Research

Hormonal

Discontinuation of obesity management medications (OMMs) such as tirzepatide or semaglutide leads to substantial weight regain and partial reversal of cardiometabolic improvements, indicating that sustained treatment is required to maintain health benefits.

If you stop taking your obesity medication (like tirzepatide or semaglutide), you will likely regain most of the weight you lost, even if you keep your diet and exercise habits. To keep the health benefits, you generally need to stay on the medication long-term.

GoodSupportsHIGH confidence
the cardiometabolic risk factor benefits achieved with body weight reduction during OMM treatment have been shown to deteriorate with the rapid weight regain, also known as weight recurrence, that occurs from OMM discontinuation... 1 year after discontinuation of semaglutide and the lifestyle intervention program, participants had regained two-thirds of their prior weight reduction and partial reversal of improvements in cardiometabolic metrics
Deborah B. Horn et al. · Obesity · 2025

Why this rating

Based on cited Phase 3 trials (SURMOUNT-4, STEP 4, STEP 1 extension) which are robust clinical studies, though this specific paper is a design/baseline report.

Source

Tirzepatide for the Maintenance of Body Weight Reduction: Rationale, Design, and Baseline Characteristics of <scp>SURMOUNT</scp>‐<scp>MAINTAIN</scp>

Deborah B. Horn et al. · Obesity · 2025

DOI 10.1002/oby.70014

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DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10

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