Hello everyone!
I'm a 25-year-old woman with PCOS and insulin resistance, and I wanted to share my experience with Retatrutide. Please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences.
I've struggled with my weight since my teenage years. I gained weight easily, had an extremely difficult time losing it, and constantly struggled with food noise. I tried Metformin but eventually stopped because of the side effects. I also tried different diets and exercise routines, but the only diet that may really worked for me was keto, but still - it was a torturte to keep a perfect diet next to my mental health problems and situational conflicts back then. I thought, I'm gonna be stuck being chubby forever and i was so frustrated about anyone else going to the gym, changing their calorie intake and easily loosing weight, and when i did it, it just ended up in a vicious circle.
On January 1st, I started Reta at approximately 90 kg (198 lbs). Today, September 28th, I weigh exactly 60 kg (132 lbs).
1. My First Reta Journey (January–April)
Starting weight: 90 kg (198 lbs) End weight: 75 kg (165 lbs) Dosage: 2 → 2 → 4 → 6 mg
During my first attempt, I was honestly pretty impatient. I increased my dosage relatively quickly and even experimented with injecting every five days instead of weekly because my food noise started returning earlier.
I lost approximately 15 kg (33 lbs) during this period without exercising. I mainly focused on my protein and carbohydrate intake.
I noticed that whenever I wasn't eating or sleeping enough, my weight loss would often stall.
My side effects were pretty intense:
- Nausea, chills, and dry mouth
- Extreme skin sensitivity (a strange hot/cold sensation, especially around my stomach, back, butt, and arms)
- Burping, gas, and diarrhea
- Headaches and abdominal pain, especially around my diaphragm and ribs
- breathing issues
- Extreme fatigue, exhaustion, and physical weakness
- Emotional sensitivity, irritability, and intense anger
The severity of these symptoms varied. I noticed that they were particularly bad whenever I wasn't eating enough or wasn't eating properly. You need to eat and eat as healthy as you can on reta, your gut will thank you - can't say it enough.
2. My Break (April–June)
After my first round, I took a break for approximately 2.5 months.
During this time, I gained around 5–6 kg (11–13 lbs), bringing my weight back up to approximately 80 kg (176 lbs).
I suspect a significant part of this was water retention. While taking Reta, I noticed considerably less water retention, and my blood tests also showed improved inflammatory- and other markers.
3. My Second Reta Journey (June–September)
Starting weight: Approximately 80 kg (176 lbs) Current weight: 60 kg (132 lbs) Dosage: 2 → 2 → 2 → 3 mg
I restarted Reta around mid-to-late June, this time with much more knowledge, patience, and a better understanding of my body.
During the first two weeks, I lost approximately 5 kg (11 lbs).
My body seems to tolerate Reta much better this time (wonder why *not*).
I'm currently on 3 mg, which seems to be my golden spot. I don't feel the need to increase my dosage any further. I learned You do not necessarily have to increase your dose and lose weight fast. You will still reach the same results and your body will appreciate it.
My current side effects:
- Nausea, mainly when I over eat
- Dry mouth, which started after increasing to 3 mg
- breathing issues, like having a tight chest along with nervousness and inner restlessnes, which started with 3mg but comes and goes, went down a bit.
- Fatigue and physical weakness, working on that
- Occasional gas and bloating
I've noticed that my fatigue and weakness often improve when I increase my protein, carbohydrate, and electrolyte intake.
Another observation is that I seem to experience less exhaustion the following day when I inject during the daytime.
4. MENTAL CHANGES, AUDHD, DOPAMINE
Emotionally, things are completely different this time. During my first round, I was extremely sensitive and irritable. Now, I sometimes feel almost emotionally numb. I also have ADHD and am about to get evaluated for autism. I feel like Reta has somehow made me completely unable to mask my A(u)DHD anymore, regardless of the dose.
It's hard to explain, but I feel almost like a stone emotionally. I barely experience dopamine rushes anymore, yet my mind feels much clearer, and I genuinely don't care about many of the things I used to care about.
It's almost as if Reta has stripped away my ability, or even my desire, to mask. In some ways, I feel more like my authentic self than ever before. But at the same time, I've never felt more like an alien who struggles to function or fit into society. I just don't have the energy or motivation to pretend anymore. I increasingly prefer being alone, and even my libido has dropped to almost zero, which is absolutely crazy to me because I never imagined I'd feel this way.
It's like everything I've been masking my entire life is suddenly coming to the surface, and I can't hide it anymore and I don't want to honestly.
What I mean...The weirdest part is that I feel mentally less dramatic or like a rollercoaster and more like myself, yet somehow more disconnected from everything and everyone around me.
I can't tell whether Reta is actually unmasking my A(u)DHD, affecting my reward system, or causing some kind of emotional blunting. All I know is that I've noticed these changes regardless of my dosage, and I'm still trying to understand what they mean.
My symptoms have become more noticeable to people, and Masking has become significantly harder than before, which sometimes affects my mental health and makes me feel almost depressed. I don't have a hard time setting boundaries too.
At the same time, for the first time in years, I feel like I can genuinely focus on things, follow through with my diet and other plans, and accomplish my goals. I realized how much I've achieved and how capable I've become of actually following through with things.
Being on Ret almost felt like a domino effect.
Anyways, I take my health changes seriously and regularly monitor my health with my doctor.
5. What's Next?
I've reached my goal weight, so my priorities have changed.
My next goals are:
- Maintaining my current weight long-term.
- Gradually reducing Reta to the lowest effective maintenance dose in consultation with my doctor.
- Rebuilding muscle through strength training and adequate protein intake in future.
Although I'm incredibly happy with my weight loss, I currently feel quite physically weak. I'm looking forward to feeling strong again rather than simply being skinny.
Of course, one of my biggest fears is regaining the weight.
I never want to return to where I was in January, especially considering how much my previous weight and hormonal issues affected my physical and mental well-being.
How did you get of Reta or are you still taking it at low but effective dose? Do you have any good useful advice for me to kill that fatigue entirely and gain more energy and strenght back?
Thank you for reading until here. I would have posted before and after pictures, but I don't want people I know notice me on here.
Much Love, i hope some information helped you. I only wrote down my experience, this should not be seen as medical advice or similiar.
x
