INTRO 92 shots Tirz since 7/2024, 4 Reta, down 50.7 lbs

[Beachnwaves98]

Hey everyone … Bill here

I’m a 6’0 guy in my late 40’s, and since July 2024 I’ve made major overhauls to how I eat (tracking everything, plus protein / fiber / sat fat / water), how I train, and how I sleep.

My first medication was tirzepatide, and I still keep a 3 vile supply as my stockpile. Not long ago I began my Reta experiment.

I ended tirz at 12mg, and 4 weeks ago I switched to Reta — the first 2 weeks at 1mg, then the last 2 weeks at 2mg (1mg every 3 days).

All told, tirz took me from my heaviest 242lbs in July 2024 down 61lbs. During maintenance I put 9lbs back on, so now I’m working to cut that while also ramping up resistance training.

Would love to hear other people’s stories and best practices.

 

[Hawk_recon]

Great job, and glad to have you here! So far, have you picked up on anything that sets Reta apart from tirz? I'd be interested to know your take on how the two stack up. Could be too early to say, but even so…

 

[Rawbiotix]

Gaining 9lb while maintaining after dropping 61lb is a typical response, and it signals your body is settling on a setpoint instead of snapping back aggressively. Lifting weights through this stage is the correct approach to hold onto lean mass.

When it comes to what you're doing, the key mechanistic distinction between reta and tirz lies in reta's glucagon receptor activity. Tirz targets GLP-1 and GIP; reta brings glucagon into the mix, which acts directly on liver fat and energy use. During the switch, most people also seem to deal with fewer nausea issues on the reta side. I'm interested to see how your body composition evolves now compared with your tirz run.

Welcome!

 

[Blueeyedme]

Hey Bill — definitely update us once you make the switch to Reta. Tirz is working well for me and I have no complaints, though I can't help being Reta curious...particularly now that Eli Lilly has shared their Phase 3 Reta data today. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-pivotal-phase-3-obesity-trial-302778859.html

 

[AsterixNYC]

Beachnwaves98 said:

Hey everyone … Bill here

I’m a 6’0 guy in my late 40’s, and since July 2024 I’ve made major overhauls to how I eat (tracking everything, plus protein / fiber / sat fat / water), how I train, and how I sleep.

My first medication was tirzepatide, and I still keep a 3 vile supply as my stockpile. Not long ago I began my Reta experiment.

I ended tirz at 12mg, and 4 weeks ago I switched to Reta — the first 2 weeks at 1mg, then the last 2 weeks at 2mg (1mg every 3 days).

All told, tirz took me from my heaviest 242lbs in July 2024 down 61lbs. During maintenance I put 9lbs back on, so now I’m working to cut that while also ramping up resistance training.

Would love to hear other people’s stories and best practices.

Nice work on dropping 61 lb — really impressive progress.

Your changed dosing timing stands out, and I'm curious how your eating and training habits have shifted during that time. Did anything in particular help you deal with that slight bounce-back you brought up?

 

[alphaamigo]

Your long-term journey from a steady, high tirz dose over to reta would probably be valuable to many folks. We only hear scattered bits from various people, so it's hard to grasp what that kind of switch really involves. What stands out to me is that stacking never came up in your account. When I went from tirz to reta, I just swapped it out on injection day and didn't stack. I watched the tirz half-life alongside the reta ramping up, beginning at 2mg, then 3mg, then 4 mg, each spaced 2 weeks apart, and settling at 5mg. No weight came off until I reached that 5mg mark, after which it began dropping steadily.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

Hawk_recon said:

Great job, and glad to have you here! So far, have you picked up on anything that sets Reta apart from tirz? I'd be interested to know your take on how the two stack up. Could be too early to say, but even so…

Thanks . Fair question — for the past 3+ weeks I've basically been stuck, since I can't pin down the dose that keeps my appetite in check.

The change that stands out most is less visceral fat in my belly area, which has me pretty thrilled. Glucagon engagement is clearly real, and even this early on I'm impressed.

