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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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

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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.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

Wish my insurance would cover it.

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u/[deleted] Feb 13 '25

[deleted]

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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.

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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.

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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?

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u/SwampYankeeDan Feb 13 '25

There is a huge gut-brain connection.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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u/twistedspin Feb 13 '25

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

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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?

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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.