Dr.MetabolicMD said:

The pharmacokinetics explain nearly every practical question asked here.

Agreed, though "tolerable" needs defining. A dose you tolerate by eating almost nothing is not tolerated, it is being paid for somewhere else — usually in lean mass, sometimes in adherence three months later.

bri_stats said:

The mechanism that matters here is not stomach emptying, it is central.

This answered a question I did not know how to ask. Taking it to my next appointment.

Dr.MetabolicMD said:

The pharmacokinetics explain nearly every practical question asked here.

I will push back on the "any working dose is fine" framing. The maintenance evidence sits overwhelmingly at the top studied dose, and the extension data shows regain tracking dose reduction rather than tracking stopping. Holding low is reasonable; pretending it is evidentially equivalent is not.

The figures, for anyone assembling their own picture. Numbers worth memorising for this class: Tmax one to three days for the weekly peptides, terminal half-life about a week for semaglutide and about five days for tirzepatide, steady state at four to five half-lives, subcutaneous bioavailability high enough that site choice is irrelevant.

Moderator note: the sourcing question belongs in the vendor section and has been split out. Tagging this one for the weekly digest.