Hims is a telehealth company that sells prescription medications for four main health concerns: erectile dysfunction, hair loss, anxiety and depression, and weight loss. All medications require an online consultation with a licensed provider before they’re prescribed, and they’re shipped directly to your door.
Erectile Dysfunction Medications
Sexual health is the category Hims is best known for. The platform prescribes two primary medications for erectile dysfunction: sildenafil (the active ingredient in Viagra) and tadalafil (the active ingredient in Cialis). Both work by increasing blood flow, but they differ in how long they last and when you take them.
Sildenafil is typically taken 30 to 60 minutes before sex and lasts four to six hours. It’s available in doses ranging from 25mg to 100mg, with most people starting at 50mg. Your provider may adjust the dose up or down depending on how well it works and whether you experience side effects. The most common ones are headache, indigestion, and back pain.
Tadalafil can be taken the same way (before sex), but it’s also available as a lower daily dose. Taking it every day means you don’t have to plan around timing. In clinical trials of the daily 5mg dose, about 4% of users reported headaches and roughly 2% experienced indigestion or back pain. These side effects are generally mild.
Hims also prescribes sertraline for premature ejaculation. This medication is better known as an antidepressant, but one of its side effects, delayed climax, makes it useful for PE when taken at low doses.
Hair Loss Treatments
The main pill Hims offers for hair loss is finasteride, a once-daily tablet that slows and can reverse male pattern baldness. It works by blocking an enzyme that converts testosterone into a hormone called DHT. DHT is the primary driver of hair follicle shrinkage in men who are genetically prone to thinning hair. By lowering DHT levels, finasteride gives weakened follicles a chance to recover and produce thicker strands.
Results take patience. In the first one to three months, the drug is working internally to lower DHT, but you won’t see visible changes. Some people even notice a brief shedding phase as weaker hairs fall out to make room for new growth. Between three and six months, hair loss typically slows noticeably, and you may see early signs of regrowth around thinning spots. Real, visible improvement usually shows up around the six-month mark, but the medication reaches its full effect after about a year of consistent daily use. Stopping the pill means DHT levels rise again and hair loss resumes.
Side effects are uncommon but worth knowing about. In a large four-year study, 8.1% of finasteride users reported erectile difficulties in the first year compared to 3.7% on placebo. Reduced sex drive affected about 6.4% versus 3.4% on placebo. Notably, these differences leveled out after the first year, with both groups reporting similar rates by years two through four.
Hims also offers topical and oral minoxidil, which works differently. Rather than blocking hormones, minoxidil widens blood vessels in the scalp, improving circulation to hair follicles and extending the growth phase of each hair. Some providers prescribe both medications together for a more aggressive approach.
Anxiety and Depression Medications
Hims connects users with psychiatry providers who treat low to moderate cases of anxiety and depression. The medications prescribed are standard, well-established antidepressants, primarily SSRIs. These include sertraline (Zoloft), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac), and paroxetine (Paxil). For cases where an SSRI isn’t the right fit, providers may prescribe SNRIs like duloxetine or venlafaxine, which work on two brain chemicals instead of one.
These medications typically take four to six weeks to reach their full effect. The consultation process for mental health on Hims can involve both asynchronous messaging (you answer questions on your own time) and live appointments, depending on your needs. Psychiatry providers assess, screen, and diagnose before prescribing anything.
Weight Loss Medications
Hims has entered the weight loss market with several oral medication options. These include metformin, a diabetes drug used off-label that works by reducing appetite and altering the gut microbiome. Topiramate, originally an epilepsy medication, is another option that can suppress appetite and change the brain’s food-related reward pathways. Bupropion, an antidepressant, is sometimes included as part of a broader weight loss plan.
Hims has also marketed compounded GLP-1 products, which mimic the class of drugs that includes semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy). However, this area is under significant regulatory scrutiny. The FDA announced its intent to take action against companies, including Hims, that mass-market compounded GLP-1 drugs. The agency’s concern is that compounded versions haven’t gone through the same safety, quality, and efficacy verification as FDA-approved drugs. Compounded medications cannot legally be marketed as generic versions of or equivalent to approved drugs.
How the Prescription Process Works
You don’t walk into a pharmacy to get Hims medications. The process starts on their website or app, where you fill out a health questionnaire about your symptoms, medical history, and current medications. A licensed provider reviews your information and may follow up with questions or schedule a video visit. If they determine a prescription is appropriate, it’s sent to a pharmacy (often Hims’ own affiliated pharmacy) and mailed to you.
Providers are available around the clock, and the platform uses both doctors and nurse practitioners depending on the category. For mental health, dedicated psychiatry providers handle assessments. Registered nurses serve as care coordinators to keep communication running between you and your prescriber. Most prescriptions are set up as recurring subscriptions with regular check-ins, though you can cancel at any time.
Compounded vs. FDA-Approved Medications
Some pills from Hims are standard FDA-approved generics, like sildenafil or finasteride. Others are compounded medications, meaning they’re custom-mixed by a pharmacy rather than manufactured by a traditional drug company. Compounded drugs can combine multiple active ingredients into a single pill or offer different dosage forms.
The distinction matters because FDA-approved drugs go through rigorous testing for safety and effectiveness, while compounded versions do not. Compounded medications fill a legitimate medical role when a patient needs a formulation that doesn’t exist commercially, but the FDA has raised concerns about companies using compounding as a way to sell cheaper alternatives to popular brand-name drugs at scale. If you’re prescribed a compounded medication through Hims, it’s worth understanding that it hasn’t undergone the same level of regulatory review as its FDA-approved counterpart.