Hims, a telehealth company operating via Hims.com, aims to solve men’s health problems by offering online prescription medication, over-the-counter drugs, and personal care products. Founded in 2017, Hims is a part of Hims & Hers Health, a publicly-traded company (NYSE: HIMS). For women's health needs, the company provides solutions through ForHers.com. Today, Hims offers a variety of medications and treatment options for men seeking to lose weight. This article delves into Hims' weight loss kits, providing a detailed review of their offerings, process, medications, and overall value.
Overview of Hims Weight Loss Program
Hims' weight loss plans start at $69 per month and are available without insurance. The company aims to make it easy for men to get weight loss medication to suppress appetite, burn fat, and achieve long-term weight loss results.
Getting Started with Hims
The process begins with completing the Hims medical intake form, answering questions about health history, lifestyle, and goals 100% online. After submitting the form, a medical professional reviews the intake and determines the appropriate treatment. If prescribed, you’ll get a personalized plan designed to work for you. No in-person visit is required, and you don’t need insurance. Hims ships medicines to your doorstep.
How Hims Helps with Weight Loss
Hims aims to assist with weight loss through custom treatment plans, prescription medication, and over-the-counter products needed to achieve significant weight loss results. Some of the ways Hims helps with weight loss include:
- Science-Backed Medication: Hims offers “prescription weight loss treatment designed to fit you,” including FDA-approved medications proven to work.
- Addressing Underlying Factors: Hims develops a custom treatment plan to address these underlying factors.
- Improving Health: Hims explains, “If you’re at risk for certain medical conditions or concerns, healthy weight loss may help."
- Building a Weight Loss Profile: To start losing weight with Hims, you complete a health profile, which calculates your score to determine your habits.
- Ongoing Support and Dosage Changes: Hims customers enjoy ongoing support and the care team checks in with you to verify the medication is working as intended, adjusting the dose if necessary. You access this ongoing care 100% online and at no additional cost.
Medications Offered by Hims
Hims currently offers several weight loss medications, including both oral medications and GLP-1 injectables. Here are some of the weight loss medications available through Hims and how they work:
Read also: Is Hims Weight Loss Worth It?
Oral Medications
Hims offers personalized oral medication kits that can include a combination of bupropion, metformin, topiramate, vitamin B12, and naltrexone. These medications are taken orally either daily or twice daily depending on your unique goals.
- Bupropion: Bupropion is an FDA-approved treatment for major depressive disorder, although many physicians prescribe it for other conditions - like obesity. Common side effects include anxiety, insomnia, and nervousness. Multiple studies have connected Bupropion to significant weight loss.
- Metformin: Metformin is an FDA-approved medication for controlling blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. However, physicians may prescribe Metformin for weight loss and appetite control. Studies show people with diabetes who are prescribed Metformin tend to lose 2% to 3% of their body weight within the first year of starting the drug. Other studies have connected Metformin to significant weight loss in non-diabetic individuals. It’s thought to work by influencing hormones and molecules that affect hunger.
- Topiramate: Hims offers a compounded version of Topiramate, which means the Topiramate is created at a compounding pharmacy unique to your physiological profile. Compounded Topiramate, like all compounded medication, is not approved by the FDA but is made from FDA-approved ingredients. Topiramate is classified as an anticonvulsant, and it’s primarily used to treat epilepsy and migraines. It’s prescribed off-label for weight loss and is thought to work by reducing appetite and increasing feelings of fullness. Studies have shown a mean weight loss of approximately 5% to 7% after 6 to 12 months of taking 100 mg of topiramate daily.
- Vitamin B12: Vitamin B12 can help with vitamin B12 deficiency, the root cause of many people’s tiredness and poor weight loss. Some Hims medications are compounded formulas with vitamin B12 and weight loss medication, helping to correct vitamin B12 deficiency while promoting weight loss in other ways. Some studies suggest vitamin B12 boosts metabolism, increasing the calories your body burns each day. Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin for red blood cell formation, DNA production, metabolism, and nerve function. Vitamin B12 deficiencies have been linked to obesity and overweight.
- Naltrexone: Hims offers a compounded version of Naltrexone. Like Hims’ compounded Topiramate, Hims’ compounded Naltrexone is made by a compounding pharmacy and customized to your unique physiology. Multiple studies have shown Naltrexone is safe and effective for weight loss in adult patients. Naltrexone is known as an opioid antagonist, and it’s used to treat opioid and alcohol use disorders. It’s combined with bupropion in the brand-name medication CONTRAVE®, which is FDA-approved for chronic weight management in adults with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 or greater, or 27 kg/m2 or greater with at least one weight-related comorbidity. By offering access to naltrexone and bupropion in generic form, Weight Loss by Hims provides affordability without compromising on ingredient quality.
GLP-1 Injectables
Hims & Hers semaglutide injectables contain the same active ingredient as Wegovy and Ozempic, both of which are FDA-approved drugs commonly used for diabetes and weight loss. The injectable is designed to be used once a week as part of a broader weight-loss plan including dietary and lifestyle changes.
