GLP-1 for alcohol use disorder
You are getting oriented.
Reference and calculator, not medical advice. Dosing figures below are transcribed from FDA-approved prescribing information and link back to it. Last reviewed August 2026.
No GLP-1 is approved for alcohol use disorder. Not one of the seven labels lists it as an indication, which means that using one for this purpose is off-label in every case, and that no dosing, no efficacy data and no safety profile for that use has been through FDA review.
That matters more than usual here, because this is a genuinely active research area rather than a fringe idea. Reduced alcohol craving is reported often enough by people taking these drugs for other reasons that it is being studied deliberately. Reports and ongoing trials are not an approval, and the gap between the two is exactly where this page has to stop.
Side-by-side
Structural facts from each product’s prescribing information.
| Product | Active ingredient | Indication | Frequency | Start | Max labelled | Steps to max |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wegovy Novo Nordisk | Semaglutide | Weight management | Weekly | 0.25 mg | 2.4 mg | 5 |
| Zepbound Eli Lilly | Tirzepatide | Weight management | Weekly | 2.5 mg | 15 mg | 6 |
Two things are worth knowing if you are considering this. Alcohol use disorder has treatments that <em>are</em> approved, with trial data and dosing behind them, and a clinician can prescribe those today. And the labels do flag hypoglycaemia risk where these drugs are combined with insulin or an insulin secretagogue, which is relevant because alcohol affects blood glucose too.
Common questions
- People say it killed their cravings. Is that real?
- It is widely reported. Reports are not evidence of effect — that is what trials are for, and they are running. This site will update when there is an approved indication or published outcome to cite, and not before.
- Could I ask my doctor to prescribe it for this?
- Off-label prescribing is legal and is a clinician judgement. That conversation belongs with someone who knows your history, and it should include the approved options for this condition.
- Why will this page not say more?
- Because everything published here comes from a label or from arithmetic, and there is no label to quote on this. Filling that gap with encouraging language would be exactly the failure this site exists to avoid.
Sources and last review
Every dosing figure on this page is transcribed from an FDA-approved label and links back to it. Conversions are arithmetic you can repeat by hand. Nothing here is reviewed by a clinician, and this site does not employ one — which is exactly why what I do publish stays traceable to its source.
- Wegovy (Semaglutide) prescribing information — Novo Nordisk, label revised 30 June 2026, checked 7 August 2026
- Zepbound (Tirzepatide) prescribing information — Eli Lilly, label revised 6 May 2026, checked 7 August 2026
Transcribed from the labels above and checked by me — Gavin, who builds this site, takes a GLP-1, and is not a clinician. Last reviewed August 2026. Found an error? [email protected] — I treat corrections as bugs. How this site is built and funded.
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