The positive effects are why they are medicine...
this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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Actual answer is: this does happen, but then that becomes the reason to prescribe it.
Ozempic was a diabetes medication until the weight loss and addiction effects were observed.
Viagra was originally meant to treat hypertension.
Finasteride was for your prostate then it also became hair loss medication
Viagra was a heart medication during trials, until they realized the heart benefits were minimal compared to the raging boners.
Sometimes they do. Case and point, viagra
Side effects are just effects.
Every material we can ingest (or apply on skin, etc) will have effects
Since there are a many more ways for things to go wrong, and very few ways for something to go right, the chance that you get a "negative" side effect is higher than that it's a positive effect
There's also off-label usage for drugs where a doctor will prescribe a medication for a different effect than what is originally intended, that's basically a positive side effect.
GLP-1 drugs were originally developed for diabetes. A side effect was weight loss.
Most drugs with fun side effects get marketed for the fun side effect.
Heroin was developed as a painkiller and cough remedy.
Nowadays it's only sold for the fun side effects.
Probably 3/4 of the people I know on GP1s are either reporting mental health/addiction benefits, or are taking it exclusively for that reason. Helped me quit weed, helping a friend of mine quit vaping right now. Shuts off my gut-wrenching anxiety. I hate jumping on bandwagons but it's a bit of a miracle drug, hopefully it doesn't cause your DNA to turn inside out after 10 years or something.
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What do you call ‘alternative’ medicine that’s been proven to work?
Medicine.
Desirable ‘side’ effects are just effects.
Then it would be the main purpose of the drug
Not necessarily... Several of the new weight loss drugs are primarily something else, and the weight loss is an "off-label" use. My (now ex-) wife was prescribed mounjaro for her type 2 diabetes, and proceeded to lose a considerable amount of weight. She wanted me to do the same, but insurance only covers the primary use, I wasn't/am not diabetic, so I'd have to pay out of pocket, and that shit is expensive.
Well that's more the insurance companies finding ways to get around paying bills, isn't it?
It is definitely that, but the justification for it is it's not the intended use of the drug.
Viagra was not originally made for what it's mostly known for these days. Its effects on the male reproductive organ were a positive side effect.
Was here to say this. When ever they find out some unexpected benefit of a drug, they often invent a disorder and then offer up the treatment.
Things like erectile dysfunction are not really a disorder. It's normal for men to find it more difficult to get and maintain an erection as they exit their 20s. And it will keep reducing.
Imagine if 50 year old men still walked around like 15 year old boys. My gawd. The world couldn't survive.
Other drugs with invented dysfunctions.
Male pattern baldness. Again natural and normal for men.
Eye lash thickness. Yes there is a prescription drug to treat your thin eye lashes.
There is a prescription sex drug for women. And here is the best part. It just makes women relaxed and sleepy. Yeah .. so think about that.
Our society is fucked.
Natural changes as part of development being labeled as things that need treated.
Treat those wrinkles.
Treat that hair loss.
Treat those thin eye lashes
Treat that flat ass syndrome
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The positive side effects are usually just the effects.
And the ones that aren't are usually called "off-label". ;)
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Drugs are exactly that.
ADHD meds do kind of do this.
but, that isn't the side effects, it is the effect
No, change in appetite and then taste is a side effect. I like certain foods significantly more now.
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Sometimes they do. Viagra was originally a heart medication that they figured out did something else.
Botox was for eye muscle disorders, now it's used cosmetically, for migraines, and a bunch of other diseases.
Apparently 20% of drugs are prescribed off-label. It's kind of an extension of "what do you call alternative medicine that works?"
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Because then it’s just an effect and the medication is sold as treating weight loss or memory or whatever
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What's positive is always relative.
The medication I take reduces appetite. Not hunger, just appetite. If you struggle with obesity because you eat for emotional reasons, that could be a positive for you.
But I am struggling with eating enough, so I won't get low blood sugar. And so I don't get ~~overweight~~¹. I think I ate 2 corn wafers today. 40 kcal. It's 21:02. That's not enough!
Edit:
- underweight. Obviously.
Oh, there are quite some. Just from the top of my heaf: Viagra originally was just a heart medication. Metformin, a diabetes 2 medication, is strongly suspected of having other positive side effects, like generally prolonging life. There recently was an article about a new Alzheimer medication which would be quick to the market as such because it is already a certified medication against something else.
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Once I was prescribed low-dose antipsychotics to help me fall asleep. They made me energetic, productive, I actually started enjoying life. Then my dr said it wasn't supposed to happen so cut them off.
I mean, what if the better quality sleep was causing those effects? That does seem unfortunate you had to stop using something making you feel better. I wonder if there was a different, more dangerous side effect they were worried about.
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So the ones with real "feel good" side effects are the ones that people have addiction problems with, and instead of indirectly giving pleasure, they give it directly. Some people enjoy while they use them and move on with life, others become obsessed with that pleasure and throw everything else away in the pusuit of it.
Wasn't that the case with Ozempic? It was meant for diabetes patients first but then they noted the effect in reduced hunger and many other positive improvements which its why it has become as popular as it has
Same with Viagra. It's actually a heart medication. It just happened to give guys boners.
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Because when they do it generally becomes one of the advertised effects. Lots of drugs were originally for something else but were later found to be useful for other things.
Lots of medications have positive side effects, depending on the patient. I once got prescribed antidepressants specifically for their sleep-inducing effect (I did also have depression, but many antidepressants don't make you drowsy).
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