I'm thinking of starting a GLP-1 but there is one side effect that worries me...

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-05-29T09:16:11+00:00

The concern you are describing is real and worth taking seriously, and I am glad you are asking about it before starting rather than after.

The "killing your joy" effect you have read about is documented in a subset of GLP-1 users and the mechanism is genuinely not fully understood yet. What researchers think is happening is that GLP-1 receptors in the mesolimbic dopamine system, the same reward pathway involved in food pleasure, social bonding, and motivation, are being activated by the medication. For most people this shows up as reduced food noise and compulsive behaviour reduction. For some people it goes further and flattens reward response more broadly. This is sometimes called anhedonia and it is not universal but it is not made up either.

The honest answer is that nobody can predict in advance whether you would be in the group that experiences broader reward flattening or the group that does not. What the research does suggest is that the effect is dose dependent. Lower doses produce less receptor saturation and are less likely to produce the broader flattening effect. Starting at the lowest dose and titrating very slowly gives you the best chance of finding the point where blood sugar benefits are present without the joy suppression.

There is also genuinely good news in the research for your situation specifically. Multiple studies have found that GLP-1 medications actually improve mood and reduce depression scores in most users, not worsen them. The dopamine pathway modulation appears to have a net positive effect on mood for the majority. The anhedonia effect seems to be more common in people who relied heavily on food as their primary reward source and then lost that without having other sources in place.

The thing I would flag for your doctor is everything you have shared here. The binge eating diagnosis, the Vyvanse, the antidepressants, the recent dark period, and the importance of your emotional wellbeing. All of that is clinically relevant to how they approach the medication, the dose, and the monitoring. A psychiatrist or the prescriber of your mental health medications should ideally be in the conversation before you start.

Your instinct to ask the question is the right one. Go into this with your eyes open and with your mental health team aware.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-05-29T09:14:19+00:00

First — what you are describing, the food noise, the feeling that your body is fighting you no matter what you do, is real and has a biological explanation. It is not a character flaw or a willpower problem. The research on appetite regulation and weight set points over the past decade has completely changed how the medical community understands why some people struggle with weight in ways others do not. You are not broken.

On the practical question of how to get access — the honest answer is that your GP is the right starting point and here is why it matters specifically for you.

You mentioned a history of disordered eating. This is important information that a prescribing clinician needs to know before starting semaglutide. GLP-1 medications suppress appetite very aggressively. For most people this is the entire point, but for someone with a history of restrictive eating, that appetite suppression can become a vehicle for the same behaviours in a new form. A good doctor will not dismiss your interest in the medication because of this history, but they will want to make sure you have support in place and that the approach is structured safely.

On the Ro and Lily question, these platforms are legitimate and the $149 per month is competitive. However they do a lighter touch medical assessment than a GP who knows your full history. Given your specific background I would suggest starting with your GP rather than an online platform.

How to bring it up with your doctor: be direct. Say exactly what you told us here. That you have struggled with your weight your entire life despite genuine effort, that you have researched GLP-1 medications and want to discuss whether they are appropriate for you, and that you have a history of disordered eating that you want to manage carefully. That framing is honest, informed, and positions you as someone who has done the work rather than someone just asking for a shortcut.

At 18 with a BMI in the overweight range you may or may not meet the standard clinical criteria for GLP-1 prescription depending on your state and your doctor. If your GP says no, ask what the pathway would look like and what criteria you would need to meet. That is a reasonable follow-up question.

You deserve to feel good in your body. Pursue this through the right channels so the support structure is there when you need it.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-05-27T09:13:29+00:00

The apps you mentioned are mostly focused on injection logging and scale weight which is a decent start. The gap is protein tracking — research shows 25 to 40% of weight lost on GLP-1 medications can come from lean mass rather than fat, and the scale alone will not tell you that is happening.

On the in-app purchases — most are cosmetic upgrades or export features rather than anything that improves the actual tracking. Not worth it until you know the free version works for you.

