The first time Caroline decided to start taking Wegovy, she made no secret of it. She openly shared her plans with her boyfriend, her mother, and her closest friends. Over the course of six months, her loved ones watched as she shed 30 pounds, successfully transitioning from 130 pounds back to what she describes as her "healthy original weight" of 100 pounds. Even after she reached her goal, however, her family and partner worried about the extent of her weight loss and firmly opposed the idea of her losing any more.
"I had tried every way under the sun to lose weight," Caroline tells SELF. The 34-year-old resident of Montreal, who requested that only her first name be used to protect her privacy, admits she was simply exhausted by the relentless cycle of dieting. Standing at five feet and four inches tall, she was not classified as clinically obese and doubted whether her primary care physician would ever approve a prescription for the medication.
Faced with that hurdle, she turned to the internet and found a telehealth doctor who prescribed the medication over the phone, unaware of her actual weight or medical history. Almost immediately after starting Wegovy, she recalls, the weight started coming off at an astonishing pace. After six months of treatment, she decided she wanted to stop taking the drug. But the moment she discontinued the regimen, the weight rebounded sharply: she gained 10 pounds in a single month. "I realized, I can’t stop," Caroline says.
That realization led her back to the medication. For the past six months, she has been taking Wegovy again, this time at a maintenance-level dosage to keep her weight stable. But there is one major difference in her routine: this time, she is keeping the prescription entirely secret from her boyfriend and family. "Now that we’re talking about kids, he’s seen all the impacts [of the drug] and he’s done with it," she explains.
Because she lives alone, hiding the medication from her partner is relatively manageable, though logistically stressful. Since Wegovy requires refrigeration, she stashes her pens in the very back of the fridge. Whenever they travel together, she has to covertly tuck the medication into hotel room refrigerators or, worse, hide them inside the refrigerators of her partner’s parents when they visit. "So imagine, I’m hiding stuff in my parents-in-laws’ fridge, hoping they won’t see them," she says. "It’s super awkward."
Caroline is far from alone in going to elaborate lengths to keep her use of GLP-1 receptor agonists a secret from the people closest to her. On a recent discussion thread within the r/GLP1microdosing subreddit, users readily shared creative, if unconventional, tips and tricks for concealing their medication from suspicious partners. One user reported stashing her pens inside a tomato paste box. Another repurposed a play food container from a child’s pretend kitchen.
Others have turned to an array of household camouflage, including opaque feta cheese containers, butter stick boxes, anchovy paste boxes, empty bottles of women’s probiotics and Alani Nu supplements, plastic to-go containers, metal water bottles, boxes of wine, and baking soda boxes tucked into the dark recesses of shared refrigerators—all in an effort to keep their weight loss treatments out of sight.
"It’s a real thing," says Kia Mitchell, MD, a family and obesity medicine specialist in Jacksonville, Florida, who has observed numerous patients going to similar extremes to hide their medications from significant others. When Dr. Mitchell first encountered the phenomenon, it came from a patient who simply wanted to avoid a contentious domestic debate and retain the personal option to continue taking the medication.
"A lot of my patients are similar," Dr. Mitchell notes. She points out that many individuals experience a profound sense of a lack of control during periods of weight gain, making the ability to dictate their own weight loss narrative deeply empowering and exciting. "Because now they can reveal it on their own terms. That’s where the control comes back."
The motivations behind this widespread secrecy are vividly apparent on online forums. "If my husband found out, it would just be a series of lectures," wrote one Reddit user under the handle Vivid-Act-6442. Another anonymous user simply stated they wanted to avoid critical opinions: "Just don’t want to hear any negative or critical opinions. After 52 years of marriage, one knows one’s mate." Another participant admitted to hiding her medication from her teenage children out of fear that they would report it to her ex-husband, explaining that she simply wanted to avoid an avalanche of intrusive questions.
Dr. Mitchell admits to having mixed feelings about this pervasive secrecy. Ideally, she notes, anyone embarking on a health journey benefits immensely from having a support network that actively cheers them on. "Dealing with something like this, I want people to have community," she says. At the same time, she acknowledges that exercising discretion can feel empowering and protective for women who want to control who has access to their private medical choices—even if, in an ideal world, people should feel secure enough to confide in partners they trust completely.
From a clinical standpoint, however, concealing GLP-1 use from a partner introduces several tangible risks. For starters, fertility can increase while taking these medications, and Dr. Mitchell notes that she has welcomed "several GLP-1 babies" into the world whose conceptions caught parents by surprise. Furthermore, hiding a prescription makes it much more difficult for a patient to seek emotional or practical support if they experience unpleasant side effects.
