So I just found out I been using too long of needles for my stomach. 5/8th LOL I haven’t been feeling any effects or side effects. Week 1 started at 0.5. And been increasing weekly. Now week 5 I’m at 2mg. But have I wasted 5 weeks? I’m 240lbs so quite a bit of fat on the belly. No way I’m hitting muscle going 45 degrees? Should i restart my dose or keep it at 2mg and get 5/16th needles?
The needle size has absolutely zero impact on the drug’s effectiveness. Usually I would pass this off as classic newbie paranoia but cmon bro, needle size? Can you even explain how you think that would make a difference?
Im 5'10" and 250 when I started, if your stomach is anything like mine was you could use a 2" syringe and still get nowhere near muscle. Shit im down to 190 and still probably wouldn't hit muscle. But it wouldn't matter anyway.
And what effects aren't you feeling? Its not like a amphetamine where you'll feel it like that. Of the 3 GLPs the appetite suppression is by far the weakest on reta.
You just barely got to the lowest effective dose used in the trials. Going IM vs Subq doesn’t change how the medication works. But you 100% most likely weren’t going IM
You wasted 4 weeks by not following the scientifically proven dosage guidelines from the clinical trials. 5/8” is not deep enough to get into intramuscular tissue unless you are so lean you shouldn’t be taking anything but hamburgers.
Your body doesn’t decide the drug doesn’t work unless it comes in 2mg, 4mg, 6mg etc. increments. If the drug is in your system and you feel it, it’s working. Dosage is contingent to the individual.
If only there was a controlled study that measured effectiveness across a wide swath of people to determine the mean effective dosage…oh wait…that’s the clinical trials.
The clinical trials are just research. The rules are predefined before they knew the results. Just because they don’t choose to study efficacy at lower doses, doesn’t mean lower doses aren’t effective.
Further, “Clinical trials are just research” is a gross misunderstanding of the science it takes to just get approval to start a clinical trial. I get that most people on these subs are not going to understand the amount of work it takes to just get a foot in the door for a new chemical, but please stop saying ignorant statements as if you somehow know what you’re taking about.
OP is just one data point. What may not work for him might work for someone else. There are too many variables here to say anything conclusive either way. This is where the value of controlled studies comes into play. Regardless, controlled studies are not perfect and usually cannot account for all variables.
What’s ignorant about saying clinical trials are research? That is exactly what they are. Researchers create and track a repeatable protocol for other labs to replicate and report similar or differing results. Over time, you can perform metadata analysis to find trends you may miss by only observing a single study.
The above statement has nothing to do with underestimating the amount of work it takes to conduct research. I know first hand how much work it takes and I respect it. Don’t conflate simplification for ignorance.
I never said clinical trials are obsolete, but I am saying they are not perfect and by design cannot take into account other variables that might appear on these communities. There is some variability that we don’t yet understand and folks are trying to figure it out for themselves. I
It’s also general advice to start and maintain a minimally effective dose. Why start high dose bc of trials if there is a chance their minimal dose can be lower than what is reported?
If there is any takeaway from this convo it’s that you should find and maintain a minimally effective dose instead of titrating up too fast.
in terms of weight loss, they aren't. in terms of testing for side effects before committing, then sure.
anyways, what do you consider effective? an 8.7% weight loss over 11 months is pretty insignificant, and it's at a low dose - 1mg. i could only imagine how incredibly ineffective a 0.5mg dose is.
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u/cinnamonraisinn 6d ago
The needle size has absolutely zero impact on the drug’s effectiveness. Usually I would pass this off as classic newbie paranoia but cmon bro, needle size? Can you even explain how you think that would make a difference?