c/maintenancephase wiki

What this community is for

The part nobody posts about: what happens at goal weight. Finding a lowest effective dose, dose-interval stretching, regain risk data, muscle retention, the psychology of not having a number to chase, and staying on indefinitely versus tapering.

c/maintenancephase was created on 11 Dec 2023 and currently has 39,200 members and 95 captured submissions. It sits in the second tier of the site, which mostly affects how fast a question gets answered rather than how well.

Rules, and why each exists

Community rules come first, then the six site-wide rules that apply everywhere on GLP Research Hub. Community rules are enforced by the moderators listed at the bottom of this page; site rules are enforced by everyone.

1. State how long you have been at maintenance. "Maintenance" at week 30 is not maintenance.
2. Regain is not a moral failing and posts implying it is get removed.
3. Dose-stretching experiences welcome; dose-stretching instructions are not.

And the site rules, which are short on purpose:

1. Independent community. Nobody here sells anything, and anyone who tries is banned.
2. Not medical advice. Describe what you did; never prescribe to a stranger.
3. Claims need evidence. Batch numbers, dated screenshots, independent test reports, or a citation.
4. No referral links, discount codes or affiliate URLs. Permanent ban, no appeal.
5. No contact handles, wallet addresses or tracking numbers — they identify people.
6. Be recognisably decent. Disagree hard, insult nobody.

Terms you will see

Vocabulary that turns up constantly in c/maintenancephase. Each links to the topic page, which collects every submission that touches it.

• maintenance — life after the loss stops, which is most of the time you will spend on this.
• lowest effective dose — found by going down carefully, not by guessing.
• regain — weight returning after stopping; the withdrawal arms of the trials are the source.
• dose stretching — discussed frequently in this community — see the topic page for every submission that touches it.
• long term — discussed frequently in this community — see the topic page for every submission that touches it.
• goal weight — discussed frequently in this community — see the topic page for every submission that touches it.

Start here

The twelve highest-scoring submissions in this community. Not necessarily the most correct — the most agreed-with, which is a different thing, and worth remembering when you read them.

1. [Results] 96 weeks on 2.4mg, full numbers, ask me anything boring — 7.7k points, 32 comments, 1 year ago
2. 24 months in and lowest effective dose is still the thing I get wrong — 5.6k points, 44 comments, 2 years ago
3. reading regain threads from 2024 and half of it aged badly — 5.1k points, 23 comments, 8 months ago
4. is it normal to get muscle cramps at week 84 — 5k points, 55 comments, 2 years ago
5. small win: dose stretching stopped being a problem at week 55 — 4.6k points, 37 comments, 2 years ago
6. am I the only one who found goal weight harder than the injections — 3.7k points, 36 comments, 1 year ago
7. [Meta] proposal — a flair for long term posts — 3.6k points, 41 comments, 2 years ago
8. small win: goal weight stopped being a problem at week 20 — 3.5k points, 42 comments, 1 year ago
9. [Results] 27 weeks, 45kg, and maintenance was the hard part — 3.5k points, 37 comments, 7 months ago
10. [Discussion] can we stop arguing about regain until somebody posts a number — 3.4k points, 46 comments, 1 year ago
11. why does nobody talk about lowest effective dose — 3.2k points, 43 comments, 2 years ago
12. [Vendor] WXT order #10 — the Netherlands, 23 days, no drama, receipts inside — 3.2k points, 59 comments, 1 year ago

Asked constantly

• [Question] does anyone actually feel "done" or is that not a thing
• [Question] do you tell new people how long this actually is
• is it normal to get nausea at week 84
• goal weight is the most under-discussed thing in c/coldchain
• [Question] how do you actually verify lowest effective dose
• why does nobody talk about goal weight
• [Vendor] QST order #15 — Spain, 37 days, no drama, receipts inside
• am I the only one who found lowest effective dose harder than the injections
• lowest effective dose is the most under-discussed thing in c/trialwatch
• goal weight — 16 things I got wrong before I got it right

If your question is on that list, read the answers there first. If it is not, ask it — that is what the community is for, and "this has been asked" is only a helpful reply when it comes with a link.

Who runs this

Moderation here is done by volunteers who also post as normal members. They are not clinicians, not vendors, and not paid.

• u/maintenance_mode_max — 19 months at maintenance. The interesting part starts after the loss stops.
• u/food_noise_gone — The quiet in my head is the effect nobody warned me about. Still the best part.
• u/taper_off_tabitha — Came off deliberately and slowly. Regain was 4kg, not 24. Method matters.
• u/still_here_2026 — Three years, 34kg down, still reading every morning.