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/
19.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

691 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

796

u/THedman07 Feb 12 '25

My sister and I have talked about it... Its like "Is this what all the people with healthy relationships with food feel like???" It is pretty mind blowing. Even though something tastes good and you enjoy it, you don't feel a compulsion to eat until it is gone...

358

u/kuroimakina Feb 12 '25

As someone who suffers from a very addictive personality largely due to ADHD, this is all very fascinating to me. I’ve never done drugs, for a multitude of reasons (not the least of which being that substance abuse disorder runs in the family), but I DO have an issue with impulse eating, boredom eating, eating just because I enjoy the taste and feel of the food, etc. I also have a tendency to get hyper engrossed in things - sometimes spending insane amounts of time playing a game, or watching a show, or whatever. Other times, complete anhedonia - no desire to do anything at all, nothing seems fun or interesting, etc.

And before anyone says it, I’m seeing a psychiatrist and I’ve been trying a few different medications to help.

But the thought of not being so impulsive about things, not just binge eating or binge gaming or whatever… it’s almost foreign to me. I’ve been like this since I was a child. Hell, I used to do it with books - my mom would buy me a book, and I would basically just keep reading it until it was done.

Part of me wonders if semaglutide would be helpful to me. But, I won’t even broach the topic until it’s no longer suffering from a huge global shortage. My life is… not always ideal, but I make it work. There’s a lot of people who need this medication way, way more than me. But maybe someday, who knows.

192

u/geauxdbl Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 13 '25

Hey. You matter and this stuff is available. If it’s within your means, give it a try!

I’m ADHD with some underlying autism and have been doing some very serious therapy and trying a number of medications over the past 2 years. Wegovy has been the most effective mental health treatment by far

48

u/_themaninacan_ Feb 13 '25

Same, but 20 years & Zepbound. And I'm losing weight?? It's hard not to call it a miracle drug.

11

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

Wish my insurance would cover it.

24

u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

[deleted]

18

u/Pregxi Feb 13 '25

With Vyvanse, I may not be hungry for awhile but I start to build up a hunger debt and eventually have to make it up. Plus, I start to feel icky. Since starting Zepbound, I can go without eating and not get shaky or lose focus. And don't get the debt like I would from my ADHD meds.

The ADHD meds still help but Zepbound actually seems to help with symptoms directly related to my ADHD too. Like, it seems to soften the wearing off of my Vyvanse and while it seems to soften the hyperfocus of my ADHD meds, it's overall helped a lot! And I'm only a couple of weeks in.

4

u/lineya Feb 13 '25

I take the nonstimulant Qelbree with a low dose of Vyvanse and Intuniv and the combo helps a lot. I almost don't experience RSD anymore and the more round the clock nature of Qelbree helps prevent any "hunger debt" I might have built up otherwise. But the interaction with a glp1 is interesting I'll have to keep it in mind if I ever start one.

2

u/Wonderful-Bread-572 Feb 13 '25

Thats so fascinating. I saw a study not sure if true, but apparently they found that people with schizophrenia had the same gut bacteria as eachother or something like that. This makes me wonder if mental health issues are less of just in the brain and more connected to other symptoms in the body. Is adhd a symptom of insulin resistance?

3

u/SwampYankeeDan Feb 13 '25

There is a huge gut-brain connection.

2

u/Dogsnamewasfrank Feb 13 '25

I have not seen anything about ADHD (yet) but there are some studies linking bi-polar with insulin resistance. It is fascinating,

https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffab&q=bi-polar+with+insulin&ia=web

12

u/mrsmoose123 Feb 13 '25

My dear friend died of alcoholism and it's pretty clear he had autism and ADHD. I'm so glad something appears to be coming along to prevent losses like his. I'm glad it's been there for you.

3

u/goldenticketrsvp Feb 13 '25

really? I'm glad I came to this thread. As someone with undiagnosed AuDHD, My kids are diagnosed, and you know they say the apple does not fall car from the tree, it tracks that i probably am. The more I learn about it, the more my whole life makes better sense.

13

u/kuroimakina Feb 12 '25

I’m not saying I don’t matter haha I just would rather the medication go to people who can’t actually live/function without it, vs me, where it would just make my life better - but I can survive without it

59

u/DiggleDootBROPBROPBR Feb 13 '25

Bud, medicine is medicine. If it helps, it helps. If you're overweight and this would help, and if some of the side effects also sound like they would help, you might be getting 2x the usefulness someone else would out of it. Get it and let the logistics guys figure out the supply.

