People are ‘microdosing’ Ozempic – and doctors have a surprising opinion on whether it’s healthy

People who want to be very small take a small shot of Ozempic.

According to doctors, “microdosing” of the weight-loss drug is becoming more and more common – and that’s not always a bad thing.

“It is essentially a tailored approach to dosing Ozempic to meet the needs of the individual,” board-certified general practitioner and obesity medicine specialist Dr. Britta Reierson to USA Today.

“What we are concerned about is when this happens without any guidance from a medical professional.”

Weight loss medications like Ozempic have caused a stir in Hollywood and beyond, despite reports of adverse side effects, resulting in shortages of the drugs and, in turn, the creation of off-brand dupes.

Now patients are flocking to specialists to get a prescription for the medication they can take in smaller doses, bragging about their progress online.

Neurosurgeon and longevity expert, Dr. Brett Osborn, told USA Today that he even administers weight loss medications in microdoses, explaining that this can be helpful for those who have lost a significant amount of weight on the standard dose and want to keep the pounds off with less of the drug. .

“The drugs should not be stopped,” he said. “You just hold the gas, albeit in smaller amounts, and the weight loss is maintained.”

Dr. Aria Vazirnia, a lipedema surgeon at the Roxbury Institute’s Advanced Lipedema Treatment Program, blames social media for sparking 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 talked about it in podcasts. So there is a lot of interest in it.”

Obesity physician Dr. Alexandra Sowa, the founder of SoWell, said she has seen an influx of people asking for microdoses of the weekly shot.

She suspects the uptick may be partly related to “Ozempic shame,” a term coined to describe the stigma surrounding using the medication as a weight-loss aid.

“Often when dealing with weight, there is so much stigma and prejudice on both the part of the doctor and the patient that people’s brains often want to try to tell them that they can outsmart the system,” she said. them at the outlet.

“They will feel better about being on medication if they take a smaller dose, and what we really need to get to the heart of is: let’s make sure that this patient feels whole from the start, that there is nothing wrong with the use of medications,” she continued.

In addition, the skyrocketing cost of the weight-loss drugs could cause some cash-strapped users to ration their supplies without appropriate medical guidance.

Experts are now concerned that patients with Ozempic prescriptions will try to microdose at home, which could cause a side effect, Osborn warned. Patients should always consult their doctor before taking any new medications or changing dosages.

“Never blame this on the medication. It’s not the medication’s fault,” he says. “It is our job as physicians to be able to modulate the dose.”