Coming off

What happens when you stop weight-loss injections?

By the Steadie team · Updated 6 October 2026 · 2 minute read

The short version

Appetite usually comes back over the weeks after your last dose as the medicine leaves your body.
In trials, people regained around two-thirds of the weight they'd lost within a year of stopping, on average.
Improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar tended to fade as weight returned.
Some people keep most of their loss. Habits around protein, strength and routine make a real difference.

Your appetite returns

GLP-1 medicines mimic a gut hormone that tells your brain you've had enough and slows your stomach. When you stop, those effects fade over several weeks. Semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) lasts about a week in the body between doses and tirzepatide (Mounjaro) about five days, so it takes a few weeks for them to clear.

Most people notice hunger, portion sizes and "food noise" creeping back during this time. It can feel sudden after months of not thinking about food. It's expected, and planning for it helps. See appetite after stopping.

Weight: what the research found

STEP 1 extension (semaglutide): people lost an average of 17.3% of their weight over 68 weeks. A year after stopping, they had regained 11.6 percentage points, leaving them 5.6% below where they started.
SURMOUNT-4 (tirzepatide): after 36 weeks on treatment, people switched to placebo regained about 14% of their body weight over the next year, while those who carried on lost a further 5.5%.
A review of 37 studies in The BMJ: average regain was about 0.4 kg a month after stopping, faster than after diet and activity programmes on their own.

The lifestyle support in STEP 1 stopped at the same time as the medicine. That's one reason NICE now recommends at least a year of support after treatment ends.

Health markers

In these trials, improvements in blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar largely went back towards where they started as weight returned. If you have other health conditions, your GP may want to check these after you stop.

Not everyone regains

Averages hide a range. In SURMOUNT-4, about one in six people who stopped regained less than a quarter of the weight they'd lost. People who had exercised during treatment have been shown to keep more weight off after stopping.

So it's worth putting routines in place: protein at every meal, strength exercise and regular, filling meals.

Side effects when stopping

Stopping a GLP-1 doesn't usually cause withdrawal symptoms in the way some medicines do. The changes people notice are mostly the medicine's effects wearing off: more hunger, bigger portions, and for some, digestion going back to how it was. If anything worries you, talk to your prescriber or pharmacist.

Common questions

How quickly does weight come back after stopping Wegovy?

In the STEP 1 trial, most of the regain happened in the first months after stopping, and about two-thirds of the lost weight had returned after a year on average. Everyone is different.

Does Mounjaro weight come back?

In SURMOUNT-4, people switched from tirzepatide to placebo regained about 14% of their body weight over a year on average. Some regained much less.

Are there withdrawal symptoms?

Not usually. Most changes are the medicine's effects wearing off, especially appetite returning. Ask your pharmacist or prescriber about anything that concerns you.

Sources

This guide is general information, not medical advice. Steadie never gives advice about medication, doses or stopping treatment: talk to your prescriber, GP or pharmacist about those. In an emergency, call 999. Read how we write guides in our editorial policy.