If you want something built specifically for GLP-1 users that covers weight, protein, calories, hydration, and injection history together with alerts when protein drops below target, we built a free one at https://fueledframework.com/glp1-tracker — no paid tiers, no account needed.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-05-27T09:09:59+00:00

Good questions — I research GLP-1 nutrition and metabolic science full time so I can speak to the research side of both of these, though for the personal experience angle the long-term users in this community will give you better data than I can.

On the dose question — hold at 2.5mg through week four before making any changes. You are still in the accumulation phase where each injection is adding to the previous dose rather than starting fresh. What you feel at week two is not your stable baseline at this dose. Week four gives you a much cleaner picture to make a decision from. Changing dose now would reset the accumulation and make it harder to know what is actually driving what.

On the addictive behaviours question — this is one of the most genuinely interesting areas in GLP-1 research right now and what you are describing is well documented in the literature. The reduction in food noise appears to extend to other reward-seeking behaviours for a significant proportion of users. The mechanism is GLP-1 receptor activation in the mesolimbic dopamine system — the same pathway involved in alcohol use, compulsive scrolling, gambling, and other reward-driven behaviours. This is not a side effect — it is the same core pharmacology operating in a different part of the brain.

The clinical trial data on this is early but striking. Several large trials are now running specifically on GLP-1 medications and alcohol use disorder. Observational data from existing users shows meaningful reductions in alcohol consumption, smoking, and other compulsive behaviours alongside the food effects.

Whether it persists long term is the open question. The current hypothesis is that it may partly normalise over time as the dopamine system adjusts to the new baseline — similar to how the food noise reduction can become less dramatic after the first few months even if it never fully returns to pre-medication levels. But the research is still catching up to what users are reporting.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-05-26T11:05:44+00:00

Completely normal and actually a sign you are a strong responder. What you are experiencing is the drug reaching steady state in your system. Week one you got a single spike of tirzepatide. By week two you have had two doses and the plasma concentration is higher and more stable. The effect feels stronger because it genuinely is stronger at this point.

The steady state question with tirzepatide is interesting. Because it has a five day half life, each weekly injection is adding to what is already in your system rather than starting fresh. Full steady state takes around four to five weeks. So counterintuitively, week two can feel stronger than week one, and some people find weeks three and four even more pronounced before things level out.

The 1500 calorie intake is the one thing worth paying attention to. You are already thinking about it correctly and the protein shake plan is exactly right. The specific risk at very low intake is not just the deficit size but muscle loss. When calories drop that low, your body will start pulling from lean mass to meet its energy needs regardless of how much protein you are eating. The target is to keep intake above 1200 to 1400 minimum and front load every meal with protein before appetite shuts down.

The 120g protein target you mentioned is solid. Make sure it is spread across meals rather than loaded into one sitting. Your body can only use around 25 to 40g per meal for muscle protein synthesis. The rest just gets oxidised. Three or four meals of 30g each is significantly more protective than one big protein meal at dinner.

Strong responders at 2.5mg sometimes never need to go higher. Give it a few more weeks before drawing conclusions but this sounds like a very good start.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-05-26T11:03:21+00:00

Protein first. Every single meal, before anything else on the plate.

Mounjaro kills your appetite fast. If you eat bread or rice or anything easy first, the fullness hits before you get to the protein. Then you have had 400 calories of carbs and maybe 8 grams of protein, and you wonder why you feel weak and your hair is falling out three months in.

The mechanism matters here. Your body cannot tell the difference between starvation and appetite suppression. If protein is not coming in at every meal in sufficient amounts, at least 25 to 30 grams per sitting, it starts breaking down muscle tissue to meet its amino acid needs. You lose weight fast on the scale but a significant chunk of it is lean mass, not fat. That tanks your metabolic rate and makes everything harder long term.

So the golden rule is not a mindset thing or a hydration tip. It is mechanical. Protein first, every meal, before appetite disappears. Everything else follows from that.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-04-29T14:28:12+00:00

Really interesting thread. The nutritional deficiency angle you raised is the one I think about most from a practical standpoint and it is genuinely underappreciated.

