When depression wipes out your appetite on Reta

Valyra

Valyra

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Just a quick update on how my reta journey is going.

I began back in February and, honestly, it had been going really well. The losses were steady, the side effects stayed manageable, and I felt like I was making fast, real progress while still getting my nutrients in without feeling too wiped out. I've been sitting on 3mg for the past 4 weeks.

Sadly, roughly a month ago I went through some personal stuff that hit me hard on the mental side. My depression came roaring back, and my appetite has vanished ever since. It isn't the usual suppression I used to feel either. There were stretches where I couldn't eat for days and had to force myself to sip anything at all just to stay hydrated.

At this point my interest in food is basically gone and forcing myself simply isn't possible, so my average intake works out around 200, 600 on a good day - sometimes nothing at all. Nothing sounds appealing, and eating feels like a chore rather than something I enjoy. Even liquids get difficult some days. Because of that, I haven't pinned in 9 days now, but the hunger never came back. I still have no appetite and mostly just feel empty.

It's been a strange experience, because up until this started everything was going exactly how I hoped. Right now I'm just focusing on getting through the depression and finding a way to get nutrition and hydration in consistently again.

Has anyone else dealt with the same thing, where the depression just steamrolled any normal hunger signal while on reta? Before this, sadness meant bingeing for me; now it means I don't eat at all.
 
Valyra said:

Just a quick update on how my reta journey is going.

I began back in February and, honestly, it had been going really well. The losses were steady, the side effects stayed manageable, and I felt like I was making fast, real progress while still getting my nutrients in without feeling too wiped out. I've been sitting on 3mg for the past 4 weeks.

Sadly, roughly a month ago I went through some personal stuff that hit me hard on the mental side. My depression came roaring back, and my appetite has vanished ever since. It isn't the usual suppression I used to feel either. There were stretches where I couldn't eat for days and had to force myself to sip anything at all just to stay hydrated.

At this point my interest in food is basically gone and forcing myself simply isn't possible, so my average intake works out around 200, 600 on a good day - sometimes nothing at all. Nothing sounds appealing, and eating feels like a chore rather than something I enjoy. Even liquids get difficult some days. Because of that, I haven't pinned in 9 days now, but the hunger never came back. I still have no appetite and mostly just feel empty.

It's been a strange experience, because up until this started everything was going exactly how I hoped. Right now I'm just focusing on getting through the depression and finding a way to get nutrition and hydration in consistently again.

Has anyone else dealt with the same thing, where the depression just steamrolled any normal hunger signal while on reta? Before this, sadness meant bingeing for me; now it means I don't eat at all.
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For me too, eating was a way to cope with sadness or stress.

I can't speak to a complete lack of appetite (which, sadly, isn't something I've dealt with) and I only know a bit about depression, but this sounds incredibly hard for you.

And beyond that, if your body is missing even the basic nutrients, your mood certainly won't improve.

I truly hope you find your way out of this, and I'm sending you a lot of strength!
 
I haven't gone through anything like that myself, but it's clear this situation must be really frustrating for you. Whether or not reta is involved, depression can either increase or reduce appetite, and that varies from person to person. As far as I know, how depression and reta affect each other isn't known.. Maybe consider lowering your dose again? 200kcal/day is starvation and can't be kept up.
 
It looks like results vary wildly from one individual to another. My RS has been under a lot of stress recently, and right around then they moved up to 4mg. Oddly enough, at that higher dose they ended up hungrier than they had ever been. I had only come across this kind of thing before from other people—some report intense appetite suppression, while others claim it does nothing for their appetite, particularly when compared with tirz.
 
It seems like you held on to that dose longer than you should have, though things are moving in a better direction now. When I hit 4mg, I also lost my appetite completely and had to make myself eat; I stuck it out an additional week at 4mg anyway, and that was a dumb call. As the amount built up in your system gradually drops, your appetite and your desire to eat ought to rebound across roughly 2 weeks, and by now you should be about 9 days in.
 
It hurts me to read this. Before any peptides enter the picture, I already understand firsthand how much depression can wear down your body. That said, certain peptides exist that may help with this. I'm not able to go into detail about them in this space, so please keep digging. God Bless!
 
It’s really tough to hear that you’re dealing with this. Setting GLP1s to one side, I hope you get help for the depression. There’s no need to blast your way through it.
 
