r/science • u/Wagamaga • Feb 12 '25

Neuroscience The first clinical trial of its kind has found that semaglutide, distributed under the brand name Wegovy, cut the amount of alcohol people drank by about 40% and dramatically reduced people’s desire to drink

https://today.usc.edu/popular-weight-loss-diabetes-drug-shows-promise-in-reducing-cravings-for-alcohol/
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119

u/vegeta8300 Feb 12 '25

Has there been any success with people with addictions to other drugs or just alcohol?

110

u/Kevdog1800 Feb 12 '25

They’re studying it if I recall correctly from something I read previously. If I also recall correctly from previous reading, the alcohol disinterest only works in obese patients. When they tried using them in healthy weight alcoholic patients, they did not observe such strong craving-reducing effects. That info is perhaps a year old or so now though. Things may have developed since then. It was pretty preliminary when I read it.

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u/flavorful_taste Feb 12 '25

Thats interesting. I wonder if the effect remains once the obese patients lose weight. It would be funny if future treatment protocols for alcoholism start with “gain 150 pounds of fat.”

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u/Kevdog1800 Feb 12 '25

IIRC no it does not. The effect diminishes as patients lose weight. But as I said, it was very preliminary and a pretty small sample I think.

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u/orphan-cr1ppler Feb 12 '25

Makes sense if it only treats one root cause of addiction.

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u/kitanokikori Feb 12 '25

I honestly think a significant part of alcohol cravings for a lot of people are actually just food cravings. Alcohol is a lot of calories and sugar, and when you start unconsciously associating "I'm hungry" => "Have a beer", these two start to mush together.

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u/WillCode4Cats Feb 12 '25

For me, I have noticed when I start craving alcohol (I only drink beer), that is a strong sign that I am quite dehydrated. For some reason, my brain has mapped beer to hydration. If I quinch my thirst with something else, then the desire disappears.

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u/thewolf9 Feb 13 '25

You’re not an alcoholic though.

2

u/WillCode4Cats Feb 13 '25

No, but I love the sin juice too much nonetheless.

2

u/ferns0 Feb 13 '25

For me it sort of feels like the same craving to some degree. My brain feels like it doesn’t have enough serotonin/dopamine and food/alcohol feel like the only things that break through that wall in a way that nothing else can. If I cut sugar I feel like I need to drink, and vice versa.

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u/deuxcerise Feb 12 '25

Anecdotal evidence from the r/Semaglutide and r/WegovyWeightLoss subreddits suggest people tend to see diminished compulsions of other kinds, like biting fingernails or recreational online shopping.

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u/Tall_poppee Feb 12 '25

The shopping thing was pretty surprising. Turns out we get a dopamine hit from shopping that is some sort of leftover from the days when going hunting was required to eat. I don't think these medications are specifically impacting dopamine, but must be having some effect on the reward centers in the brain in general.

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u/kitanokikori Feb 12 '25

I think that all of your brain chemicals are diminished when you are undereating and this is an artifact of that; low calories => lower excitement for everything, including stuff like shopping

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u/Tall_poppee Feb 12 '25

I've never experienced that before though, on any calorie restricted diet. The medication is definitely impacting it.

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u/kitanokikori Feb 13 '25

I have definitely experienced that on calorie restricted diets, and had the exact same experience on Ozempic. You've never had your sex drive tank for example when you are dieting super hard?

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u/StandardEgg6595 Feb 13 '25

No. Even when I used to fast (with electrolytes) for days on end I’d tend to have more energy and cravings.

I was already losing weight when I started the meds, but it completely took away the constant food noise, cravings for alcohol, etc. Not sure how to explain, but my brain feels normal now.

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u/pondlife78 Feb 13 '25

As long as we are just speculating I wonder if that is to do with willpower being available. I’m sure there have been studies showing you can wear out willpower generally so if previously they were putting a lot of effort into resisting food cravings it could potentially be more headspace available to think about these things rationally.

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u/grahampositive Feb 12 '25

https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/10/18/nx-s1-5156068/ozempic-semaglutide-alcohol-drug-treatment

Some evidence that it works in opioid addictions as well

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u/vegeta8300 Feb 13 '25

This is what interests me. I have chronic pain. But have had issues with opioids throughout life. Maybe the possibility to get pain relief with a lowered chance of addiction would be a boon to many.

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u/grahampositive Feb 13 '25

The FDA just approved a new non opioid painkiller that supposedly avoids any known addiction pathway

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-novel-non-opioid-treatment-moderate-severe-acute-pain

5

u/InTheEndEntropyWins Feb 13 '25

The FDA just approved a new non opioid painkiller that supposedly avoids any known addiction pathway

Remember when pharmaceutical companies came out with Heroin, they advertised it as non-addictive. Then again with OxyCotin, advertised as non-addictive.

Then the pharmaceutical companies have redefined what addictive means, so drugs which build up a physical dependence don't count as addictive anymore.

I have no trust in pharmaceutical companies saying something is non-addictive.

1

u/vegeta8300 Feb 13 '25

I'd definitely be interested in trying it!

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u/rjcarr Feb 12 '25

I've heard it called the "vice drug" and will curb any addictive behaviors from food, alcohol, drugs, to gambling.

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u/awkward_toadstool Feb 12 '25

Anecdotally, for me it decreased addictive behaviour, regardless of the form that took - food, spending, doom scrolling. There were plenty of people in the various subs finding the same thing.

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u/vegeta8300 Feb 13 '25

Fascinating! I definitely have addictive behaviors. But, I'm not overweight or obese. So, for now I can't get it prescribed. But, I am going to keep an eye on it.

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u/3DoxieBoys Feb 13 '25

My cigarette cravings are very close to gone

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u/vegeta8300 Feb 13 '25

As a smoker, that's great to hear. Wish you the best!

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u/egoodethc Feb 13 '25

Anecdotally I have reduced my cannabis use since starting it. Don’t have that same craving to do it. Very easy to just not think about it versus before where I would always be thinking about how much pleasure it would give me to do it. I think it must be related to dopamine pathways. Used to emotionally eat and use cannabis and this has stopped.