regain: what the trials say vs what this community says
regain: what the trials say vs what this community says, and I am aware this is a minority view on this board. Body weight varies by a couple of kilos over days in stable people through fluid, glycogen and gut content. A range is not a trend. Appetite returning before the scale moves follows from the mechanism: the…
Interval stretching changes the exposure profile: with a week-long half-life, moving to ten or twelve days lowers trough concentration more than it lowers average exposure. That is why appetite return is often the first thing noticed.
do not chase the last two kilos with a dose increase
I would not treat a two-kilo range as drift requiring action. That is ordinary weight variation.
Yes — interval stretching and dose reduction are different levers and people use the words interchangeably.
Small fix — you have described interval stretching and called it a dose reduction. The exposure profiles differ.
maintenance is a phase, not a finish line
None of this is a taper plan. What dose holds for you is a question for somebody with your history in front of them.
Correction: that trial measured regain after withdrawal, not failure of the drug during treatment. Very different claim.
Dose reduction and interval extension are different interventions. Halving the dose keeps the rhythm and lowers the level; stretching keeps the level and lowers the frequency, with a lower trough.
a few kilos of drift is not a relapse
Withdrawal studies in this class consistently show substantial regain after discontinuation. That is a pharmacological finding about a chronic condition, not a statement about anyone’s discipline.
Has appetite changed, or only the scale?