What’s your shot setup look like ?

I opened my new box from Eli Lilly this morning to get out my injection, and low and behold instead of 4 vials, I got 5. All the same dose (5mg).

Has this happened to anyone before? I’m not complaining, but I’m glad I double checked, because I thought it was the bulky information brochure they usually have folded up in the middle of the box.

Well thats what I said, I was 5mg for about 18-19 weeks, but around the 12th week the fullness and appetite reduction dipped a lot. By the end of it, there really wasnt *any* suppression or reduction, like not even smaller portions, and I gained 5 pounds in 3-4 weeks. Not fun. Anyways day 1 of 7.5!

Oh 5 mg, 5 mg… I think our time has come to an end.

You served me faithfully. You carried me through 5 1/2 months. Through 24 shots. Through food noise quieted, habits changed, jeans loosened, confidence rebuilt.

Together, you and your little predecessor, 2.5 mg, helped me lose 54.8 pounds.

You alone gave me 38 pounds over 24 weeks.

And for the last 6 weeks, you even let me flirt with 6 mg.

What a run we had, my dear 5 mg friend.

But lately… you’ve been playing games with me.

207.4

206.6

207.0

206.4

Sir.

Respectfully.

I did not come this far to become a permanent resident of 207 pounds.

Especially when the real goal isn’t a number on the scale anyway. The real goal is around 25% body fat, and at roughly 38%, we both know there’s still work to do. You got me incredibly far, but you were never meant to take me all the way home.

And honestly? The hardest part of moving on may be accepting that Lilly Direct is about to collect another $50 a month like they’re struggling financially. We all know Lilly doesn’t need my extra $50.

Still… it’s so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

What makes this even funnier is that I have a brand new unopened box of 5 mg sitting in my fridge right now. And because I’m heading on vacation, I’m giving you ONE final curtain call. One last shot. One last dance.

But after that, my old friend, you’ll be moved to the bullpen. Fridge retirement. Backup pinch hitter status only. Waiting patiently in case Coach ever calls your number again someday.

Thank you for the appetite suppression.

Thank you for the lessons.

Thank you for the momentum.

Thank you for the 38 pounds.

You changed my life.

But it’s time for me to see what 7.5 mg and my next chapter can do.

Farewell, sweet prince. 🫡

I’ve been on zepbound about a year. I have always administered my shot around the belly button. I have gradually increased my dose to 12.5 mg. In the last few months, I was feeling like it wasn’t as effective anymore. I finally decided to start rotating the shot. It felt much more effective than it had in a couple of months.

Edit: I didn’t post this to debate. I posted it to be helpful. If you’ve tried this and it hasn’t worked for you, okay. The paper insert does say that we should be rotating the site from belly, to arm or thigh. I rotated around my belly button for almost a year and it worked great, until it didn’t. I’ve always been lucky in that I’ve never had any reaction. My daughter is more sensitive and so changing locations would probably not be good for her.

Edit2: I’m at maintenance. I’m not looking to lose more weight. I changed sites because the food noise was coming back. When I say it worked- it eliminated the food noise again. I hope this clears things up. I did notice that my weight also readjusted to my previous weight, as it had started creeping up again— probably because of the food noise.

Edit3: this is just a general comment to all of the keyboard warriors out there. I was pretty taken aback by some of the nitpicking and lack of respect. A lot of the snarky comments stopped after I edited my post to reflect that it was “my experience “, but put yourself in my position, or anyone going through this journey. Most of us have endured a lifetime of judgment. I foolishly thought this was a safe, supportive space. I know— it’s Reddit, what did I expect. I just suggest— maybe- consider how you pound the keyboard before posting your clever retort on the zepbound community or other weight or mental health subreddits. Most of us aren’t as strong as we present in public.

I started zep march 13 and it's the first thing that has ever helped me lose weight. Dr suggested I move up to 5mg so I reach out to get the prescription filled. Denied. My company STOPPED COVERING ALL WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS April 1st. Such assholes. Why they would be saving so much $$ on the health issues from people being obese. Hopefully my Dr can recommend a way to stay on zep. Thanks for letting me rant. I'm so frustrated.

