Thinking of switching from Mounjaro?
- AJ Hill Aesthetics
- 5 days ago
- 4 min read
We've all unfortunately seen the hit of the recent price rises of Mounjaro in the UK. With some prices going up by 200%, it's seen a lot of people start to look for more affordable alternatives.
Prices for our alternatives start from £99 per pen/course, depending on which one you choose. So what are the alternatives and how do they work?
The alternatives are all from the same class of medications - they are GLP-1 Receptor Agonists. GLP-1 stands for glucagon-like peptide-1, which is a hormone produced in the gut that plays a crucial role in regulating blood sugar levels, appetite, and digestion.
And what does this mean? Well, they basically mimic a natural hormone that helps satisfy our hunger, causing the same effects as Mounjaro in terms of reducing appetite, reducing cravings by regulating & stabilising your blood sugars, and by slowing down digestion to enable a sense of feeling fuller for longer. All of this leads to clinically proven weight loss.
Wegovy
Active Ingredient: Semaglutide
Each pack includes: 1 pen
Each pack lasts for: 4 weeks / 28 days
Available Doses: 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg, 1.7mg, 2.4mg
Probably one of the most well know weight loss injections is Wegovy. This is a clinically proven, cost-effective alternative to Mounjaro. Working as a GLP-1 Receptor Agonist, Wegovy came to market in 2023. Wegovy, following on from Ozempic's explosive success, carried on setting the world stage alight for weight loss before Mounjaro's release.
Mimicking a natural hormone that helps satisfy our hunger, Wegovy has the same effects as Mounjaro in terms of reducing appetite, reducing cravings by regulating & stabilising your blood sugars, and by slowing down digestion to enable a sense of feeling fuller for longer.
Ozempic
Active Ingredient: Semaglutide
Each pack includes: 1 pen
Each pack lasts for: 4 weeks / 28 days
Available Doses: 0.25mg, 0.5mg, 1mg
The OG weekly injection that took the world by storm when Kim Kardashian and a host of celebrities started to use it. Perhaps the most well known injectable to help aid weight loss prior to Ozempic, this was the one that truly kick-started the worldwide rush to obtain these medications. Demand was so strong that in 2023, there was a global shortage that pushed up prices and led to other alternatives, such as Rybelsus, Trulicity and the OG daily injection, Saxenda.
With the same active ingredient as Wegovy, Ozempic works in the same way. When people first transitioned to Wegovy, some found that Ozempic worked better for them - there was debate if this was psychological (the placebo effect almost?) or was it the case that Ozempic worked differently and agreed with certain people better than Wegovy did? UK reality stars such as Gemma Collins and Kerry Katona enthused about the positive effect the medication had on them and their weight management.
Rybelsus
Active Ingredient: Semaglutide
Each pack includes: 30 tablets
Each pack lasts for: 30 days
Available Doses: 3mg, 7mg, 14mg
The only tablet version of Semaglutide (Ozempic & Wegovy), Rybelsus is licensed for use in the UK for the treatment of Diabetes Type 2, with a secondary effect of weight loss. Like Ozempic and Trulicity, it can be prescribed for weight loss as "off label" by an experienced clinician.
This is an ideal alternative if you are not a fan of injections or needles. Taken once a day, each course of Rybelsus lasts for 30 days (30 tablets per box).
Trulicity
Active Ingredient: Dulaglutide
Each pack includes: 4 pens
Each pack lasts for: 4 weeks / 28 days
Available Doses: 0.75mg, 1.5mg, 3mg, 4.5mg
Trulicity is a lesser know GLP-1 RA but has been on the market for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes for just over 10 years. Released in 2015 by Eli Lilly, the makers of Mounjaro, Trulicity contains dulaglutide and is often seen as Eli Lilly's pre-cursor to Mounjaro. Working in the same manner as Semaglutide, Trulicity offers the cheapest option for a once-a-week GLP-1 RA injectable medication to help aid weight loss.
Each pen of Trulicity contains one dose. This means that each monthly course of Trulicity comes with 4 pens in the box - this is the only GLP-1 RA medication in the UK that comes in this format. The self-sheathing needle provides safety and convenience, as you do not have to attach or detach needles, reducing the risk of a needle-stick injury. All courses of Trulicity come with the relevant size sharps bin for new starters so you can dispose of each pen after use.
Saxenda
Active Ingredient: Liraglutide
Each pack includes: 1 pen
Each pack lasts for: 6 days to 30 days, depending on dose
Available Doses: 0.6mg, 1.2mg, 1.8mg, 2.4mg, 3mg
The official OG weight loss injection, Saxenda, was introduced to the general public single-handedly by a clinician who built up commonly-used term - the SkinnyJab - back in 2017. This brand spread like wildfire, appearing in newspapers, on the news and causing queues outside the Harley Street clinic where the clinician was based.
The daily injectable pen contains 5 different doses all within the same pen, which is why each pen can last anywhere between 6 days and 30 days, depending what dose you are using each day. For example, the first dose of 0.6mg per day can last for 30 days but if you increase the dose, the pen will last for less time. Once you hit the maximum dose of 3mg per day, each pen lasts for 6 days.
It can be a bit of a minefield navigating the myriad of products now available in the UK, which is why it is important to research, complete a full health screening and have access to ongoing advice & support from professionals.
No matter who your current weight loss provider is, switching with us is simple. What's more, you can stay on a higher dose if switching from Mounjaro to an alternative product - no need for you to start at the beginning and risk undoing all of your hard work!
Check out our Treatment Options page for more information.
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