Dose Tapering

Dose tapering is the practice of stepping a dose down across multiple intervals at the end of a cycle, rather than stopping abruptly. For peptides that affect downstream feedback loops — particularly the GH-axis (GHRH analogs, GHRPs) and the GLP-1 axis (semaglutide, tirzepatide) — tapering is preferred because it gives endogenous regulation time to recalibrate.

There is no single ‘correct’ taper schedule; common patterns are halving the dose every 1–2 weeks, or stepping down by ~25% per week, until the dose is at maintenance or zero. Half-life governs how slowly the taper needs to be: a long-half-life compound like semaglutide (t½ ~7 days) takes weeks to clear regardless, so the taper itself is more about psychological titration of side effects than pharmacological smoothing.

Tapering off is distinct from cycling off — taper is the reduction phase; cycle off is the extended period of zero dose that follows.