Retatrutide: the low dose, on purpose
Most people run this for big weight loss. I run a fraction of the trial doses for glucose handling, and I adjust it week to week.
Goal: Better glucose handling, not weight loss.
The decision
Retatrutide is the triple-agonist weight-loss drug still in trials. The trial doses go far higher than anything I take. My reason is different: I wanted help with glucose handling, plus some relief from the water the growth-hormone compounds were putting on me.
I started at 0.5 mg once a week and told myself not to climb.
What happened
Ten days in I was not feeling anything and still holding water, so I broke my own rule and went to 1 mg a week. Since then I have run 0.75 to 1 mg, once a week on Wednesdays.
Since October I have not had a fixed dose. I have tried extra half-milligram shots, including one week that came to about 1.5 mg in total, and a lighter 0.5 mg week. Every shot is logged. I am now thinking about splitting the week into more than one smaller shot. Worth knowing: the big trials only ever tested one shot a week, the drug lasts about six days in the body, and nobody has published data on splitting it. If I do it, it is my experiment, not a finding.
The hard part of a GLP-1-type drug at any dose is eating enough. I hold a high protein target even when I am not hungry, and I push water and electrolytes.
Timeline
- Jul 19, 2026
Started at 0.5 mg weekly.
- Jul 29, 2026
Moved to 1 mg weekly. No felt effect, still holding water.
- Aug 14, 2026
Weekly day set to Wednesday.
- Sep 21, 2026
Still running, 0.75 to 1 mg a week.
- Oct 3, 2026
Trial week: an extra 0.5 mg, about 1.5 mg total. Logged, not adopted.
- Oct 12, 2026
No fixed dose. Experimenting week to week, possibly more than one shot a week.
The graded evidence
One person's experience, from his own dosing log. It is not advice and it does not change any grade on this site. Talk to a licensed clinician before you act on anything here.