The demand for weight loss drugs has exploded. The new drugs have dramatically changed the way we treat obesity, and the long-term positive effects on public health are expected to be significant.
Above all, it is GLP1 analogues such as Wegovy from Novo Nordisk and Mounjaro from Eli Lilly that are the bestsellers. At the end of 2025, these two had sales of 230 million SEK in a single month. In December, Mounjaro topped the list of Sweden's best-selling drugs.
None of these are subsidized for weight loss alone, which means that patients who are prescribed them for obesity and who do not have type 2 diabetes must cover the full cost themselves. Depending on the dose, it can be up to 4,000 SEK per month.
Want to stretch out
The cost is one reason users change doses on their own, something pharmacy staff have noticed.
We have noticed that customers ask if they can change their dosage and experiment themselves, for example to make the medicine last longer. When I ask, I have been told that it may be about the money, says Roro Wirlander Beydoun, pharmacy manager at Apotek Hjärtat in Örebro.
He says he understands that cost can be a problem, but that a change in dosage should always be discussed with a doctor.
"Laboring with doses on your own can negatively affect the treatment or lead to side effects," he says.
Staffan Sundquist, specialist pharmacist at Apoteket in Jönköping, also says that they have noticed customers asking if they can change the dosage.
Suggested on forum
On social platforms, there are plenty of tips on how to adjust the dose of the medicine, which is administered with syringes.
If you pay several thousand a month, it's no wonder you want to economize on them, says Ylva Trolle Lagerros, professor at the Karolinska Institute and chief physician in obesity in the Stockholm Region.
She says it is not automatically bad to be treated at a lower dose than recommended. Studies show that a lower dose means fewer side effects. It can also reduce the risk of significant weight gain when you stop. But it should not be done without discussion with a healthcare provider.
The purpose of the medicine is for the person taking it to feel full and therefore eat less. If the effect is achieved at a lower dose, that is not wrong.
But anyone who wants to change the dose should talk to their doctor. It's not a good idea to tinker with it yourself, she says.
She is reacting to the "click charts," a type of dosing chart that are being spread online and are also marketed for a fee. These show how the injection pens can be adjusted to deliver a different dose than the preset one.
It's not something we recommend. I don't think it's medically right to click, says Trolle Lagerros.
An article in Läkartidningen states that there is no scientific support for the medical safety of dosing with the click method. It addresses, among other things, the risks of incorrect dosing and concerns about the stability of the injected liquid.
Ylva Trolle Lagerros sees problems with so many people having to pay for the medicines themselves.
"I have patients who are seriously ill because of their weight who would need medication for much longer but are forced to stop because of the cost," she says.
Warns of counterfeits
At Apotek Hjärtat, the staff has also noticed questions about purchasing similar medicines on their own, without a prescription.
"There are customers who have received advertisements offering cheaper variants and ask why it is more expensive at the pharmacy. But you absolutely should not buy them because you have no idea what they contain," says Roro Wirlander Beydoun.
The Swedish Medical Products Agency has issued warnings that there are fake weight loss drugs for injection online. Ylva Trolle Lagerros has not encountered patients who have bought from unscrupulous actors. She believes this may partly involve people who are not obese and therefore not prescribed the drugs by healthcare.
You should absolutely not buy and inject anything if you don't know what it is, she says.
Today, six types of drugs for obesity are approved in the EU:
Xenical and Beacita (orlistat), Mysimba (bupropion-naltrexone), Qsiva (phentermine-topiramate), Saxenda (liraglutide), Wegovy (semaglutide), and Mounjaro (tirzepatide).
Orlistat reduces the absorption of fat from the diet. The others mainly affect appetite regulation and increase feelings of satiety.
Saxenda, Wegovy and Mounjaro are taken as injections. These belong to the class of GLP1 analogues.
Only Orlistat is subsidized for obesity; for other medications, the patient must pay the entire cost themselves.
Ozempic, which is perhaps the best-known drug, contains the same substance as Wegovy (semaglutide) and is only approved for diabetes.
Source: Fass, Ylva Trolle Lagerros