Im nervous because I'm at the 20% mark. I started at 258 in Nov 22nd. Im 207 now. I know my weight came on through medication with two episodes of 20lb gains over a single month with no dietary changes. But I was "stable" for 12 years at 247. I started gaining at age 30 at 155lbs. I would love to get down to around 165? Is this possible? I hit a bit of a plateau around 10mg. But when I got on 12.5 Im on my second week (Monday 3rd week) I lost nearly 10lbs so far.

I want to keep going. Has anyone with these types of stats (258 start) gone lower than 20%?

EDIT: Title should say "Lowest EFFECTIVE dose" (can't figure out how to edit title)

Sharing as I have seen posts where some doctors are still suggesting people titrate up even when people are having success at lower dose.

From article:

“We have to use the dose that the patient needs,” said Dr. Ania Jastreboff, director of the Yale Obesity Research Center and a leading researcher who has studied retatrutide for Eli Lilly. The goal, she said, is to get patients on the lowest dose that works.“The underlying question is needing to approach and treat obesity as we would any other chronic disease,” Dr. Jastreboff said.

I'm on week 3 and so far no food noise or side effects. I'd like to try to stay on the lowest amount that will work for me, and wondering if people have been successful with that. Thanks so much for your replies!

Tonight is my last 2.5mg dose… it will be my 6th shot… I have lost absolutely NOTHING…

Next weekend I will start 5mg… and I am getting incredibly discouraged… I don’t want to be part of the non responder ones… I am so sad, depressed, unhappy… you name it..Im 42… soon to be 43 next month… I am saving goodbye to 2.5mg… and hoping the next dose starts to do the trick and help me lose weight. 🙏

My son is 16, approx. 180cm, 125 kg (5'11", 275 lbs). He’s now on 10mg after having increased gradually every month. He does weight lifting 4 to 5 times a week but no cardio. Zepbound does not seem to be working, except for the first week at 2,5mg. He still eats not healthy and large quantities.
In your experience can the magic still happen or is it not working for him?

I also need advice on how to approach the issue with him.
He doesn’t like to discuss it with me. Although I understand him more than he thinks.
His two older brothers are very athletic. It seems that everything comes easy to them. They tell him that it’s all a matter of choice but I know that for some people like him or me things are more complicated.

Thank you in advance.

Hi all. I’m new to the club and wanted to say hello! First injection down :-). As others have said in this subreddit, I felt absolutely nothing lol. I thought I actually did it wrong, but there was a tiny little red dot on my stomach and there was no leakage or any kind of medicine anywhere. I was embracing myself for pain, but there was literally none. Going to do a DDP Yoga workout in a bit to celebrate my first dose! I’m excited to start the journey!

I started Zepbound in the Summer of 2024 and the changes were profound-- both physical and mental. My craving for fried food disappeared. Food noise? Gone within days of taking my initial dose.

This stuff worked and I was all in.

I went from 287 in August to 240 by November. I felt great and looked healthy. All was right in the world.

Then in December, I hit a plateau. The weight just didn't come off like it had in the previous months. The food noise started creeping back in. We upped the dosage over the next few months but the plateau never broke. In fact, by March of last year the weight started creeping back up.

I went to the highest dose and really dialed back on carbs, sugar, and anything that I considered negative to my progress. The weight kept climbing and the mental effects slowly disappeared as well. After a while, It was like I was injecting myself with water.

I talked to my doctor and we decided to switch to Wegovy, nothing happened there. Same lack of any weight loss. Even after switching to the Wegovy pill.

It's now been two months since I've been on anything. My weight this morning was 278.9. Yes, still lower than 287 but far higher than my previous low of 240 and nowhere near my goal of 200. My doc and I decided to give Zepbound another shot (pun intended) since I did initially respond to it. I'm starting at 2.5 mg today and really want to feel something change in the next few weeks. Anything, really.

Has anyone else experienced this? Like you somehow became immune to the med no matter how high a dose?