Semaglutide works by acting like GLP-1, a hormone your body naturally produces that helps regulate appetite and blood sugar. This helps to decrease appetite and slow stomach emptying.
Hims also offers access to branded GLP-1s, as well as personalized prescription oral medication kits that can include metformin, bupropion, topiramate, vitamin B12, and naltrexone. Taken as a once-daily pill, these medications work in different ways to support your weight loss goals. Your provider will help you find the right medication based on your custom weight loss profile.
Important Considerations for Compounded Drugs
It is crucial to recognize that compounded drugs are not FDA-approved. The FDA does not verify the safety, effectiveness, or quality of compounded drugs. Individual and small-scale compounded drugs are produced with prescriptions at state-licensed 503A compounding facilities like community or hospital pharmacies. Larger quantities of compounded medications can be produced at FDA-registered 503B outsourcing facilities, which can manufacture and distribute pharmaceuticals without individual prescriptions.
Read also: Is Hims weight loss effective?
However, when drugs, such as semaglutide, are listed on the FDA shortage list, some restrictions-like those preventing companies from compounding copies of previously approved drugs-are relaxed.
Unique Features of Hims Weight Loss Program
There are other weight loss companies available today. What makes Hims unique? Here are some of the features that distinguish Hims from competing providers:
- Doctor-Trusted Medications: A licensed provider reviews your profile and determines the best medications to help you achieve your goals.
- Includes Ongoing Support: All Hims customers enjoy ongoing support. You can get answers to questions at any time, for example. Plus, the care team checks in with you to verify the medication is working as intended, adjusting the dose if necessary. You access this ongoing care 100% online and at no additional cost.
- Developed in Partnership with Industry Specialists: Hims developed its weight loss programs in partnership with industry specialists, including certified professionals with decades of weight loss expertise.
- 360-Degree Weight Loss Care: Hims offers 360-degree weight loss care, including nutritional principles, behavioral programs, and custom lessons in the Hims app. You can tackle weight loss from multiple angles using multiple proven strategies.
- Compounded Medication with Multiple Drugs in One: Many Hims customers use multiple weight loss medications for targeted effects. Instead of only taking Topiramate, for example, you might take a compounded weight loss drug featuring a blend of Bupropion, Metformin, Naltrexone, and Topiramate, helping you attack weight loss from multiple angles.
- Assisted by App: Hims offers in-app tools and tracking, making it easier to stick to your weight loss plan and lose real, meaningful weight.
- Support Better Sleep: Hims aims to support sleep to help you lose weight. 90% of hormone production takes place as you sleep. If you’re not sleeping right, then your body’s hormone production could be inhibiting weight loss results.
- No Injections: Instead of injecting yourself with Ozempic and other weight loss drugs, you can lose weight without injections with help from Hims (though they do offer injectable options as well).
The Hims Weight Loss Experience
Weight Loss by Hims involves a simple online intake process, during which a medical provider will evaluate your needs to create a personalized treatment plan.
- Complete an intake questionnaire: It’s 100% online and includes questions about your health history, lifestyle, and weight loss goals.
- A medical provider will review your intake form: The provider will determine the right treatment plan for you. They’ll evaluate your answers and consider if you’re eligible for compounded GLP-1s or oral weight loss medications.
- Receive a personalized treatment plan: If your provider prescribes medication, you’ll receive a personalized treatment plan including unlimited online access to follow-ups and dosage adjustments.
Additional Program Features
- Customized educational content: Hims offers an in-app behavioral program with personalized lessons based on your eating patterns.
- Unlimited online check-ins: When questions arise, Hims offers access to providers that are just an online message away.
- Unlimited dosage adjustments: Your dosage needs may fluctuate during your weight loss journey. With unlimited online dosage adjustments, Hims simplifies the process of weight loss medication management.
Pricing and Affordability
Pricing for weight loss plans starts as low as $69/month (with a 10-mo plan paid upfront) for oral treatments. GLP-1 injectable plans start as low as $199/mo (with a 12-mo plan paid upfront).
Hims doesn’t accept insurance, opting instead to take a straightforward pricing approach that’s available to everyone.
Read also: Comprehensive Hims Weight Loss Program Analysis
Potential Side Effects
Like any prescription medication, weight loss medications from Weight Loss by Hims may cause side effects in some people. It’s common to experience some side effects like nausea and upset stomach as your body adjusts to the medication. They're usually temporary and are easier to manage when you know what to do.
To help your body adjust, a fast-acting anti-nausea medication is included with treatment at no extra cost, if eligible.
Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Hims is one of the internet’s best-known telehealth companies and online medication providers. The company has thousands of reviews from men across the United States who have successfully lost weight using Hims medication and over-the-counter solutions.
Reddit communities tend to have good reviews for Hims, finding the company’s weight loss medications worked as advertised to provide significant results with minimal hassle. One Redditor claims he lost 10lbs in just under a month while taking a combination of Bupropion, Metformin, Naltrexone, and Topiramate prescribed by Hims.
Many customers have praised Hims for its ease of use. Complete an online quiz to build your health profile, then get the weight loss medication and treatment program you need to achieve powerful results.
