Tapering off in January and honestly terrified of regain - did anyone actually maintain without going gray market?

[Sweat_Go]

Roughly 14 months into ozempic and sitting right at my goal weight, but my doctor wants me tapering off soon due to insurance changes hitting in January. Genuinely scared of regaining, statistically scared. A relative tried a similar medication, stopped, and put almost everything back within eight months. Looked briefly into people running small amounts of similar compounds sourced outside the usual pharmacy channel to hold steady after stopping, though some of those options look genuinely shady with no clear way telling who's trustworthy. Nobody really discusses the mental load of figuring out life once the medication stops. Everyone celebrates weight coming off, but maintenance feels like a total unknown nobody prepares anyone for. My doctor's advice was basically stay active and eat right, which is literally what led to being overweight to begin with. Has anyone genuinely kept weight off long term without turning to unofficial sourcing? What's actually worked for people?

 

[holdsteady_weekly]

In case you missed it, there was a recent post covering tapering off and the regain that followed after stopping in January.

 

[toastyhangingin9530]

Same advice everyone else is giving, best approach seems to be tapering the dose down for a while rather than stopping cold. In the meantime, make sure the healthy habits are locking in.

 

[pecan-wk879]

Some people taper all the way off completely and hold steady, sometimes even continuing to lose a bit more. Others just can't manage that. Comes down to natural hunger levels and how much willpower gets applied, combined with whatever healthy habits and lifestyle shifts happened along the way. Plenty stay on indefinitely, whether microdosing to maintain or sitting at a set maintenance amount. Others don't need that at all. Genuinely varies person to person. Worth just trying it, and if it doesn't hold, dropping back to a minimal amount just to hold steady is always an option.