Ozempic in Eating Disorder Treatment

Eventually Ozempic and similar medications will not be the cultural phenomenon they are currently. The immediate craze and urgency to try them will pass. Some people will benefit greatly from them. Some people won’t be able to tolerate them. Others may have some negative consequences. This pattern of patient reactions tracks will all new medications. The only difference will be that so many more people try these medications.

However, all doctors have a responsibility to learn about, prescribe and work on figuring out the appropriate usage of new treatment options for their patients. Despite my initial misgivings about this class of medications, my professional obligation is no different.

In the eating disorder clinical world, there is no guideline currently about how these medications may be effective, but there are some initial thoughts and trends.

First, these medications may be very effective for treating intractable cases of Binge Eating Disorder. For those who have not had much benefit from CBT or other medications, Ozempic can curb binge urges and allow a patient to normalize eating habits and meal planning. Committing to Ozempic would be a long term decision and one not to take lightly, but the potential benefit can be significant for someone in this case.

Another possible use is to stabilize metabolism for a patient with damaged metabolism after long-standing Anorexia Nervosa. It’s unclear if Ozempic may just keep weight down rather than heal metabolism and also whether or not a patient would be able to stop Ozempic. So this use of the medication is still in question.

A third option is for people who have normalized eating patterns but continue to have extreme compulsive thoughts about food. For some people, Ozempic decreases “food noise,” a relatively new term meant to indicate persistent, obsessive thoughts about food. For most patients, these thoughts ease after months or even a year of stabilized eating. For some the thoughts don’t seem to abate. There is some potential benefit using Ozempic at micro doses to curb these thoughts.

Use of Ozempic and this family of medications in eating disorder treatment remains new and untested. Potential long-term risks, difficulty stopping the medications and even sustained benefits are all still unknown. However, the eating disorder community needs to consider all options for treatment to help patients in recovery.