Weight Loss Medications
Hi, thank you for coming back for the latest edition of Beyond Primary Care’s blog- weight loss medications. In Beyond Primary Care blogs we highlight healthcare news, advice for medical conditions, and how membership for care works! Beyond Primary Care is an insurance free, membership based family medicine clinic. Beyond Primary Care is the highest rated Direct Primary Care clinic serving patients in Ann Arbor and throughout Washtenaw, Livingston, and Wayne counties giving families and employers peace of mind about healthcare costs by providing affordable and accessible primary care services.
In this blog post, we want to educate our patients and any prospective patients about paying cash for medication.
Do Weight Loss Medications Work?
There is no magic pill that will cure obesity, a condition that affects over 40% of adults in the United States. Everyone knows that a combination of diet and exercise is a basic way to lose weight for many people. But many of us have tried this, over and over again, without lasting success.
Look at the cartoon above.
Are you really going to willpower your way to weight loss success? You do not have to be a psychiatrist or substance abuse specialist to know better than telling someone who is depressed to “cheer up” and an alcoholic to just “drink less.” This is not tough to figure out. Still, we know it’s important to take off those extra pounds, both for the sake of our physical health and our state of mind.
Can diet pills help us meet our goals?
There are new types of medicines that are potential game-changers. Anti-obesity medications have been around for decades, and there are several currently in use. They are usually only prescribed for people with a higher risk of medical problems due to their weight. Body mass index (BMI) describes your weight in comparison to your height. You may have a higher risk of health problems if you have a BMI of:
30 or higher
27 or higher AND have an obesity-related condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, or high cholesterol
Weight Loss Medications
Listed here are select medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for weight loss.
Phentermine (Adipex-P®)*
Lorcaserin (Belviq)*
orlistat (Xenical®, alli®)ß
Phentermine and Topiramate ER (Qsymia®)ß
Plenity®
Naltrexone HCl and Bupropion HCl (CONTRAVE®)ß
Liraglutide injection (Saxenda®)ß
Semaglutide injection (Wegovy®)ß
* Approved for short term use
ß Approved for long term (chronic) use
These medications are used ‘off-label’ for weight loss:
Metformin
Topiramate
Naltrexone
Zonisamide
Bupropion
Ozempic and Wegovy (Semaglutide)
Right now, the current weight loss trend happens to be medications used to treat diabetes that also curb hunger: Ozempic and Wegovy. They are the exact same medication, Semaglutide, though Wegovy is in higher doses. They are the first of a new generation of highly effective hormone-based obesity medications. Semaglutide mimics a hormone called glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), which is secreted in the gut and targets receptors throughout the body, including the brain. When a person is eating, GLP-1 sends the brain the “I’m full” signal.
Wegovy costs about $1,300 a month, and most insurance do not cover it. Many of the nations chain pharmacies will say that Ozempic is on back-order and hard to get as well. From our experiences, insurance companies push back against coverage for these medications, arguing that obesity is not a disease but a behavioral problem.
Currently, Beyond Primary Care is teaming with a regional compounding pharmacy who is able to source the Semaglutide for approximately $300 per month injection.
Contrave (Naltrexone and Bupropion)
If someone has a history of depression and seems to be overeating to cope, they might benefit from an older-generation medication called bupropion (brand names: Wellbutrin™ and Zyban™, among others), which is also an antidepressant—and typically combined with a medication called naltrexone. Naltrexone blocks the opioid receptor, use of opioid pain medications are a contraindication as it does not allow these medications to work properly and may precipitate withdrawal symptoms.
Naltrexone and Bupropion can be used alone or the generics can be combined with each other or other medications in instances to help facilitate weight loss. Both medications by themselves are generic and are very affordable at Beyond Primary Care.
Adipex (Phentermine)
Phentermine is a stimulant that boosts your metabolism and works to suppress cravings, hunger pains, and mental fixation on food throughout the day. This medication has been around the longest, first FDA-approved in 1959. Phentermine is a controlled substance and is only available at pharmacies with a prescription. This is affordable as well since it has long-since gone generic. Phentermine alone or in combination with topiramate was approved by the FDA in 2012 and is also safe. Topiramate is an anti-convulsant that studies attribute the effect of weight loss due to its appetite suppressive qualities.
How Much Weight Will You Lose?
All weight loss medications do not work for everyone. Weight loss tends to be gradual, and can slow down with time leading to a new plateau. Medication treatment for obesity works more gradually than weight loss surgery, but is also less invasive. As example, Semaglutide when it’s successful, it can help someone shed 15% of their body weight. (If you weigh 200 pounds, for example, that would be 30 pounds)
Another example is Phentermine-topiramate, sold under the brand name Qsymia. In a 2011 study, nearly half of participants who took one pill containing 15 milligrams of phentermine and 92 milligrams of topiramate daily lost more than 10% of their total body weight after 56 weeks.
What to do?
Consider making an appointment at Beyond Primary Care. Beyond Primary Care is a Direct Primary Care clinic located in Ann Arbor, Michigan and cares for patients all throughout Washtenaw County, Wayne County, and Livingston County.
