peptide confessions

Peptides for Weight Loss: What Users Report

65 anonymous reports

Anonymous user report. Not medical advice. Peptides discussed are not FDA-approved for the uses described. Editorial process →

Which peptides do people use for weight loss?

In this archive, weight-loss stories are dominated by three GLP-1 family drugs: retatrutide, tirzepatide and semaglutide. Two of them are approved prescription medicines — semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound). Retatrutide is still investigational and is not approved anywhere. Other names that come up, such as MOTS-c, cagrilintide, tesamorelin and AOD-9604, are not approved weight-loss drugs.

This page counts what anonymous users wrote. It is not a ranking of what works, and it is not a reason to start, stop or switch anything. This is not a dosing recommendation.

Weight-loss peptides by the numbers

Published confessions tagged with each peptide. "Pound loss stated" counts confessions that write a pound figure after lost, down or dropped; the median is the middle of those figures. Self-reported and unverified.

PeptidePublished confessionsPound loss statedAny side-effect phraseStatus
Retatrutide40648 (median 34 lb)70Investigational, not approved
Tirzepatide12911 (median 55 lb)32Approved (Mounjaro, Zepbound)
Semaglutide496 (median 51 lb)7Approved (Ozempic, Wegovy)
MOTS-c44Not separable: many also mention retatrutide2Not approved
Tesamorelin371 (median 60 lb)7Approved only for HIV lipodystrophy (US)
Cagrilintide7——Investigational
AOD-96040——Not approved

Side effects users mention most

Share of each peptide's published confessions that use the phrase. One confession can match several rows. A higher number means more people wrote the phrase — not that one drug is riskier, and the files are very different sizes.

PhraseRetatrutide (406)Tirzepatide (129)Semaglutide (49)
Heart rate or palpitations25 (6.2%)13 (10.1%)1 (2%)
Anxiety or panic12 (3%)7 (5.4%)2 (4.1%)
Nausea7 (1.7%)02 (4.1%)
Vomiting4 (1%)2 (1.6%)3 (6.1%)
Constipation4 (1%)01 (2%)
Hair shedding1 (0.2%)2 (1.6%)1 (2%)

What users report

This topic currently has 65 tagged published confessions. The notes below are individual stories, not rates.

Switch stories are common. #384 says most of a 57-pound loss came after switching from semaglutide to tirzepatide. #668 describes loss on Ozempic and tirzepatide, then a gain after moving to retatrutide. #43 describes heavy hair shedding on semaglutide. #90 says MOTS-c did nothing for their weight.

Single stories are not a pattern. For the full counts see the retatrutide side-effect report, the tirzepatide side-effect report and semaglutide vs tirzepatide. For peptides ranked by report volume, see best peptides for fat loss.

In Canada

Semaglutide and tirzepatide are prescription drugs in Canada. Health Canada has warned that unauthorized peptides labelled "research use only", including retatrutide, are illegal to sell for human use. See are peptides legal in Canada?, tirzepatide in Canada and the Canada hub.

Anonymous weight-loss reports

If you have used a peptide for weight loss, submit what happened, including side effects, stalls and regain.

Submit yours

Community Q&A

What peptides are used for weight loss?
In this archive: retatrutide (406 published confessions), tirzepatide (129) and semaglutide (49) dominate, followed by MOTS-c, tesamorelin and cagrilintide. Only semaglutide and tirzepatide are approved weight-loss prescription drugs.
Which peptide do users report the most weight loss with?
This page does not rank them. Of the confessions that state a pound loss, retatrutide's median is 34 lb (48 confessions) and tirzepatide's is 55 lb (11 confessions). The samples are small and self-reported, so they are not comparable results.
What side effects do weight-loss peptide users report?
The most mentioned phrase is heart rate or palpitations: 25 of 406 retatrutide confessions and 13 of 129 tirzepatide confessions. Nausea, vomiting and constipation appear more often in the smaller semaglutide file. These are phrase counts, not clinical rates.
Is AOD-9604 or MOTS-c good for weight loss?
The archive cannot say. There are no published AOD-9604 confessions in this file, and many MOTS-c confessions also mention retatrutide, so weight changes cannot be credited to MOTS-c. Neither is an approved weight-loss drug.
Are weight-loss peptides legal?
Semaglutide and tirzepatide are legal by prescription in the US and Canada. Retatrutide is investigational and not approved. In Canada, Health Canada says 'research use only' labels do not make unauthorized peptides legal to sell. This is not legal advice.
Does this page give dosing advice?
No. Peptide Confessions does not publish dosing or sourcing guidance. Talk to a licensed prescriber.
Which peptide is best for weight loss?
By community account volume and reported outcomes: tirzepatide produces the strongest weight loss with the best tolerability profile of the available GLP-1 peptides. Retatrutide accounts describe faster fat loss but higher side effect rates. Semaglutide accounts are the most numerous and well-documented — it works, with more nausea than tirzepatide in most comparisons. All three produce meaningful weight loss; the differences are in speed, tolerability, and cost.
How fast do GLP-1 peptides work for weight loss?
Reports describe appetite changes within days to weeks. In trials, average weight loss at around 68–72 weeks was about 15% on semaglutide (STEP 1) and about 20% on tirzepatide; retatrutide's phase 2 trial reported about 24% at 48 weeks. Individual results vary widely, and early weeks are mainly about tolerability.
Do you regain weight after stopping GLP-1 peptides?
Yes, often. The STEP 1 extension found participants regained about two-thirds of lost weight within a year of stopping semaglutide, and reports in this archive describe food noise returning within weeks. GLP-1 medicines are treated clinically as long-term therapy; stopping or changing treatment is a decision for the prescriber.
How is semaglutide started for weight loss?
Starting doses are set by the product monograph and your prescriber, and this site does not publish them. The pattern reports describe: the early weeks are about tolerability, and increasing faster than prescribed is blamed for worse nausea and vomiting without faster weight loss. Compounded and unapproved products have been linked by regulators to dosing errors.
Can you stack peptides with semaglutide for better results?
Reports describe adding GH secretagogues to protect muscle, or BPC-157 for stomach symptoms — neither is backed by trials, and adding compounds makes side effects harder to attribute. Combining two GLP-1 drugs appears in the archive as an error causing severe nausea. Any combination with a prescribed GLP-1 should be discussed with the prescriber.

Sources

  1. STEP 1 — Wilding et al., Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. N Engl J Med 2021
  2. SURMOUNT-5 — Aronne et al., Tirzepatide as Compared with Semaglutide for the Treatment of Obesity. N Engl J Med 2025
  3. Retatrutide phase 2 — Jastreboff et al., Triple-Hormone-Receptor Agonist Retatrutide for Obesity - A Phase 2 Trial. N Engl J Med 2023
  4. Zepbound (tirzepatide) prescribing information — DailyMed (NLM)
  5. Mounjaro (tirzepatide) prescribing information — DailyMed (NLM)
  6. Wegovy (semaglutide) prescribing information — DailyMed (NLM)
  7. Ozempic (semaglutide) prescribing information — DailyMed (NLM)

Anonymous first-hand reports plus sourced context — educational only, not medical advice. Editorial policy & corrections.

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