My year on ozempic was rough, and now just looking at those numbers on paper turns my stomach — anything past 0.5 was already too much for me.
So the 7.2mg strength got the nod, while the 16mg version they also put through studies was left out.
Even so, at 19% weight loss it trails the 15mg tirzepatide figure, and it brings considerably more adverse effects. The upside is genuinely difficult to spot. Unless the price comes down, I don't see any way it isn't overtaken by tirz as the superior option. For the 5-20% whose results fall well short of average while experiencing few side effects, raising the dose is unlikely to create trouble — that may be where larger doses of any GLP deliver their real value. I'm hoping the trial of a bigger tirz dose turns out well. And whenever a higher-dose reta study finally happens, I hope it performs the way I suspect it could; based on what I've read, it looks like the agent with the greatest room to push weight loss further as the dose climbs. Over the long haul, for people starting at BMI's of 40+ or above, more potent treatments would matter a great deal. I asked chatgpt to work out what larger reta doses would probably do, and it came back with roughly 35% weight loss — that could leave some surgeons without patients. Still, bigger doses only help those who tolerate max doses with few side effects.