Many customers are also satisfied with the price they paid with Hims. With plans starting at $79 per month and up, it’s one of the more affordable treatment options among major weight loss firms.
Hims customers also tend to have good things to say about the medications they received. Instead of receiving one type of weight loss medication, for example, many people take compounded weight loss medication with multiple active drugs, helping them lose weight more effectively in various ways.
Hims’ weight loss programs have also attracted attention from major media. For example, the Los Angeles Times praised Hims for offering competitively-priced weight loss plans.
Examples of Customer Experiences
- 20 lbs lost in 6 months: "I chose Hims because it seemed to have the full package of what I was looking for - the weight loss supplement at a reasonable price, a doctor or nurse practitioner I can meet with regularly whenever I needed to."
- 34 lbs lost in 7 months: "I have no regrets starting the treatment other than I wish that I would have started it sooner. The cost for the medication has absolutely been worth the results I have seen so far."
- 33 lbs lost in 8 months: "I went from XL shirts to Medium. Just amazing. It was a wild feeling to never have that urge to snack or want a second helping. The other impact? I have more energy than ever."
- 52 lbs lost in 6 months: "I chose Hims because I had reached a point where I knew I needed help beyond just diet and exercise. I was drawn to the accessibility, transparency, and ease of their program."
- One customer shared, "I can hardly contain my excitement about the medications I’ve been prescribed from Hims. I tell everybody. I’m on an oral weight loss medication (medication kit #2) and the results are nothing short of amazing. My wife and I are both on the medication and in nine months we’ve both lost slightly over 25% of our original weight (yes we were large). I’m confident in the medical team helping me, they are quick to respond and are very helpful with additional advice and support. The cost of their products is the best by far saving $45 a month from my wife’s previous supply chain. I’m shouting it from the rooftops!"
Negative Feedback
Some customers have reported negative experiences, including issues with customer service, incorrect prescriptions, and difficulties obtaining refunds.
- One customer stated, "I ordered the weight loss stuff from Hims. Never spoke to a doctor, but they charged me $690 anyways. My doctor told me not to take it, so I tried to contact them to cancel my order. I could not get in touch with a human for two days and when I did, they told me it might be too late to cancel my order and get a refund… They sent me a product I COULD NOT TAKE, I sent it back and they have YET to issue a refund. They have straight up stolen money from me!"
- Another customer shared a concern about hair loss: "This product sent me into a down spiral, hair wise, and I am so worse off!! During your time in the treatment, you are expected to lose hair in order for it to return, but guys…this went way past hair loss. This product seems to take all your hair away and then bring in new hairs that are dependent upon the treatment."
- Some users have expressed dissatisfaction with the effectiveness of certain products, such as hair restoration treatments and anxiety medication.
It's important to consider both positive and negative feedback when evaluating Hims' weight loss kits.
Hims Weight Loss vs. Competitors
- Hims vs. Found: Hims and Found both offer GLP-1s and oral weight loss medications, along with educational materials to support healthy weight loss. Found offers a wider variety of medications, including multiple GLP-1s (compounded semaglutide, tirzepatide, dulaglutide, and liraglutide), along with oral zonisamide, which Hims doesn’t offer.
- Hims vs. Roman: Hims and Roman offers compounded semaglutide injections for weight loss with unlimited ongoing clinician support. However, unlike Hims, Roman doesn’t offer access to oral weight loss medications or supplemental health education.
- Hims vs. Zealthy: Zealthy offers access to compounded semaglutide, tirzepatide, dulaglutide, and liraglutide, making it a good option for individuals interested in GLP-1s other than semaglutide. Zealthy also accepts insurance, so it may be affordable for people with coverage that includes weight loss treatment. However, with Zealthy, the cost of medication isn’t included in the $135 monthly plan cost, so Hims may be more affordable, especially for people without insurance.
Is Hims Weight Loss Right for You?
Weight Loss by Hims may be a suitable option for individuals seeking a convenient, affordable weight loss program with access to medications, including compounded GLP-1 injections and oral weight loss medications. Hims’ holistic approach to weight loss considers all of the factors that could be impacting your ability to reach a healthy weight, including your body chemistry, health history, nutrition, mental health, movement, and sleep quality. This provides a well-rounded path forward to promote long-lasting weight loss.
As a science-backed weight loss program that’s been developed by experts, your unique treatment plan is designed to support healthy, sustainable results.
Factors to Consider
- Accessibility and Convenience: Hims provides a convenient, accessible option for people seeking clinical weight loss support. The online consultation process and medication delivery are particularly appealing for those with busy schedules.
- Personalized Treatment Plans: Hims accommodates different needs with personalized, doctor-developed treatment plans. After gathering detailed health information during the intake process, your provider will tailor your treatment strategy to suit your body, goals, and lifestyle.
- Ongoing Support and Adjustments: Weight loss is an evolving process, so Weight Loss by Hims provides unlimited online check-ins and dosage adjustments. If you experience side effects or need to tweak your dosage at any point along the way, Hims makes it simple to access professional support.
- Cost: Hims offers transparent pricing and affordable options, particularly for those without insurance coverage for weight loss treatments.