我的Reta故事开始了！

[anhydrous]

Thanks! I'd love to hear how long you stayed at 1 mg and if/when you titrated up, as well as any sides you experienced. That's awesome that you're down 20 pounds already!

I moved to 2mg on week 2. I was concerned about an allergic reaction and when all went well I decided that I might as well move to 2mg. At 2mg I got this horrible sunburned feeling on my arms and legs. It is the only side effect that made me consider quitting as it makes wearing clothes very annoying but I decided to stick with it and back down to 1.5mg for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks at 1.5mg I acclimated enough to decide to go back to 2mg for 2 more weeks. I stayed at 3mg for 5 weeks and this is my first week at 4mg. The sunburn feeling is present at 4mg but its not quite as terrible like it was at 2mg. I've had a little bit of all of the common side effects other than vomiting, thank god. Unusual burping for the first few days post shot, semi regular nausea, 1 disastrous bout of diarrhea and a little bit of constipation.

 

[ivelweyz]

Thanks! Full 21-28 day fasts?? Surely you could easily do 23/1 then. Longest I ever did was a few 72 hour fasts, but phewwww those were ROUGH. Nothing but water & black coffee. Did it for the autophagy benefits, but those definitely took all of my determination.

The issue for me was consuming ~2k calories in a sitting and developing long term eating habits that I didn't like and still haven't recovered from.

1st 72hrs are always rough for me so not surprised you didn't enjoy it. It gets much easier but it's not something I'd suggest others do.

 

[Oldnotout]

Day 2 Observations

Yesterday, about an hour after injecting I did feel a slight headache, but I figure that's probably from the needle-phobia-anxiety from earlier and probably not the Reta itself.

Felt decent all day and evening, had a few seconds of "dizzy-headedness" and very mild nausea here and there but only for a couple seconds. I did notice I was thirstier than usual, and I am again today, so I've been drinking more than usual water, which is a win regardless.

Slept fine and woke up feeling fine. No issues, feeling great!

I had been doing intermittent fasting (23/1) so it's not unexpected that I'm not very hungry during the morning/aft, but 4/5 pm onward will be more telling as that's generally when the appetite kicks IN. I did make myself have a little protein and fibre so far, as I'm wanting to phase away from intermittent fasting (that was only ever a mechanism to control my overall consumption).

I'm using that app - "MeAgain" to track my dosing. It shows medication level as 0.81 mg currently.

And I have a home blood pressure cuff that I've been using the past 3 weeks so that I can see any change to heart rate/blood pressure. My normal is about 110/63 and 57 pulse. We'll see if that changes going forward.

Loved your initial post. For me I felt side effects before I really felt the impact of Reta. If I recall it wasn’t until my second dose.

 

[dailychemicals]

DISCLAIMER: This may not be of any interest to the more experienced on this site, but as a "newbie", I found this type of posting both informative and reassuring to read.

Today, I took my very first shot of Reta! It's also my very first GLP-1 ever. I'm feeling proud as punch. My goodness, there are a LOT of steps to even get to this point, but so very satisfying to finally be in this next phase of the experience. Which I could not have done without the expertise and generous sharing of information on this site, so a big thank you to all here.

Backstory - struggled with weight all my adult life, gained and lost the same pounds for years. 101 different diets. All worked for a bit, but weren't sustainable long-term. I have been interested in a GLP1 since I first heard of them a number of years ago, but I don't have diabetes and while "fluffy", not quite fluffy enough that my doctor will prescribe me one. SIGH. I hemmed and hawed about paying out-of-pocket, but my God, so expensive!

One fortuitus day, on Reddit (I know) I heard murmurings of a way to acquire a GLP1 and NOT pay $400 a month... I was instantly fascinated. Reddit though, such chaos. From there I thankfully found my way here quite quickly and to a few other "beginner friendly" resources. Spent weeks reading, reading, searching, reading. My initial thoughts were: "this is absolute insanity, no way in hellll am I buying suspect white powder from another country, sneaking it through customs, and then trying to mix it up MYSELF and INJECTING it into myself!" What in the ever-loving F? I've come a long way since then.. emboldened by reading the many experiences of others, and the realization that these are just normal folks, they're not exclusively chemists or roid-rage-gym-bros. They're everyday people. My bad for assuming.

