First Week on Tirzepatide: 2.5mg Experiences?

CornPop

CornPop

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What was your first week like on tirz, especially at 2.5mg? Did appetite suppression hit you hard, or was there barely any change at such a low dose? And what about side effects?

I ask because I’ve just begun at 2.5 and I can hardly get through meals when I do eat. Food noise is gone, and I have zero urge to snack. No real sides either. Is that typical? Does tolerance build, which is why people move up? Right now, if things stay like this, I’m not sure I’d ever go past 2.5mg since this works for me.
 
Within roughly a day, I could feel it working. The change wasn't in how badly I wanted food, but in the amount I was able to put away. As time went on, the wanting faded too. Being able to eat just to stay alive, rather than staying alive just to eat, is a wonderful feeling. Eventually the food noise disappeared entirely, although I couldn't say how many weeks or months that required.

10 months in now, and I have to keep a close eye on calories and macros so I don't come up short on anything, protein above all. Without that tracking, I'd struggle to reach even 1200 calories in a day.
 
My experience matched that too. My husband and I began together last July, both at 2.5mg, and as of now each of us remains at just 5mg weekly. I’ve cut my interval down to 4-5 days and hit a really good sweet spot, but we never felt any need to hurry toward larger doses when they weren’t required. Also, tirz is the sole glp-1 the two of us use. Glad to have you on this journey!
 
CornPop said:

What was your first week like on tirz, especially at 2.5mg? Did appetite suppression hit you hard, or was there barely any change at such a low dose? And what about side effects?

I ask because I’ve just begun at 2.5 and I can hardly get through meals when I do eat. Food noise is gone, and I have zero urge to snack. No real sides either. Is that typical? Does tolerance build, which is why people move up? Right now, if things stay like this, I’m not sure I’d ever go past 2.5mg since this works for me.
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Only increase if it stops working and you've been stuck for 3-4 weeks. My initial week or two felt the same, then it wore off. I'm at 10 now. It doesn't work great for me, but I've lost 30 in 6 months, so we continue. It's somewhat pleasant not craving a whole bag of doritos constantly
 
It seems like you're on track to respond really well. That initial month is something I refer to as "The Rebirthing process." Keeping your food choices clean goes a long way toward dodging side effects. Aim for 120 oz of water each day. By around month two, most people run into the exhaustion phase. It comes from cutting calories too low. If you need to, grab short naps. Once you've gotten through that phase and adjusted, then you can turn your attention to a titration schedule. I followed the Lilly clinicals exactly, and it worked like magic. Aggressive but not too aggressive. For me, the best step up was 7.5 to 10mg.
 
Slogger said:

My experience matched that too. My husband and I began together last July, both at 2.5mg, and as of now each of us remains at just 5mg weekly. I’ve cut my interval down to 4-5 days and hit a really good sweet spot, but we never felt any need to hurry toward larger doses when they weren’t required. Also, tirz is the sole glp-1 the two of us use. Glad to have you on this journey!
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Appreciate you replying. That sounds like what I want too—keeping the dose low. Doing a smaller amount but with greater frequency is intriguing. Could be useful.

What was it like moving up from 2.5 to 5?
 
CornPop said:

What was your first week like on tirz, especially at 2.5mg? Did appetite suppression hit you hard, or was there barely any change at such a low dose? And what about side effects?

I ask because I’ve just begun at 2.5 and I can hardly get through meals when I do eat. Food noise is gone, and I have zero urge to snack. No real sides either. Is that typical? Does tolerance build, which is why people move up? Right now, if things stay like this, I’m not sure I’d ever go past 2.5mg since this works for me.
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Yeah, when something's working there's no reason to change it... My situation matched yours, except once those 5 days wrapped up, every bit of food noise returned at once. So I bumped it up a level, and that pattern has repeated at every dose. I've only just begun 10mg. YMMV... Resisting food has never been where I excel...
 
agussie said:

CornPop said:

What was your first week like on tirz, especially at 2.5mg? Did appetite suppression hit you hard, or was there barely any change at such a low dose? And what about side effects?

