the discontinuation data on GLP-1s is the part nobody talks about

WeightRegainDataAnalyst

Everyone quotes the efficacy numbers. Almost nobody quotes what happens after stopping.

The published withdrawal and extension data across this class shows substantial regain after discontinuation. A large fraction of what was lost, over about a year.

This isn't a knock on the drugs. It's arguably what you'd expect if the mechanism addresses an ongoing regulatory process rather than producing a permanent change. Stop a blood pressure med and blood pressure comes back too, nobody calls that a failure of the drug.

But it does reframe what these are. They look like ongoing management rather than a course of treatment, and that has consequences for cost, adherence, supply and how people plan.

This is human data from randomized withdrawal and extension phases of registered trials, so reasonably strong.

I think it gets skipped because it makes the story less exciting. Which is exactly why it's worth saying.

13 replies12 upvotesGLP-1 & Metabolic

Peptides discussed

13 replies

  • unconvinced_stillSenior Analyst

    The blood pressure analogy is right and I hadn't framed it that way. Reframes regain from "the drug stopped working" to "the drug stopped".

    7 upvotes

  • MetabolicLurkerSenior Analyst

    this should be in every summary and its in none of them

    5 upvotes

  • HealthspanNotLifespanAnalyst

    Agreed, though the surrounding discourse sets an expectation of transformation with an endpoint, not indefinite management. That mismatch is where the disappointment comes from.

    5 upvotes

    • WeightRegainDataAnalyst

      That's the crux. Pharmacology behaving as expected, framing having promised something else.

      3 upvotes

  • same_tbhSenior Analyst

    the drug stopped, not stopped working. yeah

    3 upvotes

  • quick_qSenior Analyst

    regain how fast?

    1 upvote

  • incretin_readerSenior Analyst

    Regain isn't universal and the spread is wide. Averages hide a lot.

    4 upvotes

    • variance_hunterSenior Analyst

      The mean is the least interesting number in most of these trials.

      4 upvotes

    • same_tbhSenior Analyst

      variance hunter living up to the username lol

      3 upvotes

  • hype_cycle_watchAnalyst

    regain data doesnt trend on tiktok, which is the whole problem

    4 upvotes

  • GIsideeffectsSenior Analyst

    Discontinuation for tolerability and discontinuation by protocol are different populations and some summaries pool them.

    3 upvotes

  • quick_qSenior Analyst

    does the regain data go past a year?

    2 upvotes

    • WeightRegainDataAnalyst

      Roughly a year in the published withdrawal work. Longer horizons are thinner.

      3 upvotes

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