Can GLP-1s Help CFS & Fibromyalgia?

Many people are asking if GLP-1 medications (semaglutide) such as Ozempic® and Wegovy®) can help in fibromyalgia, especially since the average weight gain in FMS is 32 1/2 pounds!

The simple answer is often yes, often improving energy, cognition, and other fibromyalgia symptoms along with lowering weight. But the only way to find out if it will help you is to try them. If you want to, here are a few simple tips to make it safer and more affordable:

1. Save by Using a Compounding Pharmacy

GLP-1 medications are obscenely expensive. But you get them by prescription from reputable compounding pharmacies for only about $100 a month (out of pocket, as compounding pharmacies are not covered by insurance). Have your doctor ask the compounding pharmacy to add vitamin B12 to decrease the risk of both nausea and B12 deficiency.

2. Compensate for Nutritional Deficiencies from GLP-1

These medications routinely cause severe and problematic nutritional deficiencies. So compensate for this by:

• Use the Energy Revitalization Drink Mix.
• Increase protein intake, especially eggs and meat.
• If able, go for walks in the sunshine.

3. Start with a Low Dose

Ask your doctor to start with a low dose and move up slowly as is tolerated. Sometimes even tiny doses can help.

If you have more questions on this or anything else related to CFS/ FMS/LC/pain, I invite you to join our new Facebook support group, “Recovering from Fibromyalgia, CFS, and long COVID.” We're over 2,000 strong and growing every day, and I'm happy to answer questions there!

Historically, the benefits of expensive new medications tend to be reported early, with side effects reported only later, "coincidentally," after its patent expires.

Despite its obscene price tag, semaglutide is one of the best new medication releases of the decade. It helps with weight gain and insulin resistance, which are key causes of chronic illness in our modern world. Because of this, it is expected to show many "side benefits." This is quite important.

As is typical of expensive new medications, the benefits initially get all the attention, with side effects and problems largely ignored. This is unfortunate because many of the problems are easy to prevent. But like our “buy now, pay later” culture, these toxicities are often ignored because they don’t show up until later.

A Useful Med for Fibromyalgia

I think GLP-1 can be a very helpful medication for reducing the weight gain in fibromyalgia as long as the simple precautions I listed are taken while using it. The key problem is the nutritional deficiencies and loss in muscle and bone density, all of which can lead to numerous health problems, including premature aging. So preventively protect yourself by addressing the following:

• General vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The standard American diet loses fully 50% of vitamins and minerals in food processing. This leaves most Americans with suboptimal levels of multiple nutrients, which contributes to a wide array of health problems, including heart disease, diabetes, pain, fatigue, osteoporosis, and other issues. Multiple micronutrient deficiencies have been documented resulting from semaglutide use, including vitamin D, B1, B12, magnesium, and others. But testing for these deficiencies tends to be unreliable, so it's best to simply take a good high-potency multivitamin as a precaution if using GL-1s.
• Vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin supplementation is especially important in light of new research suggesting that millions of diabetics are prone to the easily preventable but devastating nerve pain caused by vitamin B12 deficiency — mistakenly attributing it to their diabetes when it's actually the semaglutide. In fact, the diabetes medications metformin and semaglutide both dramatically decrease vitamin B12 absorption to levels where the RDA (Recommended Dietary Allowance, or as I sometimes call it, Ridiculous Dietary Allowance) is simply not adequate. Anyone on either of these meds should take a multivitamin containing at least 250 micrograms of methylcobalamin vitamin B12.
• Muscle loss and wasting with premature aging. Muscle loss can account for as much as 40% of the weight loss seen with these medications. It is essential that if taking these medications you increase your consumption of protein (for example, by eating several eggs each day). Newer research shows that this does not significantly increase the risk of elevated cholesterol or heart disease. Eating more meat can also help with this, as well as addressing the iron deficiency often seen with GLP-1 users.
• Loss of bone density. A recent study in the February 2026 journal Clinical Obesity looked at almost half a million people taking GL-1 medications. It found that increased deficiencies of vitamin D, calcium, and other nutrients critical for bone density were common. A good high-potency multivitamin powder should include the key multiple nutrients essential for healthy bone density. These include vitamin D, B12, B6, C, folate, and K and the minerals calcium, magnesium, and boron.

Unfortunately, the RDAs may simply not be adequate.

Simple recommendations to have your cake and eat it too if you're using GLP-1’s:

1. Take a high-potency vitamin and mineral multi nutrient powder. I recommend the Energy Revitalization Drink Mix in my practice.
2. Increase protein consumption, including eggs and meat.
3. Go out for walks in the sunshine.

These simple measures can leave you young, healthy, and slim on these medications. Instead of old and needing more medications to counteract their long-term side effects. In addition to reducing weight gain from fibromyalgia, you may even find that your fatigue and other symptoms improve :-)