Has anyone reduced their dose and kept appetite suppression?

[Beekman]

I’ve been on Wegovy for 4+ months now. My appetite was restricted from the first day so I did three months on the starter dose before moving up to the next dose. I think this dose is too strong for me as I can barely look at food and only eat because I know I have to. I have fairly mild but annoying gastric side effects (sulphur burps being the main one) which I never had on the lowest dose.

I don’t want to go off the meds altogether, generally I love being on a GLP-1 and my bloodwork is fantastic, not to mention lower inflammation and the complete disappearance of my psoriasis after decades, but I also know eating so little is not sustainable and the side effects are not something I really want to live with if I can achieve the same results on a lower dose.

Has anyone gone down a dose and still found their appetite restricted? I’m not too bothered about the weightloss side of things, the slower the better for me, but I don’t want to render the whole thing useless by dropping down. Any advice welcomed.

What dose are you on?
I think it's a fairly common experience for some people to find the dose too strong and drop down again.

Yes when I went upto 15mg mounjaro in sept 25 and got to bmi 25, I could barely eat 800 cals a day, even though 12.5mg wore off. I then reduced to 12.5, as I lost 6lbs in a month on 15mg and felt really unwell with zero energy, 12.5 was too strong even after 2 weeks still unable to eat much and felt like a zombie. Then down to 10mg for a month and that was ok but then that got too strong so then counted clicks did 9mg then 8.5mg for a month then again too strong then 7.5mg for 2 months.
Lost a stone during that time and bmi down to 21.9 currently as kept losing and appetite suppression stayed strong or medium throughout, never lost it once.
I'm now down to 5.83mg, slowly coming down, done 6.5 and 6 for a while, still have good suppression but with weight loss insulin sensitivity increases so that is why doses can suddenly feel too strong. I'm trying to get to a lower dose so it is financially better but also don't want to stay on MJ if I can manage without but being previously prediabetic I'm not sure if I'll be able to.

@Mysticmaidenthat's really interesting. Thanks for sharing. Did you experience anti-inflammatory benefits from MJ and did those remain as you titrated down? I'm currently on 7.5, have reached target but my joints are the best they've ever been and am a bit worried about losing that benefit if I move down.

I’m on the Wegovy tablets. I realise this is a UK board so there won’t be much experience of them on here but was thinking the principle will be the same.

I’m on the second dose which is 4mg. I did fine at 1.5, some minor side effects, but I could at least eat and had some, albeit small, appetite. On the 4mg, it is very difficult to even look at food and when I do eat, I often feel sick. There doesn’t seem to be any particular food that sets it off. This morning I have had a boiled egg and it was very difficult to force down. I will finish this batch of 4mg and then move down to try for a month, see if I feel any better. Thank you for the replies.

Were the 1.5mg tablets still working for you before you increased? If so, then perhaps the increase wasn't necessary.
I don't know what the tablets look like. Can you break the 4mg in half and have 2mg? Splitting tablets this way is very common, and many have a line moulded into them to facilitate this.

Yes I'm 44 and had inflammation including diagnosed IBS since I was 27 and lots of bloating, water retention and muscle aches which all vanished on MJ.
I actually switched to wegovy 1.7mg for 3 months from 7.5mg mj in nov 25 when I got to maintenance and it was awful, IBS symptoms returned daily, muscle aches, bloating, water retention, constipation (never had on mj) and I'd gained 3lbs in the last month! Switched back to 7.5mg mj in feb 26 and within 2 days lost 3lbs, then a further 3lbs that month. 7.5 was actually too strong so I dropped to 5mg and have maintained without any side effects or inflammation.
Would recommend moving down slowly, I found after 5 weeks on 5mg that I was craving carbs and sugar again so then went back up to 7mg, then 6.5, then 6mg for a few weeks now I'm reducing slowly at 5.83mg and my appetite suppression is high currently. Inflammation has been controlled throughout thankfully.

@Mysticmaidenthank you for replying. Its great you still have all the anti-inflammatory benefits! If I'm going to titrate down I'm planning on doing it very slowly, a few clicks at a time. Thank you.

I’m following with interest as I’m on MJ 10mg and really struggling with 2-3 days of nausea after I jab. I decided today that I just can’t do it any more so I’ve ordered my next pen at 7.5mg. I still have 2 stone to lose but I feel so pukey all the time on 10mg that it’s impacting my general mood.

I've struggled with 12.5mg both times I have tried it and moved back down to 10mg again.

I did the golden dose this week from a 10mg pen and actually extracted too much and injected again at 12.5mg accidentally. Ate lunch (small) yesterday and wham was ill yesterday afternoon again.

Next week I'm off on holiday and am going to decrease right down to 7.5mg for 3 weeks whilst we are away. Will then go back up to 10mg in August.

Sometimes it feels like it's trial and error as it's definitely not straightforward for me now above 10mg and I still have 2 more stone to get rid of. Didn't have any issues apart from constipation and feeling cold on all doses right up to 10mg. But above my body just does not like it.

I hope things work better for you at your reduced dose.

Yes, albeit not til I hit maintenance. It's been fine though.

I was the same when I went up to 10mg. I did one month of 10mg and then went back down to 7.5mg and felt so much better for it. I've still been losing weight but am nearing maintenance so I'm not wanting to lose much more now.