Zepbound — one brand name for the drug tirzepatide — can help overweight and obese adults lose weight. But alongside weight loss, it can cause fatigue, and users report feeling drowsy and lethargic on the drug.
Below, we’ll dive into why Zepbound can make you feel tired and how you can use the RISE app to get better sleep and more energy — both when you’re on and off the drug.
Heads-up: Zepbound was in November 2023 for weight loss and chronic weight management in adults with at least one weight-related health condition, like high cholesterol, obstructive , cardiovascular disease, or type 2 diabetes. It’s a very new drug, and more research is needed into the side effects. As more people use the drug, there’s more anecdotal evidence suggesting that Zepbound fatigue may be more widespread than understood from studies, and it may even cause insomnia.
"From what we know from the manufacturer so far, fatigue is a common side effect of Zepbound. We know a lot less as to why, but you might feel tired as you’re cutting your calories and exercising more while on the drug, and other side effects like nausea or diarrhea can make it hard to get enough sleep,” says Dr. Chester Wu, who is double board certified in Psychiatry and Sleep Medicine, and provides sleep medicine services, medication management, and psychotherapy to adults at his private sleep medicine and psychiatry practice.
Zepbound can make you feel tired. The lists fatigue as a common side effect of Zepbound, affecting 5% or more of users. The drug may also disrupt your sleep.
The higher the dose of Zepbound you take, the more likely you are to feel tired. In placebo-controlled clinical trials, the drug caused fatigue in 5% of those taking 5 mg of Zepbound, 6% of those taking 10 mg, and 7% of those taking 15 mg, the highest dose.
Fatigue is defined here as including feelings of weakness, lethargy, and malaise. It’s not clear whether fatigue is ongoing, fleeting, or compared to pre-Zepbound fatigue levels.
Beyond fatigue, users are reporting sleep problems.
A published in Brain Sciences analyzed Reddit, Youtube, and TikTok posts about the side effects of GLP-1 receptor agonists and GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists. In the study, users mentioned sleep-related issues the most, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, and general mental health issues.
Online, users have also reported side effects like dizziness, irritability, and feeling weak and panicky on Zepbound, which can add to feeling drained.
Zepbound can also cause side effects like gastrointestinal issues and anxiety that make it hard to get enough sleep.
Heads-up: Believe it or not, there’s a difference between feeling tired and feeling sleepy. Tiredness is when you feel fatigued, but you might not be able to fall asleep. Sleepiness is when your eyelids are drooping and you could fall asleep if you tried. Zepbound may make you feel both tired and sleepy.
Other diabetes and weight loss drugs can make you tired, too.
We’ve covered GLP-1 receptor agonists and GLP-1/GIP receptor agonists in more detail:
Because this gets confusing: Tirzepetide — the active ingredient in the drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound — is a dual-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 receptor agonist) and a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor agonist, or GLP-1/GIP receptor agonist. Semaglutide — the active ingredient in Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus — is only a GLP-1 receptor agonist. More research is needed on how both could make you tired.
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More research is needed to know why Zepbound makes you tired. It may be down to eating fewer calories, low blood sugar, changes in dopamine levels or exercise, or side effects like GI issues, anxiety, and depression causing sleep loss.
Here’s more on why Zepbound could make you tired and sleepy:
You may also feel tired due to the common culprits of high sleep debt and circadian misalignment, which can tank your energy whether you’re on Zepbound or not. We cover how to fix those soon.
Heads-up: As a dual-acting receptor agonist, Zepbound may help people lose more weight than drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy, as it targets multiple pathways involved in glucose regulation and weight management, compared to single-acting receptor agonists like Ozempic. But this may mean it comes with more fatigue and other side effects. More research is needed into all of these weight loss and diabetes medications.
Zepbound may affect sleep by causing side effects like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, anxiety, and depression — all of which can make it harder to sleep.
You may also change your eating and exercise habits while on Zepbound, which can affect your sleep. For example, skipping workouts may make it harder to drift off and hunger pangs from cutting calories may wake you up at night.
It’s unclear whether Zepbound can cause insomnia. found social media reports of GLP-1 receptor agonists worsening insomnia in some, but improving it in others.
It’s not clear whether this is clinical insomnia, however.
According to the third edition of the (ICSD-3), insomnia is when you have:
Having these sleep problems at least three nights a week for at least three months could be a sign of insomnia. Having them for one to three months could be a sign of episodic insomnia.
Zepbound may cause sleep problems that look a lot like insomnia, but they may not be clinical insomnia.
If you have these symptoms, you may need different or additional treatments for insomnia compared to the sleep problems Zepbound can cause. Seek medical advice if you think you have insomnia.
Zepbound may improve your sleep, if not at first, then over time. The drug can help you lose weight, and losing weight can reduce your odds of snoring and sleep apnea. Having a healthy body weight also lowers your odds of health conditions like type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart disease — which have been linked to like insomnia.
While on Zepbound, you’re encouraged to make healthy diet and exercise changes, and these can improve your sleep. And weight reduction can give you more energy to exercise, creating a virtuous circle.
Zepbound may even reduce your cravings for alcohol and cigarettes, and cutting down on these can also improve your sleep.
There’s also some evidence that GLP-1 receptor agonists may improve sleep apnea. We’ve covered more on whether Ozempic can potentially help sleep apnea here.
A found anecdotal reports of tirzepatide helping some users wake up feeling refreshed and rested. GLP-1 receptor agonist weight loss medications were reported to improve insomnia, anxiety, and depression, too.
You can learn more about sleep and weight loss here.
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More research is needed to find out how long Zepbound fatigue lasts. Fatigue may go away as your body gets used to the medication. It also depends on what’s causing your fatigue. For example, GI side effects can happen when your dose of Zepbound increases and they should get better as your body adjusts.
Zepbound is a new weight loss drug, so long-term studies on fatigue are needed.
The side effects of Zepbound include:
Most of these side effects can contribute to feeling tired or having sleep problems. These side effects are reported in of people on Zepbound.
More serious side effects include pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), gallbladder disease, diabetic retinopathy complications (which can cause vision loss) in those with type 2 diabetes, and thyroid cancer and tumors.
You can improve Zepbound fatigue by lowering your sleep debt, getting in sync with your circadian rhythm, improving your sleep hygiene, managing GI issues, reducing anxiety, eating a balanced diet, and getting some exercise.
Here’s what to do:
Learn more ways to wake yourself up when tired here.
Heads-up: It may not be Zepbound alone making you tired — you may need more sleep than you think. RISE works out how much sleep you uniquely need. Looking at 1.95 million users aged 24 and older, we found 48% need eight hours or more.
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Fatigue is a common side effect of Zepbound, and the drug may cause sleep problems.
You can make changes to feel less tired, though. Use the RISE app to catch up on lost sleep and get in sync with your circadian rhythm to boost your energy. Follow RISE’s 20+ personalized sleep hygiene reminders for an easier time falling and staying asleep.
RISE users say the app helps boost their energy and health.
“It’s really helped me be a morning person and enjoy my day more…After figuring out how I should sleep with this app, I feel a lot better and my health is better too!” .
RISE can help you feel better on your weight loss journey — 80% of users feel more energy within five days.
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RISE makes it easy to improve your sleep and daily energy to reach your potential
