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DC_143C

DC_143C

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Hi everyone, I'm 32 and live on Canada's west coast. A friend's group discord brought this forum to my attention, and back then I brushed it off, but now I'm really glad the name stuck with me and brought me here. When it comes to glp-1's, my entire history is tirzepatide prescribed by my doctor, titrating from 2.5 up to 10. Things went really well at first: 320 dropped to 295 in roughly 6 weeks, then I hit a wall almost right away. Over the next five months I got down to 280, but at any weekly dose of 5 or higher, I could feel a big drop in my energy and my motivation to train, meal prep, or do things I usually like.

Whole-food meal prepping is something I've gotten decent at, and I use macrofactor to track diet and progress, plus I train a lot (boxing, cycling, badminton). Appetite control has always been my weak spot, though. Even with whole foods and real effort to stay on plan, none of it counts for much when I'm still putting away 1,000 extra calories daily. ¯\(ツ)/¯

These compounds are almost certainly where my answer lies, it just may not be the 1 I began with!

My goal is to get back to 220, which is what I weighed when I boxed in my early 20s. I made some bad decisions during a relationship with a toxic ex, and for several years I kept testing how deep the alcoholic spiral went. Several years past that low point now, I'm trying to rebuild my life 1 step at a time, I suppose.

Sorry for the long intro rant, I'm looking forward to learning from everyone here. From the few hours I've spent reading around the forum so far, seems like a very warm and knowledgeable community here. Thanks for having me!
 
Those cycles sure can be a pain! It's great that you're putting in the effort to flip things around.

Wishing you all the best with what you're aiming for. Stay strong, and don't stop pushing forward!
 
Welcome! Have you noticed that tirzepatide pretty much wipes out the urge to get shitfaced? These days I'm perfectly happy with just 1 beer, which is a surprising side-effect.
 
By the time I started Tirzepatide, I'd already been sober for a few years, so cravings for alcohol were already far behind me. Even so, when it comes to everyday temptations, I'd say it likely helped and still helps quite a bit. Before I began taking it, occasionally a thought would pop up like [[Q1]] but once I was on Tirz, that kind of thinking mostly stopped appearing. That said, when a trigger hits hard enough or is stressful enough, the old neural pathways still find a way through, and those former habits can still call to you strongly.

These days I can also stop after just 1 or 2 drinks without feeling a powerful urge to keep going until I'm wasted, which is great — and even after quitting Tirz, that ability has stuck around. Overall, Tirzepatide genuinely does work, though it isn't a 100% cure. What it does best, I think, is help you rewire your brain so that in similar situations, your habits steer you toward responsible choices more often than toward the irresponsible or unhealthy ones.
 
Tirz has been a real asset for both my workouts and planning meals. Because of Tirz, I now steer clear of junk that upsets my stomach, and I actually crave wholesome options instead. On top of that, my joint discomfort has eased noticeably—not just from dropping pounds, but from less inflammation too. None of this occurs overnight, so keep going!
 
SamsHere said:

Tirz has been a real asset for both my workouts and planning meals. Because of Tirz, I now steer clear of junk that upsets my stomach, and I actually crave wholesome options instead. On top of that, my joint discomfort has eased noticeably—not just from dropping pounds, but from less inflammation too. None of this occurs overnight, so keep going!
Click to expand...
That's awesome that it's been so effective for you! From what I understand, GLP-1 medications do more than just lower inflammation—some newer research indicates they can actually cause cartilage to regrow. Wild!

As I recall, one trial used hyaluronic acid injections as the control arm and compared them with semaglutide, and after 24 weeks they saw roughly 20% cartilage regeneration in the semaglutide arm, versus clearly under 1% change in the HA control arm.

My hope is that I can get good results from a lower equivalent dose of Reta than what I was getting from Tirz, since the anhedonia I hit at higher Tirz doses really killed the vibe for me lol.
 
DC_143C said:

SamsHere said:

Tirz has been a real asset for both my workouts and planning meals. Because of Tirz, I now steer clear of junk that upsets my stomach, and I actually crave wholesome options instead. On top of that, my joint discomfort has eased noticeably—not just from dropping pounds, but from less inflammation too. None of this occurs overnight, so keep going!
Click to expand...
That's awesome that it's been so effective for you! From what I understand, GLP-1 medications do more than just lower inflammation—some newer research indicates they can actually cause cartilage to regrow. Wild!

As I recall, one trial used hyaluronic acid injections as the control arm and compared them with semaglutide, and after 24 weeks they saw roughly 20% cartilage regeneration in the semaglutide arm, versus clearly under 1% change in the HA control arm.

My hope is that I can get good results from a lower equivalent dose of Reta than what I was getting from Tirz, since the anhedonia I hit at higher Tirz doses really killed the vibe for me lol.
Click to expand...
While using reta, I haven't noticed any drop in how much I enjoy things so far. That said, I've considered trying kisspeptin in case I start feeling less interested in activities and suspect the reta is the reason.
 
LynchMobSiouxzy said:

DC_143C said:

SamsHere said:

Tirz has been a real asset for both my workouts and planning meals. Because of Tirz, I now steer clear of junk that upsets my stomach, and I actually crave wholesome options instead. On top of that, my joint discomfort has eased noticeably—not just from dropping pounds, but from less inflammation too. None of this occurs overnight, so keep going!
Click to expand...
That's awesome that it's been so effective for you! From what I understand, GLP-1 medications do more than just lower inflammation—some newer research indicates they can actually cause cartilage to regrow. Wild!

As I recall, one trial used hyaluronic acid injections as the control arm and compared them with semaglutide, and after 24 weeks they saw roughly 20% cartilage regeneration in the semaglutide arm, versus clearly under 1% change in the HA control arm.

My hope is that I can get good results from a lower equivalent dose of Reta than what I was getting from Tirz, since the anhedonia I hit at higher Tirz doses really killed the vibe for me lol.
Click to expand...
While using reta, I haven't noticed any drop in how much I enjoy things so far. That said, I've considered trying kisspeptin in case I start feeling less interested in activities and suspect the reta is the reason.
Click to expand...
Kisspeptin is completely new to me. What's the mechanism by which it would help with anhedonia? I understand how it affects testosterone and libido downstream, but are there additional pathways at play?
 
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