Split-Dosing GLP-1 Peptides: What You Need to Know
Split dosing refers to dividing a single GLP-1 weight loss peptide dose into multiple doses. For example, if you’re supposed to be taking 2.5 mg of tirzepatide per week, you might split that dose into 1.25 mg on Monday and 1.25 mg on Thursday.
Split dosing is not recommended or approved by the FDA. However, similar to microdosing GLP-1s, some people choose to split-dose to:
- Reduce potential side effects like nausea
- Help with hunger that comes back after a few days
- Maintain more consistent blood levels of the peptide
There isn’t much research evidence backing split dosing at this time, which is why few doctors recommend it. However, some compounding pharmacies recommend split-dosing if you can’t handle the side effects.
What usually ends up happening is: a person tries their prescribed GLP-1 dosage and either experiences strong side effects or finds that the effects wane too quickly (faster than one week). So they try splitting it up into two or more doses per week and see if that works better.
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Downsides of Split Dosing GLP-1s
The potential downsides or risks of split dosing are:
- Increased injection site reactions (since you’re injecting more frequently)
- Harder to dose, because you have to measure and split up your dose carefully
- If you’re working with a doctor, they might not be happy about you changing the dosing protocol
Example Split Dosing Protocols
The social media site Reddit has several active communities where people share their experiences with using GLP-1 peptides for weight loss. We combed through this information to find some real-world examples of people’s GLP-1 split dosing protocols:
Semaglutide Split-Dosing
Many people taking semaglutide split their doses into two because they find that the side effects are more manageable. Another reason is that many report their hunger coming back 3-4 days after a dose, making it rough to wait another 3-4 days until their next one.
Reddit user AthenaKai82 writes, “I do this and it works great. It keeps me from having periods of being sick feeling followed by periods of being ravenous.“
Tirzepatide Split-Dosing
The most common split-dose protocol for Tirzepatide is two doses a week. For example, Reddit user Weird_Tumbleweed_720 experienced significant side effects after a 2.5 dose of tirzepatide. So he decided to split it into 2 1.25 mg doses per week, which worked better for him.
Retatrutide Split-Dosing
Retatrutide is an interesting case because some people split their doses into seven daily injections. Proponents of this approach say they experience greater appetite suppression, less food noise, and reduced constipation.
But there are also people doing a typical two-days-a-week split, and everything in between. Reddit user hanrlouisefv used the following retatrutide split dose protocol:
I’m having great results splitting my dose. I do Monday and Thursday and I’ve lost 21.3kg to date.…first GLP1 med twice weekly dosing to mitigate side effects and then actually think this works best for me. Started at 0.5mg on Monday on the Thursday bumped to 1mg then stayed on 1mg twice a week for 6 weeks then moved up to 1.5mg twice a week as had a week no loss. Then after 7 weeks with another week with no weight loss went to 2mg twice weekly.
Bottom Line
Many people successfully split doses GLP-1 peptides like semaglutide to reduce side effects and hunger that return after several days. The simplest split-dose protocol is to divide your weekly injection into two that are three days apart, like one Monday and one Thursday.
But keep in mind that split-dosing is not really backed by mainstream medicine. It’s something you have to decide to try for yourself. Doctors and pharmaceutical companies recommend the once-a-week, full-dose injection method.
