This drug combines 3 targets per phase 2 docs [1]. Weight loss and side-effects both show dose-response relations. Side-effects could be higher than single-target drugs d/t more off-target effects, or they could be lower if per-target dosage can be lower d/t reaching therapeutic effect via combination.
Phase 3 "TRIUMPH" study results not due until 2026. Indications only target overweight patients with osteoarthritis, type-II diabetes or cardiovascular disease. [2] There are also reports that it reduces fat in the liver, so it could be useful for fatty liver disease.
No trial I found is studying discontinuation or dependence.
I’m on Mounjaro and it’s pretty crappy. Works great, lost around 70lbs so far in around 8-9 months but it makes me feel pretty sick and other side effects are no fun. It’s especially not good that it’s so hard to get ahold of and you have to build a tolerance to its more negative side effects. So when my pharmacy leaves me hanging for a few weeks, or a month at a time and I have to then go right back to the max dose, the ride is even less fun.
I would love to have more energy too. I hope this clears trials soon.
I've been taking Mounjaro for just over 3 months. I'm down 41lbs so far and more importantly my A1C is now 5.5 vs 10.2. I've been lucky. My side effects disappeared after 6 weeks and I've never waited longer than 2 days for a refill.
> is it something you have to stick with even after you are at your goal weight?
Depends on the situation. I know multiple people who took it, improved and then stopped. They had a bit of a bounce back, but nowhere close to what it was originally. (How they ordered at restaurants, for example, permanently changed.)
The effects ware off after about 3 days and your normal appetite generally kicks back in. Mounjaro is intended for long term use for diabetics so, assuming you’re taking it for weight loss like myself you’re generally able to quit whenever you feel like it.
I can see why. The appetite comes right back almost immediately. Additionally the feeling of constantly being low-grade sick goes away so people feel pretty great generally.
The appetite suppressant factor is only a part of how it works. The other half is always feeling like I’m a weird smell away from barfing all the time.
Maintenance Phase did a really good podcast episode on Ozempic and this new class of weight loss drugs in general. They go into detail on the individual trials Ozempic went through and the results after two years, where most gained back a majority of the weight they lost. They also discuss how the trials themselves weren't just the medication, but also weekly meetings with a dietician and monthly meeting with a councellor; so the numbers the studies have about 1/3rd of participants losing 20% of their body weight should be taken with a grain of salt.
It's worth listening to if you're considering starting one of these drugs, or just interested in learning about them.
Good point. Lot of people do not have a plan to wean off of these class of drugs. Lifestyle changes can be hard. Sadly some just have to stay on them for long periods to maintain their loss.
Generic names have to be approved by two independent authorities and are chosen to improve safety by avoiding mixups and to suggest their function and relationship to other drugs. They are deliberately not very similar to the brand name.
As others have said, it’s the generic name, not brand name. I like it, because I generally focus on memorizing generic names over brand names personally. I know that anything ending in -tide is a peptide and highly likely these days to be a modifier of the GLP system.
Other drugs in the same family as retatrutide include tirzepatide (“Mounjaro”), and semaglutide (“Wegovy”). In that light, it’s a pretty good name!
Sigh. Misinformation abounds. Ozempic is a lower dose (0.5/1/2 mg) of semaglutide weekly injection for type-2 diabetes ONLY. IT'S NOT FOR WEIGHT LOSS but it may happen as a beneficial side-effect. Wegovy IS a higher dose (1.7/2.4 mg) semaglutide weekly injection for weight loss due to life-threatening or health-impacting obesity. Rybelsus (7mg) is the oral form of Ozempic, also for type-2 diabetes but not for morbid obesity. There is a 50 mg oral formulation for obesity that has been approved but not yet been released by Novo Nordisk.
There is overt and systematic discrimination in the US against treating morbid obesity. Just one example: Medicare refuses to cover Wegovy, even if it's due to the side-effects of another medication you need to survive.
Half the country is obese and it currently has to be taken for life at a cost of about $100k per person, once the cost is two orders cheaper after patents run out it will make more sense.
The cost in France for Wegovy is $90/month or $1080/year. In Germany, it's $328/month or $3936/year.
VSL for an average middle-aged person is on the order of $2M USD. The QALY advantage makes it clear that it's a net positive, even at this crazy price. And the prices US patients pay for many medications is well beyond absurd, it's unfair gouging. There should be a law: US retail medication prices cannot exceed the currency-adjusted prices of all other per-country average market prices by more than 10%.
If you scratch the surface of any of the peptide forums/discord Reta has been known and like Sema and Tirz is made (pirated, i guess would be the right word) in pharma labs from China, sold direct or through a US repackager since the first study white paper came out.
People are hungry for the new class of drugs and there’s a huge market being tapped by Chinese pharma to crank out these even while they are still in study/approval stage.
Phase 3 "TRIUMPH" study results not due until 2026. Indications only target overweight patients with osteoarthritis, type-II diabetes or cardiovascular disease. [2] There are also reports that it reduces fat in the liver, so it could be useful for fatty liver disease.
No trial I found is studying discontinuation or dependence.
[1] phase 2: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37366315/
[2] phase 3 (TRIUMPH): https://investor.lilly.com/news-releases/news-release-detail...