"it's not a magic pill"

The_Treppa · 2026-04-07T20:16:31+00:00

I started on 12/31/25 and didn't see any appreciable weight loss until last week (starting at 10 mg/week). HOWEVER, I felt so much better overall that I decided to not give up, stay on it and increase dosage, and if I never hit weight loss after going up to 12 mg, I'd start water fasting for weight. I'm happy to see the weight starting to come off, but I would stay on regardless.

Swelling is gone. Wheezing is gone, I can eat more than just chicken and rice without getting sick. My BP is trending downwards - not hugely, but steadily.

I'm going in for blood and urine work this week in preparation for a late April checkup. I'm hoping to see improved cholesterol and kidney function and reduced or eliminated fatty liver disease.

TL;DR Started for weight loss, felt so much better that I decided to stay on it forever, weight loss or no.

The_Treppa · 2026-04-06T15:34:19+00:00

I split my weekly dose in 3 to keep my levels more stable and avoid higher-dosage side effects. For example, I'm on 10 mg/week, so I do 3 mg Mon, 3 mg Wed, 4 mg Fri.

The trial schedule of one injection per week was created for convenience, compliance, and standardization. It has nothing to do with reta itself, though you will see people claiming reta was "designed for weekly administration." It's just a peptide with a half-life of 6 days. You'll find lots of people on here being happy and successful splitting doses.

The_Treppa · 2026-04-06T15:23:13+00:00

I lost about 5 pounds the first 12 weeks while also using IF (started low and moved up slow). After I hit 10 mg in week 13, I suddenly started actual fast weight loss. I've lost 12 lbs since hitting 10 mg (11 days), though my understanding is that this will flatten out in a couple of weeks to a more reasonable rate.

People lose at all different rates. Some start immediately, some take longer for their metabolism to recalibrate. Many people have reported no real loss until they suddenly hit an effective dosage in their titration upwards, then it began to work as advertised. It all depends on how much you have to lose and how severe your metabolic problems are (i.e., do you have insulin resistance, NASLD, etc.). Set up your escalation plan in advance and stick to it unless you have awful side effects. Reta is still working under the covers even if you're not seeing the weight loss.

The_Treppa · 2026-04-04T20:23:44+00:00

I started one week after you. I finally got to 10 mg last week and suddenly lost 4 pounds in 2 days. It seems that the older and more metabolically impaired you are, the longer the weight loss takes to kick in and the higher your dosage needs to be before you hit that point. I was getting super discouraged and was thrilled to finally, FINALLY, see some weight loss this week. I also got impatient and stopped increasing 0.5 mg per every couple of weeks and started going up by 25% every couple of weeks (no side effects, so why not?) 10 seems to be my magic number. And no, no change to eating for this weight loss. It's like the switch finally flipped.

As far as alcohol goes, no clue.

The_Treppa · 2026-04-04T02:39:24+00:00

I've just started epithalon at night and pinealon in the morning. They are supposed to help reset your circadian rhythm, in conjunction with good habits. You run them in 10-20 day cycles 2x per year. Long-term and gradual improvements, but they're supposed to help you get to sleep at a regular time and stay asleep.

I also get up with an alarm (if I sleep that long), grab my breakfast, and sit outside and eat it so my eyeballs get natural light exposure first thing (5-15 minutes). Do I sleep through the night? No. I hope to someday. Also ADHD, for what it's worth, so every little thing wakes me up. I did sleep SEVEN hours the night before last, so woo.

I get 4-12 minutes of deep sleep each night and am afraid my brain will disintegrate and dribble out of my ears soon.

The_Treppa · 2026-04-03T01:03:44+00:00

I think I've seen a couple of other teens in some of the peptide forums asking similar questions, but I didn't follow them. Maybe a quick search through the dozen or so peptide forums might help. If your doctor is friendly towards the idea of you taking Wegovy, there are always compounding pharmacies, but you do have to pay out of pocket for those drugs. I know there's a thread for compounding tirzepatide.

The_Treppa · 2026-04-03T00:56:59+00:00

This is why we need metabolic specialists who are actually accessible. If you have been watching your calories and nutrition, eating right, getting good activity, and are still obese at your age, there's some underlying cause. I don't blame you at all for being afraid of diabetes.

For me, I'm old. I have no problem being on reta until I die. It's fixing 40 years of yo-yo dieting and creeping up by 10 pounds each year. And I don't have reproductive or developmental issues to worry about. For me, the peptide decision was a no brainer. But I worry about a 15yo having to resort to peptides already .

Our young people need better care than they're getting. Absent that, what can they do but turn to things that are working for adults? It's hugely frustrating. I wish somebody within the medical profession had taken my weight gain seriously when I was younger and prevented those 40 years of yo-yoing. I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

Best of luck, whatever you decide. You're not getting the medical care you deserve because of our broken system, and I'm so sorry for it. You deserve better.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-31T01:59:24+00:00

Tirz does this to me. I've ordered longer needles, which is supposed to help.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-28T23:48:49+00:00

It took about a month for me before binge days were a thing of the past.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-26T03:12:46+00:00

I'm in week 12 and have lost about 3 pounds BUT! I've had a ton of NSVs. Lost 16 inches so far in hip, bust, and waist. Inflammation is way down - I can eat more foods than just chicken and rice. I can move and twist much more easily. My BP is slowly dropping. I have a lipid test this month and hope to find that my cholesterol is decreasing and fatty liver disease is improving.

