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Can Ozempic cure Addiction?

21 replies14 peopleFeb 28, 2026☆ Follow
Summary

Can GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic treat or cure addiction to alcohol and other substances?

Forum users share personal experiences and cite studies showing GLP-1 medications often reduce alcohol cravings and other substance use, though results vary and effects can fade. Some combine them with other approaches like psychedelics for deeper change, while others stress that the drugs are only tools requiring personal effort. Evidence appears stronger for alcohol than for stimulants, and users note side benefits like fewer ADHD-related habits.

What this discussion establishesWhere people disagree

Whether pausing the medication helps reset motivation or is counterproductive logic from addiction thinking

Still open

Optimal dosing, long-term outcomes, and whether benefits extend reliably to meth or cocaine in humans

Nothing here is advice.

21 replies · 14 people
SlowHarbour49archiveopening postFeb 28

There's a New Yorker piece on how GLP-1 medications have helped some cut back on drugs and alcohol and might open a route to moderation.

SharpCinder28archiveFeb 28

These drugs look more effective against alcohol than against other habits. One of the newer versions hasn't done much for guys hooked on steroids.

SlowHarbour49archiveMar 5

A big veterans study found these same medications lowered the chances of developing new substance problems or worsening old ones across many different drugs including alcohol, opioids and nicotine.

ClearBeacon24archiveMar 5

I recall reading that one of the companies is running a trial testing these drugs on a particular substance addiction.

CopperSignal27archiveMar 5

From what I've seen the data so far points to these drugs possibly becoming a main option for many kinds of addiction, especially alcohol and opioids, though proper trials focused on addiction are still needed instead of just looking back at existing records.

ClearWillow37archiveMar 5

I found they help quiet cravings for anything that used to pull me in. After years of trying to stop daily wine, a psilocybin trial plus being on one of these shots finally took the urge away completely.

ClearWillow37archiveMar 5
↳ replying to @NorthMeadow64

The shots handle the physical pull but pairing them with psychedelic sessions reaches the mental side too, so the combination works better than either alone.

ClearSparrow87archiveMar 5

My drinking problem started returning around month five even though the first months were great and kept me to one light session a week. After buying extra beer for a holiday the old pattern returned fast and now it's daily again. I'm planning a short break from the shots to force myself to handle it without relying on them.

BlueAlder28archiveMar 6

Funny how these compounds might fix addiction while plenty of us here can't stop stocking up on them for years ahead.

WarmMeadow92archiveMar 6
↳ replying to @ClearSparrow87

Pausing might not be the right move if the early success showed the medication was helping. No studies suggest a break reactivates anything useful.

ClearWillow37archiveMar 6
↳ replying to @ClearSparrow87

Feel free to message if you want to talk. Slips happen and you've already made a plan. If there's no family schizophrenia history, psychedelic options in clinical settings might be worth checking.

CopperSignal27archiveMar 6

Coming from someone who's been through addiction, deciding to stop the medication to reset sounds like the kind of backwards idea the addicted part of the brain suggests. Raising the dose might be more practical if cravings are returning.

BlueTimber44archiveMar 6
↳ replying to @SlowHarbour49 (opening post)

They seem to ease some cravings like alcohol but nothing external cures you. The drive has to come from inside and these drugs are just one tool among others.

ClearSparrow87archiveMar 6

The break is more about stopping myself from blaming the dose and instead facing the habits head on. I already know I can stop once I've done it before, and I was using fairly high amounts of two different versions.

SteadyQuill55archiveMar 7
↳ replying to @BlueAlder28

Someone joked recently about making a peptide that kills the urge to hoard peptides, but then everyone would just stockpile that one instead.

ClearWillow37archiveMar 7
↳ replying to @SteadyQuill55

Right, it knocks out every addiction except the one to these shots.

CopperFenwick68archiveMar 7

They've cut down my ADHD-driven chasing after quick dopamine hits.

ClearLedger45archiveMar 9

They feel like a broad improvement drug that can make people behave in ways most would consider better overall.

CopperSignal27archiveMar 9

Growing up around heavy drinkers I noticed many became difficult people, so anything that cuts drinking probably improves things for everyone around them too. I once nudged someone toward starting one mainly to see if it would reduce their drinking around the kids.

SteadyCinder62archiveMar 9

Even small habits changed. I quit biting my nails after years of doing it without thinking.

ClearLedger45archiveMar 9

It does treat overeating as a form of addiction but the changes go beyond just that one behavior.

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