After years of managing her eating disorder, one woman got her hands on a prescription for GLP-1 weight loss drugs from a telehealth service — and says it was “criminally easy” to do so.
Kate, identified only by her first name, told Australia’s ABC News that she had a history of anorexia nervosa prior starting a GLP-1. But she was not screened for an eating disorder before a practitioner gave her the drugs.
Later, in a follow-up appointment in which she asked for a higher dose, she said she was told she was “eating the wrong things” and “eating too much.”
Kate’s story
Kate, 25, was last hospitalized for anorexia in 2022. Since then, she’d been managing the condition with her medical team.
But after she researched GLP-1s online in 2025, she started getting targeted ads for a telehealth clinic on Instagram and made an appointment.
During her phone consultation, she admits she lied about her health details — but she claims she wasn’t acted about any eating disorder history. After a blood test, she was prescribed a GLP-1 during a second phone appointment.
In a follow-up for a refill on her medication, when Kate asked her for dose to be increased — people often “titrate” or increase dosing gradually to maximize effects while limiting side effects — she said she was given “forceful” and “intimidating” advie.
“They basically said … you’re eating the wrong things, you’re eating too much,” Kate said. “Hearing that specifically in terms of my food was quite jarring for the eating disorder.”
It “scared her,” she said — knowing how easy it was to access and how many people like her are struggling with an eating disorder. An estimated 9% of Americans will have an eating disorder in their lifetime.
She was able to stop taking GLP-1s with the help of her doctor, and hopes her story can help others.
How GLP-1s can reawaken eating disorders
Kate’s not alone. A study from July showed 30% of participants with eating disorders had used GLP-1s like Ozempic and Wegovy.
“I’d flirted with my symptoms on and off throughout my life,” Jenn Nourse, who has a history of anorexia and bulimia, previously told The Post. “But I didn’t have a full-blown relapse until I started taking GLP-1s.”
In the US, there’s no protocol in place to screen for eating disorders before prescribing a GLP-1.
Experts say many doctors aren’t screening for eating disorders before prescribing — a sharp departure from other weight-loss interventions, such as bariatric surgery.
“A psychological screening would happen before moving forward with that process. Here, with [GLP-1s], that’s not really happening,” said Sarah Davis, a licensed psychotherapist and certified eating disorder specialist.
GLP-1s can awaken an eating disorder that may have been “in recovery or have had good functioning for a long time,” said Dr. Brad Smith, chief medical officer for the Emily Program, a national organization that specializes in eating disorders.
“It doesn’t just affect people who are in the throes of acute illness,” he added.
In some cases, doctors are prescribing GLP-1s for other health reasons besides weight loss — and unsuspecting patients don’t realize it could awaken old issues.
That’s what happened to Jo Clark-Smith, who went on Wegovy for cholesterol management. It revived an eating disorder that she hadn’t actively struggled with for 20 years.
And when some with eating disorders quit their GLP-1s, they found it hard to stop their restrictive food habits.
“It takes over your brain and your mental capacity. It can be really like a prison of your own mind,” said Dr. Thea Gallagher, a clinical psychologist at NYU Langone.