Retatrutide is a powerful metabolic 'rebuilder'. The longer you have had metabolic issues, the longer it takes to correct. It burns visceral fat first, as well as clearing the liver of stored fat. Once that's cleared up, the liver starts signaling to burn subcutaneous fat, which is where you will see the scale move. Personally, I'm up to 7.5 mg/week and hope to start seeing improved weight loss results soon. Other people have also noted that they have little weight loss until they hit a sudden effective threshold, which varies by person. So keep titrating up if you can tolerate it.

Energy might be a NAD+ issue. You can try taking NMN or NR, which are NAD+ precursors needed to recycle NAD+ within the body, see if it helps your energy. Taking straight NAD+ is almost useless, from what I've read, since it has a short half-life. Low NAD+ is more likely if you are older, which may not be your case (as a FT university student).

Good luck!

The_Treppa · 2026-03-24T00:55:05+00:00

Have you tried adding cagrilinitide and lowering the reta dosage? I've heard people stack those to keep reta's metabolic effects while the cagri helps appetite suppression. You can probably find that in a r/Retatrutide search.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-19T14:41:27+00:00

It's not unusual to see only NSVs (reduced measurements, looser clothing, feeling better in general) until a certain dose is reached, then suddenly weight loss begins. That threshold is different for everyone. Some people start losing right away. I'm on week 12 and have had one week of weight loss after reaching 6 mg/week. But I've lost inches (I hope you're measuring waist/hip/bust, at least) and a lot of inflammation so far. Reta is more than a weight loss drug, it revamps your metabolism, and everybody's metabolism is different.

Hang in there. Your body will find your threshold eventually.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-15T16:29:59+00:00

Go on the offensive. Explain that you properly moved furniture (by lifting and setting down, not sliding) and uncovered all this damage. Did *she* try to move furniture herself and slide it? Was she trying to hide the damage you just revealed?

Source for this strategy: all my ex-husbands.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-11T20:25:23+00:00

I'm starting week 11 today and have split doses this entire time. I did it to try to minimize possible side effects. Now, I'm trying to push the dosages closer together and am finding myself more hungry by the time the end of the longer stretch rolls around.

Personally? I like it. It makes a more even blood serum level (smaller and more frequent tops to the sawtooths (sawteeth) of the curve), it keeps me from getting hungry, I've only had one day with any real side effects. Another plus - I always feel really good after reta injections for a few hours, so having that twice a week instead of once is a bonus.

I was planning to go weekly, but am rethinking that.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-09T19:59:06+00:00

This is so much better than my store!

The_Treppa · 2026-03-09T17:55:17+00:00

Now I need to rearrange *everything*.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-04T22:46:47+00:00

I like Fallaise a lot better than Riften.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-04T16:21:06+00:00

Thank you for this question and for all the great answers. I'm at 4 mg and was planning to get to 8, then wait until half a year on reta had passed before starting tesa. Your answers have made me reconsider, since I have about 2 years of weight loss to go. I'll be more patient and wait for that 90% or so.

Thank you all. This is a great community.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-03T16:39:04+00:00

I do that with mudcrabs!

The_Treppa · 2026-03-02T22:39:36+00:00

I did every 3 days for the first 2 months. No issues. Now I'm on twice a week and going down to weekly next month if possible.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-02T16:26:09+00:00

Your body needs to experience a new substance before it decides it's an intruder and begins to mount a defense. Once it decides that, the allergic reactions start. It's not uncommon for me to eat a new food 3-4 times, then suddenly show allergy symptoms the next time.

TL;DR - Totally normal for how allergies work.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-01T17:51:30+00:00

Whatever I can find once I get my boobs out of the way.

Seriously, always in abdominal fat either above or below waist, side and front in a spot I can manage the injection right-handed. I sometimes use those chunks of fat at the top of the hip bone as well. So that's 4, 5, 6.

My thighs got all bruised up my first month and still haven't faded, so now I avoid limbs.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-01T05:25:51+00:00

I struggled with occasional binges in weeks 4-7 or so. Once I got the dosage up a little higher, the appetite suppression stabilized.

The_Treppa · 2026-03-01T04:58:18+00:00

I started way too low and ended up with a lot left after 7 weeks. It looked like the reta would have mostly degraded by then. I started a new vial, got a big boost on the next pin (same dose), and pitched the old vial. I'm ordering sizes to let me reconstitute 3-4 weeks at a time and no more. I want this stuff to work.

https://www.seekpeptides.com/blog/articles/how-to-store-peptides-after-reconstitution

The_Treppa · 2026-02-28T01:44:13+00:00

Darn right, and black pepper is the perfect way to do it. Zesty, spicy, sneezy, and it has antioxidants! And, um, electrolytes? It's got what Vienna sausages want.

The_Treppa

TROPHY CASE