I am eight weeks into deliberately reducing rather than stopping, and the appetite change came back faster than the weight did.
So the question, as narrowly as I can put it: whether there is a lowest maintenance dose with actual maintenance data behind it, or whether everything published sits at the top of the ladder.
Happy to be told the question itself is wrong.
Short answer first, then the reasoning. One third of STEP 4 participants held most of their loss without the drug, and nobody has convincingly characterised who they are. That subgroup is the most interesting unanswered question in the field and it is routinely flattened into the two-thirds headline.
PurityPaulOR said:One third of STEP 4 participants held most of their loss without the drug, and nobody has convincingly characterised who they are.
Agreed on the ranges, with the condition that a single DEXA is not a measurement, it is one draw from a distribution. Hydration status moves the lean compartment by a kilogram or more between scans, so any comparison of scans done at different times of day or different hydration states is noise.
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Browse GL BiochemDebRD_ATL said:I am eight weeks into deliberately reducing rather than stopping, and the appetite change came back faster than the weight did.
Same position here, arrived at the long way round. Extending the interval and reducing the dose are pharmacologically different. Reducing the dose lowers the whole exposure curve evenly; extending the interval keeps the peak and drops the trough. Since the appetite effect tracks the trough, interval extension tends to give you good days and bad days rather than a uniformly smaller effect, which most people find harder to live with.
Clinical perspective, offered as context rather than as advice.
Pregnancy after maintenance dosing weight loss: stopped GLP-1 medication 5 months before TTC as recommended. Was terrified of regaining weight during pregnancy.
Worked closely with my OB and MFM. Gained 24 lbs during pregnancy (within recommended range). Baby is healthy. The metabolic improvements from pre-pregnancy weight loss gave both of us a healthier pregnancy.
If you're planning pregnancy, discuss the medication discontinuation timeline with your OB. GLP-1 agonists are NOT safe during pregnancy.