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There’s no single right number. The most useful answer starts by sorting peptides into two groups. The first group includes peptides like sermorelin, which prompt your body to release its own hormone. Some people take these in cycles, with planned breaks, but no trial has set a standard cycle. The second group is GLP-1 medicines, which are meant for long-term use. Treating a GLP-1 like a short cycle can cost you the result.
The peptide people wrongly cycle
Semaglutide and tirzepatide are peptides too. They’re GLP-1 medicines, meant to be taken long term rather than as a short course.
What happens when people stop is the main point here. When people come off a GLP-1, much of the weight they lost usually comes back. The medicine holds the weight off, and finishing a “course” of it doesn’t. Any other health benefit that comes with the weight loss most likely depends on staying on the drug too. Taking a break from a GLP-1 doesn’t reset anything. It just hands back the result.
The “break” people want is really a slower ramp
The usual reason people want to cycle is nausea, which is the most common side effect and clusters during dose escalation. The reason is clear. GLP-1s slow gastric emptying (how fast food leaves your stomach). They act on the brain circuits that control appetite, and they help your body release insulin. Tirzepatide also acts on a second hormone, called GIP. Slower gastric emptying is part of why nausea tracks each dose increase and often fades as titration slows.
So the usual answer is the titration schedule (how fast the dose goes up) rather than a week off. The steps are set for your exact product, and they can slow down when side effects flare. A US-licensed clinician reviews every case and adjusts that schedule.
The compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide we use come from LegitScript-verified 503A US pharmacies under physician oversight. Compounded preparations are not FDA-approved. They are not FDA-approved generics or equivalents of the brand-name products.
Sermorelin and NAD+ have no proven cycle
Sermorelin and NAD+ belong to the other group, and here the evidence runs thin. No large randomized trial has tested how long to take either one, or whether breaks help.
- Sermorelin (a peptide that prompts growth hormone release): there’s no proven cycle. Some people take it without breaks and others cycle it. The idea that a break keeps the receptors responsive hasn’t been tested.
- NAD+ injections: there’s no proven cycle or loading phase either.
So we won’t give you a standard schedule. How long you take one, and whether you pause, depends on your exact product and your clinician’s review. Where there’s no evidence, we’ll say so. How you feel after a break is worth telling your clinician, but it can’t prove that a cycle works.
Zappy’s sermorelin and NAD+ are compounded and not FDA-approved.
If you stay on, protect your lean mass
One caveat for anyone on a GLP-1 long term. Fast weight loss takes some lean mass (muscle and other non-fat tissue) along with fat. The standard countermeasure is resistance training plus protein. Clinicians commonly aim for roughly 1.2–1.6 g per kg of body weight each day. What we don’t have yet is solid long-term data on strength, mobility, and fall risk years from now. That’s a real gap, and we want to say so plainly.
The takeaways
- Clinical practice: GLP-1 medicines are meant to be taken without breaks, and stopping usually brings the weight back.
- No standard cycle: no trial has tested a cycle for sermorelin or NAD+. Your clinician plans the length for your exact product.
- Our opinion: treat GLP-1 nausea with slower titration and skip the weeks off. If you plan to stop, make a follow-up plan with your clinician first. No proven way to keep the weight off after stopping exists yet.
The open question is one many people on long-term treatment ask. Can a lower maintenance dose hold the weight off the way the full dose did? We honestly don’t know yet. That’s the trial we’re waiting on. If you want a clinician to plan your own start, begin with the quiz.