When I first began Tirz I responded extremely well, so my plan was to start Reta as low as possible. 1mg after the Tirz had washed out wasn't enough, so I moved to 1mg twice a week = 2mg. That still didn't seem like enough either, so today I made the call to go up to 2mg per shot twice weekly = 4mg.

I'll report back on how this feels. Given the Phase 3 clinical data is now available, the upside of Reta is thoroughly documented

 

[Beachnwaves98]

Rawbiotix said:

Gaining 9lb while maintaining after dropping 61lb is a typical response, and it signals your body is settling on a setpoint instead of snapping back aggressively. Lifting weights through this stage is the correct approach to hold onto lean mass.

When it comes to what you're doing, the key mechanistic distinction between reta and tirz lies in reta's glucagon receptor activity. Tirz targets GLP-1 and GIP; reta brings glucagon into the mix, which acts directly on liver fat and energy use. During the switch, most people also seem to deal with fewer nausea issues on the reta side. I'm interested to see how your body composition evolves now compared with your tirz run.

Welcome!

Thanks for the nudge — to be honest, what draws me to Reta is my inner nerd. I'm in tech, and my brother in law is part of the Ozempic team at Novo, so the health upside of Reta gets me genuinely excited, and not just the weight loss part.

Like I mentioned under a different post, so far the shift I've seen is in my visceral fat around the midsection, which feels like a big deal. On top of that, I'm now putting serious effort into resistance training, something that was completely missing while I was on Tirz. My hope is that Reta just amplifies what's already happening.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

Blueeyedme said:

Hey Bill — definitely update us once you make the switch to Reta. Tirz is working well for me and I have no complaints, though I can't help being Reta curious...particularly now that Eli Lilly has shared their Phase 3 Reta data today. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-pivotal-phase-3-obesity-trial-302778859.html

Hello - glad to be of assistance. And yes, that news from yesterday is exactly why I went ahead and ordered 3 additional vials of Reta, since the push toward Lilly becoming a trillion dollar drug company keeps getting stronger. For example, every telehealth provider of mine that had made Tirz more affordable is now under pressure, pretty much across the board from FDA, to halt compounding. Lilly is definitely circling the wagons to keep Reta prices high.

I'd say the switch has been rockier than I anticipated, purely because we're in this pre-FDA approved phase. The doctor guidance or nurse practitioner guidance - to be precise - that I used to get alongside Tirz from my telehealth vendor isn't there for me now, so for the past year and a half on these drugs I've largely depended on my own tribal knowledge.

My starting dose was minimal since I responded extremely well to Tirz at first: 1mg of Reta for 2 weeks, then 2mg in week 3, and at week 4 I'm now at 4mg, still hunting for the appetite suppression that Tirz gave me. The visceral fat improvement around my midsection is consistently good and is something Tirz never provided.

All of this is a reminder that I ought to be more consistent with my progression photos so there's documentation.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

AsterixNYC said:

Beachnwaves98 said:

Hey everyone … Bill here

I’m a 6’0 guy in my late 40’s, and since July 2024 I’ve made major overhauls to how I eat (tracking everything, plus protein / fiber / sat fat / water), how I train, and how I sleep.

My first medication was tirzepatide, and I still keep a 3 vile supply as my stockpile. Not long ago I began my Reta experiment.

I ended tirz at 12mg, and 4 weeks ago I switched to Reta — the first 2 weeks at 1mg, then the last 2 weeks at 2mg (1mg every 3 days).

All told, tirz took me from my heaviest 242lbs in July 2024 down 61lbs. During maintenance I put 9lbs back on, so now I’m working to cut that while also ramping up resistance training.

Would love to hear other people’s stories and best practices.

Nice work on dropping 61 lb — really impressive progress.

Your changed dosing timing stands out, and I'm curious how your eating and training habits have shifted during that time. Did anything in particular help you deal with that slight bounce-back you brought up?

I really appreciate it that was the case, and shedding all that extra weight from my body has brought health improvements I’m very grateful for.

