Wegovy and Ozempic could be anti-addiction drugs as they cure drinking and shopping habits

Patients taking the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy report an unusual side benefit: they are free of other addictions that used to rule their lives.

Users across the country claim that their cravings for cigarettes and alcohol became less intense when they started taking the slimming shot. Others say bad habits like nail biting, skin picking and compulsive shopping have also disappeared.

The drug helps people lose weight by mimicking the GLP-1 hormone, which curbs hunger and slows the rate at which a person’s stomach empties, keeping them full longer.

But experts say it may also dull the brain’s dopamine reward pathway, reducing the chemical hit and thus the “feel good” element of giving in to unhealthy cravings.

Some researchers are thrilled that they accidentally stumbled upon an anti-addiction drug. It is estimated that one in 60 American adults has a prescription for Wegovy, Ozempic, or Mounjaro.

Henry Webb, from North Carolina, completed a two month course of Wegovy after he reached his weight goal.

He used to have a few drinks consistently at night, but said, “The meds didn’t make me feel like it.”

He added, “This could be a game changer for people struggling with addiction.”

Jim Melloan, from New York, said he had a “total aversion to alcohol” on the drug, which also barely affected his weight.

He said, ‘I didn’t sign up for that. I’ve been at it for almost four months and I’m out. I want to be able to drink socially again.’

Ashley, from Texas, is on Mounjaro, another diabetes drug that will be approved in the US for weight loss, and said she noticed she stopped picking at her hangnails as a nervous habit.

She said: “I took some biotin [vitamin B] when I started and my nails literally never looked better. There’s definitely something in it.’

Dr. Shauna Levy, an obesity medicine specialist at Tulane University in New Orleans, told DailyMail.com, “I’ve noticed that people want to cut down on alcohol. I also notice a decrease in binge eating. GLP-1 receptor agonists reduce the reward the brain feels for addictive behaviors such as eating, drinking, smoking, shopping, etc.

“It was a really cool find. These drugs can treat so many different problems.”

She added: “We need to do more research to understand the mechanism.”

Victoria Rutledge was addicted to alcohol. When she got sober in her early thirties, she was consumed with food and shopping instead.

She spent $500 on organic groceries, but then let them go moldy in her fridge.

She said The Atlantic Ocean: ‘I couldn’t stop going so extreme.’

While shopping at Target, she couldn’t resist tossing dozens of extra items into her shopping cart.

Earlier this year, Ms. Rutledge started using Wegovy for weight loss and found herself thinking less about eating and losing weight.

She also made trips to Target and left with only the items she intended to buy.

“I’ve never done that before,” she said. Her desire for shopping and eating had magically disappeared.

Another patient, Mary Maher, was obsessively picking at the skin on her back and was bleeding so badly that she didn’t wear white.

Two months after taking Wegovy, the urge to pick was gone and her back had healed and she had also stopped biting her nails.

Clinical trials are in progress at the University of North Carolina to see if semaglutide can help people quit drinking and smoking.

Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, mimics glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) – a hormone in the brain that prompts the body to produce more insulin and lower blood sugar, thereby regulating appetite .

Initially created for diabetes, semaglutide activates the pancreas to release insulin by mimicking a hormone called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1).

The hormone also curbs hunger and slows the rate at which a person’s stomach empties, helping them lose weight.

It also seems to affect the brain. GLP-1 affects the brain’s dopamine pathways, the reward pathway essential for addictions.

Things like food and sex release dopamine in the brain, and the positive feeling we get motivates us to repeat the behavior.

In addicts, this mechanism can shift. They may have fewer dopamine receptors in their brains, meaning the same reward may yield less pleasure.

Other types of GLP-1, such as exenatide, which is also used to treat diabetes, have shown results in terms of reducing addictions.

Mice taking a form of exenatide got less of a dopamine hit from alcohol, and rats taking the drug had less of a need for cocaine.

Researchers have said they expect many studies of semaglutide to be published soon that show positive results.

The long-term effects of semaglutide are still unknown.

Dr. Christopher McGowan, a North Carolina-based weight loss expert, told DailyMail.com that using the drug for weight loss is a lifelong “commitment.”

One study found that patients put on two-thirds of the weight they lost on the drugs just months after they stopped taking them, and most would have to keep taking the injections forever to maintain their results.

Users of the drug have also found that they experience rapid muscle loss, with a tendency to lose more muscle than fat while on the drug.

Other people reported feeling disgusted by their favorite foods and some items they never thought twice about.

Staci Rice, 40, of Georgia, lost nearly 20 pounds when she went to Ozempic and now fits into a pair of jeans she last wore 16 years ago.

But the marketing professional was also surprised to discover that while taking the drug she had developed an aversion to ground beef and Chick-fil-A.

Ground beef has now been removed from dinners, much to the frustration of her husband and son, she told the Insider. And she now has Chick-fil-A’s kale salad instead of the standard “Number 1.”

She was also a lifelong coffee drinker, enjoying a cup every day since seventh grade. But now she can’t touch it.

“Every morning I tried to make coffee, thinking it would taste good again someday,” said Ms. Rice.

Patients also face sagging skin, doctors warn, called “Ozempic face” and “Ozempic body.”

It is caused by rapid weight loss that happens so quickly that the skin does not have time to adjust to the new body size. As a result, it hangs down in folds.