Mounjaro: Tirzepatide’s Brand Name
Tirzepatide is a new medication for the management of type 2 diabetes. It will also help you lose weight. At the highest dose, tirzepatide has been shown to lower total cholesterol and triglyceride (a type of fat in the blood) levels. This article will discuss the efficacy and safety of this medication so you can decide if this is an option for you.
What is Tirzepatide?
Tirzepatide is known as a “twincretin or a combination of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypetide (GIP) hormones.
The function of GIP is:
- Induce insulin secretion in the small intestine in response to a meal
The function of GLP-1
- Slows down how fast food leaves your stomach
- Doesn’t make you feel as hungry
- Keeps you feeling fuller
- Increases the delivery of insulin into your cells
- Decreases the delivery of glucagon into your cells
- Glucagon is a hormone that breaks glycogen (stored glucose) in the liver, causing your blood glucose levels to rise.
The co-infusion of these two incretins exerts a synergist effect that helps you lower your blood glucose level and help with weight loss.
How is Tirzepatide used?
Tirzepatide is injected subcutaneously (under the skin) once weekly in a single-dose pen. The half-life (time it takes for a drug to be removed from your body) of tirzepatide is 5 days. Tirzepatide is sold under the brand name Mounjaro™ and it is a prescription medication. Check out the article Tirzepatide Cost if you feel this may be an option for you.
Diabetes and Weight Loss Benefits
Below, I summarize the results of the trials, also known as the SURPASS trials using tirzepatide.
- Trial #1 – 85% of participants reached an A1c of 7% and lost up to 7.8 kg (17.16 lbs)
- A1C is a test that measures a person’s average blood glucose level over the past 2 to 3 months. Most doctors recommend an average A1c of 7 or less. Ask your doctor what your A1c should be.
The following studies compared tirzepatide with other diabetes medications.
- Trial #2 – Compared tirzepatide with patients on metformin to semaglutide. 86% of participants
- Achieved an A1c less than 7%
- Lost up to 11.2 kg (24.64 lbs)
- Trial #3 Compared tirzepatide with patients on metformin with/without SGLT-2 to degludec. 83% of participants
- Achieved A1c less 7%
- Lost up to 11.3 kg (24.86lbs)
- Lower incidence of hypoglycemia (lower blood glucose) with tirzepatide
- Side effects: Mild to moderate gastrointestinal events.
- Trial #4 Compared tirzepatide with people on metformin, and/or sulfonylureas and/or SGLT-2s with insulin Glargine on individuals with high cardiovascular (heart and blood vessels disease) risk. 85% of participants
- Achieved an A1c of less than 7%
- Lost up to 10.6 kg (23.3 lbs)
- Improvements seen in 52 weeks
- Trial #5 Compared tirzepatide with placebo added to titrated insulin Glargine with or without metformin. 90% of participants
- Achieved A1c of less than 7%
- Lost up to 10.5kg (23.10lbs)
- Improvements seen in 40 weeks
- Side effects: diarrhea and nausea
The dose used in these trials ranged from 5 to 15 mg.
You can lose from 12 lbs (5mg) to 25lbs (15mg) depending on the dose you take. Tirzepatide starting dose is 2.5mg weekly for 4 weeks and then your doctor will increase to 5mg weekly. If your blood glucose is not on target, your doctor will increase the dose in 2.5 mg increments.
Heart Disease
Heart disease and diabetes are intertwined. Having diabetes puts you at risk of heart disease or stroke. There are some diabetes medications that have been shown to treat diabetes and heart disease. One of them is empagliflozin which belongs to a class of drugs called sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SLGT2) inhibitor. This drug helps your body get rid of excess fluid, so it reduces the risk of heart failure. The other one is a liraglutide, which is a GLP-1 RA.
The Trial #4 intended to assess the cardiovascular safety of tirzepatide. All the participants of the study had cardiovascular risk or were at high risk of cardiovascular risk. At week 52, participants that were treated with tirzepatide were not a higher risk of cardiovascular risk than those who were treated with insulin Glargine, metformin, and other glucose-lowering medications.
Tirzepatide Side Effects
Tirzepatide’s most common side effects are gastrointestinal. The side effects are more pronounced when the doctors increased the dose. Your doctor will increase the dose to achieve your blood glucose target. Here are some common side effects:
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Loss of appetite
- Vomiting
- Constipation
- Indigestion
- Stomach pain
Kidney problems–If you have kidney problems and experience nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, it is important to drink fluids to prevent becoming dehydrated.
Severe stomachache–Call your doctor if you experience severe stomach problems.
How to Manage Tirzepatide Side Effects
Most side effects disappear over time, but here are some strategies you can use to lessen these gastrointestinal side effects:
- Listen to your fullness signal. Stop eating when you are no longer hungry. Eating just one or two more bites may induce nausea.
- Eat smaller portions. It is best to serve smaller and frequent portions than 3 larger meals. Again, pay attention to your hunger and fullness cues.
- Check the fat content in your meals. Choose lower fat foods and meals.
- Salty, sour, or bland flavors will help when feeling nauseated (saltine crackers, lemon/lime water, toast)
Who should not use Tirzepatide?
- Persons with type 1 diabetes
- Persons with pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas)
- Persons under 18 years of age
- Persons who had or had family with thyroid cancer (medullary thyroid carcinoma)
- Persons with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2
- Persons with allergy to Mounjaro
How much does Tirzepatide cost?
Learn about the cost of tirzepatide (Mounjaro) here and find a list of resources to help you with the cost of diabetes medications.
If you want to learn about how food fits and how to make adjustments to keep your blood glucose in range, check out my program On the Plate! Eating to Keep your Blood Glucose in Check
