glp1guide (u/glp1guide)

glp1guide commented on Can Ozempic Cure Addiction? newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/adrianhon

cj · 8 days ago

I was a daily drinker for many years. A "1 or 2 cocktails in the evening" type of person. (And of course, 1 cocktail often meant 2 shots, so 2 cocktails = 4 shots a night.. looking back... yikes)

I started a GLP-1 in February of 2025. Lost a bunch of weight, etc.

What I wasn't expecting was that I'd have such an easy time dropping the daily drinking habit. I'm not convinced GLP's will help if you're truly addicted to alcohol to the point where you need AA and structured programs to break free. But I do think GLP's have the potential to give you the initial "kick" you need to drop the habit if you're otherwise motivated to.

In the first few months of starting the GLP-1, I remember losing enjoyment for eating (and drinking) a lot of things, especially unhealthy stuff (unhealthy foods/drinks tend to not combine well with GLP's). The taste of a cocktail wasn't as appetizing or appealing as it used to be, hard to explain.

I'd love to see more research around this.

glp1guide · 8 days ago

> I'd love to see more research around this.

Looks like we posted around the same time, but see:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945756

glp1guide commented on Can Ozempic Cure Addiction? newyorker.com/magazine/20... · Posted by u/adrianhon

glp1guide · 8 days ago

No one knows of course, but it's looking likely -- anecdotal data is piling up.

That said, there are some that have reported it also lessens desire for things they want to desire.

Did a writeup on this back in summer '25:

https://glp1guide.substack.com/p/glp1s-vs-addiction-a-quick-...

Paywalled so direct links to notable papers through the years below:

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8517504

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8820218

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36031011

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10684505

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39764175

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39032839/

https://www.science.org/content/article/obesity-drug-cuts-op...https://www.statnews.com/2024/02/17/opioid-cravings-glp1-wei... (The science.org article is paywalled IIRC)

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39535805/

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39937469/

Addiction comes up in anecdata all the time so I've written about it a few times but these papers are a good place to start to find more rigorous data points.

Eli Lilly has taken to calling GLP1s "anti-hedonics" as well

glp1guide commented on Former GLP-1 users regain lost weight after about 18 months, study says washingtonpost.com/wellne... · Posted by u/paulpauper

glp1guide · a month ago

Just stating the obvious -- losing weight (and likely lowering HbA1c/having other benefits) for 18 months is probably infinitely better than never losing weight at all.

glp1guide commented on There may not be a safe off-ramp for some taking GLP-1 drugs, study suggests arstechnica.com/health/20... · Posted by u/voxadam

glp1guide · 3 months ago

> Of the 308 who benefited from tirzepatide, 254 (82 percent) regained at least 25 percent of the weight they had lost on the drug by week 88. Further, 177 (57 percent) regained at least 50 percent, and 74 (24 percent) regained at least 75 percent. Generally, the more weight people regained, the more their cardiovascular and metabolic health improvements reversed.

So weight loss was actually maintained for most people -- the hard part is finding a healthy daily lifestyle which can maintain the drastic effects of GLP1s.

This information isn't new -- weight regain has been studied before and I've written about it before:

https://glp1.guide/content/do-people-regain-all-the-weight-l...

The missing piece to this article is just how bad the alternative is -- never having the cardiovascular and metabolic benefits is clearly not the best strategy (and if simply changing patterns was so easy, people would have done it already).

GLP1s don't work for everyone but they're pretty close to miraculous in effect given the balance of positive and negative side effects. Making GLP1s cheaper & more tolerable then figuring out how to actually deal with the complex web of how to keep the weight off sustainably for most people seems like the right way forward here, not avoiding potentially life-saving medication because you may not be able to get off of it as fast as you want (if you can afford it).

BTW, there is already generic Liraglutide, and legal workarounds for getting compounded Semaglutide that already mean no one pays the $1000 that was in the zeitgeist a while ago. Even Lilly Direct and similar outfits from Novo sell for $500/month, with the $150/month pricing coming soon[0].

