Wegovy vs Reta

[super35link]

My doctor told me yesterday that my insurance will cover Wegovy for my NAFLD, and the prescription has already been written — I just need to pick it up. Now I'm stuck deciding: Wegovy or Reta? My BMI isn't especially high at 33.3 kg/m2, but my metabolic risk is real because of fatty liver, pre-diabetic status, and a history of gout.

From what I recall reading in the third triumph of Reta, 35% of the participants already had fatty liver and 82% fully reversed it — that matters a lot in my case.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Thee Oohwee]

Ultimately, that's up to you. The reason I made the switch from Tirz over to Reta was the liver fat improvements that the studies kept highlighting.

If your budget allows, why not give it a shot? Read up on it first, then pick up a starter kit. One option: get the Wegovy filled and save it away for later maintenance?

 

[super35link]

Thee Oohwee said:

Ultimately, that's up to you. The reason I made the switch from Tirz over to Reta was the liver fat improvements that the studies kept highlighting.

If your budget allows, why not give it a shot? Read up on it first, then pick up a starter kit. One option: get the Wegovy filled and save it away for later maintenance?

Wouldn’t Wegovy be the safer pick over Reta? I get anxious thinking about stuff like reconstituting Reta, what dosing schedule to use, and even the Anhedonia reports I’ve come across about Reta.

Also, what’s the shelf life for Wegovy? I’m seeing conflicting info online.

 

[palmtreeliving]

I can’t speak to wegovy from personal experience, but Reta did get me out of the pre diabetic range. My A1c came back in the healthy range on blood tests I did roughly 2 weeks ago.

My take: if Reta is something you can obtain, I’d pick it over Wegovy, because it works as a triple agonist while wegovy is only a single one.

 

[lessthanhalf]

If your insurance copay for Wegovy is fairly low, sticking with the pharmaceutical product instead of grey-market reta has its upsides — chiefly that you avoid peptides that could be contaminated or mislabeled. You also sidestep awkward conversations or dishonesty with your physicians.

That said, semaglutide is probably the worst of the GLP's when it comes to side effects relative to weight loss achieved, and it trails reta for reversing fatty liver disease — though reta's evidence base is still earlier.

I'm far from unbiased on semaglutide: I endured 12 months of nausea and malaise on it while trying to manage hunger after dropping roughly half my body weight, until I found grey sources that cost less and caused far fewer side effects. For me, tirz 15mg combined with reta 5mg weekly produces less nausea and no malaise compared with 0.8mg/w of ozempic.

One path would be to begin wegovy and monitor how you respond — side effects differ widely between individuals, and you might tolerate it well; if problems arise, or if it fails to improve the NAFLD much, then consider reta.

Head to head, reta is far superior: reaching 15% body weight loss on semaglutide requires the full 2.4mg/week maximum dose, whereas roughly just 3mg weekly of reta (1/4 of its max dose) can deliver comparable weight loss. So beyond reta having fewer side effects than sema at full doses, you can likely use much smaller reta doses with even fewer side effects.

 

[Grogu]

Last fall I ran 1mg of sema alongside tirz for roughly 10 weeks, and I experienced zero side effects. So, YMMV. For me, sema isn't worth switching to since reta or tirz outperform it, though that doesn't stop you from getting the Rx filled while continuing reta.

If your insurance is picking up the medication and the cost is low, my own move would be to fill the Rx and then either save it up for maintenance like @Thee Oohwee mentioned, or hold onto it to add as a stack whenever you hit a stall or want an extra push.

Selling peptides/medications through the b/s/t market isn't something I do, but it's likely you could find a buyer. Giving it to a friend or relative would be my preference. I know all of this is probably illegal, but I'm just looking at it practically.

 

[Rolltide61]

super35link said:

Thee Oohwee said:

Ultimately, that's up to you. The reason I made the switch from Tirz over to Reta was the liver fat improvements that the studies kept highlighting.

If your budget allows, why not give it a shot? Read up on it first, then pick up a starter kit. One option: get the Wegovy filled and save it away for later maintenance?

Wouldn’t Wegovy be the safer pick over Reta? I get anxious thinking about stuff like reconstituting Reta, what dosing schedule to use, and even the Anhedonia reports I’ve come across about Reta.

Also, what’s the shelf life for Wegovy? I’m seeing conflicting info online.

Reconstituting your first peptide is something else, hoss. You get a rush from it. There's something magical about it. Again and again, you'll want to do it. You'll even pick up other peptides just so you have something to reconstitute. And then......it turns into a chore.

 

[GLP1Pharmacist]

I'd be perfectly comfortable going with Wegovy, though it's worth verifying what your copay comes out to. For me it's above $700 each month, which is ridiculous. F*ck BC/BS. Wegovy does have real clinical trials backing its use for fatty liver as well.

