Erica Liebman wanted to lose weight, but she was nervous to try a drug like Ozempic. Ms. Liebmanmoonrich88, a psychologist in Philadelphia, had heard horror stories of side effects — nausea, vomiting, intense constipation.

So Ms. Liebman turned to a solution that, despite limited evidence, seems to be growing more popular: “microdosing” weight loss drugs, or taking very small amounts.

To consumers like Ms. Liebman, microdosing is a hack: a way to lose weight while sidestepping unpleasant side effects from standard doses. On social media platforms like Reddit and TikTok, people post their personalized dosing schedules and share supposed results.

Ms. Liebman learned about the idea when she heard Tyna Moore, a health influencer, speak on a podcast about microdosing Ozempic. Ms. Moore has promoted microdosing not just for weight loss but to help with a range of conditions, including high blood pressure, autoimmune diseases and brain fog. In an interview, Ms. Moore said that nearly 500 people have enrolled in her online course, “Ozempic Done Right University,” which costs more than $2,000 and includes advice on microdosing.

The question now: Is microdosing a gimmick, or does it actually work?

At this point, doctors aren’t sure. Theoretically, these medications are so potent that perhaps even tiny doses could curb hunger somewhat, said Dr. Daniel Drucker, a researcher at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto and one of the first scientists to study medications like Ozempic. Many who promote microdosing online claim that the small doses are enough to help them lose a few pounds and quiet their cravings. Others claim microdosing helps them keep off the weight they lost while taking standard doses of weight loss drugs.

Ozempic, Zepbound and other new diabetes and weight loss drugs follow a titration schedule: patients start on a low dose, and then work their way up to larger amounts over several weeks. But there’s very little data to suggest taking even smaller doses (say, 0.05 milligram, compared to a standard 0.25 milligram starting dose of Ozempic) can lead to weight loss or help maintain it.

Agency officials said they had filed an administrative complaint, which is not yet public, that accuses the P.B.M.s of distorting competition and harming consumers. The agency is seeking to prohibit the benefit managers from favoring medicines because those drugs make them more money.

The clear lesson of the supply chain upheavals that accompanied the pandemic was that the longer the journey entailed in making any product, the greater the chance that something might go awry, inflicting delay and higher costs.

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