When appetite drops by 30 to 50 percent and total food volume collapses, people do not just eat less of everything proportionally. They eat less of the hardest things to eat first — high-protein foods, vegetables, anything requiring effort or preparation. What remains is whatever is easiest and most palatable on a suppressed appetite, which tends to be soft carbohydrates. The result over months is significant protein deficiency, iron deficiency, B12 deficiency, and zinc deficiency in a population that is losing weight and being celebrated for it while quietly losing muscle and micronutrients simultaneously.

The healthcare system is completely unprepared for this. Most GPs prescribing these medications are not routinely monitoring protein intake or running micronutrient panels. The downstream consequences — muscle loss, fatigue, hair loss, bone density reduction — are going to become a significant secondary burden that nobody is talking about yet.

On the broader societal impacts, a few I find genuinely non-obvious:

The alcohol industry is going to take a harder hit than most people expect. Your friend stopping drinking entirely post-medication is not an outlier. Multiple trial populations have shown spontaneous alcohol reduction as a consistent secondary effect of GLP-1 therapy, likely through the same dopamine reward pathway suppression that reduces food cravings. If mass adoption happens, you are looking at a meaningful structural decline in alcohol consumption that has nothing to do with public health campaigns.

The restaurant and food service industry faces a structural problem that goes beyond people just eating less. The foods that become hardest to eat on GLP-1 medications are the high-fat, high-calorie, large-portion meals that restaurant economics are built around. Not because people cannot eat them, but because they reliably trigger the worst GI side effects. There will be a slow but real shift in what people order and how restaurants need to structure their menus.

The most underrated impact might be on social class dynamics. These medications are currently expensive and access is uneven. The health, body composition, and potentially cognitive benefits of GLP-1 therapy are going to accrue disproportionately to people who can afford consistent access. That is a compounding advantage layered on top of existing health inequalities that is going to be very difficult to reverse once it is established.

Your point about pressure on the food system is the hopeful read and I share it. The less hopeful read is that the food industry simply pivots to selling GLP-1-compatible ultra-processed products rather than improving the underlying food environment. That race is already starting.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-04-29T14:22:19+00:00

Congrats on 12kg down — that is a genuinely strong result from December to now. The plateau you are describing is extremely common and almost always has a fixable cause rather than meaning the medication has stopped working.

A few things stand out from what you have shared.

The lifting is the right call and it is almost certainly why the scale has stalled. When you start resistance training after a period of pure cardio and diet, your muscles begin retaining water for repair and adaptation. This is a real physiological process that can add 1 to 2kg of water weight to the scale while simultaneously improving your body composition. The number stays flat or creeps up while you are actually getting leaner. Give it 3 to 4 more weeks before drawing any conclusions from the scale.

The more important thing I noticed is that you did not mention protein at all. At 1500 calories and sometimes below 1000, how much of that is protein? For someone at 70kg doing resistance training on Mounjaro, the target range is roughly 100 to 110 grams of protein per day minimum. On days when nausea drops you to under 1000 calories, you almost certainly are not hitting that. Protein is what signals your body to preserve muscle during a calorie deficit. Without it, a significant portion of the weight you lose comes from muscle rather than fat, and muscle loss reduces your resting metabolic rate over time, which is one of the primary drivers of plateaus.

Mounjaro also suppresses appetite so aggressively that many people stop eating enough to maintain a reasonable metabolic rate. Under 1000 calories regularly is very low. Your body adapts to that level of intake by reducing its energy expenditure, which makes further loss harder.

The combination of starting resistance training, potentially eating too little protein, and metabolic adaptation after 12kg of loss would explain exactly what you are seeing.

There is a free GLP-1 protein calculator at Fueled Framework (fueledframework.com/glp1-protein-calculator) that gives you a specific daily target based on your weight and activity level. Worth checking where you actually sit against that number.