I ask because I’ve just begun at 2.5 and I can hardly get through meals when I do eat. Food noise is gone, and I have zero urge to snack. No real sides either. Is that typical? Does tolerance build, which is why people move up? Right now, if things stay like this, I’m not sure I’d ever go past 2.5mg since this works for me.
Click to expand...
Only increase if it stops working and you've been stuck for 3-4 weeks. My initial week or two felt the same, then it wore off. I'm at 10 now. It doesn't work great for me, but I've lost 30 in 6 months, so we continue. It's somewhat pleasant not craving a whole bag of doritos constantly
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30 lbs down is great work. I get the part about snacking urges fading. I used to keep going back to the pantry
 
Since a low dose gave you strong benefits instead of adverse reactions, matching other people's doses or schedules probably won't work as a guide for you. How each person responds to these drugs varies a lot. It's very early, but it really sounds like you're quite sensitive to the hunger-reducing effects, and since you aren't mentioning things like nausea or other adverse effects, you aren't extra sensitive to the side effects. That combination is lucky, and it's a good sign. If the level of hunger control is acceptable, meaning you aren't pushing yourself to eat less than you want, and you're still losing weight, there's no need to raise the dose. Chances are you'll likely need to bump it up at some point. As far as I know, there's no evidence of tolerance to the weight-loss effects over the long term, but some tolerance or adaptation definitely happens during the first few months of treatment, so if you notice more hunger or weight loss stalling, raise the dose then. Overall I think most people do better on the standard doses, but if a low dose is working fine, it's working fine. Still, adjust doses up based on weight and hunger, and down if side effects become an issue.

This advice would change somewhat if you were older, had severe obesity (bmi over 35), or had obesity related health problems. In that situation, gradually raising doses toward the standard 15mg is probably better for long term health benefits.
 
chewonmysac said:

It seems like you're on track to respond really well. That initial month is something I refer to as "The Rebirthing process." Keeping your food choices clean goes a long way toward dodging side effects. Aim for 120 oz of water each day. By around month two, most people run into the exhaustion phase. It comes from cutting calories too low. If you need to, grab short naps. Once you've gotten through that phase and adjusted, then you can turn your attention to a titration schedule. I followed the Lilly clinicals exactly, and it worked like magic. Aggressive but not too aggressive. For me, the best step up was 7.5 to 10mg.
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Appreciate you posting this. Dropping 85lbs is amazing! Does the shorts app justify the cost? Currently doing the trial
 
CornPop said:

chewonmysac said:

It seems like you're on track to respond really well. That initial month is something I refer to as "The Rebirthing process." Keeping your food choices clean goes a long way toward dodging side effects. Aim for 120 oz of water each day. By around month two, most people run into the exhaustion phase. It comes from cutting calories too low. If you need to, grab short naps. Once you've gotten through that phase and adjusted, then you can turn your attention to a titration schedule. I followed the Lilly clinicals exactly, and it worked like magic. Aggressive but not too aggressive. For me, the best step up was 7.5 to 10mg.
Click to expand...
Appreciate you posting this. Dropping 85lbs is amazing! Does the shorts app justify the cost? Currently doing the trial
Click to expand...
I'm only using the trial version. My money needs to go toward Tirz 🙂
 
lessthanhalf said:

Since a low dose gave you strong benefits instead of adverse reactions, matching other people's doses or schedules probably won't work as a guide for you. How each person responds to these drugs varies a lot. It's very early, but it really sounds like you're quite sensitive to the hunger-reducing effects, and since you aren't mentioning things like nausea or other adverse effects, you aren't extra sensitive to the side effects. That combination is lucky, and it's a good sign. If the level of hunger control is acceptable, meaning you aren't pushing yourself to eat less than you want, and you're still losing weight, there's no need to raise the dose. Chances are you'll likely need to bump it up at some point. As far as I know, there's no evidence of tolerance to the weight-loss effects over the long term, but some tolerance or adaptation definitely happens during the first few months of treatment, so if you notice more hunger or weight loss stalling, raise the dose then. Overall I think most people do better on the standard doses, but if a low dose is working fine, it's working fine. Still, adjust doses up based on weight and hunger, and down if side effects become an issue.

This advice would change somewhat if you were older, had severe obesity (bmi over 35), or had obesity related health problems. In that situation, gradually raising doses toward the standard 15mg is probably better for long term health benefits.
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Appreciate the guidance. That helps. I'll finish out month 1 and then reassess. From what everyone seems to agree on, there's no reason to move up in dose when the dose you're on is already doing the job.
 
My first 4 weeks were 2.5mg Mounjaro pens. Within an hour, I noticed something.

I really wish everyone's starting point could be genuine, authentic medication. That's how you learn what it actually feels like — and also what it feels like when the product has been watered down. (For me, compounded stuff came next.) And yeah, when it does start wearing off, that tends to hit later in the week.

Nearly a year in now, here's what I've figured out: I stick with the plan, but whenever it seems like I'm pushing past it, I inject the overfill — a kind of booster. Keep in mind that overfill is typically .15ml, though the concentration obviously shifts as you titrate upward. Right now my plan tops out at 15mg, but counting the overfill it comes to roughly 19.5mg. Sure, but I'm still a big cryptid.
 
I began on .25mg, which is 250 mcg, and the drop in appetite is unmistakable. Water fasting has been smooth for me, even though in the past the same fast demanded far more willpower and I faced much stronger cravings.
 
