to diminished efficacy at the tail end, plus a split dose lowers peak serum levels, which blunts side effects.

What I'm hoping to hear is if someone might be able to synthesise these insights? For instance, a 1-week pin is better for individual X or goal A, whereas split dosing is superior for individual Y or goal B. Or perhaps I'm under a grave misapprehension, in which case I'd welcome correction.

Are you on any other peps/pins that you split? If so, it’s easy to match that schedule.

This is what I did, my schedule was already in place.

My rationale is simply about minimizing peaks and troughs.

 

[woundcarping]

I was stalled split dosing 12mg of reta. Changed to once a week and started loosing again.

I don’t understand how that would break the stall.

 

[DragonOfTheSea]

I don’t understand how that would break the stall.

Technically the peak on a single 12mg dose would be higher than the peak of a 6mg dose stacked 3.5days after another 6mg dose. Perhaps that increase in peak triggered signalling.

I’m a split-doser myself, as I’m actively trying to keep my allodynia in check, but I don’t find any difficulty in remembering dosing days or times. I also appreciate the consistent suppression and don’t see myself going to single dose until my circumstances change.

 

[Waterheater]

Getting some hunger back at day 5,6,7 is a feature imo. But this is highly individually and your starting weight probably is the biggest factor.

 

[Rickcaps]

Hi. Sharing experience here.

I initially started split dosing while on tirze trying to lose weight. Initially I was pinning weekly on Mondays at 2.5mg. As I started noticing food noise getting back by the tail end, I decided to add a small dose on Friday for the weekend at 1.25mg.

I then moved to reta and implemented a 2x equal dose on Mondays and Thursdays.

For me the benefit is knowing there are less peaks and troughs hence a more stable concentration in the blood.

I am now on maintenance with reta at 1mg x 2 times a week. Weight stable, sugar levels are optimal, no sides. Life is good.

Can you please share the dose strengths you used, wright loss achieved and the total time period?

Also did you use anything else other than R?

 

[Omxxl]

He notado que con 2,5 mg experimento supresión apetito durante 4 días, pero el resto del tiempo tengo bastante hambre. Estoy pensando en empezar a dividir la dosis en dos inyecciones de 1,5 mg.

 

[cat_walk]

Can you please share the dose strengths you used, wright loss achieved and the total time period?

Also did you use anything else other than R?

I lost around 24% of weight in 6 months. Initially with tirze (low dose of 3.75mg/week), then reta after 3 months. I started reta at 2x2mg/week. Now at 2x1mg/week for maintenance only. In the last 2 months I am also using Klow and Nad+, both daily.