The Truth About Low Doses: Why I Didn't Keep Increasing My GLP-1 Meds
I know how tempting it is to go up in dose when that scale slows down or completely stops. You start second-guessing everything. I've been there more times than I can count. When I first started, I thought the same thing, my prescription said to go up, my doctor said to go up, so I did.
But what nobody tells you is that more meds don’t necessarily mean more results. And for me, dosing up came with some brutal side effects.
The Turning Point
I started on semaglutide in March 2023. Back then, we didn’t have a lot of social media guidance. I followed my prescription exactly, assuming faster dosing meant faster weight loss. And at first, it worked, until it didn’t.
The moment I hit 0.5mg, the side effects kicked in: diarrhea, sulfur burps, complete exhaustion. As a teacher, I couldn’t be running to the bathroom every 30 minutes. Still, I pushed through. At 1mg, it became unbearable.
So I did something that felt wrong at the time: I dosed back down.
The Lowest Effective Dose
That’s when it clicked, this isn’t a race. More medication doesn’t mean more weight loss. For some of us, it just means more side effects. The goal isn’t to max out. It’s to find the lowest effective dose that works for your body.
I wasn’t told that when I started, but now I know it’s one of the most important lessons.
Mental Spirals and Comparison Traps
The side effects were hard. But the mental spirals? They were harder.
Once I lowered my dose, I felt physically better, but the scale slowed way down. That’s when the comparison started. Everyone on social media seemed to be dropping weight fast and leveling up their dose without issues.
Why couldn’t I? Why did my body react differently?
But comparison doesn’t give you clarity. It steals it. You don’t know what’s going on behind someone else’s camera. You don’t need to do it their way to be successful.
Switching Meds (And the Same Mistakes)
After about 9 months on semaglutide, I switched to tirzepatide. I told myself I’d go slow this time. But the second I saw other people dropping weight faster, I panicked again. I started dosing up.
At 5mg, the same side effects came back. I pushed through and made it to 10mg before I finally asked myself: what am I doing?
More meds don’t mean more magic.
So I went back down. I experimented. I found my sweet spot: 2.5mg per week. It works. It’s sustainable. It feels good.
What I Focused on Instead
Instead of chasing a higher dose, I asked: what kind of life do I want to build?
Because at any moment, this medication could be taken away. I want habits that last. So I decided to use the lowest dose that quiets the food noise, and focus on building five core habits:
Eating breakfast every morning — protein coffee, smoothies, anything with substance.
Increasing protein and fiber — for satiety, digestion, and muscle maintenance.
Adding movement — even if I’m not perfect, I’m working toward 3x/week.
Tracking what I eat — not obsessively, but consistently through the month.
Weekly weigh-ins — no more daily spirals, just steady accountability.
These aren’t perfect, but they’re real. Some weeks I hit them all. Other weeks I don’t. And that’s okay.
The Power of Community
The biggest shift? Starting The GLP1 Girl Code.
Creating a space for other women going through this journey has been the most motivating part of all of this. It holds me accountable and reminds me every day that progress is not perfection.
Inside the membership, we’ve got mini-courses, monthly drops, live calls, and community support I didn’t even know I needed.
So if you’re doing this alone, just know, you don’t have to.
Final Thoughts
Stalls will happen. Side effects will happen. Mental spirals will happen. But more meds won’t fix any of that.
You don’t have to rush your dose just because the scale slowed down.
You are not behind. You are not broken.
And you don’t need to be perfect to see progress.