[0]: https://glp1guide.substack.com/p/negotiations-are-underway-f...

glp1guide commented on GLP-1 drugs linked to lower death rates in colon cancer patients today.ucsd.edu/story/glp-... · Posted by u/gmays

ck2 · 3 months ago

no GLP-1 generics until 2030

lots of people will miss out on benefits, like oh preventing death

our drug system is weird

glp1guide · 3 months ago

Like others have mentioned, liraglutide already exists as a generic! It's not as good as Semaglutide or Tirzepatide, but.

Also, a lot of people are still getting compounded GLP1, to the chagrin of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.

Separately, 2026 is about to completely change the pricing of this stuff, not even taking into account the Trump administration's recent efforts. The price of injected GLP1 is going to implode due to patents lapsing in Canada and other places -- and for the pill forms that come out soon it looks like the Trump administration is keen on keeping prices for that low as well.

glp1guide commented on GLP-1 drugs linked to lower death rates in colon cancer patients today.ucsd.edu/story/glp-... · Posted by u/gmays

pedalpete · 3 months ago

My understanding is that it slows the digestive process, so there isn't more "empty time to repair or relax".

But my thinking there may be naive.

glp1guide · 3 months ago

At this point most experts lean more heavily on the effect of GLP1s in the brain rather than delayed gastric emptying -- it's more of a brain drug than anything else which is why it works so well.

glp1guide commented on GLP-1 drugs linked to lower death rates in colon cancer patients today.ucsd.edu/story/glp-... · Posted by u/gmays

bicx · 3 months ago

Maybe I'm just an aging cynic, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop when it comes to GLP-1s. There have been so many claims of positive benefits that it almost seems too good to be true. With them being so expensive, the producers have every incentive to upsell using any study they can get their hands or money on.

If it's all upside, then I'm happy to be wrong.

glp1guide · 3 months ago

Basically, the gastro-intestinal side effects are the biggest issue, along with CVS (not the store) and possibly eye problems.

That said, the negative side effects look to be incredibly rare and manageable (including via stopping treatment) -- and the positives are quite tremendous.

It's not a magic drug, but it is the first of it's kind with such a skew to the positive on side effects.

glp1guide commented on Novo Nordisk's Canadian Mistake science.org/content/blog-... · Posted by u/jbm

vl · 4 months ago

Nonsense.

You can use US prescription at online Canadian pharmacy and legally ship to US. This is how a lot of people save on drugs.

glp1guide · 4 months ago

A bit late, but thanks for noting this -- I had no idea that this workaround was so well established. I don't often dive into concrete suggestions on how to obtain GLP1s because of how it could be perceived, but maybe I've underestimated how many people know how to do this right now.

glp1guide commented on Novo Nordisk's Canadian Mistake science.org/content/blog-... · Posted by u/jbm

ChrisMarshallNY · 4 months ago

> Also somewhat separately, injectable GLP1s are about to be upstaged by oral variants — orfoglipron for Eli Lilly and the Wegovy Pill for Novo.

I believe that this gets a new patent, and will probably be a huge seller.

glp1guide · 4 months ago

Absolutely -- certainly in their biggest markets they'll be able to protect those patents.

Both companies have thus far been unable to really stop compounding pharmacies and/or gray market suppliers from replicating though, and price negotiation with the government is definitely going to happen (Trump recently announced wanting $150 GLP1s, Novo's lawsuit against medicare price negotiation failed)... I do not have much faith in their ability to protect their pricing power for very long, which unfortunate for them is probably what's best for humanity and is very well known at this point.

glp1guide commented on Novo Nordisk's Canadian Mistake science.org/content/blog-... · Posted by u/jbm

glp1guide · 4 months ago

Not only that, there is a legitimate raft of companies lining up to make generics.

There’s one wrinkle though, legally importing prescription drugs from Canada isn’t really allowed in the US/UK AFAIK. HIMS is probably feverishly figuring out how to do that right now.

Shameless plug:

https://glp1guide.substack.com/p/another-glp1-generic-launch...

Also somewhat separately, injectable GLP1s are about to be upstaged by oral variants — orfoglipron for Eli Lilly and the Wegovy Pill for Novo.