The main thing I took away from going through this whole journey is that my diet, exercise, and sleep all got overhauled because I dropped 61 pounds, but I also figured out something when things stalled a bit and I put some back on during the holidays: once you’re much smaller, your calorie deficit gets smaller too, so the approach that worked at a heavier size stops working at a lighter size, which makes sense. A smaller body burns less fuel to keep going. To be precise, my daily calorie deficit for losing was 1850 cal, and now that I’m on Rueda that deficit sits at 1650 each day.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

alphaamigo said:

Your long-term journey from a steady, high tirz dose over to reta would probably be valuable to many folks. We only hear scattered bits from various people, so it's hard to grasp what that kind of switch really involves. What stands out to me is that stacking never came up in your account. When I went from tirz to reta, I just swapped it out on injection day and didn't stack. I watched the tirz half-life alongside the reta ramping up, beginning at 2mg, then 3mg, then 4 mg, each spaced 2 weeks apart, and settling at 5mg. No weight came off until I reached that 5mg mark, after which it began dropping steadily.

Appreciate it It's funny — I'm picking things up at the same time as you, and honestly I'm not even sure what stacking fully involves. Just putting that out there as a starting point.

When it comes to Reta, my own route after stopping 12 mg of Tirz was: 1mg for 2 weeks first, then 2mg for 1 week, and as of today I've moved up to 4mg, which I'm hoping turns into my new stable level. So far the appetite suppression hasn't been enough for me, so my hope is that 4mg will do the trick.

How well I respond is still TBD. I'll be sure to keep everyone updated. This community is great — so many people here know a tremendous amount about these meds.

 

[Blueeyedme]

Beachnwaves98 said:

Blueeyedme said:

Hey Bill — definitely update us once you make the switch to Reta. Tirz is working well for me and I have no complaints, though I can't help being Reta curious...particularly now that Eli Lilly has shared their Phase 3 Reta data today. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-pivotal-phase-3-obesity-trial-302778859.html

Hello - glad to be of assistance. And yes, that news from yesterday is exactly why I went ahead and ordered 3 additional vials of Reta, since the push toward Lilly becoming a trillion dollar drug company keeps getting stronger. For example, every telehealth provider of mine that had made Tirz more affordable is now under pressure, pretty much across the board from FDA, to halt compounding. Lilly is definitely circling the wagons to keep Reta prices high.

I'd say the switch has been rockier than I anticipated, purely because we're in this pre-FDA approved phase. The doctor guidance or nurse practitioner guidance - to be precise - that I used to get alongside Tirz from my telehealth vendor isn't there for me now, so for the past year and a half on these drugs I've largely depended on my own tribal knowledge.

My starting dose was minimal since I responded extremely well to Tirz at first: 1mg of Reta for 2 weeks, then 2mg in week 3, and at week 4 I'm now at 4mg, still hunting for the appetite suppression that Tirz gave me. The visceral fat improvement around my midsection is consistently good and is something Tirz never provided.

All of this is a reminder that I ought to be more consistent with my progression photos so there's documentation.

That's a curious observation. From what I've seen, a lot of people say Tirz does more for "food noise" than Reta does. Maybe that shifts once serum levels accumulate... I came across a note that Rita's half-life is 6 days, so it builds up somewhat faster than Tirz. And what you said about visceral fat caught my attention. You're about 4-5 weeks in at this point. Is it bloating, a smaller waist measurement, or something else??

 

[BadguyPep]

Hi, I made the change from tirz to Reta, and so far it's been working well — I've dropped 25 on the new Reta switch

 

[Beachnwaves98]

Blueeyedme said:

Beachnwaves98 said:

Blueeyedme said:

Hey Bill — definitely update us once you make the switch to Reta. Tirz is working well for me and I have no complaints, though I can't help being Reta curious...particularly now that Eli Lilly has shared their Phase 3 Reta data today. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-pivotal-phase-3-obesity-trial-302778859.html

Hello - glad to be of assistance. And yes, that news from yesterday is exactly why I went ahead and ordered 3 additional vials of Reta, since the push toward Lilly becoming a trillion dollar drug company keeps getting stronger. For example, every telehealth provider of mine that had made Tirz more affordable is now under pressure, pretty much across the board from FDA, to halt compounding. Lilly is definitely circling the wagons to keep Reta prices high.

