Is anyone splitting their GLP1 dose and has it helped?

[Popcornandbeetroot]

I have been on a GLP1 for 9 months and have responded really well to it, I’ve lost 42 kg, my starting weight was 130kg. The only fly in the ointment was a really annoying side effect called Allodynia which caused my skin to feel incredibly sore for the 2nd to fourth day after injecting. I recently decided to try splitting my dose to twice weekly and my symptom has completely gone, I’m still loosing weight, it’s not really a hassle to do a twice weekly dose and the suppression is still good, food noise still very low. I’ve also noticed my energy levels are better this week 🙂 Just wondering if anyone else out there is dose splitting, what reason made you decide to use your GLP1 differently and if it’s helping you on your GLP1 journey?

You’re definitely not the only armchair pharmacist doing this, but I don’t think it should be normalised.

These drugs were designed and tested to be taken at specific intervals. There is no longterm data on what happens when you regularly increase exposure by changing the dosing schedule.

Could that lead to receptor desensitisation over time, quicker tolerance or intolerance, or extra strain on organs (gallbladder/liver)? Possibly. We don’t know, because it hasn’t been studied properly.

Without that knowledge, it is a risky approach.

Lots of us aren’t following the rules. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I’ve stayed on a low dose and only gone up to 3.75mg from a 5mg pen.

I think you’re encouraged by the Pharmacies to move up the doses monthly but that seems counter intuitive to me and surely increases the risk of pancreatitis if you’re on the highest dose fairly early on for a longer period of time?

I think if the lower doses are working, then it makes more sense to me to stick with it.

Of course, lots of people sub dose, split dose, lengthen /shorten dose times, stop start etc. I've done all of the above, all at my own risk because as a PP stated, if you decide to override the way it was tested to be administered then you're somewhat taking a risk it'll all be OK.

I agree with you that there isn’t any data to support my approach with dosing schedule, the only reason I’ve done the split dose is to reduce a side effect that was causing a great deal of discomfort, whilst the GLP1 is working well for me at a low dose I’ve had the skin soreness from the second week of use and did a lot or research as to how I should/could overcome it, the only information I could find was regarding splitting doses to reduce symptoms and side effects. I’m not suggesting anyone else tries this method but I did want to find out if anyone else had similar experiences.

Yes every 4 days - I think it evens out the lows and I don’t see any harm. If it works for you then I’d continue. I’m paying for the medication and managing my symptoms myself.

One thing i found by reading the details , its expected that you will get a level of side effects, and really means its working (obviously this is the severe side effects). so having them initially can show that its working

This is worth a read.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/wegovy-weight-loss-injections-microdosing-mounjaro-b2914716.html

That doesn’t make logical sense. You maintain a base level but still get the big increase as it’s not reached its first half life yet. So on the day you inject you’ve double the dose in your system.

Thank you for responding, as you mentioned splitting the dose evens out the lows too, helping people to stick to their goals and reduce the effects of cravings and food noise.
looking back on my journey I realised I had developed a low level of anxiety regarding the side effect I was struggling with, I’m glad it seems to have stopped now and hopefully I won’t have any problems with split dosing.

Thank you for the link, the article highlights lots of important information such as ensuring proper storage, sterile needles and a regulated registered provider - all things that I am careful to adhere to.

The article highlights lots of important information such as ensuring proper storage, sterile needles and a regulated registered provider - all things that I am careful to adhere to.
And it also highlights the risks of not taking the correct dosage.

You are right, it really doesn’t make sense and yet my symptoms of skin soreness have gone - and hopefully won’t come back 🤞🏻

I haven’t split my dose, but when I told my pharmacy that I was getting side effects and was struggling to increase, they suggested staying at the lower dose but injecting every 4-5 days (which is essentially a split dose)

Just out of interest if you were prescribed antibiotics for an infection would you know better and adjust your own dose? These are pharmaceutical drugs you're taking, not smarties

Iv been on MJ for over a year and done periods of time when iv split doses and Iv never had any problems when doing it.

Yes I would, I always take an extra dose on day one as I'm an adult and can decide for myself.

My pharmacy advised me to do try this so I inject every 4 days and bought some sterile micro syringes from a uk online pharmacy.

The honest answer is yes I have done this 👀, take a double dose on the first day to get it in my system, I think it was a thing that was common practice years ago advised by the pharmacy or GP possibly?

I’ve split my dose most of the way through, must be over a year now. It helped me stay on a lower dose. Went up to 7.5mg (2x3.75), now down to 5mg (2x2.5).

I like never having such a high dose in my system that I get significant side effects, but also that it doesn’t wear off towards the end of the week.

I had allodynia too, for around 3 weeks, and then itv disappeared, without any change of dosage.

It’s such a strange sensation, painful and seemed worse at night for me, I’m glad you didn’t have it for long. I had it for about 8 months but it seems to have gone now thankfully, it’s so nice to be free from it 🙂

Allodynia comes and goes for me, I’m 18 months in and had it last week for 5 days even though I’ve stayed in the same dose, last time I had it was 6 months ago, hopefully it won’t come back soon!

I did for a short time when I wanted to go higher for the last part of my loss and I found the peaks too high for me. I did 3.33mg every 5-6 days and found it worked for me. Then when I wa coming back down I did the same with 2.5mg. I’m in maintenance so have gone back to 2.5mg weekly and that’s fine. I plan to reduce further and micro dose with next pen. What PP have said is worth considering, there are no studies on this and there may be valid concerns about lack of testing impact of frequency on receptors. However for me I was comfortable doing this, particularly as the doses I was doing it with were are the very low end, I’ve never had a cumulative level in my system above 7-8mg (estimates vary between the 2 plotting apps I use!). But you have to decide for yourself, record whatever you do, make sure you understand dosing maths completely, clean sterile needles, great hygiene and refrigeration. You’re an adult and people do a lot more dangerous things than split doses of a medication prescribed to them.

I have been taking 2.5mg of my 10mg dose after 4 days ( inject 7.5mg on Monday, 2.5mg on Friday) just since Christmas as I came off completely for three weeks. Doing this to get back into it without side effects as it's a big jump to get back to 10mg from nothing. Not that my levels got to zero with with three weeks off according to the app.

The most important thing to me is staying at the lowest possible dose that works. So ideally I will drop the 2.5 in a week or two

The reason weekly would have been chosen as a dose schedule is that it's the easiest to comply with that gave consistent efficacy. Commercially and clinically this makes sense. The schedule you have picked will give a slightly lower peak dose than once a week. This might well give you slightly fewer unwanted effects, particularly those associated with the peak. My issue with WLJ is that pharmacies seem very keen to push the dosage up for commercial reasons rather than looking for the lowest effective dose for each individual that gives slow consistent weight loss without over suppression of appetite. Going for the lowest effective dose and resisting the urge to overdo titrate is probably the best thing you can do