Jump to: What’s the difference between Wegovy and Rybelsus? | Do you lose more weight on Wegovy or Rybelsus? | What are the disadvantages of oral semaglutide (Rybelsus)? | Take home message
Rybelsus is the tablet form of Wegovy. Rybelsus and Wegovy contain the same active ingredient (semaglutide) to lower hunger and support weight loss.
Rybelsus is only available in the UK for people living with type 2 diabetes and isn’t available off-label for weight loss.
Meanwhile, Wegovy is approved for weight loss and type 2 diabetes in the UK.
However, Novo Nordisk recently announced that it plans to seek approval from U.S. and European regulators for a higher dose of Rybelsus for weight loss.
Recent research has suggested that Rybelsus 50mg might be as effective as Wegovy on weight loss after one year without the need for a weekly injection.
Medication-assisted weight loss with a future focus
Start with Wegovy or Mounjaro, transition to habit-based health with our support
What’s the difference between Wegovy and Rybelsus?
Wegovy and Rybelsus contain the same active ingredient called semaglutide.
Semaglutide is in a class of medications called GLP-1 receptor agonists that mimic the hormone GLP-1 to lower hunger and blood sugar levels and support weight loss.
The main difference between Wegovy and Rybelsus is the form you take. Wegovy is a weekly injection, while Rybelsus is a weekly pill. They also have different dosing volumes and schedules.
Rybelsus and Wegovy dosing schedules:
Do you lose more weight on Wegovy or Rybelsus?
Wegovy leads to more weight loss than Rybelsus based on research on the currently available doses.
Research shows that Wegovy can support weight loss of around 16% after one year.
A randomised controlled trial on Rybelsus found that the 10mg dose led to a weight loss of just over 5% after 26 weeks of treatment. Other studies on Rybelsus have found similar results.
In the abovementioned trial, Wegovy achieved around 11% weight loss by 26 weeks, 6% more than Rybelsus.
Interestingly, researchers have been investigating higher doses of Rybelsus, up to 50mg per day, and found it can support weight loss of over 20% after 68 weeks.
So, if higher doses of Rybelsus are approved and come to market, Wegovy and Rybelsus would lead to similar weight loss results after one year.
But based on the currently available doses, Wegovy is a more effective weight-loss medication than Rybelsus.
It’s important to note that Rybelsus is only available for people living with type 2 diabetes in the UK as of December 2023. However, Rybelsus may be approved as a weight-loss medication in the future.
What are the disadvantages of oral semaglutide (Rybelsus)?
Rybelsus has a safety profile similar to Wegovy’s. The main side effects of the medication are GI-related, like nausea and constipation.
Research shows that 92% of participants taking Rybelsus reported experiencing an adverse GI-related side effect. With Wegovy, around 86% of participants will experience an adverse side effect at least once.
Another consideration is adherence. Remembering to take a tablet daily can be challenging, particularly if you live a busy lifestyle.
Whilst most people report preferring an oral medication like Rybelsus over an injectable medication like Wegovy, one study found that after receiving education on the different medications available, and how they were administered, as many participants were open to an injectable medication as an oral one.
Take home message
Weight-loss injections are designed as additional tools for healthy lifestyle change and shouldn’t be considered as lifelong medications.
Instead, they should be used to help you kickstart your weight-loss journey whilst you focus on building new, healthy habits.
Consider the use of antidepressants for people living with depression. They’re not designed to cure the condition. Instead, they’re designed to allow room for therapy to treat the condition’s underlying cause.
Mounjaro and Wegovy are similar. These medications can help silence food-related thoughts and also give you a boost of confidence with more immediate weight-loss results.
This helps to buy you the time and headspace to understand why your body may have struggled to lose weight previously, and to build new long-term healthy habits.
The core focus of our medication programmes are to calm down the feeling of food noise, lower your cravings, and to allow you to build healthier habits to keep the weight off for good.
The ultimate goal is to make losing weight feel second nature.
Second Nature’s medication-supported programmes
Second Nature has two medication-supported programmes: a Wegovy weight-loss programme and a Mounjaro weight-loss programme.
If you’ve made the decision to try Wegovy or Mounjaro (assuming you’re eligible), why should you choose Second Nature over other medication providers?
For peace of mind.
Second Nature has worked with the NHS for over 6 years providing weight-loss programmes across the UK.
Whilst our Wegovy and Mounjaro weight-loss programmes are private and not currently used by the NHS, we’ve built the programmes with a focus on scientific evidence, patient safety, and data security.
We hope that our 6+ years of working with the NHS and building a track record of effective weight-loss results will give you peace of mind to give us a try.
