What Happens When You Stop Taking Mounjaro?

Article Summary:

• Weight loss medications mimic a natural hormone that controls hunger. When you stop taking them, your natural appetite can return.
• This can cause rebound hunger, blood sugar spikes and the return of food noise, which could lead to you regaining weight that you’ve lost.
• You should inform your healthcare provider if you’re thinking about stopping treatment, and try to maintain healthy habits to minimise weight regain.

Stopping your weight loss treatment as soon as you reach your goal weight, or before you’ve implemented lasting healthy habits in your routine, can have a negative effect on your weight loss journey. It could even undo some or all of the progress you’ve made.

To help you make an informed choice about your treatment plan, our experts explain what happens when you stop taking weight loss medication, and how you can minimise the risk of regaining weight if you do.

How do weight loss injections work?

The active ingredients in weight loss medications are drugs known as GIP / GLP-1 receptor agonists. They mimic a naturally occurring hormone in your gut called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is responsible for regulating appetite and blood sugar levels. Introducing something that acts like the natural GLP-1 hormone into your system, adding to your body's own GLP‑1 signals, helps promote weight loss by:

• Reducing hunger and food-focused thoughts by sending signals to your brain's appetite centre.
• Slowing stomach emptying to help you feel full between meals.
• Controlling your blood sugar, which helps curb food cravings. [1, 2]

Why might someone stop weight loss treatment?

There are many reasons someone may stop using weight loss medications.

The active ingredients weight loss injections contain, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, are associated with some side effects that can be uncomfortable. Very common symptoms people experience include: nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, stomach pain and vomiting. [2, 3] These tend to be mild, and usually resolve on their own once your body has adapted to starting treatment or a higher dose. In some cases, however, they can lead to people stopping their treatment plan. If you're struggling with side effects while taking a GLP-1 medication, you can contact our clinical team for advice at any time.

In other cases, people reach their target weight and decide they don't need to take the medication anymore. We understand the temptation to do this, but many people aren't aware of how this can affect their body and, potentially, lead to weight regain.

What happens when you stop?

Because obesity is a long-term health condition, stopping the medication that treats it often means it returns. This is just like blood pressure going back up when blood-pressure medicine is stopped. You'll stop experiencing the benefits of your treatment as it leaves your system, which can cause some side effects and may affect the progress you've made so far in your weight loss journey. Here are some of the symptoms you may notice.

Rebound hunger

When you stop taking weight loss medication, your body returns to your baseline hunger levels. GLP-1 medications last longer in your system than the natural GLP-1 hormone, which is how they provide enhanced appetite control. But when you suddenly lose the enhanced GLP-1 signals your treatment provides, you may start to notice you feel hungry more quickly in between meals.

Blood sugar fluctuation

GLP-1s help control your blood sugar (also known as glucose) while you're taking them, so if you stop, your levels will begin fluctuating again. You may experience blood sugar spikes after you eat, or your levels may dip between meals and cause you to feel low in energy. These changes in blood glucose can also contribute to food cravings, which can lead to overeating.

Weight regain

After losing weight, your basal metabolic rate may have decreased. This is the minimum amount of calories your body requires just to stay alive, even when you’re resting. This, combined with possible changes to your appetite and food cravings, can lead to weight regain.

Gastrointestinal effects

Stopping GLP-1 medications can temporarily cause some gastrointestinal side effects while your body adjusts. The return of your normal appetite may cause you to eat more than you're used to, which can cause symptoms like bloating and gas. And without the digestion-slowing effects of your medication, food will start moving through your gut faster than usual, which may cause you to feel sick.

Food noise

Weight loss drugs help regulate the reward pathways in your brain linked to appetite. When you stop taking them, you may notice the return of 'food noise', or constant food-focused thoughts. Unregulated hunger can also lead to emotional eating, where food is used as a coping mechanism in response to mood changes.

How long should you take GLP-1s for?

In clinical trials, people have taken GLP-1s for up to two years and achieved long-term weight loss. [4] It's recommended that you remain on a maintenance dose of your medication, even once you reach your goal weight, to help you maintain your results.

Your healthcare provider will create a support plan to help you achieve your goals, while also making sure it’s safe for you to follow your treatment plan long-term.

Managing your weight after stopping injections

It's important that you discuss any decision to stop treatment with your healthcare provider before doing it. If you do need to stop taking your medication, you can minimise weight regain and side effects by trying to maintain any healthy lifestyle changes you've implemented on your weight loss journey. Here's what our experts recommend:

• Continue eating a balanced diet. Try to prioritise whole grains, dietary fibre and protein-rich meals, which promote healthy digestion and feelings of fullness. Staying in a calorie deficit, where you eat fewer calories than you burn, can help reduce potential weight regain.
• Do regular exercise. Physical activity isn't just important for maintaining a calorie deficit. Activities like strength training can help you build and maintain muscle mass. Because muscle cells use energy at rest, preserving muscle can help you burn more calories and minimise weight gain.

Thinking about starting your weight loss journey?

Our clinicians can let you know if you’re eligible from weight management support with MedExpress. Complete a short consultation to get started.

References

1. Wegovy 0.25 mg, FlexTouch solution for injection in pre-filled pen - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc) [Internet]. www.medicines.org.uk. [cited 2024 Jan 24]. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/13799/smpc#gref
2. ‌Mounjaro KwikPen 10mg solution for injection in pre-filled pen - Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC) - (emc) [Internet]. www.medicines.org.uk. Available from: https://www.medicines.org.uk/emc/product/15484/smpc#gref
3. Wharton S, Calanna S, Davies M, Dicker D, Goldman B, Lingvay I, et al. Gastrointestinal tolerability of once‐weekly semaglutide 2.4 mg in adults with overweight or obesity, and the relationship between gastrointestinal adverse events and weight loss. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism. 2021 Oct 4;24(1).
4. Garvey WT, Batterham RL, Bhatta M, Buscemi S, Christensen LN, Frias JP, et al. Two-year effects of semaglutide in adults with overweight or obesity: The STEP 5 trial. Nature Medicine. 2022 Oct 1;28(10):2083–91.