yes I have been taking tirzepatide for just over a year now as described in the thread I made over here Setting realistic goals and expectations after starting over - #41 by MM_CK and I have been doing my best to follow the primary research on the topic of GLP-1’s, especially tirzepatide (Mounjaro / Zepbound), in order to be an “informed consumer”. I am also very interested in hearing about retratrutide since its getting a lot of hype from bodybuilding circles it seems and your comments on that are very helpful.
Trying to attribute appetite control to “mental toughness” is a pretty ignorant sentiment I think especially in regards to the topic of seeking appetite control from GLP-1’s. Its like trying to shame someone who wants to go to the gym & start lifting for the first time for being “weak” or “out of shape”. Its also incredibly ignorant because the excess “mental toughness” that you supposedly attribute to yourself is the same is the same attribute that is directly given by GLP-1 treatment. So in a lot of ways, its like bragging that you are big & strong after taking drugs, to people who have not yet taken drugs. And its a wishy-washy subjective way to anthropomorphize something that is ultimately just another biological pathway and is controlled as such.
The desire to eat or not eat has absolutely nothing to do with how “tough” you are. It has to do with the various drivers of eating behavior with iirc are typically ascribed to external environmental factors, and intrinsic biological factors, among other things. And for what its worth, my experience with tirzepatide has been that if you are trying to lose weight, “eating the proper foods” had nearly zero significance. I was eating cookies and pudding every morning in order to keep from losing more weight, until I finally reduced my dosage. On the other hand, I did have to carefully evaluate and track my eating again when I shifted gears to try and re-gain weight while still taking the medication.
also I think its worth pointing out that the situation presented in this thread seems a little odd in a couple different ways. OP describes having had a gastrectomy ; this is a pretty serious medical procedure. It suggests to me that OP’s challenges with eating are severe enough to warrant surgery. And it also suggests that OP is serious enough about addressing their eating challenges to consider surgery in the first place. And it also suggests to me that if OP was able to obtain such a procedure then surely they would have medical care and likely medical coverage of some kind? Which makes it seem even more odd that OP would thus be seeking to obtain off-label black market research chemicals for personal use. I think this is important to point out, because if OP had disordered eating to a large enough degree to warrant surgery then I think they definitely need to be seeking medical oversight with GLP-1. OP says they “previously tried semaglutide” but its not clear if this was following standard medical guidelines & with doctor oversight, or if it was self-obtained and self-dosed.
Anecdotally, I have met some folks who claimed to be “non-responders” to semaglutide, and I have heard of people who did not respond much to semaglutide who responded well to tirzepatide. Maybe because the former is a single-agonist and the latter is a dual-agonist? No clue. But it is my understanding that across GLP-1’s, the strength of response can indeed vary based on the individual and it could be that a larger dose was needed as @s.gentz says. This is not clear from OP and is something that would require medical oversight from a doctor. Which is ultimately what I think is best for OP in this situation; seeking medical oversight instead of trying to self dose with research chemicals. This is especially underscored by how easy it is to get such professional medical help with GLP-1’s. There are online clinics that make it super easy to connect with a doctor, discuss diagnosis & treatment options, then get treatment with regular follow-up doctor visits (electronic) and ongoing counseling for diet & exercise to support any medications prescribed. Considering how proactive OP is being with their health, this seems like the more logical route to take, and its not clear if this sort of avenue has been explored or considered yet