When to Discontinue Peptides

Where Stopping Rules Come From

Formal stopping rules exist only on approved peptide drug labels; community rules borrow from them. This page is part of our overview of peptide warning signs.

Immediate Discontinuation Criteria

Non-Negotiable Stop Signs

Sign	Reason	Source
Severe allergic reaction	Anaphylaxis, angioedema	Wegovy and Egrifta labels
Suspected pancreatitis	Severe, persistent abdominal pain	Wegovy label
New lumps/growths	Cancer concern	Egrifta labels
Hypoglycemic episode	IGF-1 excess	User reports
Chest pain	Cardiac concern	General emergency guidance

The Wegovy (semaglutide) label says to discontinue if pancreatitis or a hypersensitivity reaction is suspected, or if resting heart rate stays raised. The tesamorelin labels (Egrifta SV and WR) call for stopping on any evidence of recurrent malignancy. Symptoms are described in recognizing adverse reactions.

Concerning Lab Values

Finding	Threshold	Source
IGF-1	Persistently above about 3 SDS for age	Egrifta labels
Fasting glucose	126 mg/dL or higher (diabetes range)	ADA
HbA1c	6.5% or higher (diabetes range)	ADA

We found no source for the common "stop above 500 ng/mL" IGF-1 rule. Normal IGF-1 shifts with age, so the tesamorelin label uses standard deviation scores (SDS). In its trials, 5% of treated patients and 1% on placebo reached an HbA1c of 6.5% or higher by week 26.

Gradual Discontinuation Indicators

Moderate Concerns

Indicator	Threshold	Commonly reported response
Persistent water retention	Doesn't resolve	Lower dose or stop
Chronic joint pain	Ongoing	Consider stopping
Numbness/tingling	Carpal tunnel-like	Reduce or stop

The tesamorelin label says edema, joint pain and carpal tunnel syndrome are transient or resolve after stopping.

Lab-Based Decisions

Finding	ADA category	Commonly reported response
Fasting glucose 100-125 mg/dL	Prediabetes	Lifestyle changes, dose review
HbA1c 5.7-6.4%	Prediabetes	Plan to stop, retest

Goal-Based Discontinuation

Situation	Response users describe
Injury healed	Stop healing peptides outright
Body composition goal	Reassess need
Season completed	Planned off-season break
Plateau or tolerance	Extended break

If glucose intolerance develops on tesamorelin, its label suggests considering stopping when there's no clear efficacy response.

Taper Protocols

We found no evidence that tapering helps when stopping most research peptides, and neither label describes one. Community guides still describe a GH secretagogue taper of about 75%, then 50%, of the usual dose over the final two weeks; BPC-157 users mostly report stopping directly.

Post-Discontinuation Monitoring

Period	What users commonly track
1-2 weeks	Side effects clearing, sleep
4-6 weeks	Blood work back toward baseline

Which labs are repeated, and when, is covered in post-cycle assessment.

What We Still Don't Know

No research-use peptide has a tested stopping rule, and how well drug-label thresholds apply to gray-market products is unknown.