Tirzepatide and food noise: does anyone else still get cravings?

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onwuz1234

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I’m in week 2 of Tirzepatide, taking 5mg, and I honestly can’t say for sure whether the “food noise” has actually stopped or if I’m partly imagining it.

That said, my early response seems fairly positive.

Right now I’m following 16:8 intermittent fasting. When I eat my first meal around noon, I feel full on portions that would usually have me going back for more. Sometimes I really have no desire to eat. Even so, cravings do still pop up now and then — peanuts especially — and I can eat a couple handfuls without any problem. I had assumed Tirz would wipe out cravings/food noise entirely, so I’m wondering if other people still get some cravings even while doing well overall.

A few things I’ve noticed:

  • Down just over 2kg during week 1 (no idea how much is water weight versus fat loss)
  • No significant side effects
  • One day of sulphur burps, but much milder than some accounts I’ve seen, and they went away after I slept
  • My Fitbit resting heart rate looks a bit higher than usual, though I haven’t gotten any abnormal HR alerts

All in all I feel good, but I’m trying to figure out what a “normal” early response looks like. I’d like to hear from others:

  • Did your cravings go away completely?
  • How long until the appetite suppression/food noise reduction became clear?
  • Did anyone else see a small HR rise in the beginning?
 
For most people, food noise means that ongoing mental tug toward food becomes less loud, rather than all cravings vanishing entirely.
 
For me, it was an almost nonstop racket in my head—what I'd be making for dinner that day, what I might pick up to eat while I was out, what was sitting in the kitchen, the pantry, the freezer. A sound that never went away. By contrast, on Tirz I hardly EVER think about food; in fact I have to actually MAKE myself think, "Have I eaten enough today?" With food noise I couldn't even be near food without it dragging me in—like if there's food out at an event, I'd drift toward it and fixate on it to the exclusion of everything else, it was top priority. Now...nah. I'll walk right past a box of donuts and not even notice. It no longer consumes me.

oh, and editing to add that mine disappeared Day One on tirz
 
Yeah, it's more like a craving turned inside out.

With age, I've gotten progressively more attuned to dips in blood sugar. Before any reading even flags it, the shakes set in. This doesn't resemble a typical food urge, though. My doctor said he had cravings for fish. ? ? Thanks to the stomach emptying more slowly, a person can even develop an aversion to food once they've eaten. For something that isn't psychoactive, tirz is pretty fascinating. Maybe you could argue it acts psychoactively alongside the gut microbiome?
 
onwuz1234 said:

I’m in week 2 of Tirzepatide, taking 5mg, and I honestly can’t say for sure whether the “food noise” has actually stopped or if I’m partly imagining it.

That said, my early response seems fairly positive.

Right now I’m following 16:8 intermittent fasting. When I eat my first meal around noon, I feel full on portions that would usually have me going back for more. Sometimes I really have no desire to eat. Even so, cravings do still pop up now and then — peanuts especially — and I can eat a couple handfuls without any problem. I had assumed Tirz would wipe out cravings/food noise entirely, so I’m wondering if other people still get some cravings even while doing well overall.

A few things I’ve noticed:

  • Down just over 2kg during week 1 (no idea how much is water weight versus fat loss)
  • No significant side effects
  • One day of sulphur burps, but much milder than some accounts I’ve seen, and they went away after I slept
  • My Fitbit resting heart rate looks a bit higher than usual, though I haven’t gotten any abnormal HR alerts

All in all I feel good, but I’m trying to figure out what a “normal” early response looks like. I’d like to hear from others:

  • Did your cravings go away completely?
  • How long until the appetite suppression/food noise reduction became clear?
  • Did anyone else see a small HR rise in the beginning?
Click to expand...

Don't you dare ask that — not now, not ever. My first 30 pounds came off while I was on 2.2mg, and within 15 minutes of that initial injection I could already feel it. Placebo? Doesn't matter. I don't care now, and I didn't care back then either. If that's what the human brain pulled off, then great — good for it.
 