More broadly, chronic secrecy exacts a heavy toll in the form of elevated stress. "When someone is trying to lose weight, we want their stress hormones to be as low as possible," Dr. Mitchell explains. "If you’re trying to hide [medication], we’ll be fighting an uphill battle if you’re stressed about that."
The rise of telemedicine platforms has made it increasingly easy to bypass traditional gatekeepers not just for partners, but for primary care physicians as well. This trend has created a complex predicament for Caroline, who deliberately withheld her Wegovy use from her regular doctor both times she initiated treatment. With an upcoming annual physical on the horizon, she worries about the noticeable weight loss her doctor will inevitably observe, as well as potential, unmonitored drug interactions between Wegovy and the Accutane and Ritalin she is also prescribed. The prospect of confessing her secret to her primary physician fills her with anxiety, as she fears damaging their professional trust.
"I use ChatGPT as my doctor at this point since I can’t be honest with my own doctor," she admits. "I say, ‘Hey, this is my actual weight, what type of dosage is okay to take with other drugs?’" She acknowledges candidly that this workaround is "probably not the best option."
Reflecting on her onboarding process with the telehealth provider Hers, Caroline notes that she was only required to submit basic bloodwork and was given no live counseling, receiving instead generic documentation to read through independently.
Craig Primack, MD, head of weight loss at Hers, tells SELF that the company’s prescribing physicians explicitly instruct patients to discuss their treatment plans with their primary care providers. While he acknowledges that the platform offers limited direct clinical counseling, he emphasizes that the service screens for mental health, anxiety, and stress factors. The Hers app also features psychologist-developed educational resources covering topics such as sleep hygiene and eating behaviors.
Dr. Primack confirms that he is fully aware of patients concealing their prescriptions from their partners. Some individuals prefer to wait until they have tangible proof that the weight loss is working before making an announcement, while others worry about the recurring financial cost of the medication or fear how the physical changes might alter relationship dynamics. "Your weight and persona set up a dynamic in your couple," Dr. Primack observes. "When you start changing that, sometimes spouses get very jealous—’Oh my god, you’re becoming potentially more attractive.’ Not that weight is directly linked to that, but that’s what I hear them say."
Beyond relationship dynamics, the persistent social stigma surrounding weight and body size continues to drive patients toward digital health solutions. "One benefit of telemedicine is it takes the bias and stigma away," Dr. Primack says. "One reason we are here is because people are uncomfortable going to talk to their primary care doctor about it."
For Caroline, resolving whether to come clean to her physician remains secondary to grappling with the broader emotional fallout of her medication use and the secrecy required to maintain it. "It’s very stressful," she reflects. "The fact that not only can I not talk about it, but I’m also unable to get off of it. I don’t love the idea of taking medicine like that forever, but I’m kind of stuck with it." Confronted with her desire to avoid weight regain, she also questions her underlying motivations: "I wonder to which extent I’m too harsh with my criticism of my body. Maybe my goals are too intense."
Given the intense emotional vulnerability and sensitivity bound up with weight management, the hesitation surrounding whether to disclose GLP-1 usage to others is entirely understandable. However, approaching the conversation with a thoughtful strategy can help alleviate some of the friction, according to Rachel Goldman, PhD, a clinical assistant professor in the department of psychiatry at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and a clinical psychologist specializing in weight management and disordered eating.
Framing the discussion around personal experiences and individual needs can transform the conversation from a defensive confrontation into an approachable dialogue, Dr. Goldman explains. Because deciding when and how to broach the topic is difficult, she encourages patients to first examine their own motivations. Understanding what led to the decision and what the treatment signifies for personal health and well-being helps build the internal confidence needed for clear communication.
Dr. Goldman recommends drafting conversational scripts ahead of time, advising patients to anchor their statements in personal experiences rather than comparing themselves to broader societal trends. Utilizing "I" statements can keep the exchange grounded and constructive. Furthermore, anticipating a partner’s potential reactions and preparing for varied scenarios can reduce anxiety. Clarifying what kind of support is desired—whether it is emotional backing, basic understanding, or simply the space to make independent health decisions without judgment—is equally crucial.
She notes that a partner’s initial reaction does not always reflect their final stance, as processing unexpected news and overcoming personal biases takes time. "Ultimately," Dr. Goldman says, "the goal isn’t to have a perfect conversation, but it’s to open the door to more honesty, connection, and support over time."
And if all else fails, there is always the option of finding another clever hiding spot in the back of the refrigerator.