15

u/Pharmboy_Andy Feb 13 '25

There are a couple of recent episodes on the freakanomics podcast about these medications that you would find interesting.

The fact that is relevant to you is that this doctor (who has written health policy for the US government) believes that they should be given first to obese young people. This is because there are many, many treatments for diabetes and essentially no good ones for obesity.

He also believes they should be subsidised by national health funds / private health funds because of the return on investment.

18

u/twistedspin Feb 13 '25

There is plenty of zepbound/wegovy out there. No diabetics are harmed by your getting medicine you need.

2

u/King_of_the_Hobos Feb 13 '25

Curious for myself, does it help with ADHD in a way that isn't related to food?

4

u/geauxdbl Feb 13 '25

It fundamentally alters reward-driven behavior. It’s shown remarkable side effects like helping reduce desire for alcohol consumption and smoking. I’m already sober, but feel less depressed and more confident, and more driven to improve my life overall.

23

u/Helpful-Wolverine555 Feb 13 '25

Starterra has done this for me. I’ve lost about 40 lbs since starting it. I would have 3 square meals and snack. I could wax three full plates and a bowl of soup at a Chinese buffet with no problem. Now I eat, get full, and stop. I get uncomfortable after just a little bit. I no longer snack or desire to snack and I only eat two meals a day. That paired with exercise has been amazing. About 15 years ago, I was able to run 6 miles in under an hour. Last year I couldn’t even run a full 1/5 mile without being out of breath. I just managed to do a 5k in almost 30 minutes. I’m not quite where I used to be, but I still have about 30-40lbs to lose to at my ideal weight. Getting the right meds has changed my life.

1

u/Made_at0323 13d ago

That's really amazing, congrats :)

43

u/sambr011 Feb 13 '25

Dude, don’t be a martyr. If you can get a script then try it. There’s really no shortage of it anymore. 

I’ve dropped 30 lbs in a little over four months without much effort. I do eat well but I eat what I want. I just eat less of it. 

I even stopped taking adderall for several months bc I just didn’t need it anymore. I have, though, recently started taking a half tab daily bc I needed a little more focus. 

Anhedonia can be one of the side effects…along with a few others. 

The biggest hurdle is that it’s expensive. Fewer insurance plans are covering it so the cheapest you can buy it for is $650 per month.

Anyway, I think you’d be happy with it. I certainly am!

11

u/boxdkittens Feb 13 '25

Adhder with the same no-drug, binge eating history. Im on a measly 10 mg dose of generic adderall, and my relationship with food before and after meds is identical to what people are saying here about ozempic/wegovy.  I've always been of average height and a healthy-but-on-the-lighter-side weight, and naturally low BP, so that might be why just 1 low dose of adderall works for me. I dont feel like it makes much of a difference for other adhd symptoms, but freedom from the constant food thoughts is all I really wanted. Have you tried any stimulants or is your doc opposed to trying them without trying other meds first?

2

u/kuroimakina Feb 13 '25

Like I mentioned in another comment, I do take vyvanse as an occasional/as needed medication. I’m actually the one who didn’t want to try stimulants for a large list of reasons, not the least of which being that I have a tendency towards weird side effects, I have an addictive personality, substance abuse disorder runs in the family, AND I have this whole thing about “natural control” over my brain and not liking anything that would effect my cognitive function or reasoning. After trying a bunch of non-stimulants, I finally decided to give it a try. I have a good psychiatrist, he’s been very receptive to all of my concerns.

Anyways, the vyvanse does help a bit while I’m on it - it lowers my appetite, which is good because I’m overweight and have a VERY bad relationship with food (especially sugar). It helps me focus a little more and helps me remember to do some of those small tasks that are so easy to put off when you have ADHD. I’m only on 30mg right now. I’ve debated going up to 40, because my body does react to it very well so far - no side effects that I’ve noticed, not even so much as an elevated heart rate (which is really telling to me, personally, that I actually might have a physical need for the medication if an amphetamine - even if it’s an amphetamine salt - isn’t causing even the tiniest bit of jitteriness, dry mouth, elevated heart rate, mood changes, etc.). It literally just makes me work a bit more “normal.”

I just am concerned about taking it daily. Firstly, it’s expensive because the generic is in super short supply, so it’s $50 for 30 pills after my insurance (and I have good insurance). Secondly, I’m old enough that there’s not really going to be any like, permanent long term changes/fixes in my brain. I’ll have to take it the rest of my life. And on that topic, #3, if it’s working, and I may be taking it for decades, I don’t want to build a tolerance.

