Yes, Contrave works for some people. Across four 56-week trials, more participants taking it reached a 5 percent weight reduction than those on placebo, though average losses were modest. telos rx does not sell Contrave, and separately offers a compounded oral GLP-1.
Search "does Contrave work" and most of what comes back is opinion: star ratings, message boards, before-and-after posts. The real answer sits in registration trials with published endpoints, published dropout rates and a published list of what they did not settle.
What Contrave Is Before We Ask Whether It Works
Contrave is an FDA-approved, brand-name extended-release tablet combining naltrexone hydrochloride and bupropion hydrochloride, marketed by Currax Pharmaceuticals. The prescribing information indicates it alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, in adults with obesity or overweight plus at least one weight-related comorbid condition.
Contrave is not a GLP-1 medication. It does not act on GLP-1 receptors, and works on appetite regulation and reward signalling instead. That distinction is covered in Is Contrave a GLP-1?, the mechanism in What Is Contrave?.
The COR Programme: Four Trials, 4,536 Randomised Participants
The evidence base is the CONTRAVE Obesity Research programme: COR-I, COR-II, COR-BMOD and COR-Diabetes. All four ran 56 weeks, double-blind and placebo-controlled, and together randomised 4,536 patients.
COR-I, COR-II and COR-BMOD enrolled adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 or above with hypertension or dyslipidaemia. COR-Diabetes enrolled adults above a BMI of 27 with type 2 diabetes not at goal.
Every trial used the same two co-primary endpoints: percent change from baseline body weight, and the proportion of patients losing at least 5 percent of body weight.
What the Trials Reported
| Trial | Population | Mean change, drug | Mean change, placebo | At least 5 percent loss (drug vs placebo) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| COR-I | Obesity, or overweight with a comorbidity | -5.4% | -1.3% | 42 vs 17 |
| COR-II | Same criteria | -6.4% | -1.2% | 50.5 vs 17.1 |
| COR-BMOD | Same criteria, plus 28 group sessions for all arms | -8.1% | -4.9% | 57 vs 43 |
| COR-Diabetes | Type 2 diabetes above target | -3.7% | -1.7% | 36 vs 18 |
COR-I, COR-BMOD and COR-Diabetes figures come from the intent-to-treat analysis in the prescribing information, COR-II from its published trial report.
One honest wrinkle: the COR-I paper reported -6.1 percent where the label reports -5.4 percent, using a different analysis population. Anyone quoting a single Contrave figure should say which analysis produced it.
How Much of That Was the Drug and How Much Was the Programme
Every arm in every COR trial received a lifestyle intervention. COR-I and COR-II prescribed a roughly 500 kcal per day reduction with counselling and activity, and COR-BMOD layered 28 group sessions on top.
Read the placebo columns again and the point lands. In COR-BMOD the placebo group lost about as much as the drug group did in COR-I, because the behavioural programme was doing real work.
The drug effect is the gap between the columns, not the whole number. The prescribing information reports that placebo-adjusted difference as 4.1 percentage points in COR-I, 3.2 in COR-BMOD, where lifestyle support was strongest, and 2.0 in COR-Diabetes. The COR-II gap, from its published report, was wider than any of them.
If you are weighing oral options, telos rx does not offer Contrave. It offers a different route: a compounded oral GLP-1 taken as a daily sublingual dose, which is not FDA-approved and is prescribed only after review by a licensed provider.
See the oral GLP-1 optionAverages Are Not a Forecast for Any Individual
A mean of -5.4 percent does not mean a typical person lost 5.4 percent. It is the average of a spread that included large losses, no loss at all, and gains.
The responder figures make that spread visible. In COR-I, 42 percent of the drug group reached a 5 percent loss and 21 percent reached 10 percent, so most participants on the drug did not reach 10 percent. Response varies widely between individuals, and no trial average predicts what one reader will experience.
The label builds that variability into prescribing: it directs prescribers to evaluate response after 12 weeks at the maintenance dosage and to discontinue if the patient has not lost at least 5 percent of baseline body weight. That is label fact, not medical guidance, and dosing decisions belong to a prescriber. The four-week titration is covered in Contrave dosing.
What the Trials Did Not Establish
An evidence review has to include the gaps, and the label names one. Under Limitations of Use, the prescribing information states that the effect of Contrave on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality has not been established. Weight and metabolic markers were the endpoints, not cardiac events.
Retention was also a limitation. Roughly 45 percent of the placebo group and 46 percent of the Contrave group withdrew before week 56, and about 24 percent of Contrave patients stopped because of an adverse reaction against 12 percent on placebo. Attrition at that level makes results sensitive to how missing data are handled.
