[PSA] People are spending $1,000/mo on Ozempic to stop drinking. There's a $15 pill that's been FDA-approved for this for 30 years.
TL;DR - GLP-1s like Ozempic are showing real promise for reducing alcohol cravings. But there's an FDA-approved medication called naltrexone that does the same thing for a fraction of the cost, and no one talks about it. I take it, and I have some strong opinions 🙂
The Ozempic-for-alcohol moment is real
If you've been on r/stopdrinking or r/Alcoholism_Medication lately, you've probably seen the posts. People start Ozempic/GLP1 for weight loss and suddenly realize they have zero interest in drinking. The "alcohol noise" in their head just... stops.
And the early science backs it up. A 2025 JAMA Psychiatry trial gave semaglutide to adults with alcohol use disorder and found it significantly reduced cravings, drinking quantity, and heavy drinking days compared to placebo.
People are excited. Researchers are excited. I'm excited.
But here's what frustrates me: GLP-1s are not FDA-approved for alcohol. They cost $500-$1,000/mo. Most doctors won't prescribe them off-label for drinking.
And there's an FDA-approved pill that targets alcohol cravings specifically, costs as low as $15/mo, has been around since 1994. And due to a big lack of awareness (from doctors and consumers alike) fewer than 3% of the people who could benefit from it are taking it.
It's called naltrexone. And I take it every day.
What "alcohol noise" actually feels like
I didn't even know I had ‘alcohol noise’ until it was gone.
My dad passed away unexpectedly in 2024. In the months after, my weekend drinking started creeping back up. I wasn't a daily drinker (I considered myself pretty mindful about it) but weekends were where things got carried away sometimes. One drink would turn into more than I wanted. Not a bender, just more than is healthy. My brain would light up after that first sip and want to keep going.
I'd been building Sunnyside since 2020 (more on that in a sec), so I knew about naltrexone. I finally decided to try it myself. After the very first pill, the thoughts just went quiet. Thinking about a drink didn't light up my brain with excitement anymore. The noise around alcohol was just gone.
That's the same thing people on r/Ozempic are describing all the time. Things like "It's like I WANT to want another drink, but I just... don't." The mechanisms of GLP-1s and Naltrexone are different, but the result is remarkably similar.
So why is nobody talking about naltrexone?
This is the part that drives me crazy. An FDA-approved medication has existed for 30+ years that helps people drink less, and:
- Most doctors hand you an AA brochure instead of mentioning naltrexone (or any other option for that matter)
- Treatment centers actively discourage it because it challenges the "you must suffer to get sober" mentality
- People who've never heard of it are now paying $1,000/mo for Ozempic off-label to get a similar effect
Naltrexone works by blocking the opioid receptors that make alcohol feel rewarding. Over time, your brain stops associating drinking with that reward. You don't just want to drink less… drinking genuinely becomes less interesting. About 80% of people respond positively to it. It's not a magic pill, but for most people, it meaningfully quiets the noise, which supports deeper work.
The GLP-1 conversation is actually a good thing because it's finally making people realize that medication for drinking is a real, legitimate option, and not something that’s shameful. But you don't need to wait for Ozempic to get FDA-approved for alcohol. You don't need to spend $1,000/mo. The medication already exists.
What we built at Sunnyside Med
I started Sunnyside in 2020 because both of my parents struggled deeply with alcohol. We've helped 600,000+ people cut their drinking by 33% on average. Last year we added naltrexone to the program because the research is clear: medication works even better when combined with behavior change support.
Sunnyside Med is $99/mo. About $3.30/day. You get the medication shipped discreetly, plus our app, coaching, planning tools, and a community of people on the same path. Our goal is to give you the tools to hit your goals -- whether that's cutting back or quitting.
If you've been lurking on r/stopdrinking or r/Alcoholism_Medication wondering if there's something between "I'm fine" and "I need rehab"... there is.
Posted Jun 3, 2026, 11:40 PM UTC