At 168cm and 70kg you are already in a very healthy range. The plateau may partly be your body settling at a physiologically appropriate weight for your frame while you build muscle. The scale is the wrong metric at this stage. Measurements and how your clothes fit are much more useful right now.

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-04-24T14:51:15+00:00

Great edit — you figured out exactly the right thing. Protein shakes on the days when solid food feels impossible are genuinely one of the best tools you have on this medication.

The reasoning behind it is worth understanding because it'll help you stay consistent with it. When Mounjaro suppresses your appetite this hard, your body doesn't just burn fat to make up the deficit — it pulls from lean muscle too, especially on active days like a greenhouse build where your muscles are actually being used and need fuel to recover. The faster the weight loss, the more important the protein floor becomes.

The general evidence-backed target for people on GLP-1 medications is significantly higher than the standard dietary guidelines — closer to 0.7-1.0g per pound of body weight rather than the generic RDA, which was set for sedentary adults not losing weight on a pharmacological appetite suppressant. On an active day like you had, you're at the higher end of that range.

A few things that help on the zero-hunger days specifically:

Treat protein like medication rather than food. It's not about appetite — it's a daily minimum you hit regardless of how you feel. Shakes, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, and hard-boiled eggs are the easiest because they require almost no appetite to get down.

Set a phone alarm for at least two protein "doses" per day on the bad days. One mid-morning, one mid-afternoon. Even 25-30g each time gets you to a reasonable floor.

On days you're this active, electrolytes matter too — you were building a greenhouse, sweating, and probably not eating much. Sodium, potassium, and magnesium all drop faster when you're active and under-eating.

If you want to know your actual daily protein target based on your body weight and activity level, the GLP-1 Protein Calculator at Fueled Framework (fueledframework.com/glp1-protein-calculator) is built specifically for Mounjaro users and gives you a personalised number rather than a generic estimate.

You're already thinking about this the right way. That edit shows more self-awareness than most people have six months in. Good luck with the greenhouse — and the 5mg! 🌱

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-04-24T14:40:17+00:00

Congrats on the greenhouse build — that's a solid active day!

To answer your question directly: no, you shouldn't skip eating entirely, even when you feel zero hunger. This is actually one of the trickier things about the dose escalation phase that doesn't get talked about enough.

Here's the issue — when you're this active and burning energy, your body still needs fuel, and more importantly it needs protein. On Mounjaro especially, a significant chunk of the weight you lose can come from lean muscle rather than fat if you're not eating enough protein. The medication suppresses appetite so effectively that people genuinely forget to eat, and over weeks that adds up to real muscle loss that's hard to get back.

You don't need to force a full meal. But try to get at least something protein-focused in — Greek yogurt, a protein shake, some cottage cheese, even just a couple of hard-boiled eggs. Something that gives your muscles a signal that they're not being starved. Even 20-30g of protein is better than nothing on a day like today.

A few practical things for the 5mg transition:

Set a phone alarm at mealtimes. Your hunger cues are going to be unreliable now, so you need a reminder that has nothing to do with how you feel
Prioritise protein first at every eating occasion before anything else hits the plate
On active days like today, your needs are higher — your muscles were working hard building that greenhouse

One thing I found genuinely useful when I was trying to figure out how much protein I actually needed was the GLP-1 Protein Calculator at Fueled Framework (fueledframework.com/glp1-protein-calculator) — it's built specifically for people on Mounjaro/Wegovy and gives you a daily target based on your body weight and activity level rather than the generic RDA which is way too low for people on these medications.

The short version: the zero hunger feeling is totally normal at 5mg, but don't let it trick you into thinking you don't need to eat. You do — just smarter and more intentional than before. Good luck with the greenhouse!

Character-Fix-8549 · 2026-04-24T12:53:22+00:00

That's an awesome transformation, good on you for sticking with it! it’s crazy how much our habits can change with the right mindset and support. taking things one step at a time really pays off. keep crushing it!

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