My doctor scheduled me to visit Jan 14th and I was unsure why. I asked my contact person over there and she stated it's an appointment with the doctor because he's going to be prescribing me some weight loss meds to get me losing a little during the next 5 months of nutrition visits I have to complete. That was kind of shocking. I didn't expect to be given meds. Anyone know what they might give me? I had an addiction problem with Adderall for some years that I finally overcame and this kind of scares me. I don't want anything that'll make me speedy to remind me of the Adderall days. I'm already taking Trintellix for depression which has been AMAZINGGGG. Thoughts?

1 minute ago, Kimmie K said:

Turns out I can't take anything...phentermine, Belviq, Qsymia (which is the brand name for the phentermine+topamax combo)...they all severely interact with Trintellix. Basically combining any of them with Trintellix increases the risk of serotonin syndrome. That's some scary stuff so...no meds for me. Nope, nope, nope...

Honestly, I mean take your physician's advice, but I was on multiple SSRIs before, and SSRIs mixed with antipsychotics, and all kinds of things that "say" they increase the risk for serotonin syndrome, but it's pretty much really unlikely. And you'll know if something is off and you just stop the other medicine right away.

Topamax is the devil tho. lol.

2 minutes ago, mousecat88 said:

Topamax is the devil tho. lol.

LMAO! I'm just scared, man. After my daughter was born back in 2010 I had post-partum depression and they pumped me full of everything. It was the worst time of my life. I trusted doctors that turned me into an even more non-functional monster than I was before meds. As long as I arm myself with info instead of going in blind like I did before, I feel better because I know what questions to ask. We'll just see what happens...?

I was super successful with Saxenda. Phen Phen wasn't an option for me because they worried about my heart. Sadly, I'm not sure Saxenda is offially used as a weight loss drug, and my insurance didn't cover, but maybe yours would? Ask about it!

1 minute ago, PopsFury said:

I was super successful with Saxenda. Phen Phen wasn't an option for me because they worried about my heart. Sadly, I'm not sure Saxenda is offially used as a weight loss drug, and my insurance didn't cover, but maybe yours would? Ask about it!

I’ll definitely check into it! How much did you lose? Any side effects?

Saxenda is specifically a weight loss drug. The lesser dose is prescribed as Victoza, and that is to help control blood sugar. In my case, Victoza was covered by insurance but Saxenda was not. So my doctor gave me an RX and sample pens to double the doses so I'd be getting a Saxenda dose. I took it for 9 months before surgery and lost about 35 pounds. It works as an appetite suppressant.

I think I lost about 60 lbs pre-surgery. First time in my life I'd ever felt full! Down another 80 post!

On 1/3/2019 at 2:46 PM, mousecat88 said:

It may not be phentermine. There's a lot of other weight loss medications... Topomax, Belviq, Qsymia, Contrave... all of which I was on before and none of which do anything. LOL. It is weird he wants you on weight loss medications... you aren't going to medically managed weight loss... that's what they do there... Medifast and rx meds.

I used to take Adderall. I don't know if you've taken Phentermine before, but it made me much more strung out the first time I was on it than Adderall ever did. The second time I took it, it did nothing. But my resting heart rate was 165BPM. It was bad.

Topomax is used off brand for weightloss, it's main use is neurological/seizure related. Before you agree to it for weightloss diligently research the effects.

2 hours ago, GreenTealael said:

Topomax is used off brand for weightloss, it's main use is neurological/seizure related. Before you agree to it for weightloss diligently research the effects.

Precisely. Topiramate is an antiepileptic medication used off label for weight loss. I was part of a drug study back in the mid-late 1990's testing the efficacy of Topamax for weight loss. Instead of helping me lose weight, it caused me to have horrible neurological symptoms. I had absence seizures, lost the ability to find words (I can remember talking to my husband and not being able to find the word for dinner - I kept asking him what he wanted for "um, um, that thing you eat at 6 pm".

10 hours ago, MMME said:

Precisely. Topiramate is an antiepileptic medication used off label for weight loss. I was part of a drug study back in the mid-late 1990's testing the efficacy of Topamax for weight loss. Instead of helping me lose weight, it caused me to have horrible neurological symptoms. I had absence seizures, lost the ability to find words (I can remember talking to my husband and not being able to find the word for dinner - I kept asking him what he wanted for "um, um, that thing you eat at 6 pm".

