What Retatrutide is and what it is used for
Retatrutide is a medicine for weight loss and weight maintenance that contains the active substance Retatrutide. It is similar to a natural hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is released from the intestine after a meal. Retatrutide works by acting on receptors in the brain that control your appetite, causing you to feel fuller and less hungry and experience less craving for food. This will help you eat less food and reduce your body weight. Retatrutide should be used with a reduced-calorie meal plan and increased physical activity.
Unique Properties of Retatrutide:
● Triple Hormone Agonist: Retatrutide is a novel, triple hormone agonist that simultaneously activates the GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon receptors. This unique
mechanism offers superior appetite suppression and enhanced energy expenditure
compared to traditional GLP-1 receptor agonists.
● Long-lasting Effects: Retatrutide has a longer half-life, which allows for more stable
blood levels and more consistent weight loss results.
● Enhanced Metabolic Benefits: In addition to weight loss, Retatrutide improves
metabolic parameters such as blood glucose levels, making it particularly effective for patients with type 2 diabetes or metabolic syndrome.
What Retatrutide is used for: Retatrutide is used for weight loss and weight maintenance in addition to diet and physical activity in adults who have:
● A BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater (with obesity) or
● A BMI of 27 kg/m2 and less than 30 kg/m2 (overweight) and weight-related health
problems.
BMI (Body Mass Index) is a measure of your weight in relation to your height.
2. What you need to know before you use Retatrutide Do not use Retatrutide if you:
● Are allergic to Retatrutide or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6).
Warnings and precautions: Talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse before using Retatrutide or during treatment if you have:
● Effects on the digestive system: You may feel sick (nausea), be sick (vomiting), or have diarrhea. These side effects can cause dehydration (loss of fluids). It is important that you drink enough fluids to prevent dehydration. This is especially important if you have kidney problems. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions or concerns.
● Inflammation of the pancreas: If you have severe and ongoing pain in the stomach area, see a doctor straight away as this could be a sign of an inflamed pancreas (acute pancreatitis).
● Diabetes: Retatrutide must not be used as a substitute for insulin.
● Low blood sugar (hypoglycemia): Taking a sulfonylurea or insulin with Retatrutide might increase the risk of getting low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia). Please see
section 4 for the warning signs of low blood sugar levels. Your doctor may ask you to test your blood sugar levels. This will help your doctor decide if the dose of the sulfonylurea or insulin needs to be changed to reduce the risk of low blood sugar.
● Diabetic eye disease (retinopathy): Fast improvements in blood sugar control may lead to a temporary worsening of diabetic eye disease. If you have diabetic eye disease and experience eye problems while taking this medicine, talk to your doctor.
Children and adolescents: This medicine is not recommended in children and adolescents under 18 years as there is no information on use in children below this age.
Other medicines and Retatrutide: Tell your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse if you are using, have recently used, or might use any other medicines.
Pregnancy and breastfeeding:
● This medicine should not be used during pregnancy, as it is not known if it may affect your unborn child. Therefore, it is recommended to use contraception while using this medicine. If you wish to become pregnant, you should stop using this medicine at least two months in advance. If you become or are pregnant, think you may be pregnant or are planning to have a baby when using this medicine, talk to your doctor straight away, as your treatment will need to be stopped.
● You should not use this medicine if you are breastfeeding, as it is unknown if it passes into breast milk.
Driving and using machines: Retatrutide is unlikely to affect your ability to drive and use machines. Some patients may feel dizzy when taking Retatrutide, mainly during the first 3 months of treatment (see section 4). If you feel dizzy, you should not drive or operate machines until you feel better. If you need any further information, talk to your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse.
For diabetics using this medicine in combination with a sulfonylurea or insulin, low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) may occur, which may reduce your ability to concentrate. Do not drive or use machines if you get any signs of low blood sugar. See section 2, ‘Warnings and precautions,’ for information on increased risk of low blood sugar and section 4 for the warning signs of low blood sugar. Talk to your doctor for further information.
Sodium content: This pen contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per dose, i.e., essentially ‘sodium-free’.
3. How to use Retatrutide
Always use this medicine exactly as your doctor has told you. Check with your doctor, pharmacist, or nurse if you are not sure.
How much to use:
The recommended therapeutic long-term dosage is 8 mg weekly for weight loss purposes. Some users can tolerate higher dosages; please seek guidance from your practitioner if higher-than-recommended dosages are to be followed.
Your treatment will start at a low dose, which will be gradually increased over 16 weeks of treatment as follows:
When you first start using Retatrutide, the starting dose is 2 mg once weekly. Your practitioner will instruct you to gradually increase your dose every 4 weeks until you reach the recommended dose of 8 mg once weekly. Your practitioner may decide to keep you at a lower maintenance dosage. Once you reach the recommended dose of 8 mg, do not increase this dose further unless under the guidance of a practitioner. You will be told to follow the table below.
Dose escalation: Week
Weekly Dose
Units to Inject
2 mg marker on dosage selector
4 mg marker on dosage selector
8 mg marker on dosage selector
8 mg + 4 mg marker on dosage selector
Week 1-4
Week 5-8
Week 9-12
From Week 13
2 mg 4 mg 8 mg 12 mg
*Body Pharm Retatrutide pen can be dosed to 8 mg by using the 8 mg marker on the dosage selector. Seek guidance from your practitioner as alternative dosing schedules are not covered in the scope of this leaflet.
Your practitioner will assess your treatment on a regular basis.
How Retatrutide is given:
Retatrutide is given as an injection under the skin (subcutaneous injection). Do not inject it into a vein or muscle. The best places to give the injection are the upper arms, stomach, or upper legs. Before you use the pen for the first time, ask your doctor or nurse how to use it. Detailed instructions for use are on the other side of this leaflet.
People with diabetes:
Tell your doctor if you have diabetes. Your doctor may adjust the dose of your diabetes medicines to prevent you from getting low blood sugar. Do not mix Retatrutide with other medicines that you inject (e.g., insulins). Do not use Retatrutide in combination with other medicines that contain GLP-1 receptor agonists.
When to use Retatrutide:
You should use this medicine once a week and, if possible, on the same day each week. You can give yourself the injection at any time of the day, regardless of meals. If necessary, you can change the day of your weekly injection of this medicine as long as it has been at least 3 days since your last injection. After selecting a new dosing day, continue with once-a-week dosing.