Friday marked the end of my fourth month on tirzepatide, and it brought up a lot of feelings about this particular tool I chose to try.
Let’s start with the numbers.
Month 1: down 0.8 lbs
Month 2: down 2.2 lbs
Month 3: down 2.3 lbs
Month 4: down 0.6 lbs
That’s 5.9 pounds in four months.
For some perspective, in the three months before starting a GLP-1, I lost 5.4 pounds simply by adding two days of strength training to the fitness routine I was already doing.
And that comparison has definitely made me think.
I’m currently on the highest dose I’ve taken, and the jump to this dose has brought some pretty noticeable side effects—unfortunately, increased weight loss hasn’t been one of them.
The biggest issue this month has been fatigue. It’s made it harder to work out at the intensity I normally would, and I’ve been feeling unusually weak during my runs. I’ve also started experiencing some lightheadedness during workouts and runs, which has concerned me.
Then came this morning.
During my 5K, I had pretty significant dizziness and lightheadedness, some vision issues, nausea, and a heart rate that climbed much higher than I would normally expect during a race. Both my Garmin and Oura have also been showing an increase in my resting heart rate over the past four or five weeks, so this wasn’t something I wanted to ignore.
After I got home, I checked in with a doctor friend, who felt my symptoms sounded consistent with my blood pressure dropping too low and possibly my blood sugar dropping as well. I’ll also be discussing all of this with my own healthcare provider.
So where does that leave me?
I think it’s time to take a break, talk with my provider, and reassess.
I went into this experiment knowing that tirzepatide was a tool—not a magic solution. I’m still strength training. I’m still running. I’m still paying attention to nutrition and doing the things I know are important for my long-term health.
But a tool also has to be helping more than it’s hurting.
Right now, losing 5.9 pounds over four months while feeling increasingly fatigued, struggling through my runs, and now dealing with dizziness and other symptoms doesn’t feel like a particularly good tradeoff for me.
Maybe I’m simply someone who doesn’t respond particularly well to this medication. Maybe the dose needs to change. Maybe another option would be a better fit. Or maybe this just isn’t the right tool for me.
I don’t know the answer yet—and I’m actually okay with that.
For now, I’m going to listen to my body, have a conversation with my healthcare provider, and figure out what makes the most sense from here.
Four months in, this experiment may not be giving me the results I expected. But figuring out what doesn’t work for my body is information, too.
Coach Kareen 