Tirzepatide
Tirzepatide — standard escalation
Also called Mounjaro, Zepbound, Tirz, GLP-2
Labelled 2.5 mg steps to a 5, 10, or 15 mg maintenance, with 176-week follow-up behind it.
Combination evidence: Strong
Where every number on this page comes from
Each quantity carries one of these five labels. They are not interchangeable, and the difference between the first and the last is the difference between a regulated finding and a rumour with a number attached.
- FDA labelling
- This figure appears in FDA-approved product labelling for an approved indication. It is the strongest warrant on this site.
- Published study arm
- This figure is the quantity administered in a named arm of the linked study. It describes what was studied, not what is advised.
- Clinical guideline
- This figure appears in published clinical or professional guidance.
- Manufacturer protocol
- This figure comes from a manufacturer or investigator document rather than from peer-reviewed literature.
- Community practice — no trial
- No clinical trial has tested this figure. It reflects what is commonly reported in practice and carries no evidentiary weight. It is shown because it is what circulates, and because showing it with this label is more useful than pretending it does not exist.
The figure most often reported for each compound. Where a compound has no separately sourced figure at this level, its most commonly reported figure is used instead, and the citation beneath it says so.
Duration
72 weeks
2 phases
Administrations
72
about 1/week at peak
Vials required
35
1 compound
Cost at this plan
$2,691.00
Pure Health Peptides, list price
Phase by phase
Weeks 1–4 · 4 weeks
Initiation
2.5 mg weekly. The label describes this as a starting quantity for tolerance, not a treatment quantity.
Tirzepatide
Once weekly, Sunday · Subcutaneous
Prepared at 10 mg in 2 mL
Every quantity above is one administration. At once weekly, sunday, that is 2.50 mg per week.
| Concentration | 5.00 mg/mL | Draw volume | 0.500 mL |
| Pull to (U-100) | 50.0 units | Doses per vial | 4 |
| This phase | 4 administrations | Vials, this phase | 1 |
Why it is here
Fixed four-week initiation step.
What is not known
Not intended as a maintenance quantity; efficacy was not established at this step.
Weeks 5–72 · 68 weeks
Escalation and maintenance
5 mg weekly from week 5. The label permits increases in 2.5 mg increments after at least four weeks at the current step, to a maximum of 15 mg.
Tirzepatide
Once weekly, Sunday · Subcutaneous
Lowest sourced, per dose
5 mgPublished study arm
Tirzepatide 5 mg weekly · SURMOUNT-1, PMID 35658024 · in the study register
Most commonly reported, per dose
10 mgPublished study arm
Tirzepatide 10 mg weekly · SURMOUNT-1, PMID 35658024 · in the study register
Highest sourced, per dose
15 mgPublished study arm
Tirzepatide 15 mg weekly · SURMOUNT-1, PMID 35658024 · in the study register
Prepared at 20 mg in 2 mL
Every quantity above is one administration. At once weekly, sunday, that is 10.00 mg per week.
| Concentration | 10.00 mg/mL | Draw volume | 1.000 mL |
| Pull to (U-100) | 100.0 units | Doses per vial | 2 |
| This phase | 68 administrations | Vials, this phase | 34 |
Why it is here
Three maintenance quantities were separately randomised and separately reported, so all three are shown as distinct sourced figures rather than as a range.
What is not known
The 176-week extension reported maximum tolerated quantities of 10 or 15 mg; it did not separately power the 5 mg arm over that horizon.
What you would need to buy
Vial counts are computed by simulating consumption, not by dividing total milligrams. Those two disagree whenever a vial cannot be finished, which is most of the time, and dividing under-buys.
| Compound | Vial | Administrations | Total material | Vials |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TirzepatideInitiation · Escalation and maintenance | 20 mg | 72 | 690.00 mg | 35 |
| Total | 72 | 35 | ||
What it would cost
List prices from each vendor’s own product pages, with the date each figure was read. Quantity tiers are applied where a vendor publishes them.
Loti Labs
Prices as of 2026-08-24
$5,412.98
$10.74/day · $326.93/month
| TirzepatideTirz 50mg (GLP-2) · 50 mg$5.95/mg listed · $7.76/mg after what expires unusedPriced at the 50 mg size rather than the 20 mg this plan assumes, because across the sizes this vendor stocks it works out cheapest for the whole course. Vial count re-simulated at that strength. | 18 × $297.49 | $5,354.82 |
| Bacteriostatic water10ML Reconstitution Solution · 10 mLThis plan uses 36.0 mL across every reconstitution. 4.0 mL is left over, because bottles do not divide. | 4 × $14.54 | $58.16 |
| Syringes72 administrations, so 72 syringes. None of the vendors priced on this site sells syringes, alcohol pads or a sharps container. They are ordinary pharmacy items in most places and restricted in some. The count below is what the plan requires; where to obtain them is outside what this site can tell you. | 72 × — | Not sold here |
| Total, compounds and water | $5,412.98 | |
Above this vendor's published $99 free-shipping threshold.