Sorry for text wall. I don’t want to just go “adhd, amirite?” But like… adhd, amirite?

40

u/mickyninaj Feb 12 '25

Diagnosed with impulsive ADHD last year. Vyvanse shut the food and drink noise up for me.

25

u/Nancy_drewcluecrew Feb 12 '25

Same - Vyvanse had been helping a lot, but I still have issues when the medication wears off by the end of the day. It makes me want to try a GLP to see if it would help make the food/drink/addiction noise stop for a longer period of time.

19

u/gaya2081 Feb 13 '25

I'm taking Saxenda which is a daily injection. I use to complain to my Dr that I wish my adhd meds effect with food could last longer than just into the early evening hours. Breakfast and lunch was never a problem, early dinner - ok.... Come 6/7pm...eat all the things and never be satisfied. Saxenda has pretty much stopped that and I've lost 40+ pounds without trying. I don't like doing daily injections because I do forget to do them some days so I'd like to switch to one of the weekly medications, but for now it's awesome and has been for almost 9 months.

4

u/Pregxi Feb 13 '25

I literally just posted above that the main thing that Zepbound has done was help with the wearing down at the end of the day. Both with hunger and general tiredness too. It's kind of crazy. I don't have that thing in my head telling me to eat. And when I do eat, I seen to naturally just eat about what your body is supposed to. It feels like a magic spell to be honest.

I've been on it for 2 weeks now and I've only over eaten once and that was the day before my next dose.

2

u/lineya Feb 13 '25

You can also ask your doctor about Qelbree. It's a non stimulant adhd medication that kinda builds up in your system a bit so it doesn't wear off as quickly. It has a decent level of appetite reduction on its own, I lost a bit of weight without even trying on just it, and now I take a low dose of Vyvanse on top of it and the qelbree helps mitigate the food debt feeling after it wears off.

1

u/Closefromadistance Feb 14 '25

I am a lifelong sugar addict and extreme sugar binger. Mostly due to clinical depression and ptsd - I’ve also had adhd since the early 80’s.

I drank most of my life but it wasn’t as bad as my sugar/ candy addiction (bags of smarties, hot tamales, laffy taffy, entire jars of honey, entire tubs of frosting).

I started Tirzepatide last year and within moments of the first injection my sugar cravings completely stopped.

I haven’t wanted candy since! It made Vyvanse work better for me. It’s amazing and so freeing. My whole life whenever I ate something good, I couldn’t stop, but I’ve never had a major weight problem until last year.

Mainly because I exercised like crazy to burn the calories I ate, but now at age 56, it isn’t possible to out exercise my sugar addiction anymore.

I’m so thankful I found this - it will save my health!

1

u/Boys4Jesus Feb 13 '25

I struggle to eat because of my adhd, typically eating one meal a day and usually not till the evening, and vyvanse has caused me to eat even less.

It's been phenomenal in regards to my concentration and work ethic, but man I would love to gain some weight.

4

u/fremeer Feb 13 '25

Get the script or get a different but similar med like tirzepatide. Yeah there might be a shortage but it's gonna get worked through as demand is so high.

And compared to even a couple of months ago the cost is going down substantially so there is clearly less of a supply issue.

8

u/kczar8 Feb 13 '25

If you want to try something first I highly suggest Inositol if you are female. It’s acted very similar to a GLP for me and is significantly lower cost and less invasive as it’s similar to a vitamin.

2

u/tarnok Feb 13 '25

Are we the same person?

2

u/lazy_berry Feb 13 '25

do standard adhd meds not work for you?

1

u/kuroimakina Feb 13 '25

It’s complicated. I have adhd, anxiety, and depression. You know, the golden trio of comorbidity. I’ve had adhd all my life, just never really realized or got it diagnosed until I was around 30. I just always lived with next to no impulse control, constant overactive brain/imagination, poor organizational skills, etc, and never knew any different. My parents didn’t really “believe” in that sort of thing. Also my mom is homophobic and I’m gay, which caused a ton of trauma in my teenage years.

I’ve done therapy, I’ve tried escitalopram, venlafaxine, bupropion, duloxetine, and vyvanse all towards treating those things. Really, the only thing that’s worked is the vyvanse, and the bupropion a LITTLE (but only for the first two months. The manufacturer my pharmacy got their bupropion changed, and while I know it shouldn’t matter, it just stopped working.) I’m still on the venlafaxine and bupropion, but I’m considering dropping them because it’s been well over a year now with basically no change - meanwhile, I’ve been getting side effects like dry, sensitive skin, my tinnitus got dramatically worse, and I’ve even had actual “my body says I’m dying” panic attacks in the past year for the first time in my life.

