What is microdosing a GLP-1?
Taking less than the standard therapeutic dose. Off-label, experimental, no official guidelines.
Microdosing is exactly what it sounds like: a dose smaller than the manufacturer's standard therapeutic dose. It is off-label, it is not what the clinical trials tested, and there are no official guidelines. It is all made up as we go.
It may work for some of us because these medications are powerful enough that a fraction of the standard dose can still shut down the obsessive thoughts about food. Lower doses mean lower side effects, which keeps some people on the medicine who would otherwise quit.
For plenty of people it is not a medical decision, it is an economic one. At hundreds to over a thousand dollars a month, a tiny dose that keeps the food noise quiet may be the difference between staying on and stopping.
Many telehealth programmes advise it from the start. Your doctor may not officially endorse it. Talk to them anyway.
None of this is medical advice. It is educational material drawn from FAT BITCH: Killing the Willpower Myth by Cat Clark, and it does not replace your prescriber, your pharmacist, or your actual doctor. If something here does not match what your care team told you, go with your care team and bring this along to the conversation.