Beyond the medicine · 2 min
If I stop
Weight tends to come back after stopping. That's physiology, not weakness. What helps, what isn't known, and how to plan with your doctor.
In one sentence
When the medicine stops, weight tends to come back. That's physiology, not weakness, and it's worth planning for before it happens.
In trials where some people were switched to placebo, those who stopped regained weight while those who continued kept losing. A 2026 analysis of 37 studies estimated that about two thirds of the weight lost returns in the first year after stopping semaglutide or tirzepatide. It projected a return to the starting weight in about a year and a half, a projection, since follow-up lasted up to a year.
Exercise has the best signal so far. In S-LiTE, in the year after treatment ended, people who had exercised regained less than those who had only used liraglutide, and they stayed more active.
What isn't known: the studies of semaglutide and tirzepatide followed people for at most a year after stopping, and whether a more intensive lifestyle program keeps the weight from coming back hasn't been tested in controlled trials. Nobody can promise a result.
For today: if you're thinking about stopping, write down why (cost, side effects, a goal reached) and take it to your appointment. Stopping, and how, is decided with your doctor.
To take to your appointment
- If I stop, how will we follow my weight, hunger and mood?
- What do you recommend I keep doing after stopping?
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