There is also no head-to-head trial being cited here. GLP-1 obesity trials have reported larger average reductions than the COR programme did, but those are separate trials in different populations under different protocols, so setting the two sets of numbers side by side is not a valid comparison. Contrave has never been tested directly against semaglutide or tirzepatide.
The Boxed Warning Is Part of the Answer
Contrave carries a boxed warning for suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Bupropion is the same active ingredient found in antidepressants including Wellbutrin, and antidepressants increased the risk of suicidal thinking and behavior in children, adolescents and young adults in short-term trials. The label instructs that patients of all ages be monitored closely for the emergence or worsening of those thoughts. Contrave is not approved for use in paediatric patients. If you or someone close to you is having thoughts of suicide, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is available in the US by call or text.
The COR trials themselves did not report an increase in depression or suicidality events versus placebo. Both facts belong together, and neither cancels the other. Contraindications include uncontrolled hypertension, seizure disorder, bulimia or anorexia nervosa, chronic opioid use and recent MAOI use. Full detail sits in Contrave side effects and the boxed warning, and the bupropion overlap in Contrave vs Wellbutrin.
Where telos rx Fits, and Where It Does Not
telos rx does not sell, prescribe or supply Contrave. If Contrave is what you want, that is a conversation with your own prescriber. Cost sits in Contrave cost with and without insurance, and the pill-by-pill picture in Contrave vs Qsymia vs phentermine.
telos rx offers a different oral option: compounded sublingual semaglutide or tirzepatide, held under the tongue for roughly 60 to 90 seconds then swallowed, with ondansetron included. Sublingual absorption is lower than an injection, and the provider accounts for that when setting a dose.
One asymmetry deserves stating plainly: Contrave is FDA-approved and the telos rx compounded oral GLP-1 is not. Compounded medications are prepared by licensed US compounding pharmacies under federal compounding regulations, without the FDA's own review of safety and effectiveness. On regulatory status that is a genuine point in Contrave's favour. How the classes differ is set out in how GLP-1 medications work and oral versus injectable GLP-1s.
telos rx is online-first and asynchronous: you complete a written intake and a licensed provider reviews it without a scheduled appointment. Eligibility on the product page starts at a BMI of 30 or higher, or 27 or higher with a weight-related condition. As of publication, pricing starts from $9 a day on the 3-month prepaid plan, with the online visit, expedited shipping and ondansetron included. All of it is subject to medical approval by a licensed provider, and approval is not guaranteed.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Contrave work for weight loss?
In four 56-week placebo-controlled trials, Contrave produced greater average weight reduction than placebo, and more participants reached a 5 percent loss. Mean reductions ran from about 3.7 to 8.1 percent depending on the trial. It beat placebo on average, and it did not work for everyone in those trials.
How much weight do people lose on Contrave?
Trial averages ran from roughly 3.7 percent in COR-Diabetes to 8.1 percent in COR-BMOD, where every arm also received intensive behavioural counselling. Those are averages across a wide spread of outcomes in a studied population, not a prediction for any one person. Individual response varies substantially.
How long does Contrave take to work?
The prescribing information directs prescribers to evaluate response after 12 weeks at the maintenance dosage, and to discontinue if the patient has not lost at least 5 percent of baseline body weight. That is a label instruction to prescribers, reported as fact rather than guidance. Decisions belong to a licensed provider.
Does Contrave work as well as Ozempic or Wegovy?
No head-to-head trial has compared them, so no valid answer exists in that form. GLP-1 obesity trials have reported larger average reductions than the COR programme, but those were separate trials in different populations under different protocols, which makes a side-by-side reading of the numbers unreliable.
Why does Contrave not work for some people?
The trials do not fully answer this. Response varied widely within every arm, and roughly 45 percent of participants withdrew before week 56, with about 24 percent of the Contrave group stopping because of an adverse reaction. The label's 12-week response check exists because non-response is common.
Is Contrave a GLP-1 medication?
No. Contrave combines naltrexone, an opioid antagonist, with bupropion, an aminoketone antidepressant. It does not act on GLP-1 receptors at all, and belongs to a different pharmacological class than semaglutide or tirzepatide. This is one of the most common misunderstandings about the medication.
TelosRX is LegitScript-certified. Compounded medications are not FDA-approved and are prepared under federal compounding regulations. Approval is subject to evaluation by a licensed provider; approval is not guaranteed. Individual results vary. TelosRX operates as an online-first, asynchronous telehealth service.
If this has helped you think about Contrave more clearly, take it to a prescriber who can assess whether it suits you. If you would rather consider a different oral route, telos rx offers a compounded oral GLP-1, which is not Contrave and is not FDA-approved: see the oral GLP-1 product page, then complete the written intake to start an oral GLP-1 online visit. A licensed provider reviews every request, and approval is not guaranteed.