 

[BNLFL]

Rolltide61 said:

super35link said:

Thee Oohwee said:

Ultimately, that's up to you. The reason I made the switch from Tirz over to Reta was the liver fat improvements that the studies kept highlighting.

If your budget allows, why not give it a shot? Read up on it first, then pick up a starter kit. One option: get the Wegovy filled and save it away for later maintenance?

Wouldn’t Wegovy be the safer pick over Reta? I get anxious thinking about stuff like reconstituting Reta, what dosing schedule to use, and even the Anhedonia reports I’ve come across about Reta.

Also, what’s the shelf life for Wegovy? I’m seeing conflicting info online.

Reconstituting your first peptide is something else, hoss. You get a rush from it. There's something magical about it. Again and again, you'll want to do it. You'll even pick up other peptides just so you have something to reconstitute. And then......it turns into a chore.

Please don't bring that up — I'm working on stopping my GB shopping habit. I just can't resist a bargain.

 

[super35link]

Since my insurance pays for the whole thing, I'm considering asking my doctor to switch me over to Mounjaro, because Triz is a 2nd-gen option and from what I hear it works better than Wegovy

 

[super35link]

Rolltide61 said:

super35link said:

Thee Oohwee said:

Ultimately, that's up to you. The reason I made the switch from Tirz over to Reta was the liver fat improvements that the studies kept highlighting.

If your budget allows, why not give it a shot? Read up on it first, then pick up a starter kit. One option: get the Wegovy filled and save it away for later maintenance?

Wouldn’t Wegovy be the safer pick over Reta? I get anxious thinking about stuff like reconstituting Reta, what dosing schedule to use, and even the Anhedonia reports I’ve come across about Reta.

Also, what’s the shelf life for Wegovy? I’m seeing conflicting info online.

Reconstituting your first peptide is something else, hoss. You get a rush from it. There's something magical about it. Again and again, you'll want to do it. You'll even pick up other peptides just so you have something to reconstitute. And then......it turns into a chore.

I have never handled a needle before, much less mixed up my own peptide stack.

Not long ago I found out I have trypanophobia — the type that sets off a vasovagal reaction, sending blood away from where the needle is, and the whole thing happens without me realizing it in a fraction of a second.

 

[CNCCurrency]

palmtreeliving said:

I can’t speak to wegovy from personal experience, but Reta did get me out of the pre diabetic range. My A1c came back in the healthy range on blood tests I did roughly 2 weeks ago.

My take: if Reta is something you can obtain, I’d pick it over Wegovy, because it works as a triple agonist while wegovy is only a single one.





View attachment 392

Over 8 months, my level dropped from 6.3 down to 5.1. For me, reta comes out on top.

 

[lessthanhalf]

When weighing pharma-grade tirzepatide against grey-market reta, tirzepatide likely comes out ahead — even if reta delivers slightly stronger results — provided the legitimate option stays affordable, insurance included. The key reason: you sidestep the extra danger of harsher side effects that tirz brings.

 

[tbaby]

Even at zero cost, WeGovy is something I’d steer clear of. When you compare it with Tirz or Reta, its side effects are the most severe.

 

[Phatmax]

Wegovy - bin it tbh

 

[cujet]

Reta worked out great for me. My lab results shifted from alarming red all the way into the healthy green range. That covers liver, kidneys, blood glucose, A1c, and more. In just 5 months, a lifetime of decline got turned around. My Creatinine even dropped from 1.7 down to 0.98. As far as I know, nothing else could pull that off.

 

[WLBLD]

super35link said:

Since my insurance pays for the whole thing, I'm considering asking my doctor to switch me over to Mounjaro, because Triz is a 2nd-gen option and from what I hear it works better than Wegovy

Great that it's covered in full for you — that's not something you see often!! Should you manage to get mounjaro fully covered too, starting on that might be the better route. Down the line you're free to give reta a try or stack it on

 

[Rolltide61]

cujet said:

Reta worked out great for me. My lab results shifted from alarming red all the way into the healthy green range. That covers liver, kidneys, blood glucose, A1c, and more. In just 5 months, a lifetime of decline got turned around. My Creatinine even dropped from 1.7 down to 0.98. As far as I know, nothing else could pull that off.

Meanwhile, Lilly is left crying...

 

[BNLFL]

CNCCurrency said:

palmtreeliving said:

I can’t speak to wegovy from personal experience, but Reta did get me out of the pre diabetic range. My A1c came back in the healthy range on blood tests I did roughly 2 weeks ago.

My take: if Reta is something you can obtain, I’d pick it over Wegovy, because it works as a triple agonist while wegovy is only a single one.





View attachment 392

Over 8 months, my level dropped from 6.3 down to 5.1. For me, reta comes out on top.

I can’t recall the specific figures. However, at my most recent doctor’s visit, along with a fresh BT, they dropped into the healthy range after previously being borderline—close to the point where I’d need to keep an eye on them. Since I’m away from home right now, I don’t have my laptop to check.