Answering the narrow version, because the broad one does not have a single answer. Albumin binding above 99% is the whole reason weekly dosing works, and it is also why the trough matters more than the peak. People who dose late are not losing a peak, they are letting the trough fall, and the appetite effect tracks the trough.
I have been on semaglutide for nine months, currently holding 1.7mg rather than pushing to 2.4mg, and the last two dose steps bought me much less than the first two did.
The narrow version of the question is what the dose-response curve actually looks like above 1.7mg, because the trial means hide how few people account for the extra loss.
Tell me what I have not thought of.
Dr.ObesityMed said:Albumin binding above 99% is the whole reason weekly dosing works, and it is also why the trough matters more than the peak.
Dr.ObesityMed has the substance of this right. The condition it depends on is worth stating. The dose-response is real but shallow at the top. Across STEP 1 and STEP 4 the gap between 1.7mg and 2.4mg is a couple of percentage points of body weight on average, and the average is carrying a wide spread — plenty of people at 1.7mg sit above the 2.4mg mean. If a dose is working and tolerable, "working" is the relevant variable, not "maximal".
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Browse GL BiochemLabKate said:I have been on semaglutide for nine months, currently holding 1.7mg rather than pushing to 2.4mg, and the last two dose steps bought me much less than…
That holds for the injectable. The oral formulation has different absorption behaviour and the dose numbers are not interchangeable, which is worth saying out loud because people quote them as if they were.
Adding the clinical framing, because it changes how the question reads.
LabKate said:...but the FDA says semaglutide...
Interesting point. I want to add some regulatory nuance: the FDA labeling reflects the specific clinical trial data submitted for approval. Real-world clinical practice often extends beyond the FDA label based on emerging evidence and clinical judgment.
Example: semaglutide was first approved for diabetes (Ozempic), then obesity (Wegovy). The molecule didn't change — our understanding of its applications expanded. Similarly, semaglutide may evolve as more data accumulates.