Weight Coming Back After GLP-1s?

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NotDad

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Has anyone put weight back on after stopping tirzepatide or semaglutide?

I'm curious what happens when people discontinue these GLP-1s after being on them for a while... like, a year or more? Especially if you are not super overweight to begin with and just trying to get to a better BMI.

Share your stories!
 
The people you're asking about are probably the ones who would have the easiest time stopping GLP-1s. These meds were really intended for people with significant metabolic issues or obesity. There aren't many studies looking at what happens to people who are just a little overweight after they stop taking the drugs. So, any stories you hear will just be personal experiences.

What we do know is that, generally, people gain some weight back after stopping. It's likely to be more weight gain for people who had worse metabolic issues initially.

This comes from the SURMOUNT trials, where treatment stopped at week 176.
 
I used them for half a year a few years ago and then quit. I'd say I stayed stable for maybe 7 or 8 months, but then the holidays and some stressful life events caused the weight to start inching back up. I knew I wasn't eating well, and I probably could have stopped it, but I was in a bad place and didn't care.
 
My husband quit a few weeks ago because of side effects, and he says he's super hungry in the mornings. It's obvious he's eating way more now than when he was on the medication, so weight gain is pretty much guaranteed unless something changes. I'm lucky to have only minor side effects that I can deal with, and I plan to stay on these meds forever and ever and ever and ever and ever...
 
I think most doctors now agree that obesity is a medical issue, not just a personal failing that can be fixed with diet and exercise. For people who are just a bit overweight and don't have other metabolic problems, those things might be enough – but they probably never needed a GLP-1 to begin with. But for people with real obesity, lifestyle changes alone probably won't fix the underlying problems in how the brain and gut communicate.
 
Good point. It reminds me of mood stabilizers, like for bipolar disorder. You get really bad, you start taking them... you feel better, you stop taking them, things get crazy, and the cycle starts again.

I don't think the effects are as extreme with GLP-1s, and it's probably easier to see the warning signs (bad habits lead to the scale going up) if you're paying attention. For me, weighing myself regularly is a good way to stay on track. The injections are easy to do and I don't have many side effects right now.

I'm thinking of lowering my dose and maybe even taking breaks to see what happens. I expect I'll see some old habits come back, and I'll probably need medication to keep things in check long-term, but I won't know how much until I get there. Maybe my receptors will reset during the breaks so I can get by on a lower dose... it could be a long term experiment to see what happens.
 
No, it's not 'bad' to stay on it forever – it's not a moral issue. Metabolic dysfunction is a chronic, lifelong condition. These medications fix it, and if you stop, the problem will come back.
 
People don't like to think about it, but mental effort is limited. There's a lot of evidence that people just work that way, whether they realize it or not.
So, if keeping your weight down means always restricting food or forcing yourself to exercise, most people will eventually lose the ability to keep doing that. It's not a moral failing, it's just how our brains work. It's *possible* to change your eating and exercise habits so it doesn't take constant effort, but most people can't lose weight long-term without ongoing help.
GLP drugs lower appetite, make you feel full with less food, and change the reward centers in your brain to reduce cravings for unhealthy foods. Taking a shot once a week is super easy and doesn't require much effort, so you're not going to lose motivation. So, staying on GLP medications is easy, and you can keep the weight off. But every study ever done on obesity shows that when you stop the treatment, almost everyone gains the weight back, no matter how hard they try.
 
I definitely think some people will be able to stop GLP-1s and not gain weight back, or they'll gain it back more slowly. I also agree that changing your habits is key to long-term success. And I don't want to make it sound like an obesity diagnosis is an excuse to eat badly.

I don't mean to sound so negative about people getting off these meds. Obesity is like mental illness – there are different levels of severity. People with mild depression who use antidepressants and therapy are more likely to get off the meds than someone with severe bipolar disorder.

Lots of people on GLP-1s have been obese their whole lives and have lost and gained weight many times. And there are people who are just a little overweight using these medications. How well they do transitioning off the meds will vary a lot.
 
I agree. I was trying to give another example of how getting good results can lead to being too relaxed, which leads to not following the plan and losing those results... I've seen it a lot with weight loss, including myself.

For me, the first sign is when I stop tracking my weight... the ideas fade, I forget to record things, "oh, it's just 5 pounds" turns into 25 pounds, and then "it doesn't matter." With GLP-1s, it's amazing how much easier it is to control things compared to a restrictive diet that's hard to stick with long-term.

Yesterday, I realized that for the first time ever, I actually have to try to get enough macros/eat enough. I know that's normal for some people, and I can see how that would be tough.
 
Yep, especially for guys. Testosterone rebounds when you drop weight. Overweight guys have lower natural test due to aromatization. I had really low test from this. Lost 30 and it's way better now.
 
You really need to use the time you're on GLP-1s to fix the things that made you want to start them in the first place.

Someone mentioned that this is similar to the yo-yo effect with mental health drugs:
Start drug-feel better-stop drug-feel bad-start drug
But for us it's:
Start drug-lose weight-stop drug-gain weight-start drug.

In both cases, the goal of the medication is to help you address the reasons for the problems, so you can eventually live without the medication.
So, use that time to work on yourself.
We all know it's easier said than done, but it's possible.
Maybe not the first time you stop the GLP-1, maybe the third or fourth. But you'll get there.

And if you have a medical condition, it might be a lifelong drug. But maybe at a lower dose. And that's still a win.
 
I'm not that familiar with it, but my point was the opposite... bipolar meds are usually stopped because people don't take them, not because the doctor thinks they're cured. Bipolar isn't something you can just discipline away.

Type 1 diabetics take insulin to manage their blood sugar, not to cure their diabetes. Men with low testosterone take testosterone to treat their symptoms, not to fix what caused them. Obesity/metabolic problems are probably a mix of lifestyle and biology, like Type 1 vs Type 2 diabetes.

Personally, my goal with GLP-1s is to reduce my food cravings and appetite so I don't have to fight that while trying to burn enough calories. My cravings and appetite have definitely been affected by my choices as well as some biological factors that made things harder for me. While I'm open to the idea of not needing GLP-1s forever, it's not my main goal or something I expect. I do hope to lower my dose over time, but we'll see.
 
That's what I'm aiming for! I'm just curious about other people's experiences, since old habits can come back, especially if your appetite increases a lot again.
 
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