Why can't I just start at the amount that works?
Answer
Because on this class the unwanted effects arrive before the wanted ones. The schedule exists to space them apart.
In more detail
Slowed stomach emptying is the mechanism and the side effect at the same time. Starting at a studied maintenance amount would mean meeting the full gut effect on day one and the appetite and metabolic effect weeks later. Every approved schedule in this class is built the same way: a starting amount that is explicitly not a working amount, then blocks long enough for the body to stop objecting before the next increase. The label for tirzepatide says outright that 2.5 mg is an initiation amount and not a maintenance one — a sentence most people standing on it have never read.
Source
Approved labeling for the weekly incretin products.
Educational use only, never medical advice. No doses.