Tirzepatide is one of the GLP-1 agonist drugs that’s become very popular recently. It’s also known as Zepbound or Mounjaro. Compared to Ozempic, tirzepatide is also gastric inhibitory polypeptide, which supposedly helps prevent fat accumulation. At the start of this year I began my “weight loss journey” on tirzepatide. Here’s my experience so far after nine months of using it.
When I started, my BMI was in the low 30s, firmly in the “Obese” region of the BMI chart. I’d been trying to lose weight for years, sometimes with greater effect, sometimes with lesser effect, but I found that the only way I could really consistently lose weight is by fully devoting my waking life to a physical activity such as running or cycling. This was doable when I was younger, but as a middle-aged person, life seems to keep interrupting me.. so I decided it was time to give the medicinal approach a try.
During the first few weeks I immediately became affected by a side effect that was kind of scary: my eyesight was suddenly terrible during the evenings. I was just unable to focus on things any more. Although apparently not a direct known side effect, there are reports that link rapid blood sugar changes to blurred vision, with other users of tirzepatide reporting this as well. While initially scary, the blurry vision eventually went back to normal over the next couple of weeks. After about a year’s use I occasionally get tired eyes in the evening, but I don’t know if that’s from tirzepatide use or just because I’m getting older..
I ramped up the dosages pretty quickly. I started off at 2.5mg / 0.6ml a week for the first month, with the option of ramping up every month by 2.5mg increments until you’re at the maximum dosage of 15mg / 0.6ml. I ramped up immediately to 5mg the second month and then 7.5mg the next, which is where I encountered the next painful side effect: I had intense stomach pain, which was so bad that I went to the hospital for emergency treatment. Although, when this happened, I was more worried that it was one of my other stomach conditions flaring up. When I arrived at the hospital they ruled out my other stomach conditions pretty quickly, and they pretty much told me that this is a side effect of tirzepatide, and to just stick with it and it’ll go away. Which it did, fortunately. I skipped the injection for a week and then was back to my normal injection routine after that. The serious stomach pain did not reoccur.
Another inconvenient but otherwise non-threatening side effect I encountered, which was more heavy during the earlier months: excessive burping. I was extremely gassy during the first few months. Fortunately this went away later on in the year.
From 10mg onwards I ramped up the doses a bit slower, and halfway through the year there was a period of time where my appetite didn’t feel very suppressed at all, and I actually gained a bit of weight for two months, despite doing about the same level of exercise. Eventually, despite not making any changes to my lifestyle, I overcame this plateau, and now that I’m at the 15mg dosage I feel a reasonable level of appetite suppression again, and occasional mild nausea. Fortunatley this is now nowhere near as bad as it was during the first few months. It’s very manageable, and it’s much easier to eat smaller portions. Eating less just comes naturally now.
Lastly, there’s lethargy, fatigue and muscle pain. I feel drained very often, though I don’t know if I’d feel the same level of drainage if I’d just be dieting normally or if it’s from the tirzepatide, but it’s very clear to me that I have a lot less energy than I used to have. I’m still in the middle of my weight loss journey, so I can’t compare yet how I’ll feel after stopping tirzepatide when I’ve hit my target weight. What I do know is that there have been a few days this year where I felt no lethargy at all and felt absolutely fantastic — way better than I’ve physically felt any time in the last five years. It’s as if my body has burned through the hard-to-burn fat deposits and hit on a pure nitroglycerin fuel deposit. I felt incredibly powerful. There were not many of those days though. Most days I feel slightly more tired than I used to. I get a lot more muscle soreness, especially in my legs and knees. It is a known side effect that you will lose muscle mass on tirzepatide, so it’s important to keep up your exercise regime. I’ve been doing more muscle training than I used to, and less cardio (also because I’m tired more quickly). I haven’t noticed myself getting any weaker despite the definite muscle soreness.
Over the course of nine months I lost 18 kilograms. Apparently this is slightly more than what most people lose on a similar treatment plan, which is probably more honestly attributed to my weak stomach than it is to diligently exercising, which I’m not always great at. That said, the effect is absolutely life-changing. Tirzepatide has changed my life. I have been obese or overweight for all of my adult life. There was a period in my twenties where I was very physically active and doing heavy cardio multiple days a week. During that time I had to work really hard to just get to the weight I am at now, which is still slightly obese. Whereas on tirzepatide, the weight loss journey becomes just a thing I do on the side, without it being something I have to devote my entire life to. And I have a lot more weight loss to look forward to. Being any lighter than what I weigh right now seemed practically impossible to me before tirzepatide, but now it just seems like hitting my much lower target weight is definitely something that will happen, and I actually won’t be obese any more for the first time in twenty years.
As a result, I actually enjoy going out for walks again, no matter the terrain or duration. Intense cardio is still perilous — I attempted a long cycle earlier this year, but quite quickly ran out of energy and felt terrible. I’m reasonably confident that this will get better once I’m off the tirzepatide, and at least I’ll be at a weight again where I feel comfortable tackling any inclines on the bike without grinding to a standstill.
To summarize, tirzepatide has definitely had a bunch of negative side effects for me, but on the whole, it is improving my life a lot, and I feel very happy to be losing weight this way. I don’t see myself continuing the treatment for the rest of my life though. At some point I hope that 1. I’ll be at a weight where physical activity is more enjoyable than when I was obese (which I know to be true because I was fitter when I was younger), and 2. I’ll actually have more time to devote to healthy exercise in the future, with life getting in the way less and less as I get older (and healthier, hopefully).
I’m not sure if this article helps anyone, since results and side effects vary from person to person, but it has certainly been a major milestone in my life, and definitely one that I felt was worth documenting. I’ve been very light (ha ha..) in this article on long-term side effects, and that’s basically because nobody knows yet what the future will bring. There is definitely a real chance that tirzepatide will bring about something bad in some or even a lot of people ten or twenty years from now, and that is the risk you take if you start using it now. That being said, in my personal opinion, for my personal circumstances (age, weight, life expectancy, things I enjoy in life etc.), it was definitely worth it — so far. I am certainly looking forward to what the next year will bring.