Semaglutide weight loss journeys on TikTok: what week 3 really looks like

What did @ali.is.losing.it actually say?

She's taking AOD-9604 sublingually every morning in a lozenge form she calls a "trophy," sourced from a company called Regenex. She dissolves it "under your tongue or between your teeth and your gums," fasts for at least an hour afterward, and honestly admits: "hasn't been long enough to know if it's working but I'm trying." She also mentions a discount code but distances herself from being a brand rep.

That last part deserves credit. She's not overclaiming results she hasn't seen. But the framing around AOD-9604 as a straightforward weight loss tool, combined with a specific sourcing recommendation and sublingual administration advice, carries real implications worth unpacking.

Does the science back this up?

The short answer: barely, and not in humans at the doses or delivery method she's describing. AOD-9604 is a synthetic peptide fragment of human growth hormone (hGH), specifically the C-terminal region (amino acids 176-191). The early animal data was genuinely interesting.

Ng et al. (2000, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology) showed AOD-9604 reduced fat mass in obese mice without the diabetogenic effects associated with full hGH. That got pharmaceutical attention. Metabolic Pharmaceuticals ran human trials in the early 2000s under the brand name AOD9604, targeting obesity. Those trials failed. A Phase 2b trial published by Stier et al. (2013, Obesity) found no statistically significant difference in weight loss versus placebo over 24 weeks. The drug never received FDA approval for obesity.

Sublingual bioavailability of peptides is also a real question. Most peptides are degraded in the oral mucosa or GI tract. There is essentially no published pharmacokinetic data on sublingual AOD-9604 absorption in humans. The "trophy" lozenge format has no peer-reviewed dosing or absorption data behind it.

What did they get wrong (or right)?

She got the basic administration ritual roughly consistent with how compounding pharmacies sell this product. Fast after dosing, sublingual delivery, morning timing. These are standard vendor recommendations. That's not the same as evidence-based protocol, but she's not inventing something dangerous either.

What's misleading is the broader context. Recommending a specific vendor, implying the product is a legitimate weight loss aid, and describing a consistent routine all signal that this is an established practice. It isn't. AOD-9604 is not FDA-approved for any indication. It was removed from the FDA's list of bulk substances eligible for compounding (503A) in 2015, meaning licensed compounding pharmacies cannot legally use it in preparations for individual patients under federal guidelines. Sourcing it from an online vendor of unverified regulatory status is not the same as getting a prescribed, regulated peptide.

She says "there's a million different places online" and references potency concerns she read about. That's actually an important admission. Without third-party testing, you genuinely do not know what you're getting.

What should you actually know?

AOD-9604 sits in a gray zone that a lot of peptide content glosses over. The mechanism is plausible. The animal data is real. The human trial data did not hold up. And the regulatory status in the U.S. makes unverified online sourcing a legitimate concern, not a minor footnote.

The FDA's 2015 decision to remove AOD-9604 from the 503A bulks list means it cannot be compounded for individual patient use by licensed pharmacies. Products sold online are operating outside that framework. That raises questions about purity, concentration accuracy, and what else might be in the product.

Sublingual peptide delivery is also not as straightforward as dissolving a lozenge. Peptides vary enormously in oral mucosal permeability. Without pharmacokinetic studies specific to this compound and this delivery format, fasting protocols and timing recommendations are speculation dressed as protocol.

If you're interested in weight management support through a telehealth platform, there are FDA-cleared options with actual human trial data. AOD-9604 is not one of them at this point in time.