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Comment by jeffbee | Hacker News Reader

> Man, the garage is going to be clean and superbly organized in a few weeks.'

Manic behaviors also associated with older, popular diet drugs like meth.

I said a few weeks ;-). The garage is pretty big, but not that big. It's going to be gloriously organized in a few weeks because I spend a half hour or so in the evenings to move the project forward. I'm very relaxed about it. I'm just doing exactly what I kept telling myself I should do to make the garage as organized as I want, rather than finding pretty much anything else to do.

Decades ago I tried phentermine for a couple months. Now that was a ride, and you might call the experience closer to manic. I was a machine. This is not like that.

I read the “in a few weeks” totally differently than the other reply. In my mind, I was thinking, “wow, you’re able to plan that far ahead and stay on track??” And now you say you’re able to accomplish that by dedicating a time block per day?! That’s superhuman level of control that I can only dream of!

It's not the manic behavior, but the opposite. GLP-1 agonists appear to reduce the impulsive behavior.

Does anyone have references on any explanation, or even partial explanation, on why this might be the case?

The published stuff I can find seems to be at the level of anecdata, scarcely better than "I know a guy who..."

- What people talk about on social media: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10669484/

- Some people made large "reckless" life choices: https://academic.oup.com/qjmed/advance-article-abstract/doi/...

> Does anyone have references on any explanation, or even partial explanation, on why this might be the case?

Not yet. The effect appears to be real, but it's too soon to tell: https://www.science.org/content/blog-post/ozempic-and-other-...

From my own anecdata, unnecessary impulsive eating probably reinforces the impulsive behavior. You start associating impulsive behavior with a reward.

GLP-1 not only removes that, but adds a slight negative reinforcement. Impulsive eating no longer brings reward, but makes you feel over-full. This can then down-regulates the pathways that lead to increased impulsive behavior.

Great description, thanks!

I won't sugarcoat my problems. I knew I wasn't hungry when I'd eat sometimes. I knew it would keep me overweight. I knew it wouldn't even feel great afterwards. And yet, more often than not I did it. And beat myself up over it every time. Very demoralizing, even without help from moralizing folks on the internet.

On tirzepatide the impulse is just gone. I feel like I can take it or leave it, and since the consequences of eating unnecessarily are quickly negative, I just don't do it.

There are about a dozen published studies using GLP-1 analogues in animal models showing reduction in addictive behaviors (search for papers by Jerlhag, Leggio and Schmidt). The prevailing theory seems to relate to dopamine regulation.

> GLP-1 agonists appear to reduce the impulsive behavior.

Does it reduce sex drive as well?

No it doesn’t but some people have started TRT therapy too which will increase testosterone and then sex drive too

Doesn't losing weight already increases your Testostrone?.. people seriously shouldn't get on TRT unless they need it medically, once you start it, it's for life and also you will be infertile.. (source I am on HCG, an alternative to TRT due to its side effects).

That's correct - you need to be seen by a doctor before embarking on TRT. For me, I have no intent of having any more kids. Infertile can be reversed.

TMI, but no.

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