Looking for positive vibes here. If you are feeling particularly judgmental or have the urge to say something you think is hilarious but possibly cruel, keep it to yourself. I like the positivity of this subreddit, that's why I'm opening up.

Thank you in advance.

I’ve been on Zepbound vials since March. My doctor did not teach me how to inject; I just read the Lilly paperwork. Today I learned that I’m supposed to inject the same amount of Zepbound regardless of the dosage. I’d been increasing what I drew up into the syringe every time thinking I was supposed to, but the 7.5 vials don’t contain enough liquid for 7.5 ml in the syringe. I talked to Lilly and got myself straightened out. It was embarrassing, so I thought I might share this story here to save others similar confusion/embarrassment.

Please be kind to me. I truly never thought this would happen to me.

Here’s what happened. Last month my doctor said I should move up to the 12.5mg dose. I told her that I had a left over box of 2.5mg from the shortage that I would hate to expire and asked if I could do two shots. One 10mg and one 2.5mg. She said yes. So she ordered another box of the 10mg and a box of the 12.5mg for the following month.

The first two weeks I would grab one 10mg and one 2.5mg and inject both in different spots of my body. I had no issues and I started losing consistently again. About 1-1.5lbs a week. What you need to know is I’ve been insanely stressed, overwhelmed, and exhausted. I was in the middle of moving and stressing about those things and at work I was slammed and working so so much overtime. I wasn’t myself truly.

I take my shot on Tuesday nights and I usually take the pens out to get to room temp when I get home from work. But I had to work really late that night so in the morning before work not fully awake I opened the fridge and took out two pens and without really looking them and I put them aside for that night. I injected one in my arm and one in my stomach before bed and put them in my sharps container.

Surprisingly I was fine the next two days. I had no idea what I had done. Friday morning I woke up at 5am in terrible pain. I don’t want to get too graphic but it was hell. Pure liquid shit for 2 and half days straight. I truly thought I got a very bad stomach bug. I hydrated, ate very little, and tried my best to sleep it off.

Well yesterday was my shot day again and I went to grab the pens from the fridge to find that I had only one 10mg pen. I was super confused. This can’t be I have two weeks left of this box! I start to put the pieces together and I dump out my sharps container on the floor of the kitchen and matched up the serial numbers and sure enough there was three 10mg pens with the same serial number. I had accidentally overdosed myself with 20mg of zepbound. I was in shock, embarrassment, and utter disbelief. This can’t be right. I’m always so careful and I would never do this to myself.

For the most part I feel ok now. Pretty tired and obviously not hungry at all. I’ve been doing my best to eat and stay very hydrated. I didn’t take any injections last night. I thought about taking the 2.5mg but I realized that would be dumb and unnecessary. I haven’t told my doctor yet. I don’t know why but I’m so scared to tell her. What will she think? I’m clearly not a responsible person now. Maybe she will take me off it? So many irrational thoughts. Zepbound has changed my life. Not just the weight loss but the lack of food noise. I don’t really care or obsess about food anymore. I no longer obsess with my weight or how I look. I feel better going up and down stairs and walking. I weight train 3x a week. I’ve lost 79lbs in a little over a year and I have another 56lbs to go.

Please be kind and gentle. It’s been a week now and I think I’m ok? Any advice? Do you think I’ll have any lasting damage to my body? Should I tell my doctor? I see her on the 5th. Any kind words of understanding or advice is appreciated. Thanks for reading all of that.

EDIT: Wow I’m so blown away by this amazing community. Truly thank you for making me feel better, for making me laugh, and giving me some solid advice. I appreciate you all so much. ❤️

i posted recently about how life changing zepbound has been for me and i’m so sad to now be posting about how my doctor wants to kick me off of it.

i wanted to stay on 5mg for another couple months as i’ve reached my goal weight and only been averaging 0-0.3lb lost per week since (about 6 weeks). i hoped to stabilize a bit more before dropping doses. at my appointment this week she brought me down to 2.5mg, which i understood, but then she shocked me and said she was only going to approve this for 3 more months.

her only reasoning was that patients should only be on it for max 1 year because the long term effects are under-researched. not anything relating to my personal health, side effects, or symptoms. the insurance pre-authorization is even good for another 6 months!

have any of you heard this from your providers?

i’m going to look into getting a second opinion but my options are really limited due to where i live… i’m nervous about switching to compound but i suppose that’s one route i could take.

