GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic, etc.) to treat long-COVID?

@cathytruden
My Dr is starting me on low dosage natraxone, I’m getting it at a compounding pharmacy. Her other long Covid pts are starting to notice improvement with fatigue. I was just diagnosed, I’ve always was suspicious I was never right after the initial infection with my balance being off, taste issues, that I got two of those stupid vaccines I had a reaction to the first one passed out. But I had Covid two other times , the fatigue so bad . I just have very strong intuition and I knew! I had to find a function medicine doc to get anywhere. We just did the Covid 19 spike protien and she said we look for anything over 1000, well mine positive and was 5001. Now here’s a flunk and my intuition again, back in April my GP doc sent a email offering the titers for MMR, we had a break out here in VA and they were finding people who were born 1947-1970 may not be covered. I emailed doc and said what the heck I’m going to do it and as she said it’s always good info to have, I said I know I had mumps as Kidd but not measles . Last minute I said can we throw in the antibody test first mono, I said I was so sick back in 1992 two of my kids had had mono. I lived on a army base and they kept telling me I had the flu, I kid you not I asked to be tested for mono and they did but never got results they couldn’t find them! So here 30 years later and from my research says if you had it antibodies should show up, and because I was suspicious if I had long Covid by my symptoms we added that test, low and behold positive and flagged it was so high, so I have chronic Epstein Barr reactivated by Covid, I finally got validation on both and so the journey begins! Good luck to you and ask about natraxone.

@lkirnbauer I have had long covid for 3 years..excess fatigue. Shortness of breath.brain fog and more. I have been on Ozempic 4 years for type 2 diabetes..no help at all for long covid....

@taunya6543 I’m sorry you’ve suffered for so long. I too am going on 3 years next month without taste or smell and still some long covid symptoms like body tremors if I overdo it and headaches. If this drug will bring my taste and smell back and get rid of these headaches, I’m in!

@vostie Congratulations! Hope the results for you are helpful. I applied but was not accepted. Not sure why not-I wish they had told me. I know my Medicare insurance will not cover the GLP meds my doctor tried to order for me-my BMI wasn't 30 although I have gained weight since Covid even though I do exercise as much as possible. I am so glad that Scripps is doing this study and am anxious to learn the results. Good luck to you!

@sailorsrwinners I'm sure you would have to be overweight for this study as the GLP-1 will cause weight loss. I have gained quite a bit with the lack of exercise for four years and all of the pain from the inflammation.

@vostie I do understand that you have to be overweight. I have gained 10 lbs and I am only 5 ft tall so my BMI is now 27, considered overweight. I guess that's not enough for the study, however. I'm trying to lose those 10 lbs with diet and exercise but it isn't happening. I also have degenerative disc disease so I get episodes pf severe pain making exercise even more difficult than it is with Long Covid. What helps me now is feeling gratitude for what I can still do knowing how much others suffer with this Long Covid "monster". I hope you will be helped by the results of the Scripps study.

@vostie
You do not have to be overweight to be in the study. They are not using the same amount of the medication that they use for weight loss. They have reduced the amount to a very small percentage of what is normally used because they don’t want participants to lose weight. That could be dangerous for some people.

@lkoch I sure would confirm that with the study...the dose I saw was the normal dose for weight loss.

@vostie
One of my doctors told me that. He said it had to be cut way back because the dose for weight loss is far too large. Giving that to people that aren’t overweight cold be harmful and they aren’t just accepting over weight people into the study. I don’t know, maybe my doctor is misinformed.

I am in the study and looked it up today just to clarify - Here is the study statement : "The treatment group will receive the study medication (tirzepatide) for a 12 month period starting with a 2.5mg dose once a week."

And here is the statement on the beginning dose for weight loss: "The recommended starting dose of tirzepatide for weight loss is 2.5 mg once weekly"

The study is not using microdoses so weight loss should be expected.