My body has always been very 50/50 about medications. Literally just taking an asthma medication with an antibiotic once triggered acute autoimmune hepatitis.

The vyvanse helps, but I am hesitant to push the dosage up too high. I don’t want to end up either physically dependent, building up a tolerance, or both.

I’m just lucky to have a job that “allows” me to have seriously unmanaged adhd but still thrive. I do sysadmin work, which I absolutely love and am very good at, so even 8 productive hours in a week (which is about average for me) is plenty enough to have me still be recognized as one of the most competent and reliable people there.

Sorry, that’s a long text wall for such a simple question

1

u/lazy_berry Feb 13 '25

nah you’re good! the only thing i’ll point out is i’m not surprised only the vyvanse helped - that’s the only actual adhd med on that list. it might be worth looking into a quicker release stimulant - i take dexamfetamine (which is almost the same thing as adderall, as far as i can tell), which is helpful because unlike vyvanse you can skip days without any side effects, which really helps the risk of building up tolerance.

also, just for what it’s worth - everyone with adhd has had it their whole life. it’s wired in.

2

u/Wischiwaschbaer Feb 13 '25

I have ADHD and Seemaglutide hasn't changed me much. Desire for food and junk food has gone down, but I still get bouts of binge eating sweets, even though I really shouldn't. Maybe a higher dose could help more, but I'm on the highest for diabetics and insurance won't pay for the other one. Not fat enough (anymore).

Other than food it has changed literally nothing. But I also never had a super addictive personality.

1

u/LehighAce06 Feb 13 '25

Absolutely try this avenue out. Anecdotally every one of these things has benefitted me

1

u/lex3191 Feb 13 '25

I have found that wegovy et al have fundamentally altered my behaviour around impulse control and addictive behaviour. Further to that I am able to see more clearly how dysfunctional my thinking has been. It’s afforded me the ability to understand myself, my relationships and my behaviours.

1

u/Boys4Jesus Feb 13 '25

but I DO have an issue with impulse eating, boredom eating, eating just because I enjoy the taste and feel of the food, etc.

I also have ADHD and I seem to have gotten the other side of the coin. I have trouble remembering to eat, to the point where this post just reminded me that it's 6.30pm and I haven't eaten anything yet today.

I wish I found it easier to eat, I've been underweight for a long time, currently at the heaviest I've been at just shy of 60kg (~130lbs) and I'm 5'9" in my mid twenties.

I feel for the rest of what you said though, I used to do the exact same things with regards to books when I was younger haha, drove my mum mad when she'd bring home 20 books from the op-shop and I'd finish reading them by the end of the week. Hyper fixation followed by hyper boredom is awful.

1

u/exiledinruin Feb 13 '25

I DO have an issue with impulse eating, boredom eating, eating just because I enjoy the taste and feel of the food, etc. I also have a tendency to get hyper engrossed in things - sometimes spending insane amounts of time playing a game, or watching a show, or whatever. Other times, complete anhedonia - no desire to do anything at all, nothing seems fun or interesting, etc.

this is scary. you're describing my life exactly.

And before anyone says it, I’m seeing a psychiatrist and I’ve been trying a few different medications to help.

how do you start this? I've been wanting to and I've looked at booking an appointment but I don't know who to see (psychiatrist vs counsellor vs ...) and even when I've settled on someone I don't go through with even making an appointment

1

u/DrawSignificant4782 Feb 13 '25

I have gotten similar results with berberine and ginger. I have lost 80lbs last year. It just takes a month or two to take affect.

1

u/Specialist_Matter582 Feb 13 '25

Hmm, this has got me wondering about my own ADHD and relationship to alcohol. The symptoms can also feel complex due to childhood trauma issues.

1

u/mrsmoose123 Feb 13 '25

You sound so much like me that I think it's worth mentioning how much medical cannabis has helped my impulses. It stops the panic and the dysphoria so that I can take my time and think, is this the thing I actually want to do to feel better, or am I obsessed with this because it happens to be in front of me?

1

u/Hopefulkitty Feb 13 '25

My husband has ADD and anxiety. He gained a bunch of weight due to anxiety eating. I'm pretty sure the 4 months of Wegovy have helped him more than any of his other drugs he's on. He suddenly can go all day forgetting to eat. We've had chocolate covered caramels and cookies on the counter for almost 2 weeks, normally I'd have to separate them and hide my half, because he'd inhale the whole lot in 2 days. It was actually a pretty big stressor in our marriage. And now all those habits are just gone.

