Hormonal
Discontinuation of semaglutide or tirzepatide after 3-12 months of treatment results in negligible average weight change (mean +0.5% for obesity indication, -1.3% for T2D) over the subsequent year, driven by high rates of medication reinitiation (19.6%) or switching to alternative treatments (35.2%).
If you stop semaglutide or tirzepatide, do not assume you will regain all your weight. In clinical practice, most patients either restart the medication or switch to another treatment, which keeps average weight change very small (near zero) over the next year. However, individual results vary widely, so you must actively engage with your healthcare provider to select a replacement strategy (medication or lifestyle) immediately upon discontinuation to avoid regain.
Mean percentage weight change from discontinuation to 1 year later was 0.5% [95% CI, 0.0%, 1.0%] when treating obesity and −1.3% [95% CI, −1.6%, −1.0%] when treating T2D... In this large sample of patients who discontinued semaglutide or tirzepatide, reinitiation of the original medication or receipt of alternative obesity treatment was common.
Why this rating
Large retrospective cohort study (N=7938) with real-world electronic health record data, though observational design limits causal inference compared to RCTs.
Source
Obesity Treatments and Weight Changes in Clinical Practice After Discontinuation of Semaglutide or Tirzepatide
Hamlet Gasoyan et al. · Diabetes Obesity and Metabolism · 2026
DOI 10.1111/dom.70660
Related findings · Hormonal
- Initial treatment for type 2 diabetes should be a combination of metformin and either an SGLT-2 inhibitor or a GLP-1 receptor agonist to achieve cardiorenal protection, rather than monotherapy or older agents like sulfonylureas.Strong
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- Continued weekly administration of 2.4 mg subcutaneous semaglutide prevents weight regain and promotes further weight loss in adults with overweight or obesity, whereas switching to placebo results in significant weight regain.Strong
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