When the new class of drugs—including Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro—gained FDA approval in 2023 to help patients manage diabetes and lose weight, it was already considered relatively uncharted territory within the medical world. Now, people are adding an experimental element to their weight loss regimens that some doctors are calling out as risky.
In a growing trend, many people are reporting deviating from their doctors’ orders and taking only a fraction of the GLP-1 receptor agonist medications prescribed to them. By “micro-dosing” their weight-loss drugs, they say they’re saving significant money and slashing the side effects.
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Due to their injectable delivery, these weight-loss drugs are prescribed in standardized amounts. For example, someone prescribed Ozempic will typically take .25 mg, .5 m, 1 mg, or 2 mg doses, beginning on the lowest amount, then gradually increasing intake over the first three months until reaching the highest dose of medication. However, some people are going to great lengths to spread each dose across several injections while still remaining on their medication.
The Atlanticrecently reported that it’s becoming increasingly common for people to break open their fixed-dose pens to prolong their use. Some patients taking Ozempic and Wegovy—which are sold in clickable pens—have learned how to adjust how many dozens of clicks correspond to one milligram, allowing them to alter their total intake by adjusting the number of clicks.
When asked by The Atlantic if it would be helpful for doctors to have this type of dosing flexibility, Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, an obesity-medicine doctor at Harvard, pointed out that this type of administration is already available and working well in Canada and Europe. “Yes, oh my gosh, yes, yes,” she answered. “We would love to have that flexibility [here].”
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More flexible dosing options and the ability to lower one’s dose as needed could very well help reduce the most common side effects of weight loss medications. These include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, constipation, and diarrhea. Still, doctors seem to agree that there are serious risks to “hacking” your weight loss medications without consulting your doctor first.
“Where we get concerned is when this is happening without any guidance from a medical professional,” Britta Reierson, MD, FAAFP, a board-certified family physician and obesity medicine specialist, recently toldUSA Today.
Since many doctors aren’t opposed to low-dose weight loss drugs—only a lack of oversight and the unregulated tampering of your injectable pen—it’s a good idea to discuss your dosing preferences with your doctor. They may be able to adjust your regimen to better suit your tolerance while also helping you avert the risks associated with “micro-dosing” as it currently exists.