At minimum, make yourself take vitamins twice daily. A prenatal plus vitamin D with k2. Iron is in them. My depression really improves from this.
 
Before anything else, please get in touch with a mental health professional as soon as you can. Dark chocolate is worth a try.

At above 60% it does help. Other things that help: playing music you love and dancing along, the you tube binaraural music for anti depression, walking out in nature, getting sunshine, and calling up friends.

Lemon balm tea is helpful.

Are you in perimenopause ? there are herbal supplements that really help.

Last year, before I started, I was depressed, and all of these helped bring me back.

our thoughts are with you.
 
Valyra said:

Just a quick update on how my reta journey is going.

I began back in February and, honestly, it had been going really well. The losses were steady, the side effects stayed manageable, and I felt like I was making fast, real progress while still getting my nutrients in without feeling too wiped out. I've been sitting on 3mg for the past 4 weeks.

Sadly, roughly a month ago I went through some personal stuff that hit me hard on the mental side. My depression came roaring back, and my appetite has vanished ever since. It isn't the usual suppression I used to feel either. There were stretches where I couldn't eat for days and had to force myself to sip anything at all just to stay hydrated.

At this point my interest in food is basically gone and forcing myself simply isn't possible, so my average intake works out around 200, 600 on a good day - sometimes nothing at all. Nothing sounds appealing, and eating feels like a chore rather than something I enjoy. Even liquids get difficult some days. Because of that, I haven't pinned in 9 days now, but the hunger never came back. I still have no appetite and mostly just feel empty.

It's been a strange experience, because up until this started everything was going exactly how I hoped. Right now I'm just focusing on getting through the depression and finding a way to get nutrition and hydration in consistently again.

Has anyone else dealt with the same thing, where the depression just steamrolled any normal hunger signal while on reta? Before this, sadness meant bingeing for me; now it means I don't eat at all.
Click to expand...
When someone is going through a divorce, depression and weight loss are very common — particularly for the partner who was caught off guard by the split. Depression can take 2 different directions. In 1, the person loses interest in everything, food included; in the other, they turn to eating as a way to cope.
 
Valyra said:

Just a quick update on how my reta journey is going.

I began back in February and, honestly, it had been going really well. The losses were steady, the side effects stayed manageable, and I felt like I was making fast, real progress while still getting my nutrients in without feeling too wiped out. I've been sitting on 3mg for the past 4 weeks.

Sadly, roughly a month ago I went through some personal stuff that hit me hard on the mental side. My depression came roaring back, and my appetite has vanished ever since. It isn't the usual suppression I used to feel either. There were stretches where I couldn't eat for days and had to force myself to sip anything at all just to stay hydrated.

At this point my interest in food is basically gone and forcing myself simply isn't possible, so my average intake works out around 200, 600 on a good day - sometimes nothing at all. Nothing sounds appealing, and eating feels like a chore rather than something I enjoy. Even liquids get difficult some days. Because of that, I haven't pinned in 9 days now, but the hunger never came back. I still have no appetite and mostly just feel empty.

It's been a strange experience, because up until this started everything was going exactly how I hoped. Right now I'm just focusing on getting through the depression and finding a way to get nutrition and hydration in consistently again.

Has anyone else dealt with the same thing, where the depression just steamrolled any normal hunger signal while on reta? Before this, sadness meant bingeing for me; now it means I don't eat at all.
Click to expand...
Like others have mentioned, please get help! There's no point in your Reta journey if your mental health is suffering
 
On Reta, anhedonia hit me hard. Once I quit pinning, it was a whole month before I felt like myself again. So if you're just depressed, it could also take a full month for your eating to get back to that baseline.

In the meantime, you can likely manage to choke down a high calorie protein shake once or twice a day, and make sure you're taking vitamins.

When that time arrives, you'll need to figure out which parts are you and which parts are the Reta. But one thing at a time.
 
Thanks everyone for the support and ideas — I only just got through this thread now.

Food is still a real struggle for me, so I've made the call to pause Retatrutide for the time being, at least until I'm feeling better. My hope is that my appetite comes back soon and that I might be able to restart on a smaller dose. In the meantime, I'm going to put my energy into finding help for what I'm dealing with.
 
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