Rebound Weight Gain
The regain after stopping treatment — biology reasserting itself, and the central argument for maintenance planning.
Rebound is physiology, not relapse of character: when weight falls, leptin drops, ghrelin rises, metabolism adapts downward — and when the countervailing treatment stops, that pressure meets no resistance. Extension studies make it concrete: after withdrawing semaglutide, participants regained a majority of lost weight within a year on average; tirzepatide withdrawal showed the same shape.
The implications are strategic rather than fatalistic. Treatment plans should include the off-ramp question from the start — continue maintenance dosing, step down gradually, or exit with intensive lifestyle scaffolding — and habits built during loss (protein, training, sleep) are the regain insurance that travels with you. Stopping abruptly because the goal arrived is the one pattern the data most clearly punishes.
This glossary entry is general information, not medical advice, and is written to be consistent with FDA prescribing information and primary trial publications as of its last review. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider for personal medical decisions.
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