The first time Caroline began taking Wegovy, she made no secret of it. She openly discussed the decision with her boyfriend, her mother, and her close friends. Over the course of six months, they 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 still, her loved ones grew concerned about the extent of her weight loss and made it clear they did not want her to drop any further.
"I had tried every way under the sun to lose weight," Caroline tells SELF. The 34-year-old Montreal resident, who asked to use only her first name to protect her privacy, admits she was simply exhausted by the relentless cycle of trying to manage her weight on her own. Standing at five feet and four inches tall, she was not classified as clinically obese and doubted that her primary care physician would approve a prescription for the popular GLP-1 receptor agonist.
Determined to find another path, she turned to the internet and found a telehealth doctor who prescribed the medication over the phone without knowing her exact weight. Immediately after starting Wegovy, she recalls, the weight began coming off at an astonishing pace. After six months of treatment, she decided she had reached her goal and stopped taking the drug. But the reprieve was short-lived: within a single month, she regained 10 pounds. "I realized, I can’t stop," Caroline says.
Faced with the return of the weight, she resumed taking Wegovy at a maintenance-level dosage, a regimen she has maintained for the past six months. However, there is one massive difference this time around: she is keeping it entirely a secret from her boyfriend and family. As conversations about the future and starting a family have developed, her boyfriend has witnessed the physical and emotional impacts of the drug firsthand and made it clear he is opposed to it.
Because Caroline lives alone, concealing the medication is manageable, though logistically complex. She stashes the injectable pens in the back of her refrigerator, where they must be kept cold. When traveling together, she is forced to covertly transfer the medication to hotel room refrigerators or, even more awkwardly, stash them in the fridges of her partner’s parents when visiting them. "So imagine, I’m hiding stuff in my parents-in-laws’ fridge, hoping they won’t see them," she says. "It’s super awkward."
Sometimes Avoidance Is the Easiest Option
Caroline is far from alone in going to elaborate lengths to keep her GLP-1 usage under wraps. On a recent discussion thread within the r/GLP1microdosing subreddit, women openly shared their innovative and often startling tips and tricks for hiding their medication from romantic partners and household members.
The online community detailed a wide array of concealment tactics. One user stashes her pens inside a tomato paste box, while another repurposes a play food container from a child’s toy kitchen. Others have relied on opaque feta cheese containers, empty butter stick boxes, anchovy paste packaging, discarded bottles of women’s probiotics and Alani Nu supplements, plastic to-go containers, metal water bottles, boxes of wine, and baking soda cartons tucked away in the darkest recesses of household refrigerators—all to prevent their weight loss medication from being discovered.
"It’s a real thing," Dr. Kia Mitchell, MD, a specialist in family and obesity medicine practicing in Jacksonville, Florida, tells SELF. Dr. Mitchell notes that she has encountered numerous patients in her own practice who go to similar extraordinary lengths to hide their treatment from their significant others. When she first encountered the behavior, it came from a patient who simply wanted to avoid an exhausting domestic debate and retain the personal option to take the medication without interference.
"A lot of my patients are similar," Dr. Mitchell adds, explaining the underlying psychology of the phenomenon. She points out that while many individuals experience a profound sense of a loss of control when struggling with weight gain, regaining command over their body weight through medication provides a powerful sense of empowerment and excitement. By keeping the treatment secret, patients retain control over the narrative of their transformation, allowing them to reveal their medical choices entirely on their own terms.
The personal motivations behind this secrecy are vividly illustrated in 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 user expressed a simple desire to avoid unsolicited criticism: "Just don’t want to hear any negative or critical opinions. After 52 years of marriage, one knows one’s mate." Another contributor admitted to hiding her medication from her teenage children out of fear that they might inadvertently tell her ex-husband. "I just don’t feel like the questions," she wrote.
Dr. Mitchell expresses mixed feelings regarding this widespread culture of secrecy. From a clinical perspective, she notes that anyone embarking on a health journey benefits immensely from having a supportive cheer squad and a trusted community. Yet, she acknowledges that exercising discretion can feel empowering and protective for women navigating sensitive relationships, even if the ideal scenario involves complete transparency with a trusted partner.
