No. Qsymia is phentermine and topiramate, and neither acts on the GLP-1 receptor.

Is Qsymia a controlled substance?

Yes. Qsymia is a federally controlled substance, because it contains phentermine.

What is Qsymia?

What is Qsymia, and how does it work?

Qsymia (phentermine/topiramate) is a medicine taken by mouth, made by Vivus, whose active ingredients are phentermine and topiramate. FDA approved for chronic weight management. Nobody knows, and the label says so. Both halves are approved on results rather than on a mechanism anyone has established. In its pivotal trial it produced 9.8% mean weight loss. It costs $75 a month once titrated, read from its own published page on 2026-09-22 — the maintenance rate rather than the starting dose, because the starting dose is not the dose anyone stays on.

How does Qsymia work? The label's words

The precise mechanism of action of phentermine on weight reduction is not known. The precise mechanism of action of topiramate on weight reduction and long-term maintenance of body weight is not known. Topiramate's effect on weight reduction and long-term maintenance of body weight may be due to its effects on both appetite suppression and satiety enhancement, induced by a combination of pharmacologic effects including augmenting the activity of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyrate.

Quoted from the mechanism of action section of FDA prescribing information for QSYMIA, read 2026-08-29. Not paraphrased: how a drug works is the last thing a price site should put in its own words.

What is Qsymia approved for?

Chronic weight management
To reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term in adults and pediatric patients aged 12 years and older with obesity, and in adults with overweight in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.

Approvals are quoted from the label, because the wording is what a prior authorization is judged against. Which approval a plan cannot exclude — a weight-loss exclusion is written against the use, not the molecule.

How much weight did Qsymia lose in its trial?

9.8% of body weight. CONQUER, Study 2 on the label, 56 weeks: 9.8% mean weight loss at the 15 mg/92 mg dose against 1.2% on placebo, intention-to-treat.

One trial, one protocol, one population. Comparing it with another drug's figure compares two separate experiments rather than two drugs — the comparison, and what a point of body weight costs.

How much does Qsymia cost?

$75 a month once titrated, read from its own published page on 2026-09-22. The starting dose is usually cheaper and nobody stays on it, which is why the maintenance figure is the one this site records.

Qsymia price and terms →The cheapest way to get it →

No clinician has reviewed this page. Label and trial statements are quoted from the FDA label or the trial cited beside them. General guidance is marked as such, and every price carries the date it was verified. That is sourcing, not medical review. What we do and do not check · Who checked the price

Qsymia, answered

Is Qsymia a GLP-1?: No. Qsymia is phentermine and topiramate, and neither acts on the GLP-1 receptor.
Is Qsymia a controlled substance?: Yes. Qsymia is a federally controlled substance, because it contains phentermine.

Everything on Qsymia

Last updated 2026-08-29 — the FDA label this page quotes. Read and dated by Alex Seot.