GLP-1 agonists (Ozempic, etc.) to treat long-COVID?
Anyone know if health insurances will cover GLP-1 agonists to alleviate long-COVID? If not, anyone know the cost out of pocket for those meds?
Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Post-COVID Recovery & COVID-19 Support Group.
Connect

I am taking a GLP-1, read about study so decided to try. I am slowly working my way up to the full dose used in the study (15 mg). So far it has not helped my symptoms which are severe fatigue (I’m mostly bedridden) and POTS.
I want to mention that the only thing that has significantly helped me is drinking the Saint Marks solution instead of plain water. This is a recommendation I saw while doing my weekly YouTube long Covid search. I can now walk without dizziness. It tastes awful so I add a bit of apple juice and soldier through.
I've been taking Ozempic for diabetes for several years. Have suffered from long covid for five years. Ozempic has done nothing for my symptoms (make them better or worse). The one thing that I have done that has given me tremendous relief was going into a hyperbolic oxygen chamber last December. I've experienced almost nothing since.
@arbk68 I also have to take an electrolyte solution every hour of my waking day. Covid made me very easily dehydrated so I have to push fluids. Taking vitamin D has helped a bit with that for me and has increase my ability to sleep. It seemed to calm down the immune system.
Glad to hear you have also been helped by an electrolyte solution.
I want to give credit to Zeest Khan MD. She is a physician who suffers from Long Covid and I discovered her on YouTube. The name of the episode about effective hydrating for Long Covid is: The Science of Hydration for Long Covid: What Really Works. She has many other helpful episodes on YouTube.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionI just started microdosing tirzepatide. (.25 for 2 week, then increase to .5 for 2 weeks, after that increase by .25 per month if no negative issues to a max of 1.25 or 2.5–2.5 is the normal starter dose) My understanding was that some clinicians had found this helpful for food sensitivities—one of my main issues. Dr. David Kaufman presented data from over 350 Long COVID patients he treated at a Long COVID workshop showing 60-90% reductions in fatigue, brain fog, pain, and MCAS symptoms on his microdosing protocol. When I saw Scripps scientists taking this seriously enough to start a clinical trial, I redoubled my efforts to find a way to microdose. If all goes well, I should know if this is helpful 2-4 months from now.
@lpow276 It is a shame but the Scripts trial, which I am in, did not microdose. They started at 2.5 and are trying to work everyone up to 15 mg. Several people have dropped out and several are struggling while some have had a good reaction to the GLP1.
-
Like -
Helpful -
Hug
1 ReactionMy guess is they could get quick approval for the trial by using already approved doses. I thought about trying to get into the trial and decided not to do so because I was concerned about the doses they were using. I am glad that some have had a good reaction. That is encouraging. I think that there was a comment from Scripps that they hope to trial a microdose in the future. Presumably if they get a positive signal from the trial but a lot have to drop out because of side effects. I know that Long Covid can cause a variety of different effects and there is no one blood test to monitor the efficacy of the tirzepatide. But I hoped too that they would identify the blood tests that were potentially relevant in Long Covid and abnormal for each individuals in the trial and monitor if those improved for that individual during the trial. I am doing that for myself: hsCRP, RF, d-dimer, resting heart rate. I will retest those in August.