Read the results without turning them into a guarantee.

Weight change during treatment

In SURMOUNT-1, adults without diabetes lost an average of about 15% to 21% of their starting weight over 72 weeks on tirzepatide.

The average loss with a dummy injection was about 3%.

A dummy injection, called a placebo, contains no active medicine.

The results varied across the strengths studied; these were averages, not promises for an individual.

Eli Lilly, the medicine’s maker, supported the study, which included regular visits and lifestyle counselling.

Counselling here means support around food and activity.

What happened after treatment stopped

In SURMOUNT-4, people first took tirzepatide for 36 weeks and then either continued it or switched to a placebo.

Over the next 52 weeks, people switched to the dummy injection had an average 14% increase in body weight.

People who continued tirzepatide lost a further 5.5% on average over that period.

Both percentages use the whole body weight at the treatment switch as the starting point. The 14% rise does not mean people regained just 14% of the weight they had lost.

Ask what a longer-term plan would involve and what might happen if you wanted or needed to stop.

Use the evidence to ask better questions.

Ask which study is relevant to your health problem, what the result means for your goal, and how progress will be reviewed.

Keep claims about a compounded product apart from results for the approved medicine.

As of September 26, 2026, FDA guidance treated claims that a compound was proven to match an approved drug’s results as misleading.

The further-reading page links to these studies, medicine warnings, and information about finding care.

A care plan can address your own goals without making a trial average into a target.