I've been on the drug for 18 months, and it's helped my health in a lot of ways they didn't expect. The weirdest one is I haven't bitten my nails since November. I haven't gone more than a few days without biting my nails in 36 years, and just suddenly, boom, I can control it. I keep them polished, but that has never stopped me before, and I've tried everything to stop biting my nails. I've ripped off acrylic sets with my teeth.

1

u/Rkruegz Feb 14 '25

Wellbutrin did wonders for me. Multiple people asked what the change was with me, because I always felt like I succumbed to every vice. I no longer binge on food, I don’t blackout regularly (or drink much, anymore) I’m seldom sad (1-2 times a year), my physique is significantly better and I have energy regularly. Life no longer feels like a struggle, it truly feels like a miracle drug for me.

2

u/kuroimakina Feb 14 '25

I'm so glad it worked so well for you :) One of my friends had very similar very positive effects from it. He lost a decent amount of weight (hes in the healthy range now), he can focus a lot better, it's improved his mood dramatically, etc.

It worked for me for a couple months. I increased the dosage (with a psych, obviously), but that caused me to have horrible mood swings, mania, and the other type of impulsive behavior (anyone with ADHD will understand what I mean between actively impulsive and passively impulsive behavior). I decreased the dosage again, but my pharmacy changed to a different manufacturer, and ever since then, it's honestly not really done much.

The only thing that works now is vyvanse. It's not perfect, but it works a bit

1

u/Rkruegz Feb 14 '25

I am on vyvanse as well, sometimes I consider going back to just Wellbutrin, but I do like the additional boost from it. It’s unfortunate you had the negative reaction on the higher dose and the new formulation isn’t as beneficial. I’ve heard others say similar things about adderall from manufactures other than Teva.

1

u/Weird_Consequence938 Feb 14 '25

Hey- fellow ADHDer here and I was SHOCKED that when I started taking a GLP (zepbound) my ADHD symptoms got a LOT better. I was able to cut my vyvanse use in half, practically overnight. I hate stimulants bc of the jaw clenching so this has been a huge win for me!

2

u/_Cromwell_ Feb 13 '25

I literally can't imagine that. It's like an alien concept. If food is good, I finish it.

1

u/rapaxus Feb 13 '25

Meanwhile I am near the reverse. You can give me my most favourite dish and I often enough, even though I feel my stomach being hungry, I need to force myself to eat it as I myself don't feel any hunger. Really depressing when you need 2h to eat a single bowl of cereal.

1

u/Old_Baldi_Locks Feb 13 '25

The compulsions for most people is that eating till they’re full releases endorphins, happy juice.

A lot of people are found to have the relationships with food that they do because it’s the only time in their day when they get to feel happy. That’s why it’s such an easy addiction.

1

u/Auctorion Feb 14 '25 edited Feb 14 '25

Just wanted to chime in as someone who has developed a healthy relationship with food. Yes, sort of. I basically eat mostly vegetarian, have very limited sugar intake, high protein because I exercise a lot, no caffeine after 11am (if any at all), and only 1 or 2 alcoholic drinks on Friday/Saturday.

Before I made the jump to healthy eating my cravings were pretty bad. I was snacking a lot, eating lots of sugar, I wasn’t a heavy drink (never have been), but I had a lot of caffeine up until the evening. I was slightly overweight and didn’t feel good, and the sugar and caffeine made me feel better.

When I decided to make changes it was hard at first, but over the course of 3-4 weeks the noise all just sort of faded away. I barely get cravings at all, although I still drink decaf because I like the taste. Yesterday I had a single biscuit, and I barely wanted it. It was… meh. I have a nice dessert at the weekend, but even that isn’t something I’m desperate for. Sugary foods aren’t just something you don’t crave, they actively don’t taste as good because they’re not triggering the same hormonal “fix”.

The body kind of rebalances itself once it gets over the addiction and dependency on sugar, caffeine and alcohol. They’re still pleasurable, but the body doesn’t need them, and the things they’re replaced with (fruit, veg, fibre), typically leave the body better nourished and blood sugar more stable, so it isn’t looking for the quick fix that sugar provides.

All of this is to say that a healthy relationship with food is needed, but that isn’t entirely on you. Part of that relationship is your body’s relationship with nutrients, and you need that to be good or else all the willpower in the world won’t help. Brute force can nudge it back into good alignment, but you probably have to be relatively close or it’s an uphill battle. That’s where things like Wegovy come in for those further away from good alignment and who will struggle to brute force it.