As weight-loss injectables like Ozempic skyrocket in recognition, a brand new offshoot pattern is beginning to take maintain: microdosing.
As an alternative of following the usual dosing pointers, some individuals are experimenting with smaller quantities of GLP-1 medicines like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. The explanations differ — from making an attempt to stretch out costly prescriptions to avoiding the unintended effects that may include larger doses.
This off-label method has picked up traction on-line. Podcasts, social media posts and YouTube videos function customers sharing private tales of shedding kilos via lower-than-recommended doses.
However right here’s the factor: utilizing smaller doses for weight reduction hasn’t been rigorously studied. As a result of it’s thought of off-label, there’s little scientific proof to indicate whether or not this type of do-it-yourself dosing is definitely efficient, or simply anecdotal.
So, can individuals actually drop some pounds on a dose that hasn’t been prescribed?
“It’s not inconceivable, however there’s no proof,” mentioned Hertzel Gerstein, a professor of medication and a diabetes specialist at McMaster College and Hamilton Well being Sciences.
“However a scarcity of proof doesn’t imply that it doesn’t work. It means nobody has actually studied it in any systematic means. And you’ll at all times log on, on social media and you will discover anecdotes. However the bother is {that a} placebo works in anecdotes, proper?”
Gerstein famous one examine printed in Diabetes Care in March 2025, which advised that microdosing may need some advantages for individuals with diabetes. However the examine additionally made it clear: there’s nonetheless not sufficient strong scientific proof to again it up. Since microdosing is taken into account off-label and never formally supported by the drug makers, it must be executed rigorously, and solely below the steerage of a health-care skilled.
Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, instructed World Information in an e-mail Monday that its medicine are prescription-only medicines used with the Well being Canada-approved product monograph.
“Novo Nordisk doesn’t advocate the usage of Ozempic at doses or frequencies that deviate from the dosing directions permitted within the product monograph,” a spokesperson instructed World Information.
In Canada, Ozempic is formally permitted for managing Kind 2 diabetes. It’s additionally used off-label for weight loss. Its sister drug, Wegovy — which comprises the next dose of the identical energetic ingredient, semaglutide — is permitted for continual weight administration in adults residing with weight problems or weight-related well being points.
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The semaglutide medicine assist management blood sugar by imitating a hormone called GLP-1. This hormone boosts insulin manufacturing whereas additionally slowing down digestion and curbing starvation — a mixture that’s led to its rising use as a weight-loss support.
Due to Ozempic’s off-label use, many insurance coverage firms might not cowl weekly injections. This will price wherever from $200 to $500 monthly in Canada.
And like many medicines, Ozempic may cause unintended effects, together with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdomen ache, complications, dizziness and in some instances, a situation generally known as stomach paralysis.
“This could possibly be a scenario the place, for some cause, you possibly can’t tolerate a number of the mounted doses that you’ve got, so by which case you would possibly need to use a bit of bit extra or rather less,” Gerstein mentioned.
So the fee and the unintended effects could also be causes individuals are experimenting with decrease doses, he mentioned.
Is microdosing Ozempic harmful?
Backside line, Gerstein mentioned, there aren’t any official pointers for microdosing these medicine — and no strong information on how protected it’s or what the results may be, good or dangerous. It’s an experimental method, and we simply don’t know sufficient but.
For instance, if you’re prescribed a GLP-1 remedy like Ozempic, you normally begin on the bottom dose — sometimes 0.25 milligrams. In case your physique handles it properly, your physician might steadily improve it to 0.5 milligrams, and ultimately even larger, relying in your response.
Medical doctors prescribe this quantity as a result of it’s primarily based on scientific testing executed by the drug producers, making certain the dose is each efficient and protected for many sufferers.
“The dosages which can be marketed are what work primarily based on scientific research,” Gerstein defined.
Since there’s no proof to assist that microdosing — utilizing quantities smaller than the prescribed dose, like 0.25 milligrams — can produce the identical outcomes, Gerstein emphasised that any optimistic outcomes might simply be the placebo impact.
“Microdosing throughout the identified therapeutic vary, the place the drug is confirmed to work, is one factor,” he mentioned. “For instance, some individuals discover that one milligram works for them, and once they improve it to 1.5 milligrams, they see higher outcomes. That’s nonetheless throughout the vary that’s been studied.
“However microdosing under that therapeutic vary? It’s much less prone to have an impact, although not inconceivable. The issue is, we don’t have any proof, simply anecdotes and guesswork.”
Gerstein added that as a result of a lot of the microdosing discuss centres round weight reduction, it’s price noting that research present weight reduction with semaglutide is dose-dependent. The extra you’re taking (inside cause), the extra weight individuals are inclined to lose.
For instance, one milligram normally results in extra weight reduction than 0.5, and Wegovy, which is 2.4 milligrams, tends to ship even higher outcomes.
“Might somebody lose lots of weight on 0.1 milligrams — principally a microdose? Or 0.25 milligrams? Something’s doable, however at this level, it’s purely an untested speculation.”
Till microdosing is rigorously examined in a scientific setting, Gerstein strongly recommends discussing the potential advantages along with your physician earlier than making an attempt it.
“As a doctor, if somebody instructed me they wished to attempt microdosing, I’d say, ‘There’s no proof it really works. Why not begin with the usual dosage? For those who tolerate it properly, I’d recommend sticking with that,’” he defined.
He additionally factors out that the price of microdosing could possibly be a priority, because it’s not clear whether or not the follow is efficient.
“My feeling is that you simply would possibly find yourself paying no matter cash you’re paying for nothing … aside from a placebo impact,” he mentioned.
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