Become a Healthier You

Medications

Not everyone requires medication to lose weight, but for those who do, it is important to work with someone with the knowledge and expertise to guide them safely. Dr. Jenny has 15 years of experience when it comes to prescribing these medications as PART of her overall, comprehensive treatment approach.

When choosing a medication, providers need to consider multiple factors, especially safety, which should be the MOST important factor to consider when choosing a medication, but they also take into account the following:

Efficacy (how well they work)
Patient preference (oral versus injection, daily versus weekly)
Cost/insurance coverage
Specific issues around eating such as portion control, frequent snacking, cravings, etc.

Having an experienced, knowledgeable provider leading your treatment approach is particularly important with the dramatic increase in interest in medications used to treat overweight and obesity. It seems providers who previously would not even consider prescribing medications or guiding the patient through their weight loss journey are now prescribing medications, including compounded versions of some of these medications.

What to know about compounded medications:

NOT FDA approved – which means they have not been rigorously tested for safety efficacy, & purity (checking for concentration and contaminants)
May have added ingredients not found in the branded versions

Dr. Jenny currently does NOT recommend the utilization of these compounded medications but will go above and beyond to advocate for patients and try to get the branded versions of semaglutide, tirzepatide and liraglutide covered when she deems them necessary and appropriate for a particular patient.

Liraglutide, a GLP1 receptor agonist, is branded as Victoza for Diabetes and Saxenda for the treatment of overweight and obesity. Saxenda, a daily subcutaneous injection was FDA approved for weight loss in 2014 and studies show that patients typically lose 5-8 % of their starting body weight.

Semaglutide, another GLP1 receptor agonist, was first approved by the FDA for use in patients with diabetes in 2016 as Ozempic. While given specifically to lower blood sugars and improve diabetes, studies showed significant weight loss of 16-18% of patients’ starting body weight. Because of this, NovoNordisk petitioned the FDA for use in patients WITHOUT diabetes and in June of 2021, it was approved under the brand name Wegovy for patients with overweight (BMI > 27 with at least one weight related illness) and obesity (BMI >30). Both Ozempic and Wegovy are once weekly subcutaneous injections and although they have different names and packaged a little differently, they are the EXACT same molecule/medication.

The newest version of this class of medications, Mounjaro, was approved for patients with diabetes in June of 2022. It works similarly to Ozempic and Wegovy, but it targets a second gut hormone called GIP and the weight loss achieved was higher at 22% of starting body weight. Mounjaro is currently NOT approved for patients UNLESS they have the diagnosis of diabetes unfortunately. This is expected to change sometime in 2023 (fingers crossed).

As with any medication, these medications which target gut hormones (GLP and GIP) can have adverse side effects. The most common side effect is nausea, but others include vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux/indigestion, headache, and injection site reactions.

Other mediations that we use:

Phentermine
Diethylpropion
Phendimetrazine
Qsymia (phentermine + topiramate)
Contrave (bupropion + naltrexone)
Metformin

The above medications are all oral medications (by mouth), and the cash prices range from about $15-20/month for phentermine to as high as $94-99/month for Qsymia and Contrave. If insurance does cover Anti-Obesity medications, you would simply pay your co-pay, which is commonly about $25/month.