Qsymia (phentermine and topiramate)
Qsymia is a daily capsule product containing phentermine and topiramate, made by VIVUS LLC. Its approved use in the U.S. is weight management.
Educational information. This page does not give dosing instructions or tell you what to take. The current label and a prescriber decide that.
What Qsymia is
- Generic name
- Phentermine and topiramate
- Maker
- VIVUS LLC
- Form
- Daily capsule
- U.S. approved use
- Weight management
- First U.S. approval
- 2012
How it differs from related products
Qsymia is a single capsule that combines two older medicines, phentermine and topiramate. It does not act on GLP-1 and is not related to the Wegovy pill or Foundayo.
| Product | Form | U.S. approved use | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qsymia (this page) | Daily capsule | Weight management | FDA-approved for weight management |
What it is approved for
- Reducing excess body weight and keeping it off, in adults and in patients 12 and older with obesity
- Adults with overweight plus at least one weight-related condition
How it is taken
Daily capsule. Follow the label and your prescriber. It is not for use in pregnancy, and pregnancy tests are recommended before starting and monthly during treatment.
What the trials found
These are group averages from published trials of this product's weight-management use, in adults without diabetes.
CONQUER
Average change in body weight. Every bar uses one scale, 0 to 25 percent.
- People studied
- 2,487 adults with overweight or obesity (BMI 27 to 45) and at least two weight-related conditions
- Length
- 56 weeks
- Compared with
- Placebo, with office-based lifestyle advice in all groups
- What was measured
- Average change in body weight at week 56
- Analysis approach
- Intention-to-treat, as reported in the abstract
- Other results
- Weight loss of at least 5%: 62% (lower dose) and 70% (higher dose) vs 21% with placebo. At least 10%: 37% and 48% vs 7%.
- Safety
- Most common: dry mouth (13% and 21% vs 2% on placebo), tingling or numbness (14% and 21% vs 2%), constipation, insomnia, dizziness and taste changes. Depression-related events: 4% and 7% vs 4%. Anxiety-related events: 5% and 8% vs 3%.
- Limits
- Funded by the manufacturer. Participants were U.S. adults aged 18 to 70, so results may not match other groups. Group averages do not predict one person's result.
Sources: Gadde KM 2011
Safety
Warnings, side effects and open questions for phentermine and topiramate are on the phentermine and topiramate page. The official label is the controlling source.
Compiled from public information: FDA-approved labels, manufacturer websites, ClinicalTrials.gov and published journal articles. Sources are listed at the bottom of this page.
Related
Sources
- Qsymia (phentermine and topiramate extended-release) capsules: prescribing information VIVUS LLC, on DailyMed (U.S. National Library of Medicine). FDA-approved label, April 2026 listing. Official FDA label on DailyMed
- DailyMed: current FDA drug labels U.S. National Library of Medicine. Regulator
- Effects of low-dose, controlled-release, phentermine plus topiramate combination on weight and associated comorbidities in overweight and obese adults (CONQUER) Gadde KM, et al. Lancet. 2011;377(9774):1341-1352. PMID 21481449. Funding: Vivus. Journal article