CornPop said:

What was your first week like on tirz, especially at 2.5mg? Did appetite suppression hit you hard, or was there barely any change at such a low dose? And what about side effects?

I ask because I’ve just begun at 2.5 and I can hardly get through meals when I do eat. Food noise is gone, and I have zero urge to snack. No real sides either. Is that typical? Does tolerance build, which is why people move up? Right now, if things stay like this, I’m not sure I’d ever go past 2.5mg since this works for me.
Click to expand...

At 2.5mg, some individuals experience no effects whatsoever and require larger doses before tirzepatide's full benefits appear. It's not unusual for such users to report feeling nothing while still being extremely hungry. So if you're already noticing positive results at this low dose, with no side effects, that's a fortunate position to be in.

When I first began researching glp-1s, I also belonged to the "low and slow" group. However, after thoroughly examining the clinical studies, the picture became obvious: greater weight loss occurred at higher doses, and a larger proportion of people reached their weight loss targets at those doses. Since I had a substantial amount of weight to lose, I realized I couldn't afford to spend a long stretch tinkering with 2.5mg, so I moved up my dose quite rapidly. My side effects remained mild and manageable throughout, and I never waited 3 or 4 weeks for a stall before increasing.

Lilly's recommendations, along with what actually happens in clinical practice, have shifted since the original trials. Current advice says to increase your dose if weight loss has stopped or if food noise and hunger cues return, provided your side effects are under control. If none of those issues are present, there's no reason to move up. My concern is that certain people become fixated on the notion that a lower dose is somehow "better," and then after a year stuck at 7.5mg, they complain about not hitting their weight loss goal.
 
hi c: i started tirz yesterday at 2.2mg and the effect is so mild (no side effects at all) that i honestly questioned whether it was doing anything lol. but today the food noise is gone. that inner voice suggesting i eat more just because i'm bored or whatever? silent. i actually had to remind myself, "yeah i guess eating is a good idea." i'm not hungry. the only side effect on day one was the anxiety i stirred up in myself by second-guessing whether this was even a good idea, but i'm over it 😀
 
At 2.2, I dropped the initial thirty-odd pounds. Getting the following 25 off meant I needed to begin titrating upward. My goal is a 20.8 BMI, and I'm 6 pounds away from it; I had reached 9 mg each week before making the switch to reta last week, so I can find out if it suits me and, if so, keep stockpiling it.
 
whenever i restarted tirz, roughly 36 hours post-injection i'd end up severely ill—explosive output from both ends, if you know what i mean. my food intake dropped to half right away. that's the reason i'm now on just 1.25mg every 8 days. it gets the job done and i make the most of it. before an insurance problem and discovering this place, i'd dropped around 50ish pounds without ever exceeding 2.5mg. even during the 6 months i wasn't taking it, i managed to avoid putting back on any weight i didn't want.
 
sylvieon said:

hi c: i started tirz yesterday at 2.2mg and the effect is so mild (no side effects at all) that i honestly questioned whether it was doing anything lol. but today the food noise is gone. that inner voice suggesting i eat more just because i'm bored or whatever? silent. i actually had to remind myself, "yeah i guess eating is a good idea." i'm not hungry. the only side effect on day one was the anxiety i stirred up in myself by second-guessing whether this was even a good idea, but i'm over it 😀
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That is awesome! Yeah, that not-hungry feeling was so weird at first. Sounds like you are responding well though.

5 weeks in for me now and I noticed my body kind of got used to it. Grazing a bit more has crept back in, and food noise along with it. I am still eating way less though.

Irritability also kicked in somewhere between a week and a half and three weeks. Pretty annoying, though I put most of it down to dehydration and not enough calories. A fast followed, to push my body into burning fat for fuel and settle into the calorie deficit, plus magnesium for electrolytes. Feeling a lot better now and really hitting a stride.

Titrating up to 3 mg is all I have done so far. Idk, going higher just did not feel needed, but we will see.
 
bbbilly said:

whenever i restarted tirz, roughly 36 hours post-injection i'd end up severely ill—explosive output from both ends, if you know what i mean. my food intake dropped to half right away. that's the reason i'm now on just 1.25mg every 8 days. it gets the job done and i make the most of it. before an insurance problem and discovering this place, i'd dropped around 50ish pounds without ever exceeding 2.5mg. even during the 6 months i wasn't taking it, i managed to avoid putting back on any weight i didn't want.
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It’s wild how much variation there is in how each of us reacts. I only bumped my dose to 3 because jumping to 5 seemed like it would be overkill. My hope is that reaching my target weight won’t require going much higher. I also lean toward the idea that I should put in some effort myself to shed the pounds.
 
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