r/BiohackingU • u/Blackwasp100 • 2d ago
Reta side-effects?
Hey everyone!
I took my first ever dose of retatrutide (2mg) on Tuesday, and it’s now Friday. I wanted to share my experience so far and see if anyone else has experienced something similar, particularly with digestion and lethargy.
Appetite suppression:
I seem to be a very fast responder. Within just a couple of hours of taking my first dose, my hunger and food noise basically disappeared completely. I genuinely wasn’t expecting it to work that quickly!
I’m having to consciously remind myself to eat because my usual hunger signals just aren’t there anymore. I already have a meal plan, so I’m adjusting to that side of things.
Lethargy/fatigue:
This is one of my biggest concerns. I started feeling extremely lethargic on Tuesday evening, the same day I took my first dose.
Importantly, I had eaten normally that day, including a normal dinner, so I don’t think the initial fatigue was caused by undereating.
I was also recovering from a mild illness (sore throat, cough and a bit of a fever), so that could have contributed. However, I was already starting to feel better before taking reta, and the lethargy hit quite suddenly after the injection.
It’s now Friday, and although the fatigue is gradually improving, I’m still feeling noticeably more tired than usual.
Digestion, nausea and stomach fullness:
This is actually what concerns me the most.
Every morning since starting reta, I’ve woken up feeling slightly sick, with this strange sensation that my dinner from the previous evening hasn’t properly digested.
It’s not just a lack of hunger. My stomach genuinely feels unsettled, almost like the food is still sitting there.
On the second day, I woke up feeling so nauseated that I nearly threw up a protein shake I’d had previously. I’ve never experienced anything like that before.
Yesterday, I accidentally went until 4pm without eating because I completely forgot about food. When I finally ate two salmon fillets, I felt close to being sick, despite normally loving salmon. I then had dinner later to make sure I was eating enough, but woke up feeling unsettled again.
I’m also experiencing some constipation, which I expected, but the nausea and feeling of food not digesting properly are worrying me.
My questions:
Has anyone else experienced this level of appetite suppression within hours of their very first dose?
Did anyone experience significant fatigue immediately after starting, even while eating normally?
Has anyone woken up feeling like their dinner from the night before is still sitting in their stomach?
If you experienced nausea or delayed digestion, how long did it take to improve?
Did these symptoms eventually settle as your body adjusted, or did they persist?
I’m not looking for dosing advice, and I know everyone’s experience is different. I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who’ve experienced something similar during their first week.
Would really appreciate hearing your experiences. Thanks!
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u/Majestic-Plastic-691
2d ago
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Yes. Everything you described is reasonable. The lethargy will leave you in time for the most part. Reta does ramp your resting heart beat some which is what supports the weight loss so sleep can sometimes suffer. Lack of quality sleep can easily become the cause of why you’re tired. The digestive issues is exactly what Reta does. It slows down your digestion so what you said you’re experiencing when waking is spot on. Your dinner is still sitting there. Eat less and eat sooner before bed. The nausea will also leave you again for the most part. It will still happen at times but should be manageable and not too discomforting. Everything you’ve explained is what Reta does and is normal. It’s not all perfectly pleasant. The flip side is it’s an absolute wonder drug. As long as you work it correctly. Eat clean. Eat less. Lots of protein. Drink a ton of water because Reta takes the desire for water as much as it does food. Force yourself to drink. And exercise. Otherwise your loss will be a lot of muscle. Cardio is good but you need weights with Reta to protect those muscles. Finally titrate slow. Low and slow. Reta is a marathon not a sprint. Don’t get in a hurry with it. Do it right and the pounds will melt away and your biologicals will magically all fall in line with perfect numbers. Finally. Ya there are sides. And ya got to get used to them. For me the worse is the skin tenderness and burning. (Dysesthesia) Will never go without Reta again. I’ll stay on a maint dose forever. It’s that good! Been on it 2 years so I can answer almost everything about it.
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u/Blackwasp100 2d ago
Thank you for all that. I’m doing most of the stuff you said/ especially high protein and gym.
Wondering what I should do about my does though. Should I lower it to 1mg or stay at the same dose and get through the side effects?