From a medical standpoint, however, maintaining secrecy introduces tangible risks. For instance, GLP-1 medications can significantly increase fertility and the likelihood of conception, a factor Dr. Mitchell highlights by noting she has several "GLP-1 babies" born to patients who conceived while on the therapy. Furthermore, hiding the treatment makes it harder to manage potential side effects or seek emotional support from a partner during difficult moments. Chronic secrecy also elevates stress levels. "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."
Telemedicine Makes It Easier to Hide Them
A broader systemic concern is the ease with which patients can obtain and conceal GLP-1 medications from their primary healthcare providers, largely due to the rapid expansion of digital telehealth platforms such as Hers and Ro. This is the exact dilemma facing Caroline, who bypassed her regular doctor during both rounds of Wegovy treatment and remains deeply reluctant to disclose her usage—even as she worries about potential adverse interactions with other medications she takes, including Accutane and Ritalin.
The prospect of admitting her secret to her primary physician fills her with anxiety, as she fears damaging their professional relationship. Yet, with her annual physical exam fast approaching, she knows her doctor will inevitably notice the significant weight loss.
"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 readily concedes that relying on artificial intelligence for medical advice is far from ideal. Caroline obtained her current prescription through Hers, a process that required only basic bloodwork and provided informational documents rather than direct counseling.
Dr. Craig Primack, MD, head of weight loss at Hers, tells SELF that the platform’s prescribing physicians do encourage patients to discuss their treatment plans with their primary care providers. While acknowledging that direct clinical counseling is limited on the platform, Dr. Primack emphasizes that the company actively inquires about mental health, anxiety, and stress. The Hers app also includes digital resources designed by psychologists covering topics such as sleep management and eating behaviors.
Dr. Primack confirms that he is well aware of patients hiding their medications from their partners. Some individuals prefer to wait until they have concrete proof of weight loss before sharing the news, while others conceal the treatment due to the high financial cost of the drugs. In many cases, patients worry about how the physical transformation might alter the underlying dynamics of their relationships. "Your weight and persona set up a dynamic in your couple," Dr. Primack explains. "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 interpersonal dynamics, the persistent stigma surrounding weight and obesity 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."
Whether Caroline ultimately decides to come clean to her physician, she must still contend with the broader psychological fallout stemming from her medication use and the elaborate secrecy surrounding 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." Unwilling to risk regaining the weight, she is left questioning her own motivations. "But I wonder to which extent I’m too harsh with my criticism of my body. Maybe my goals are too intense."
How to Talk With Your Partner About Weight Loss Medication
Given the profound vulnerability and sensitivity inherent in weight management, the hesitation surrounding whether to disclose GLP-1 use to loved ones is entirely understandable. However, approaching the conversation with a thoughtful strategy can make the process significantly more manageable, according to Dr. 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 an individual’s personal experiences and health needs can transform the dialogue, making it feel less like an interrogation that requires defense, Dr. Goldman explains. Because deciding to initiate this conversation is rarely simple, she advises patients to first reflect on their underlying motivations. Understanding what led to the decision and what the treatment means for overall health and well-being helps build internal confidence, which in turn makes communicating that decision much easier.
Dr. Goldman also recommends preparing sample conversation scripts in advance, encouraging patients to lead with their personal experiences rather than comparing themselves to others. Using "I" statements helps keep the focus grounded in individual health goals.
It is equally beneficial to anticipate a partner’s potential reactions and establish a plan for various scenarios. Knowing what kind of response is needed—whether it is emotional support, understanding, or simply the space to make autonomous health decisions without judgment—can guide the interaction, Dr. Goldman notes. She reminds patients that an initial reaction from a spouse or family member is not necessarily permanent, as individuals often require time to process new information and work through their own personal biases.
Ultimately, Dr. Goldman emphasizes, the primary objective is not to execute a flawless conversation, but rather to open the door to greater honesty, connection, and mutual support over time. But for those instances when the conversation fails to go as planned, the option of the anchovy paste box remains close at hand.