I spent some time learning the reconstitution process and while very daunting initially, it's not actually that complex. You can't be a moron about it of course, but if you have a functioning brain, you can certainly do it. Then researching dosing, safe sources, testing, supplies needed etc. And when I finally thought I was ready to place an order.. omg crypto?? I have to fucking pay in crypto?? I don't know anything about crypto and my brain is TIRED y'all. Anyway after a little flailing hissy fit, I got over myself and got back to learning. Crypto payments too, seem very very confusing initially - exchanges, wallets, addresses, stablecoins, networks WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THINGS HOLY?!! SOMEONE HELP MEEEE. And the kind people on the internet, they did help me. With simple user guides and helpful pointers. Can we talk about how terrifying that first purchase is though? Did I just send hundreds of dollars into the abyss? Do I just wait for 3 weeks now in silence and hope a parcel shows up at my door instead of the customs officers coming to arrest me?

Well last night a parcel DID show up at my door, without any fanfare at all. No doorbell buzzer, no email, no phone call. Just silently there on my front step. In keeping with this whole secret-and-clandestine affair I suppose. It was all I could do to wait until today to take my first dose.

This morning I re-watched my favourite reconstitution videos, quadruple checked my calculations, and began. They said to inject the Hospira BAC water slowly and to the side of the powder, but zoooom! it was sucked right out of the syringe instantly... well.... okay I guess. Small fail on my part there. Everything mixed up perfectly clear. Now, the moment of truth. Did I mention I have a needle phobia? Yeah. Had to take some deep breaths, and broke out in a little sweat on my upper lip lol. I was so nervous. But I jaw-clenched my way through it and now I am SO PLEASED.

Today I am going to celebrate with some nice treat. It's the starting point of what I'm hoping will be the pathway to the best shape of my life.

I am starting with 1 mg Reta for 4 weeks and then will assess. If losing, will stay there, if not really losing, will increase to 1.5 or 2 mg.

5'7 female

Highest weight: 221

Current weight: 175

(Recently lost those 46 through intermittent fasting & a year of loss/grief)

1st Goal weight: 160

2nd Goal weight: 140

I had been doing 23/1 intermittent fasting, but I may now switch to more frequent but small meals, if I'm not struggling with hunger every waking hour of the day.

I incorporated high-intensity sports 3 x a week about 2 months ago, and will be adding in some weight-lifting on a couple days as I enjoy that more than cardio anyway. Always get min 10,000 steps anyway.

I am hypothyroid and will consult with my doctor in a month or so regarding any needed medication adjustments.

I bought a smart-scale so I can watch that I don't lose too much muscle mass as I go.

Very very grateful for everyone that has shared knowledge, information, stories, encouragement along the way, and cannot wait to see how the future unfolds with Reta!

PS. One thing that took me aback each time was the sizes of the various items. For some reason I pictured Hospira BAC much larger bottles, and even more so for the Reta vials. WAY smaller than I'd imagined lol, THESE ARE FOR ANTS!! Also the way volumes of liquid look in different sized syringes and vials, very unexpected for me. Ten units is going to be half this vial, how can this possibly be 10 doses in here (then I extract it and it's like "oh.... okay, that's fine then")

You will definitely make it

 

[Winnifer]

@PineCone99 hows your first week going?

 

[PineCone99]

Week 2 - here we go!

Current weight: 172 (down 3 pounds from last week woo hoo!) I thought I'd lose less honestly, as I've been losing via intermittent fasting for months leading up to starting Reta, so I knew I was well past that "initial water weight loss week" AND I'd been eating throughout the day instead of fasting, but hey, I'm happily surprised with the 3 pounds!

Blood Pressure: 110/64, pulse 61 (that's normal for me, no change so far)

Took my second dose this morning - 1 mg again. Injected on the other side of the stomach. No need to increase dose.