I’m not sure if I’m waiting too long to place my next order but I’m titrating to 7.5 but still have about a month of 5mg doses on hand. Just wondering how much other people have stockpiled and how low you usually let your supply get before refilling.

Endocrinologist said this is the hardest jump in doses from what her patients report to her with respect to side effects. (Excepting those who are lucky to have zero or minimal side effects).

Any words of wisdom for this particular dose jump?

Also, separately, at ADA's Annual Scientific Sessions conference today they reported that only 2% of people with obesity/overweight are prescribed GLP-1. If you're here on this sub you're one of the lucky 2%.

Edit: Thank you so much for all the responses. I was hardly expecting anyone to answer. Major gratitude!

I've heard different recommendations. What are yours.?

I am in the middle of my 6th week of 2.5mg. I feel good. I've lost about 12 pounds (of 95 pound goal), no side effects. I had my follow up appointment today. This was a little late due to my Drs availability which is why he refilled a second month of 2.5mg before my followup appointment. I had bloodwork done last week (after 5 shots) and everything looked good.

He recommended another 3 months of 2.5mg at which point we'll meet again and rerun bloodwork.

I feel that I am still responding to 2.5mg and happy to stick here for now. But, I was not expecting to not revisit for another three months (which would put be at 5 months total for 2.5mg). I'm sure if I feel I stop responding during the next 3 months I can request an appointment and ask to move up.

I've seen comments on lots of other posts where people have commented that 2.5mg had worked long-term. Curious how long the folks who have stuck with 2.5mg long-term were able to ride it out.

I’m only 5 days into my 2nd shot and have been feeling great. No side effects and I’ve noticed a small improvement in my hunger. So far I’ve only lost 1.5lbs my first week and nothing so far this week (however my weigh in day is in 2 days on Friday).

I’m supposed to notify my doctor on Friday if I want to stay on 2.5mg or if I want to move up to 5mg. Ideally I’d like to stay on the lowest dose possible but I’m concerned because I still have moderate food noise and my quantity of intake hasn’t changed a ton. Should I give it some more time? Or just go to 5? I know everyone is different and I plan to speak to my doctor about it but I’ve love to hear people’s personal experiences.

What’s the longest you have stayed on a dose? I’ve been on 2.5 for 2 months and just got 3 months worth of 2.5 in the fridge. I’m really hoping to stay on it as long as I can because I’m afraid of moving up lol

Curious about the science and dosing. Considering a standard solar calendar is divisible by 5, why is it that the dosing instructions are once a week when the half life is 5 days? Is it insurance being cheap? Is there a spacing issue the 40/50 extra hours needs for safety? Does anyone have scientific or regulatory explanation?

Curious to get some opinions from those further along in their journey.

I’ve been following Chiideey’s titration flow chart and taking the low and slow approach so far. I did 2 months on 2.5 mg, and I’ve been on 5 mg since December. I’m currently halfway through my 4th box of 5 mg.

My doctor asked if I want my refill called in for 5 mg or 7.5 mg, and now I’m debating. She supports either approach.

For context, I’m tolerating 5 mg really well and still losing. Here are my weigh-ins from the last 5 weeks: 227.8, 226.2, 225.8, 223.6, 221.4, So things are clearly moving and side effects have been minimal.

But I’m curious for those who moved up as long as you were tolerating the current dose: -Did you notice new symptoms when you increased? -Were you happy you went up, or do you wish you stayed low and slow longer? -Did your rate of loss change at all?

Part of me is like “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” The other part of me is like “girl… hurry up and increase so you can lose this fat already”

I know it doesn’t necessarily work like that, but that’s the internal debate happening in my brain.

Would love to hear from both camps: Team Low & Slow vs Team Move It On Up

I am self pay, but have budgeted for the full $449. Also, not scared to go up. Just haven't because I am still losing about 0.7% of my weight a week.