Prescription Weight-Loss Medication Guides
Explore 25 guides covering medication options, comparisons, cost, and safety. Use them to understand terminology and prepare questions for a qualified prescriber.
These guides provide general information, not a prescription or an assessment of your eligibility. A clinician who knows your health history can discuss whether treatment is appropriate. Some guides discuss off-label use or safety concerns; inclusion here is not a recommendation to use a product.
Browse medication guides
- GLP-1 Weight Loss Medications Overview
GLP-1 weight loss medications — semaglutide, tirzepatide, and the newer options — deliver 15–22% average loss in trials. Here's how they work, who they fit, and what to expect.
- Semaglutide for Weight Loss
Semaglutide for weight loss: ~14.9% avg loss in STEP-1 at 68 weeks. Dosing, safety, cost, and how it compares to tirzepatide.
- Wegovy for Weight Loss
Wegovy (semaglutide 2.4 mg) for chronic weight management — how it works, ~15% STEP-1 loss at 68 weeks, side effects, cost, and rebound risk.
- Ozempic Side Effects: Common Side Effects and Adverse Effects
A clear guide to the common side effects of Ozempic—nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal pain, and decreased appetite—and the more serious adverse effects to watch for, including pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, and kidney injury.
- Ozempic for Weight Loss: What to Know
Ozempic (semaglutide) for weight loss — how the diabetes GLP-1 works off-label, expected results vs Wegovy, side effects, cost, and safety.
- Phentermine for Weight Loss
Phentermine is a DEA Schedule IV appetite suppressant that produces roughly 5–10% weight loss over 12 weeks — still the most-prescribed oral obesity drug in the US in 2026 because it costs $15–$40 a month generic. Here is who it fits, the 12-week-rule reality, how it stacks up against GLP-1s, and the cardiovascular monitoring that has to come with it.
- Tirzepatide for Weight Loss
Tirzepatide is a dual GIP/GLP-1 medication that supports weight loss; explore benefits, risks, and expectations.
- Zepbound for Weight Loss: Cost, Results, Side Effects
Zepbound (tirzepatide) for chronic weight management: average results, monthly cost, side effects, candidacy, and how it compares to other GLP-1 drugs.
- Mounjaro for Weight Loss: 15-21% Loss in 72-Week Trials
Mounjaro (tirzepatide) is a prescription GIP/GLP-1 injection that produced 15-21% average weight loss over 72 weeks in the SURMOUNT trials.
- Semaglutide vs Tirzepatide
Semaglutide vs tirzepatide: ~14.9% vs ~20.9% avg loss in pivotal trials, plus SURMOUNT-5 head-to-head, cost, side effects, and who each fits.
- Ozempic vs Wegovy: Key Differences Explained
Ozempic vs Wegovy: same molecule (semaglutide) at different max doses—2 mg (T2D) vs 2.4 mg (weight loss). Cost, coverage, and side effects.
- Mounjaro vs Zepbound: Same Drug, Two Brands, Different Insurance in 2026
Mounjaro and Zepbound are both tirzepatide from Eli Lilly, in the same pen at the same doses. The real differences are FDA indication, insurance coverage, and cash-pay pricing in 2026.
- GLP-1 Medications Compared: 2026 Guide
Compare Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound by approved use, dose, trial results, safety, and practical 2026 questions to discuss with a clinician.
- GLP-1 Cost and Insurance Coverage in 2026: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound
What GLP-1 weight loss medications actually cost in 2026, what insurance covers, manufacturer savings programs, compound vs brand pricing, and how telehealth changes the math.
- GLP-1 Microdosing: What It Is, Who Does It, and What the Evidence Says
GLP-1 microdosing uses 1/4 to 1/8 of the labeled semaglutide or tirzepatide dose, usually for cost, side-effect tolerance, recomposition, or maintenance. Here's what the evidence actually shows, what it does not, and how to think about it honestly in 2026.
- Compounded Semaglutide and Tirzepatide in 2026: Safety, Legality, and Quality After the Shortage Ended
Compounded semaglutide and tirzepatide were legal during the 2022–2024 FDA shortages, but both drugs came off the shortage list in late 2024 and mass-produced compounded copies are no longer legal under Section 503A except for narrow clinical-need exceptions. Here is the honest 2026 picture on safety, legality, quality, and how to evaluate a compounding pharmacy.
- Rebound Weight Gain After Stopping GLP-1: What to Expect and How to Minimize It
In the STEP-1 extension, patients regained about two-thirds of lost weight within 1 year of stopping semaglutide — but planned tapering, lifestyle anchoring, and maintenance dosing each meaningfully change the outcome.
- Food Noise: What It Is, Why GLP-1s Quiet It, and What Helps If You're Not on One
Food noise is the intrusive, repetitive thinking about food that GLP-1s famously quiet — here is what it is, why the drugs reduce it, and what evidence-based habits help when medication is not an option.
- Bariatric Surgery vs GLP-1: Cost, Weight Loss %, and When Each Wins
An honest, evidence-based comparison of bariatric surgery and GLP-1 medications — average weight loss, durability, cost, side effects, and who each is best for.
- Prescription Weight Loss Medications
Prescription weight loss medications — GLP-1s, phentermine, Qsymia, Contrave, and orlistat — compared on efficacy, cost, side effects, and fit.
- Weight Loss Drug Safety
Weight loss drug safety — GLP-1s, phentermine, Contrave, and Qsymia carry different risks. Side effects, monitoring, and red flags in one guide.
- Saxenda (Liraglutide 3 mg) for Weight Loss: Where the First FDA-Approved GLP-1 Fits After Wegovy and Zepbound
Saxenda (liraglutide 3 mg) delivers roughly 6–8% weight loss over 56 weeks — the FDA benchmark that opened the modern obesity-drug era in 2014, but roughly 40% of what semaglutide 2.4 mg delivers and 30% of tirzepatide 15 mg. It remains the only GLP-1 FDA-approved for adolescents 12+ and holds a legitimate niche when Wegovy or Zepbound are unavailable, contraindicated, or uncovered.
- Contrave (Naltrexone-Bupropion) for Weight Loss: What It Does, Who It Fits, and Where It Falls Short
Contrave (naltrexone-bupropion) delivers roughly 5–6% placebo-adjusted weight loss over 56 weeks — clinically useful, roughly half of semaglutide 2.4 mg and one-third of tirzepatide 15 mg — with a real seizure risk, an opioid-antagonism liability, and a boxed suicidal-behaviour warning inherited from bupropion.
- Qsymia (Phentermine-Topiramate) for Weight Loss: How the Combination Works and Why It Delivers More Than Phentermine Alone
Qsymia (phentermine-topiramate) delivers roughly 9–11% placebo-adjusted weight loss over 56 weeks — best-in-class of the pre-GLP-1 orals, about 80% of semaglutide 2.4 mg and roughly half of tirzepatide 15 mg — with a REMS teratogenicity program, a real cognitive burden inherited from topiramate, and a DEA Schedule IV constraint inherited from phentermine.
- Orlistat for Weight Loss: Uses, Results, and Side Effects
Learn how orlistat (Xenical or Alli) works, expected weight-loss results, common side effects, and safety considerations before considering treatment.