The dangerous weight loss drug that went viral on Russian TikTok

Molecule, a pill promising rapid weight loss, went viral on Russian TikTok earlier this year.

Young people’s feeds began to be filled with captions such as “Take Molecule and forget food exists” and “Want to sit in the back of class in clothes that are too big?”

The clips show refrigerators lined with blue boxes with holograms and “Molecule Plus” labels.

Orders began to pile in as teenagers shared their “weight loss journeys” on social media.

But there was a catch.

Maria, 22, had bought the pill from a popular online retailer. She took two pills a day and after two weeks she says her mouth went dry and she completely lost her appetite.

“I had absolutely no desire to eat, let alone drink. I was nervous. I was constantly biting my lips and chewing my cheeks.”

Maria developed severe anxiety and started having negative thoughts. “These pills had a profound effect on my psyche,” she says.

Maria, who lives in St. Petersburg, says she was not prepared for such severe side effects.

Other TikTok users have mentioned dilated pupils, tremors and insomnia. At least three students are reported to have ended up in hospital.

In April, a schoolgirl in Chita, Siberia, needed hospital care after overdosing on Molecule. According to local reports, she was trying to lose weight quickly in time for the summer.

The mother of another student told local media that her daughter was admitted to intensive care after taking several pills at once.

And in May, a 13-year-old boy from St. Petersburg needed hospital care after experiencing hallucinations and panic attacks. He reportedly asked a friend to buy him the pill because he was teased at school about his weight.

Molecule pill packages often list “natural ingredients” such as dandelion root and fennel seed extract.

But earlier this year, journalists from the Russian newspaper Izvestia submitted pills they had bought online for testing and found they contained a substance called sibutramine.

Originally used as an antidepressant in the 1980s and later as an appetite suppressant, studies later found that sibutramine increased the risk of heart attacks and strokes — while only slightly promoting weight loss.

It was banned in the US in 2010 and still is illegal in the UKEU, China and other countries.

In Russia, it is still used to treat obesity, but it is only available to adults and by prescription.

Buying and selling sibutramine without a prescription is a criminal offence. But that doesn’t stop individuals and small businesses from selling it online — often in higher doses than legal drugs — and without a prescription.

The unlicensed pills cost around £6-7 ($8-9) for a 20-day supply – much cheaper than recognized weight-loss injections such as Ozempic, which on the Russian market sell for £40-160 ($50-210) per monthly pen.

“Self-use of this drug is very dangerous,” says endocrinologist Ksenia Solovyova from St. Petersburg, warning of potential risks of overdose, “because we do not know what amount of the active ingredient such ‘food supplements’ may contain.”

Russians regularly receive prison sentences for buying and reselling Molecule pills. But authorities are finding it difficult to get a grip on drugs that are being sold illegally.

In April, the government-backed Safer Internet League reported a growing trend involving young people to authorities – prompting several major online marketplaces to remove Molecule from sale. But it soon started appearing online under a new name, Atom, in almost identical packaging.

A law was recently passed that allows authorities to block websites selling “unregistered dietary supplements” without a court order – but the sellers are getting around this by categorizing them as “sports nutrition” instead.

On TikTok, you can find retailers selling Molecule under ads that appear to be for muesli, crackers, and even light bulbs. And some retailers don’t even try to hide it anymore.

A few weeks ago, the BBC found Molecule listings on a popular Russian online marketplace. When reached for comment, the site said it had immediately removed all products containing sibutramine. But he acknowledged that it was difficult to find and remove ads that did not specifically mention sibutramine.

If you manage to get your hands on Molecule, it’s hard to know exactly what you’re getting — and it’s unclear where the pills are made.

The BBC found some sellers with manufacturing certificates from factories in Guangzhou and Henan, China. Others claim to source the pills from Germany.

Some packages indicated they were made in Remagen in Germany, but the BBC found that there was no such company at the address given.

Some Kazakh traders selling Molecule to Russians told the BBC they bought goods from friends or warehouses in the capital Astana, but could not name the original supplier.

• Details of eating disorder support in the UK can be found at BBC Action Line

Meanwhile, online eating disorder communities have become places to promote Molecule, with users relying on hashtags and code terms to navigate moderation.

Ms Solovyova says Molecule is particularly harmful when taken by young people who already have eating disorders. For those in or near relapse, a readily available appetite suppressant can be seriously dangerous, she says.

Anna Enina, a Russian influencer with millions of followers who herself admitted to using unlicensed diet pills in the past, publicly warned her subscribers: “As someone who has struggled with an eating disorder… the consequences will be terrible. You will regret it tenfold.”

Twenty-two-year-old Maria suffered bad side effects and is one of those who regret it. After taking too many Molecule pills, she was sent to hospital.

Now she is discouraging other young women and girls from taking pills on weight loss forums. She even contacted the parents of one teenager to warn them.

But Molecule remains popular online.

And every video that appears on Maria’s TikTok feed is a reminder of the pills that made her sick.