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What is the reported incidence of vomiting on tirzepatide in SURMOUNT-1?

Asked 5 Oct 2024Modified 19 months agoViewed 42k times
26

Details up front: vomiting · tirzepatide · SURMOUNT-1.

This is presented as though it settles something, and I am not convinced it does.

I have two documents that appear to disagree, which is what prompted this.

Which parts of this are informative and which are decoration?

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askedruaidhri_o_shea25k275 Oct 2024
4Is there any abdominal pain with it? That is the question everyone will ask next. – Dr_Colm_Fitzhenry 4 months ago
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5 Answers

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47

Take it from the SURMOUNT-1 adverse-event table by arm, and check the unit before you use it. An incidence can be the proportion of participants who reported the event at least once, or the count of events divided by exposure time, and the two differ by however many people had it repeatedly. Then subtract the placebo arm, because the untreated rate is not zero. And read the discontinuation column beside it: an event that made people leave the trial is under-counted at every later visit, so a low late-timepoint incidence can mean the event was severe rather than rare.

Put another way, the relevant risk chain is vomiting to volume depletion to reduced renal perfusion to a rising creatinine, which is how most acute renal events in this class occur.

Trial incidence for vomiting runs at roughly a third to a half of the nausea rate depending on agent and dose, and it is more concentrated in the escalation phase than nausea is.

More usefully, oral rehydration solutions work by glucose-coupled sodium co-transport, which continues to function when secretion is deranged. That is why the glucose-to-sodium ratio matters and a high-sugar sports drink is not equivalent.

Vomiting rates in the trial programmes are reported separately from nausea and are consistently lower and more dose-dependent.

Anti-emetics interact with other medication and are a prescriber decision.

Rinse rather than brush after an episode. Enamel is not replaceable.

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answeredDr_Lena_Ostrowska38k2725 Nov 2024
7This should be linked from the help pages. – orla_ferriter 5 months ago
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33

This is the adverse effect where the honest advice is least about tolerance and most about knowing when to stop.

Repeated vomiting is the mechanism behind most reported acute kidney injury in this class. The renal event is a volume event, not a direct toxicity.

The underlying point is that warning signs that convert this from a nuisance to a clinical problem: inability to keep fluids down for more than a few hours, reduced urine output, dizziness on standing, confusion, or severe abdominal pain.

Research-use material is not approved for human use, and an unverified dose is an unquantifiable variable in any of this.

The renal risk here is volume, not toxicity. That is the mechanism to watch.

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answeredDr_Lena_Ostrowska38k2714 Nov 2024
3The red-flag list should be higher up the answer, not at the bottom. – u100_marks 5 months ago
4The distinction between escalation-related and steady-state is the useful part. – zainab_mustafa 7 months ago
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26

The honest answer is that a day of it is unpleasant and that several days of it needs help.

An episode of vomiting several days after a dose, with no escalation and no other explanation, is not the typical pattern and deserves attention rather than tolerance.

Dental enamel erosion from repeated vomiting is a real if unglamorous consequence; rinsing with water rather than brushing immediately is the standard advice.

The caveat is that persistent vomiting is a clinical situation and this is not the place to manage one.

If fluids will not stay down for several hours, that is the threshold. Get help.

edited 24 Dec 2024 by coring_risk — reworded for clarity after a comment

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answeredcoring_risk27k2717 Dec 2024
21

Answering this needs to know whether fluids are being kept down, since that is the threshold between manageable and clinical.

A practical home formulation is about six level teaspoons of sugar and half a level teaspoon of salt in one litre of water, taken in small frequent sips rather than in volumes that provoke another episode.

Oral rehydration solution composition is standardised by the World Health Organization and rests on glucose-coupled sodium transport.

Do not escalate the dose while this is happening.

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answeredDr_Ilse_Vandenberg113k2486 Dec 2024
Does the tolerance develop at the same rate for the daily agents? – tyndall_haze 1 days ago
Any published figure for how long the constipation persists, given it does not attenuate? – tare_weight 2 months ago
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14

Answer first: vomiting is less common than nausea, is more strongly dose-related, and matters chiefly because of what it does to fluid and electrolyte balance.

Fluid lost in vomit carries sodium at roughly 60 millimoles per litre and potassium at rather less, so replacing it with plain water alone dilutes plasma sodium rather than restoring balance.

Electrolyte composition of gastric and intestinal secretions is published and is the basis for replacement calculations.

Small frequent sips of an oral rehydration solution, not large volumes of water.

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answeredDr_Colm_Fitzhenry69k2479 Jan 2025
6Small correction: the discontinuation rate in the trials is lower than most people assume. – elke_brunner 33 days ago
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Not medical advice. Research-use-only compounds are not approved for human use.