Yep I was given Topamax years ago as a mood stabilizer and the same thing happened to me. Just all the sudden couldn’t talk. That was some scary shiz!

My doctor scheduled me to visit Jan 14th and I was unsure why. I asked my contact person over there and she stated it's an appointment with the doctor because he's going to be prescribing me some weight loss meds to get me losing a little during the next 5 months of nutrition visits I have to complete. That was kind of shocking. I didn't expect to be given meds. Anyone know what they might give me? I had an addiction problem with Adderall for some years that I finally overcame and this kind of scares me. I don't want anything that'll make me speedy to remind me of the Adderall days. I'm already taking Trintellix for depression which has been AMAZINGGGG. Thoughts?

With a history of issues with Adderall, definitely avoid the phentermine. And with a history of negative experiences with Topamax and Wellbutrin, tell the surgeon you can't take them (or Contrave) for that reason.

You're your own best advocate here. Plus, anything chemical you use before surgery to lose weight is going to throw off your metabolism even more, so the longterm effects may not be worth the short term benefits. And serotonin syndrome sucks. I watched my husband go through it - he looked as though he had Parkinson's. It was terrifying.

You're smart to do the research on this and to be taking care of your mental AND physical health. Focus on proving them wrong, that you can meet the pre-surgical goal without meds, and let that be your motivation (and let us be your cheerleaders)!

~SW: 278 CW: 165~
RNY 1/5/2005
"What got you here won't get you there."

10 minutes ago, Amanda Dutton LPC said:

With a history of issues with Adderall, definitely avoid the phentermine. And with a history of negative experiences with Topamax and Wellbutrin, tell the surgeon you can't take them (or Contrave) for that reason.

You're your own best advocate here. Plus, anything chemical you use before surgery to lose weight is going to throw off your metabolism even more, so the longterm effects may not be worth the short term benefits. And serotonin syndrome sucks. I watched my husband go through it - he looked as though he had Parkinson's. It was terrifying.

You're smart to do the research on this and to be taking care of your mental AND physical health. Focus on proving them wrong, that you can meet the pre-surgical goal without meds, and let that be your motivation (and let us be your cheerleaders)!

~SW: 278 CW: 165~
RNY 1/5/2005
"What got you here won't get you there."

Thanks ❤️ Yeah the plan is to go in there and refuse anything. I only have 5 months of nutrition visits to go. There’s no need for meds that aren’t for a serious issue. And yes, serotonin syndrome is scary! How long did it take your hubby to recover?

Edited January 6, 20197 yr by Kimmie K

Thanks [emoji173]️ Yeah the plan is to go in there and refuse anything. I only have 5 months of nutrition visits to go. There’s no need for meds that aren’t for a serious issue.

Agreed. You sound like you have a good thing going with the Trentellix, so why mess that up, right? Good for you. Keep us posted!

~SW: 278 CW: 165~
RNY 1/5/2005
"What got you here won't get you there."

Ya'll...I just learned my anti-depressant, Trintellix, is not covered by my new insurance policy AND neither are any of the weight loss drugs we were all talking about last week. I went down the list and checked them all once I finally figured out where in the Anthem website...Contrave, Belviq, Qsymia, Topamax, Saxenda, phentermine, Adipex-P, you name it...NOT covered. So I told the office and she canceled the appointment which is totally fine, I didn't want meds anyway. Crappiest part is, I won't even have my depression meds anymore after about 7-8 days (not sure how many pills I have left). Trintellix has given me my brain back. I'm kinda dreading what's to come...waiting on my doctor to get back with me about what to do next

6 minutes ago, Kimmie K said:

Crappiest part is, I won't even have my depression meds anymore after about 7-8 days (not sure how many pills I have left). Trintellix has given me my brain back. I'm kinda dreading what's to come...waiting on my doctor to get back with me about what to do next

The American for-profit health care system in action. I am so sorry.

Most Insurance plans allow for exceptions. If you've shown success on Trintellix, your doctor might be able to appeal? I got my weight loss drug Saxenda on appeal, but only for a few months. Still, it helped my kickstart my success.

Take care of your brain!