I'd say the switch has been rockier than I anticipated, purely because we're in this pre-FDA approved phase. The doctor guidance or nurse practitioner guidance - to be precise - that I used to get alongside Tirz from my telehealth vendor isn't there for me now, so for the past year and a half on these drugs I've largely depended on my own tribal knowledge.

My starting dose was minimal since I responded extremely well to Tirz at first: 1mg of Reta for 2 weeks, then 2mg in week 3, and at week 4 I'm now at 4mg, still hunting for the appetite suppression that Tirz gave me. The visceral fat improvement around my midsection is consistently good and is something Tirz never provided.

All of this is a reminder that I ought to be more consistent with my progression photos so there's documentation.

That's a curious observation. From what I've seen, a lot of people say Tirz does more for "food noise" than Reta does. Maybe that shifts once serum levels accumulate... I came across a note that Rita's half-life is 6 days, so it builds up somewhat faster than Tirz. And what you said about visceral fat caught my attention. You're about 4-5 weeks in at this point. Is it bloating, a smaller waist measurement, or something else??

Spot on — what I really miss is how Tirz kept my appetite in check. With Reta, it's like I have to pause and ask myself “am I actually hungry?” and then land on “nah” … my guess is the food noise comes from the glucagon doing its thing, though I'm not certain.

As for visceral fat, I've noticed real fat loss around my midsection, which wasn't as pronounced on Tirz. Seeing that happen even at lower doses — where the food noise was louder — convinced me to reup with +3 more vials of Reta. I want to finish out the rest of my fat loss on this med.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

BadguyPep said:

Hi, I made the change from tirz to Reta, and so far it's been working well — I've dropped 25 on the new Reta switch

Thanks, and nice work on your progress … what was your time on Tirz, the dose you ended at, and your current Reta dose?

 

[BadguyPep]

Beachnwaves98 said:

BadguyPep said:

Hi, I made the change from tirz to Reta, and so far it's been working well — I've dropped 25 on the new Reta switch

Thanks, and nice work on your progress … what was your time on Tirz, the dose you ended at, and your current Reta dose?

To be honest, my time on Tirz was brief—it just wasn’t for me. I began at .5 and increased the dose roughly every 2 weeks. At present I’m at 5.

 

[Beachnwaves98]

BadguyPep said:

Beachnwaves98 said:

BadguyPep said:

Hi, I made the change from tirz to Reta, and so far it's been working well — I've dropped 25 on the new Reta switch

Thanks, and nice work on your progress … what was your time on Tirz, the dose you ended at, and your current Reta dose?

To be honest, my time on Tirz was brief—it just wasn’t for me. I began at .5 and increased the dose roughly every 2 weeks. At present I’m at 5.

Yeah — appetite suppression didn’t kick in for me until 4mg … at this stage you’re definitely at the right dose

 

[ziffusion]

When you moved to maintenance, what was your approach? Did you simply stop, or did you try to identify a dose that kept your end weight steady?

 

[Beachnwaves98]

ziffusion said:

When you moved to maintenance, what was your approach? Did you simply stop, or did you try to identify a dose that kept your end weight steady?

Thanks for asking — you had plenty of solid questions.

Once I reached my target, here's what happened. My weight fell from 241.4 all the way to 179. At that point I bumped my daily calories up from 1800 to 2000, and stayed on 5mg Tirz for several weeks. I even skipped shots for 1 full week, and during the holidays went stretches without logging what I ate.

The result was a regain of 10+ lbs. That told me I had to get strict again — both a calorie deficit and a higher Tirz dose — to work my way back down, so I moved from 5mg up to 12mg. Most of that 10 came off, but then I decided to try Reta as an experiment. For its first 4 weeks, it honestly felt like I had virtually no appetite suppression. These days, at 4mg weekly of Reta, the appetite control has finally returned. A few lbs remain to be lost, so I'll stay on this path while it keeps working.

One thing that muddies the picture: my resistance training, plus regular creatine. Creatine can push my weight up by roughly 10 lbs from water, and building lean tissue can add weight too (which is a positive).

Even so, I wouldn't trade it. Strength training progress has been great. I haven't given much thought yet to what a maintenance dose of Reta would look like.