Wellness/Health clinics sourcing from China or compounding pharmacies, which themselves source the ingredients from China.

https://www.ft.com/content/b15407bd-7b86-45c3-9780-0c92117cc...

They are buying from Chinese dealers. And sadly, as with most GLP-1s they likely will need to take them for the rest of their life or suffer some incredible rebound weight loss/ negative health effects.

These medications are incredible if you are overweight and need them. But they are not a panacea. Also arguably buying these drugs from Chinese dealers means there is no recourse if you get a bad batch.

There is a pseudo testing setup around Finnrick but talk to anyone with a PhD in biochemistry and there are numerous ways these molecules can be improperly manufactured.

Surprised to see so many on HN being relatively careless with their heath

Yeah, I hear everyone talk about it like it’s just super easy to get…

Start by looking at independent lab test results from multiple vendors, e.g. https://www.finnrick.com/products/retatrutide

they buy it from research peptide vendors

Had the same issue. With reta I have more energy than normal and workout even more than usual. I get great workouts despite eating around 1400 calories a day. I don't wanna act like it's without flaws but I gotta say it does it's job very well

I got food poisoning on a glp2 and it was the worst I've ever felt in my life for like a week because it it slows the digestion.

it was an edge case I had not considered.

If there's any mental effect, it's most likely from eating less food (and most likely healthier food) and feeling better because of that.

It doesn't increase your appetite for healthy food. It will punish you for eating bad food. "Don't eat that steak, you're going to have crazy stomach pain tomorrow if you do!"

How did you get to 15mg and only had it working for 2 weeks? The starting dose is 2.5mg and it takes many months to titrate up to 15mg. Most people never get to 15mg.

I've read hundreds of anecdotal experiences from people on these drugs, and haven't encountered anyone taking 15mg without success.

Sorry to hear that. As a counterpoint for the peanut gallery I've been on tirzepatide for 5 months and lost 15 kg in the first 3 months, never going past a 1.25mg dose. I've only creeped up to 3mg since and keep losing around 0.3 kg per week. No side effects except for super mild nausea every now and then. I plan to stay at a similar or lower dose for the next couple of years.

I had the good fortune of responding well and being at a great starting point: despite being 40% body fat I exercised a lot and had great labs to begin with. Anecdotally I've found starting metabolic health to make a huge difference in dose response.

Everyone is different but I lost over 40lbs just by taking 5mg over about 5 months

The issue is not lack of knowledge about appropriate amounts to eat, it's the physical sensations and mental state of being satiated at those amounts and the self control to limit yourself when you are not.

I was on a GLP-1 a few years ago and lost 70 lbs. After I got off, I kept a ton of diet changes (no more Pepsi or Gatorade and a lot of water instead, switching to whole grains and fiber/protein variants on pasta, etc.) and gained the weight back in a year and a half. The literature backs this up: keeping up weight loss is hard.

I’m hungry right now. I should be working, but all I want to do is to eat. I have already eaten more than enough today, and I would like to lose weight.

I could take more caffeine to reduce my desire for food, but it is already too close to bedtime. I could try to focus on work (I am) but I keep getting intrusive thoughts about the fact that I could just get ice cream/cookies/chicken fingers/burrito/quesadilla/insert food here in just a few moments.

I wish I could take these drugs, unfortunately I cannot. Terrible side effects.

Strangely, after visiting Japan I found it quite easy to eat a healthy low calorie diet for about two weeks. Now I’m back to constant food noise, despite trying to stick to a Japanese-style diet (lots of fish and vegetables and fermented foods).

The people who say “just eat less” don’t understand what the actual problem is.

All research points to a "no" answer - weight is regained, and quickly. Which helps explain why obesity is so prevalent - it is something in the brain's chemistry.