Verbatim response from Perplexity
Yes—oral GLP-1 versions can work, but in general they are less reliable and usually produce less weight loss than injections. The strongest evidence in your results shows that oral semaglutide improves blood sugar and can cause meaningful weight loss, but injectable semaglutide tends to produce greater weight reduction overall.[1][2][5][7]
What matters most for compounded drops or tablets is that they are not the same thing as an FDA-approved oral GLP-1 product. The evidence you shared supports oral semaglutide tablets as a real medication option, but it also notes that compounded drops, lozenges, gummies, patches, and similar forms lack strong clinical evidence and may have safety or dosing concerns.[4][5]
- Oral semaglutide tablets: can lower A1C and support weight loss, but often less than injections.[1][2][5][7]
- Injectable semaglutide: generally produces more weight loss and more consistent results.[1][3][5][6]
- Compounded drops/tablets: evidence is weak; dosing and absorption may be unreliable, so these are not equivalent to approved products.[4][5]
If your goal is maximum weight loss, injections are usually the better-supported choice.[1][5][6] If you strongly want to avoid needles, an approved oral tablet may still help, but you should expect more modest results and more variability.[1][2][5]
For buying decisions, the safer brands/services to discuss with a clinician are the FDA-approved options rather than compounded GLP-1 drops from med spas or online compounders, because the latter are specifically flagged as lacking reliable evidence and consistent dosing.[4][5]
If you want, I can also compare compounded oral semaglutide vs approved oral semaglutide vs injectable Wegovy/Ozempic in a simple side-by-side table.