I see now the value in labelling , lol. After all the concentration and stress of last week, this week I took my clear vial from the fridge and thought... I put 1 mL of BAC in here, right? RIGHT ? I did, but I should have written it down so I didn't have to second-guess myself this morning.

Also, the visual amount in the syringe (10 units) still looks freakishly big to me, compared to what is in the vial itself. It gives me pause each time, but I guess I'll get used to it.

I did have a brief argument with my brain (needle phobia) as I went to inject, but no sweating upper lip this time haha, progress! I'm kind of a bully to myself when I need a kick in the ass: "OK DO YOU WANT TO BE A FATASS??! NO?? OKAY THEN, QUIT YOUR PANSYING AROUND AND GET ON WITH IT YOU GIANT BABY!" Lol I am not from the "kind self-talk" era, but I could certainly learn a thing or two. I'm going to work my way through this epic stash of insulin needles (why tf did I buy so many!?) and then take the advice everyone gave re: pens.

No noticeable sides at all in the recent 4-5 days, the initial day and day after I felt a bit of headache, dizzy, nausea but only for a few seconds at a time and I drank a lot of water and it subsided pretty quick.

Thanks to everyone for the kind words of encouragement and sharing your own thoughts, experiences and tips within this thread, I appreciate it!

 

[Celestar62]

Awesome! I started Reta in Jan after being on Tirz for a year. The only advice I'd give would be to micro dose when you want to start titrating up. Use glp1plotter to see the difference. I started at 2mg for a month, then 4mg once a week for a month. Instead of going up to either 6 or 8mg a week, I started micro dosing 3mg every other day. After 2 weeks I can see a difference. I also supplement cargi.5mg 1x a week. Though I might increase that to 2x a week at some point.

 

[PineCone99]

Well… what is going on here?

I just started wearing a continuous glucose monitor, just for observation (I don’t have diabetes). And the low alarm has gone off a few times.

The dotted red line by the 3 is the 3.9 cutoff. 1:30 am how could it have been that low? Under 3.9 a few times and under 3 as well. Maybe I’m laying on the sensor? Though that doesn’t explain the lows at 7 AM when I was awake and definitely not laying on the sensor… A few more times in the middle of the day today the alarm went off. I’m gonna watch over the next few days and see what happens but this is a bit unexpected.

 

[PineCone99]

I moved to 2mg on week 2. I was concerned about an allergic reaction and when all went well I decided that I might as well move to 2mg. At 2mg I got this horrible sunburned feeling on my arms and legs. It is the only side effect that made me consider quitting as it makes wearing clothes very annoying but I decided to stick with it and back down to 1.5mg for 2 weeks. After 2 weeks at 1.5mg I acclimated enough to decide to go back to 2mg for 2 more weeks. I stayed at 3mg for 5 weeks and this is my first week at 4mg. The sunburn feeling is present at 4mg but its not quite as terrible like it was at 2mg. I've had a little bit of all of the common side effects other than vomiting, thank god. Unusual burping for the first few days post shot, semi regular nausea, 1 disastrous bout of diarrhea and a little bit of constipation.

Thanks for sharing your experience, a good reminder to me, not to move up too quickly. That "sunburned skin" does not sound like a good time and I would like to avoid if possible.

 

[PineCone99]

Ahh, I see. It's the consuming in the short window that's the problem, makes sense. I was at about 1200 cals so it wasn't TOO bad for me. Back then, I would get the worst blood sugar crashes around the 55 hour mark of a 72, and for that reason I didn't do them all that often.

The issue for me was consuming ~2k calories in a sitting and developing long term eating habits that I didn't like and still haven't recovered from.

1st 72hrs are always rough for me so not surprised you didn't enjoy it. It gets much easier but it's not something I'd suggest others do.

