Why Are People Microdosing GLP-1 Drugs?
There are several potential reasons for taking smaller GLP-1 doses than the amounts that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved. Sometimes doctors prescribe smaller amounts, but some GLP-1 users decide to microdose on their own.
Microdosing started as a trend amid medication shortages in 2021, as users became eager to keep taking GLP-1 injections despite their widespread unavailability. Taking smaller amounts allowed people to stretch out their supply.
As those initial shortages ended, the high cost of GLP-1 drugs has remained a driver of microdosing. Insurance coverage for weight loss medications is spotty, with some coverage plans dropping GLP-1s for weight loss altogether.
If you don’t have insurance coverage, GLP-1 medications can cost hundreds of dollars per month out of pocket.
One potentially legitimate reason to microdose is to reduce the treatment’s side effects, such as nausea and diarrhea, says Yuval Pinto, MD, an obesity medicine physician at Johns Hopkins Health in Lutherville, Maryland.
Gastrointestinal discomfort caused by the drugs can interfere with basic daily life tasks, such as eating and sleeping.
“If someone has intolerable side effects at a standard dose, I may adjust downward to maintain benefit without overwhelming the body,” Dr. Pinto says.
Regina DePietro, MD, a family medicine physician at MU Health Care in Columbia, Missouri, says that people also may microdose GLP-1s if they only want to lose a small amount of weight. The medications can also help quiet food noise, or constant thoughts about food.
Using GLP-1s only for these purposes may pose a challenge: You may not receive a prescription or insurance coverage for GLP-1s unless you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher or 27 or higher alongside obesity-related conditions, such as diabetes and high blood pressure.
You also may see marketing for microdosing GLP-1s for secondary health benefits such as increased longevity or relief from addictive behaviors, though no solid research is available on these potential benefits.