People are ‘microdosing’ Ozempic — and doctors have a surprising stance on whether it’s healthy
People who want to be teeny-tiny are taking a pint-sized shot of Ozempic.
“Microdosing” the weight-loss drug is becoming increasingly common, according to doctors — and it’s not always a bad thing.
“It’s basically a tailored approach to dosing Ozempic to meet the needs of the individual,” board-certified family physician and obesity medicine specialist Dr. Britta Reierson told USA Today.
“Now, where we get concerned is when this is happening without any guidance from a medical professional.”
Weight loss drugs like Ozempic have spurred a frenzy in Hollywood and beyond despite reports of adverse side effects, resulting in shortages of the medication and, in turn, the creation of off-brand dupes.
Now, patients are flocking to specialists to get a prescription for the medication to take in smaller doses, boasting their progress online.
Neurosurgeon and longevity expert Dr. Brett Osborn told USA Today that he even microdoses weight loss medication, explaining that it can be helpful for those who lost a significant amount of weight on the standard dose and want to keep off the pounds with less of the drug.
“The medications are not to be stopped,” he said. “You just keep the gas pressed, albeit smaller amounts, and that weight loss will be maintained.”
Dr. Aria Vazirnia, a lipedema surgeon with the Advanced Lipedema Treatment Program at The Roxbury Institute, blames social media for the piqued interest in drugs like Ozempic, even among people who don’t necessarily need it.
“I think a lot of it has to do with social media,” he told USA Today. “It’s been with the celebrity scene… People have been talking about it in podcasts. So there’s a lot of interest in it.”
Obesity medicine specialist Dr. Alexandra Sowa, the founder of SoWell, said that she’s seen an influx in people requesting microdoses of the once weekly jab.
She suspects the uptick could, in part, be connected to “Ozempic shame,” a term coined to describe the stigma surrounding the use of the medication as a weight loss aid.
“Often in managing weight, there’s so much stigma and bias from both the clinician side and the patient side that often people’s brains want to try to tell them that they can outsmart the system,” she told the outlet.
“They’ll feel better about the fact that they’re on a medication if they go to a smaller dose, and, really, what we need to get to the root of is, let’s make this patient feel whole from the beginning, that there’s nothing wrong with using a medication,” she continued.
Additionally, the sky-high costs of the weight loss drugs could be causing some cash-strapped users to be rationing their supply without appropriate medical guidance.
Experts are now concerned that patients with Ozempic prescriptions will try to microdose at home, which could cause an adverse reaction, warned Osborn. Patients should always consult with their doctors before taking new medications or changing dosage.
“Do not ever blame this on the medication. It is not the medication’s fault,” he says. “The burden is on us as physicians to be able to modulate the dose.”