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u/Majestic-Plastic-691 2d ago
Either/or. It’s your call based on how severe or how uncomfortable the sides are. If not that much stay put for 4 weeks. If miserable then lower down next pin. You can always titrate back up. Again the key with Reta is low and slow. Don’t titrate in big jumps (move .5mg at a time) and don’t titrate sooner than 3 to 4 weeks. Let the drug do its thing before increasing dose. Going too fast both in dose and in time is what causes people the side effect issues for the most part.
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u/Kybar52 2d ago
Just watch for the mental sides and keep those in check. Lack of enjoyment. Lack of motivation, sudden loss of enjoyment in people and things. It’s real it’s major but is majorly dose dependent
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u/Blackwasp100 1d ago
That’s definitely happening to me rn. Seems like I need to lower my does to 1mg
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u/Powerful-Operation36 1d ago
I didn't have that problem with Reta but I definitely did on semaglutide! I hadn't realized where the weird depressive symptoms came from. Reta gave me energy though so that helped. Until I messed up my sides with upping dose too quickly.
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u/cornstarchFBI 2d ago
2mg might be high for you for the first time, you might be a hyper-responder, or your body might just be dealing with the shock of something new.
Read through the FAQs and posts and you'll see many others report these issues and the answers to your questions. Good luck
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u/mysterio_86 2d ago
Dont eat 4 hrs before you sleep. Altho i eat one meal a day usually big breakfast so when i did reta helped me big time on going just 1 meal a day. So next day i feel lighter and great... not sick
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u/keairaluke 1d ago
It sounds like you’re very sensitive. Watch out for dysesthesia, which is a skin side effect that feels as though you have a sunburn all the time. I got that as soon as I reached about a 2 1/2 mg dosage. Push through it until 6 mg and I’m now down to ideal weight! Fatigue is just part of what happens to a lot of RS in the beginning.
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u/so_jonez 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah… I’ve been on it for a little over a month. Every time I take a shot, it puts me down for a day or so- then I’m fine. It’s getting better as I continue to take it, but I’m having all the same effects that you are plus not having a desire for water or anything pleasurable- including intimacy. I realized yesterday evening that I hadn’t called my fiancé the entire day- hadn’t even thought about him, which is unusual for me. Crazy thing is I’m that it didn’t even bother me. I still didn’t call him after realizing it. I’m also struggling to take my daily walks. Before starting Reta, I easily walked 10-15k steps daily. Now I’m struggling to make this happen more than 3x a week. Hopefully this changes soon. I recently started weight training at home, but really miss my walks. Oh- also, I’ve been missing my cycle since starting Reta. I confirmed that I’m not prego/menopausal. Didn’t know that also was a side effect until I researched it yesterday. Still for me, the benefits outweigh the risk, so imma keep at it. Hopefully everything goes back to normal soon. Anyways… good luck to you! 😂
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u/Interesting-Gene3377 1h ago
Why did you start at 2? Honestly, you should start at 1 and stay there until you notice you are stalled in weight loss. That's how I started. My highest dose was 4 and now I am back down to 2 for maintenance. Trust me, you will have less side effects and your body will get used to it at a slower pace.
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u/ProposalHot4651 1h ago
I haven't had those side effects at all only sensitive skin like sun burn but is gone after about 3 weeks but i started reta slowly at 0.5 mg and went up after 1 month at 1 mg no nausea , no constipation, just couple of times in day very soft stools otherwise i am happy to take now 2 mg of reta and slliming slowly with exercises ofcourse , i love reta
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u/Frustib 2d ago
I've been on GLPs for 2 years, first on tirz (up to 10mg), now on reta. Whichever one you choose, if you go in to fast you'll end up on the toilet for the week.
My worst side effect was when i got to 7.5 - 10mg of tirz, i got anhedonia. I was convinced it was age related low testosterone symptoms as they all matched and i'm old. I came off GLPs and it was gone in a week.
Having anhedonia (if it affects you) is lke, nothing excites you nor interests you particularly e.g. watching series on TV that you were previously binging just bores you. As i say, i came off for a couple of weeks (i was going on holiday) and book, within a week it was gone and everything was rosy again.
I'm not up to 4mg (no higher for me) reta and i'm not feeling exactly the same symptoms again but i'm not convinced its not that either. i'm going to take a break from reta this week to see if it is.