I've been a "grazer" for as long as I can remember, favoring little snacks all day long rather than sitting down to bigger, more substantial meals. Now that I'm 5 weeks into tirz, that nonstop pull toward snacking has dropped off a lot. Cravings do still pop up here and there, but brushing them aside is SO much simpler. My head feels far less cluttered, and honestly that shift is a nice relief.
 
In my case, the food noise vanished fast at the start. By day 2-3, I noticed food was no longer on my mind. Ads for food on TV also no longer made me hungry.
 
Pupsikas said:

For most people, food noise means that ongoing mental tug toward food becomes less loud, rather than all cravings vanishing entirely.
Click to expand...

yeah, same here. there are still moments when i feel like snacking, but a sensible option does the trick, and i don't overeat when i sit down for a meal. what changed most in my case (ymmv) is that i no longer crave a mountain of sugary stuff at odd hours, and i'm able to turn down some of those truly junk options.
 
Pupsikas said:

For most people, food noise means that ongoing mental tug toward food becomes less loud, rather than all cravings vanishing entirely.
Click to expand...

I appreciate this—it clears things up a lot.

I had assumed that when food noise fades, cravings disappear too. Since cravings were still hitting me, I couldn't figure out what was going on and started thinking about raising my dose.
 
spanky2026 said:

For me, it was an almost nonstop racket in my head—what I'd be making for dinner that day, what I might pick up to eat while I was out, what was sitting in the kitchen, the pantry, the freezer. A sound that never went away. By contrast, on Tirz I hardly EVER think about food; in fact I have to actually MAKE myself think, "Have I eaten enough today?" With food noise I couldn't even be near food without it dragging me in—like if there's food out at an event, I'd drift toward it and fixate on it to the exclusion of everything else, it was top priority. Now...nah. I'll walk right past a box of donuts and not even notice. It no longer consumes me.

oh, and editing to add that mine disappeared Day One on tirz
Click to expand...
So if that's the case, then my food noise has definitely gone down. I've got a real weakness for sweets, and when someone brought out a box of fancy chocolates last week, I actually turned it down.

I NEVER TURN DOWN CHOCOLATE.
 
There are moments when I still feel hungry. I even have some big meals now and then. That said, I eat less overall across the day, and the nonstop food thoughts have dropped a great deal. It is such a relief.
 
For me, it came down to being able to have thoughts about favorite foods without feeling compelled to eat them. Those peanut butter cups from my MIL at Easter? 9 out of the 10 pack is still sitting in the cupboard. Early on, it took a while to tell apart "mouth hunger" from genuine hunger. I often found myself testing whether I still wanted snacks or treats, and it felt like I did...until I began realizing that when I was occupied with other things and not zeroing in on food, it stopped being an issue. Also, when I did give in, much less was needed to handle cravings (5 fries, 5 chips, 1-2 pieces of chocolate). I stopped thinking of something and needing to consume every bit of it right away.

Now at 9 months in, the suppression has eased up for me, but Tirz still keeps me in charge of my cravings instead of the reverse.
 
For me, the cravings stuck around, but the noise started to quiet down around week 2. The only way a craving actually goes away is when my shot gives me nausea that week — then I don’t want anything whatsoever.
 
For me, food noise shows up as heading into the grocery store and grabbing the unhealthy items I used to consume without a second thought. These days, when I’m shopping, those processed foods don’t even cross my mind. That said, I’ve noticed the urges creeping back on the day right before my next injection, or when I go 1 or 2 weeks without a dose.
 
In my case, the nonstop urge to nibble "just because" disappeared. I could previously eat around 2-3 Popcorn, then move on to other salty and savoury items simply out of boredom. These days those things don't even cross my mind. I don't go looking for them either, even though they're sitting in my pantry. Like the user above, the day before my shot I notice the noise beginning to return. For me it's truly a game changer.
 
onwuz1234 said:

I’m in week 2 of Tirzepatide, taking 5mg, and I honestly can’t say for sure whether the “food noise” has actually stopped or if I’m partly imagining it.

That said, my early response seems fairly positive.

Right now I’m following 16:8 intermittent fasting. When I eat my first meal around noon, I feel full on portions that would usually have me going back for more. Sometimes I really have no desire to eat. Even so, cravings do still pop up now and then — peanuts especially — and I can eat a couple handfuls without any problem. I had assumed Tirz would wipe out cravings/food noise entirely, so I’m wondering if other people still get some cravings even while doing well overall.

