The answer so far
In extensions of two studies in adults with HIV and excess abdominal fat, people switched from tesamorelin to placebo had an average increase in CT-measured visceral-fat area over the following six months. People who continued had different average changes. That does not predict an individual result or mean the same change occurred in total body weight.12
On this page
What happens to visceral fat after stopping tesamorelin? Choose a step to explore this subject in more detail.
Why ask what happens afterwards?
A trial may show a change while people receive a medicine, but that does not by itself show whether the change lasts. In HIV-associated lipodystrophy, the US medicine Egrifta WR is used for a specific pattern of excess abdominal fat; its label says it is not a weight-management medicine. Start with what tesamorelin is used for.12
How did the studies compare stopping and continuing?
After an initial 26 weeks, people who had completed treatment with an earlier Egrifta formulation were randomly assigned again, either to continue it or switch to placebo for another 26 weeks. They and the study teams were not told which treatment they received. The comparison therefore concerns a selected group who completed the first phase, not everyone who started treatment.1
What did the scans show?
In the first extension, the average change in visceral-fat area between weeks 26 and 52 was an increase of 3 cm² in those continuing versus an increase of 25 cm² in those switched to placebo. In the second, it was a decrease of 11 cm² versus an increase of 24 cm². A CT scan uses X-rays to make detailed images inside the body. The figures describe the area of fat on one image, not kilograms or a percentage of total body weight. They are group averages, not a timetable for an individual.1
- Study 1: continued+3 cm²
- Study 1: switched to placebo+25 cm²
- Study 2: continued−11 cm²
- Study 2: switched to placebo+24 cm²
Does that mean all fat returned?
The switch-to-placebo groups gained visceral-fat area on average during the second period; the figures alone do not establish that every person returned to their starting measurement. Some people did not complete the extension, and the label reports an analysis that carried forward the last available observation for missing data. Effects after a year and outcomes in people outside the studied population remain less certain. Learn how visceral fat differs from fat beneath the skin.1
Is this the same as stopping a weight-loss medicine?
No. Tesamorelin’s trial measured a particular abdominal-fat compartment in adults with HIV. Studies of semaglutide or tirzepatide generally ask different questions about body weight and involve different populations and medicines. Compare the questions in what happened after stopping those medicines, without assuming the same result or timing.1
What else matters when discussing treatment?
The US product label says long-term cardiovascular safety has not been established. Blood sugar, IGF-1 and side effects also matter when a clinician weighs benefits and harms. Read what monitoring and side effects mean. A person considering a change to a prescribed medicine should discuss their own circumstances with the prescriber.1
Sources, kept close.
Selected supporting sources; this is not a complete literature review.
- Egrifta WR (tesamorelin) prescribing informationTheratechnologies / US National Library of Medicine DailyMed · US manufacturer prescribing information
- Effects of tesamorelin, a growth hormone-releasing factor, in HIV-infected patients with abdominal fat accumulation: a randomized placebo-controlled trial with a safety extensionJournal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes / PubMed · Randomised placebo-controlled clinical trial and extension