 

[PineCone99]

BLOOD SUGAR:

For 3 days in a row now, during the day and especially at night (1 am, 3 am, 6 am) I'm having the low blood sugar alarms go off from my CGM (continuous glucose monitor). Unexpected. I don't feel really brutal when it happens, but slight headache, tired. In the past when I've overdone a sports game while fasting, and the dreaded "bonk" hits me, that feels terrible (weak, imbalanced, shaky, nausea, etc). So it hasn't gotten to THAT point, but I'm not quite sure what to do. I am not fasting. I am eating all throughout the day, and having plenty of carbs and even a couple dates or honey when I hear the alarm, then complex carbs 30 mins later. Blood sugar rises, an hour and a half later, again it goes off. Sigh. Is one expected to have a banana on their nightstand to eat at 1:30 am? Surely not.

Blood Pressure is still chill at : 109/65, pulse 61

 

[PineCone99]

Week 3 begins!

Current weight: 169 (down 3 pounds from last week yay!). Do you know how long it's been since I've seen a "16.." prefix on that scale?!! For a brief time a decade ago, and then back in college days. Hello old friend! It's good to see you again.

Blood Pressure: 111/66, pulse 54 (that's normal for me, no change so far)

Dose : Took my 3rd dose this morning - 1 mg again. Injected on the other side of the stomach. No need to increase dose, progress is happening with minimal sides.

Blood Sugar: The CCM continues to alarm periodically in the day and at night, though the past 2 nights, it hasn't gone as low as previous nights. I'm curious if this is due to the tapering off of the Reta in my system and will observe these next 2 nights now that I've just injected.

Non-scale Victory - Breakfast: One of the most pleasing things of all, is that I can now actually enjoy a breakfast again and NOT have a massive blood sugar spike followed by a drop followed by incessant nagging cravings for the ENTIRE DAY. My gosh!! THIS IS SO NICE. I still feel a little nervous eating something "high GI" like a banana gasp, clutch pearls in the morning. But that spike & crash & cravings just don't happen anymore. So so amazing and freeing. Imagine! Just eating a little of what you actually like, instead of nothing or goddamn barley lol.

Fattest Pants, Be Gone with Thee! This weekend, I'm cutting the cord on all of my too-big jeans that I've been holding onto from when I had reached peak rotundness (221). I am NOT going back. I need to buy 1 single new pair to get me through this transition stage (as I don't intend to stay at this current weight for too long either). I'm super pumped to see what size those will be!!

 

[Countyroad233]

Awesome! I started Reta in Jan after being on Tirz for a year. The only advice I'd give would be to micro dose when you want to start titrating up. Use glp1plotter to see the difference. I started at 2mg for a month, then 4mg once a week for a month. Instead of going up to either 6 or 8mg a week, I started micro dosing 3mg every other day. After 2 weeks I can see a difference. I also supplement cargi.5mg 1x a week. Though I might increase that to 2x a week at some point.

When you switched from Tirz to Reta, did you start back at a lower dose? I am in 12.5 Tirz and wondering where to start when switching to Reta

 

[PineCone99]

Week 4 begins!

Stats :
5'7, female

Highest weight: 221 (lost 46 prior to Reta)

Starting weight: 175

Current weight: 167 (down 2 pounds from last week)

1st Goal weight: 160

2nd Goal weight: 140

Dose : Took my 4th dose this morning - 1 mg again. Depending on how this next week goes (re: hunger & weight loss) I may bump to 1.5 mg next week.

Blood Pressure: 104/63, pulse 59. No change since starting Reta

Blood Sugar: The CCM doesn't alarm at night much anymore which is good, and not as often in the day, just occasionally, so I think my system is adjusting to the Reta nicely. It still alarms about 30 minutes after stopping a high-impact sports session. But I can easily fix that with a quick bite to eat. I do think Reta lowered my blood sugar from the start to slightly lower than it would have been otherwise, but each time, my body does whatever it needs to do and brings it back up into range fairly quickly. The only time it doesn't is after an intense 2 hour sport session, and that's the "bonk/blood sugar crash" that happens to anyone I think. My CCM sensor runs out in 3 days so no more blood sugar info after that.

Hunger : Noticed the return of some hunger/food noise this week for the first time, over the past 4 days. Not sure if this is related to hormonal monthly cycle or just getting used to the current Reta dose. I will observe this week and may increase the dose by 0.5 mg next week if I find hunger increasing yet again.

