Sticking with .25 or moving up to .5?

S

SaladJourney

Well-known member
I've been seeing a lot of people say they wish they’d stayed on .25, or actually had better results with it! I'm starting my fifth week soon, and I'm unsure if I should increase my dose. I've basically only lost a single pound in three weeks, which is frustrating because I can typically manage weight loss at that rate on my own without medication. Any thoughts? Should I stay at .25, or move to .5? Maybe it'll eventually "kick in" and the weight will start coming off? I'm 5'0", currently 129 lbs, with a goal of 105, and experiencing perimenopause. I maintain a calorie deficit and exercise about 3-5 times a week, but the scale isn't moving very much.
 
If you haven't had notable weight loss, like more than a pound each week, and haven't had any negative side effects, there's no good reason to stay on the starting dose. Go up. Also, you're already relatively small, so even one pound a week would be a pretty good result, and don't expect to lose multiple pounds each week.
 
Given your height and your current weight, weight loss is going to be slower and the scale will fluctuate more, especially with perimenopause symptoms. The .25 dose is just to help your body get used to the medication. It's not usually where people see really significant weight loss. If you're tolerating it well, .5 is where you'll probably start to see some actual appetite suppression. The initial weight loss you see at .25 is usually just water weight, it doesn't indicate that it works better long-term. I wouldn't expect a radical change overnight, and I wouldn't judge your progress based on just three weeks. Look at your results over 4-6 weeks, and definitely discuss dosage with whoever prescribed it to you.
 
Increase your dose ⬆️. Therapeutic effects don't really start until .5. If you see results at .5, stick with that until you plateau before increasing it again.
 
I guess the important question is, why are you taking Ozempic to begin with? If you can actually lose weight faster without it, it would definitely make sense NOT to take something that could potentially mess with your hormones and overall body balance. Most of us on Ozempic are taking it for reasons other than simply "trying it out."
 
My doctor was going to increase me from 0.5 to 1.0, which is what normally happens… But I felt so bad on 1.0, I cut back to 0.5 twice a week and ended up losing around 35 pounds, which was amazing. My doctor was fine with it, but the nausea was so constant, I decided to go back to 0.5 once a week. If I lose weight slower and my A1c is still good, I'm okay with that.
 
I didn't notice any change in my weight or blood sugar on .25. Now I'm at .50, and my blood sugar has improved, and I've lost about half a stone. I wanted to stay at .50 because I'm starting to feel a little nauseous, but my doctor is increasing me to 1.0 next week with my third pen. I really hope I don't get too sick on 1.0, so far the side effects haven't been bad.
 
I dropped around 12 pounds on .25 and just went up to .5 and have lost about two pounds already. I don’t feel any different side effect-wise. If you're not seeing results, increasing the dose might be worth trying.
 
If you're taking it for weight loss and aren't seeing any appetite suppression, go up in dosage. If you're taking it for blood sugar, you'll probably need to increase the dosage anyway. So I say yes, increase the dosage!
 
.25 and .50 are just introductory doses to get your body used to the medication. Anyone who says they don't need higher doses is basically just dieting and giving the credit to the Ozempic.
 
I agree with Clean-Boss.
Clean-Boss said:
.25 and .50 are just introductory doses to get your body used to the medication. Anyone who says they don't need higher doses is basically just dieting and giving the credit to the Ozempic.
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It's easy to mistake initial diet changes for the drug working its magic, but it might not be that.
 
Has anyone ever forgotten their pen when traveling? I'm going to be out of the country for two weeks and realized I left it at home. I was supposed to go up to 2mg when I get back, but now I'm not so sure. What should I expect?
 
If you miss a dose for longer than two weeks, you should contact your provider for guidance on how to proceed. It's likely they'll want you to reduce your dosage when you restart.
 
I've heard about people not having any changes for a couple weeks after stopping, but then things got real. Like, hunger came back with a vengeance! Prepare for some serious food cravings... but maybe enjoy your vacation first!
 
Hit my goal weight and stayed on the medication because I didn't want the weight back. It's a lifetime thing now, just at a lower maintenance dose.
 
i split twice a week every 3.5 days, same time as my TRT. i do get slightly hungrier just before my injection day. never tried anything else so can't compare but i don't see any downsides.
 
The slow titration advice is correct. Most GI side effects are escalation effects. Plenty of people do jump and are fine though.
 
glad you found it too, ya know? week 5 of 1mg and the food noise coming back is basically the classic titration signal. gonna sound familiar to a lot of people here - the suppression effect tends to be strongest the first few weeks at a dose and then the body adjusts. moving up at that point is usually the right call.
 
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