We earn nothing from this link. Loti Labs has no affiliate programme.
Pure Health Peptides
Prices as of 2026-08-24
$2,844.86
$5.64/day · $171.82/month
| TirzepatideGLP-2 (T) · 10 mg$3.90/mg listedThis listing is sold in several vial sizes and the figure shown is the cheapest one, so the real price is higher. Priced at the 10 mg size rather than the 20 mg this plan assumes, because across the sizes this vendor stocks it works out cheapest for the whole course. Vial count re-simulated at that strength. | 69 × $39.00 | $2,691.00 |
| Bacteriostatic waterBacteriostatic Water · 10 mLThis plan uses 138.0 mL across every reconstitution. 2.0 mL is left over, because bottles do not divide.The only size this vendor sells. Stock was reported as one unit remaining when read. | 14 × $10.99 | $153.86 |
| Syringes72 administrations, so 72 syringes. None of the vendors priced on this site sells syringes, alcohol pads or a sharps container. They are ordinary pharmacy items in most places and restricted in some. The count below is what the plan requires; where to obtain them is outside what this site can tell you. | 72 × — | Not sold here |
| Total, compounds and water | $2,844.86 | |
Above this vendor's published $175 free-shipping threshold.
We earn nothing from this link. No affiliate programme was found for this vendor.
Peptira
Prices as of 2026-08-25
$2,922.60
$5.80/day · $176.52/month
| TirzepatideTIRZ-2 | 60MG · 60 mg$2.65/mg listed · $4.15/mg after what expires unusedIdentity inferred. This vendor sells it as “TIRZ-2 | 60MG” and does not write the compound name anywhere on the page. The mapping is ours, not theirs.Priced at the 60 mg size rather than the 20 mg this plan assumes, because across the sizes this vendor stocks it works out cheapest for the whole course. Vial count re-simulated at that strength. | 18 × $159.20 | $2,865.60 |
| Bacteriostatic waterBAC Water 10ML · 10 mLThis plan uses 36.0 mL across every reconstitution. 4.0 mL is left over, because bottles do not divide. | 4 × $14.25 | $57.00 |
| Syringes72 administrations, so 72 syringes. None of the vendors priced on this site sells syringes, alcohol pads or a sharps container. They are ordinary pharmacy items in most places and restricted in some. The count below is what the plan requires; where to obtain them is outside what this site can tell you. | 72 × — | Not sold here |
| Total, compounds and water | $2,922.60 | |
Above this vendor's published $250 free-shipping threshold.
Peptira runs an affiliate programme. This site has not applied to it, so no commission is earned on this link today.
List price is not the price anyone pays
What usually goes wrong
Ranked by how often it happens rather than by how serious it sounds.
Assuming a higher step is strictly better
All three maintenance quantities produced clinically meaningful results. The highest is not automatically the right target, and tolerance is the limiting factor for most people.
Ignoring the 2.5 mg increment rule
The label increments by 2.5 mg after at least four weeks. Jumping steps is off-label and is where tolerance problems concentrate.
What is worth measuring
Markers that would actually tell you something, and what each one tells you. Nothing here is a requirement, and none of it substitutes for a clinician who knows your history.
| Marker | When | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | Baseline, then monthly | Primary endpoint. |
| Gastrointestinal tolerance | At each step | Determines escalation pace. |
| Gallbladder symptoms | Ongoing | Gallbladder events were reported at increased frequency in this class. |
Populations this was not studied in
An absence of evidence in a group is not evidence of safety in that group. These are listed because the gap itself is the finding.
- Personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2 — labelled contraindication
- Pregnancy and breastfeeding
- Type 1 diabetes
Related protocols
Semaglutide
The 16-week step-up written into the approved label, with the arithmetic done for each step.
Retatrutide
What the published phase 2 arms actually administered. Not approved, and not a label.
Tesamorelin
2 mg daily, from an approved label, with a 52-week pooled analysis behind it.
Protocol last reviewed 2026-08-24. Every quantity on this page carries its own source. If you find one that does not, that is a bug and the build should have caught it.