Sides : Minimal sides, mostly on shot day and the day after I get some bouts of dizziness and nausea but nothing very bothersome.

All in all, very happy with Reta, onward we go!!

 

[laansasa]

This is soooo similar (almost identical) to my story (except I ordered from the US). The needle phobia was the hardest part but I watched a video from a doctor who said to cough and that somehow distracts your senses and it worked.

 

[Big C]

This is a great informative log. Thank you for taking the time.

 

[lessthanhalf]

Thanks for posting this series , it is the kind of info that is actually useful for people starting out.

I wonder if your sugars might be more stable with higher protein or less carbs or low glycemic index carbs? With the aim of preventing spikes than then trigger drops in glucose. I have never measured mine like that with a cgm, but I definitely know what rebound hunger a few hours after eating some types of food is like. My solution is fairly extreme with total avoidance of any high calorie / highly rewarding / high glycemic index foods for 3 years, but I am down 54% in weight .

 

[PineCone99]

Week 5 begins!

Stats :
5'7, female

Highest weight: 221 (lost 46 prior to Reta)

Starting weight: 175

Current weight: 165 (down 2 pounds from last week, woo hoo!)

1st Goal weight: 160

2nd Goal weight: 140

Dose : Took my 5th dose yesterday morning – I increased for the first time, from 1 mg to 1.5 mg . I was starting to have increased cravings over several days in the past 2 weeks and therefore figured it was a good time for a modest increase.

Blood Pressure: 108/66, pulse 54. No real change since starting Reta

Sides : Very minimal sides, mostly on shot day and the day after I get some bouts of dizziness and nausea but nothing very bothersome (other than the sleep issues).

Sleep : Not sure if this is related to reta or not, but I keep waking up at 5:30/6:30 am, every day, which is annoying . Even on the weekends. And I’m still tired, I need more sleep, but I can’t seem to get back to it once I wake at that time. It may be that my hypothyroid meds need to be lowered now that I weigh less. Typically on the weekends I sleep until 9-10 am, so this is unusual for me.

Thoughts : Mannnn, I cannot even express how exciting this all is! I suppose part of me is still untrusting, thinking “ watch, it’ll work for 2 weeks and then stop working ” like so many other things have. So, I’m almost holding my breath, yet it continues to work!! I barely dare type it out, lest I jinx myself!! I may cry once I see a “15..” on that scale.. 3-4 more weeks. Maybe right in time for my birthday.

 

[PineCone99]

Thanks for posting this series , it is the kind of info that is actually useful for people starting out.

I wonder if your sugars might be more stable with higher protein or less carbs or low glycemic index carbs? With the aim of preventing spikes than then trigger drops in glucose. I have never measured mine like that with a cgm, but I definitely know what rebound hunger a few hours after eating some types of food is like. My solution is fairly extreme with total avoidance of any high calorie / highly rewarding / high glycemic index foods for 3 years, but I am down 54% in weight .

谢谢你的分享。事实上，在开始服用Reta之前，我多年来一直坚持低碳水/低升糖指数碳水化合物饮食和间歇性断食（23/1）。运动后，我经常会经历“撞墙”/血糖骤降的痛苦。所以，我重新开始摄入碳水化合物，这有效避免了运动后的血糖骤降。佩戴动态血糖监测仪（CGM）期间，我注意到（与运动无关），当监测仪发出警报时，即使摄入低升糖指数碳水化合物或高纤维食物，也无法让我脱离警报状态。但我明白你说的理想状态是避免血糖大幅波动。我正在努力寻找这种平衡。

 

[BNLFL]

我大概持续了一个星期凌晨四点就醒了，而且再也睡不着了。我平时作息时间是早上八点到下午五点半/六点半。不是肾结石，因为肾结石是最近才出现的。只是我的大脑一片混乱，想了很多事情。我老婆让我吃了半颗家里剩下的软糖，然后就睡着了。我今晚也打算吃。十五分钟就睡着了，一直睡到五点半。但是尿频还是很厉害。我真的需要去看泌尿科医生了。