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What happens if I stop taking the medication?

What to expect when you come off treatment

Fair question, and worth understanding before you start.

Appetite comes back

These medications work while they are in your system. When they are not, the fullness signals fade and hunger tends to return to where it was. That usually happens over a few weeks rather than overnight.

Weight often comes back too

This is the part people find discouraging, so let us be clear about it. It is expected, it is well documented, and it is not a personal failure. Weight management behaves like a long-term condition. Stopping treatment for a long-term condition usually means the condition returns.

Some things you built do stick

Habits, exercise, and what you learned about portions and nutrition do not disappear. People who keep the habits generally do better than people who do not.

Talk to your provider before you stop

Especially if you are on a higher dose, or if you also take diabetes or blood pressure medicine. Those doses may have been adjusted around your weight and may need changing again.

If the reason you want to stop is side effects or cost, say that. There may be options you do not know about — a different dose, a different medicine, or a pause.

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