Meridia, anyone tried it?

Hi, I am fairly new to the sight and found out that my insurance requires a recent 6 month physician assisted weight loss program before qualifying for surgery so my pcp wrote me a prescription for meridia today. Has anyone tried this? Does it work? Any side effects? Just found out it will cost $104 for 1 month supply and am waiting to see if insurance will approve it on appeal. does anyone know where i could get it a little cheaper? Thanks.

I was on Meridia and it worked very well for me.....initially. When I began taking it, it was fairly new and my doctor told me I'd be on it for the rest of my life. She said once I got to my goal weight, she'd drop the prescription level down just so I could "maintain". I lost 80lbs on it over about 9 months, very easily! For me, it got rid of the "cravings" and desires to binge. I had never felt the feelings of fullness and hunger before......there were very defined "cutoffs". I had never truly had that before. The only side effect I had was dry mouth, which just made me wan****er...which is good! I had a few friends who had headaches during the first 2 weeks to a month, but those went away. Meridia works with your Serotonin levels....my doctor believes weight problems are commonly related to depression, which is caused, at least partly, by Serotonin levels that are off. I stopped taking it for about a year and a half. When I started up again, it did not give me the same results. After researching, I found out that the knowledge about it had changed....they were then saying that it was common for it to not be as effective after the initial 6 months with some people. I would recommend getting pricing on it from Costco if you have to pay out of pocket. When my SO was without coverage for a med. he was taking, we had two different pharmacies tell us to have Costco price it. Good luck! Michele

Thank you this is very helpful!

Hi Teresa...I, too was prescribed Meridia...and it was just too expensive! ( I could only afford to fill 10 days worth ...so I could try it)... My pharmasist said he had never seen an insurance cover it ..I asked my PCP to prescribe something else and he put me on Phentermine (the "legal" half of Phen-Phen)...seems to work just the same and if I remember correctly it runs about $32.00/mo....you might want to ask your doctor about it.....My insurance (aetna) also requires 6 mo physician asstd weight loss program...I'm in month 4 and I've only lost 2 lbs...it really seems like a waste of time...If i could lose weight easily...i would need surgery! Good luck!

I bet you are glad you only have 2 months to go! My husband won't pay for the meridia and I am a school teacher, don't start work til next week but I really want to get started on this 6 month diet so I can get to surgery. I feel the same way, if I could lose weight easily I wouldn't be considering surgery.

I too am on my 3 months of wt loss program pre surgery. Two weeks ago today my PCP gave me a prescription for Meridia. Luckily my insurance (Aetna) covers it so I only have to pay $8 per month. I have noticed a BIG difference. I have lost 3 lbs (as of two days ago). That is a big loss in a short time for me. I am one of those who loses inches before pounds. I also have noticed that I get full really fast so my portions are getting smaller and smaller. I have not had any side effects. You must remember however that everyone's body is different and responds differently to the same thing. I don't know where you can get it cheaper, but you might try some of the websites that sell meds. (just a suggestion, I have never had to do that). If you are a Costco member, the prescriptions there are the cheapest around. They have less mark up than other pharmacies. If not, call all the pharmacies in your area for a comparison. Good Luck. Tanna

I am appealing to my insurance , hopefully they will cover. Your experience with Meridia is very encouraging to me. I used to take redux and did very well , but alas , it was taken off the market and I gained it all back.

I have never tried meridia, but I didn't have insurance for a long time, so when I was prescribed something else, I went online to buy it cheaper. The website I buy from is www.mygeneric.com . I don't know if it would be cheaper for you because I don't know how much meridia $104 is buying, but they seem to be cheaper on most drugs. Now I'm thinking about trying it! Tammy