A few things I’ve noticed:

  • Down just over 2kg during week 1 (no idea how much is water weight versus fat loss)
  • No significant side effects
  • One day of sulphur burps, but much milder than some accounts I’ve seen, and they went away after I slept
  • My Fitbit resting heart rate looks a bit higher than usual, though I haven’t gotten any abnormal HR alerts

All in all I feel good, but I’m trying to figure out what a “normal” early response looks like. I’d like to hear from others:

  • Did your cravings go away completely?
  • How long until the appetite suppression/food noise reduction became clear?
  • Did anyone else see a small HR rise in the beginning?
Click to expand...
About 7 months back, I began mounjaro at 2.5mg, prescribed by my doctor. The hunger noise quieted down in the first 24 hours. By the end of 1 week, it was gone entirely. It was uncommon for me to feel like I wanted sugary cookies when I passed them in a snacks automate. I did buy 1. Even so, I couldn't finish it. Then 1 month ago I gave reta a try, and 2 days in, the hunger noise returned. I was able to brush it off without much trouble. Still, it was present. From what I've experienced, tirz suppresses hunger better than reta.
 
Week 2 for me as well, at 2.5mg of Tirz.

Food noise used to have total control over me. Roughly every 2-3 hours a craving to eat would kick in, and if I went more than about an hour without getting food, brain fog would set in along with serious hanger. Keeping it in check was a struggle, and I'm sure I wasn't pleasant to be around because of it!

These days the difference is enormous. Food no longer runs my life. I still eat, but holding a small deficit isn't a battle. Portions have shrunk, and I'm not wandering the kitchen hunting for something to quiet that endless hunger.

That said, on day 6 this week the hanger came back! I was waiting on someone so we could go to lunch, and when I didn't eat within a reasonable window, the same brain fog and irritation showed up again. Next week I need to plan around this and remember it can still happen!
 
At 5mg weekly, you're at the lowest therapeutic amount. If that's working for you and you feel good, that's fine!

However, should the effects you're hoping for not show up, or if that "honeymoon" phase starts to fade, moving up in 2.5mg increments is standard and reasonable, staying at each dose for 4 weeks, all the way to 15mg weekly.

The reason for those 4-week holds is so you can catch any unwanted side effects while they're still small, rather than having your digestive system feel like a safe got dropped on it.
 
NagChamp said:

Week 2 for me as well, at 2.5mg of Tirz.

Food noise used to have total control over me. Roughly every 2-3 hours a craving to eat would kick in, and if I went more than about an hour without getting food, brain fog would set in along with serious hanger. Keeping it in check was a struggle, and I'm sure I wasn't pleasant to be around because of it!

These days the difference is enormous. Food no longer runs my life. I still eat, but holding a small deficit isn't a battle. Portions have shrunk, and I'm not wandering the kitchen hunting for something to quiet that endless hunger.

That said, on day 6 this week the hanger came back! I was waiting on someone so we could go to lunch, and when I didn't eat within a reasonable window, the same brain fog and irritation showed up again. Next week I need to plan around this and remember it can still happen!
Click to expand...
Should the Day 6 effect persist while you keep raising the dose according to the standard schedule, that suggests you may do well with injections every 5 days or every 3.5 days. Naturally, the dose would need to be adjusted on each occasion.

https://glp1plotter.com/ can show you various approaches and how they affect the levels in your body
 
My initial dose of tirzepatide went in around 11am, and the same day, not long after lunchtime, I could already notice it working. What I experienced wasn't the typical mental craving or nonstop food thoughts that many people describe. My pattern was more like constant grazing from morning to night, and it happened on autopilot. I'd wander to the fridge at odd moments, just staring inside for a bite. This went on all day. Snacking was frequent too. On that first afternoon, the fridge trips stopped. I no longer caught myself standing there without thinking, and any snack I had was a deliberate choice. That change has essentially stuck with me across the 17 months I've been on tirzepatide. I also tried some CBT and started seeing a nutritionist further into my journey. Still, tirzepatide was clearly the main factor.
 
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