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plenity

Plenity Dosing For Surgical Weight Loss Patients

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Plenity is a new weight loss treatment that expands after hydration to help patients feel full on smaller amounts of food.  For more information on Plenity click here.  Plenity has currently not been studied in surgical weight loss patients, however our practice has some experience with this and when closely supervised it can be done safely and effectively.

For patients with a normal stomach it is recommended to take 3 Plenity capsules, 20-30 minutes prior to lunch and dinner.  For surgical weight loss patients however, it is very important if you are going to take Plenity to do it only under the supervision of your surgical weight loss team and to follow the dosing regimen outlined below.

For any patient who has had a gastric bypass, gastric band, gastric sleeve, SIPS, or gastric balloon, Plenity must be titrated.  This means that you do not start off with the full 3 capsules.  Rather, begin by just taking 1 capsule with 16 oz of a non-carbonated clear liquid 20-30 minutes prior to lunch or dinner.  See how you feel with just 1 tablet.  If you feel full on smaller portions, and have no symptoms of pain, bloating, or vomiting, then this will be your ongoing dosage moving forward.

If you feel minimal effect, as long as you have have no pain, bloating, or vomiting, then for your next meal you can try 2 tablets.  Again, if you feel full on smaller portions and have no adverse symptoms, then this will be your ongoing dosage.

As before, if you feel minimal effect and have no adverse symptoms, you can try 3 capsules for your next meal.

Do not take more than 3 capsules at one dosing!

rehydrated plenity

Plenity-A New, Non-Stimulant Weight Loss Treatment

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Plenity is a new therapy that works like no other FDA-approved weight loss treatment, and is approved for use in patients with a body mass index of 25-40 kg/m 2.  It consists of 2 simple natural ingredients: cellulose fiber and citric acid contained and dehydrated in a gelatin capsule.  After swallowing 3 capsules (around 20 minutes prior to lunch and dinner) and drinking 16 ounces of water, Plenity re-hydrates itself, absorbing more than 100 times its own weight in water.  After this absorption occurs, Plenity expands in the stomach to take up space (see animation below).  The presence of expanded, re-hydrated cellulose in the stomach can reduce hunger and help patients get full earlier.  As it is not absorbed into the body at all, Plenity has actually been classified as as weight loss device, rather than a drug.  Plenity is the first weight loss treatment to be approved by the FDA for patients who are just mildly overweight, with a BMI of 25-27 kg/m2.

In a clinical study, nearly 6 out of 10 people who took Plenity lost at least 5% of their body weight. Their average weight loss was 10% of their total body weight (about 22 pounds).  Patients in our Plenity program must come in for monthly office visits and meet with one of our providers and a registered dietitian, as well as following a mindful eating plan and exercising regularly.

One major issue with many weight loss drugs is that they have a significant rate of adverse systemic side effects such as elevation in blood pressure or heart rate, nausea, overstimulation, etc.  A significant advantage of Plenity is that it does not have any major systemic side effects, since it is not absorbed at all into your body at all.

rehydrated plenity

Plenity must be prescribed by a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician’s assistant and can be obtained from their partner pharmacy, GoGoMeds.  In order to receive Plenity, your provider must send a prescription to GogoMeds, and the patient must log on to GoGoMeds.com and register as a patient.  After registering, you will have to add your prescriber in your account.  After payment, GoGoMeds will ship your medication to your home address.  The current 2021 pricing including shipping for a 30 day supply of Plenity from GoGoMeds is $98.

It remains to be seen if this medication can be used in patients who have had prior surgical weight loss procedures and at this point we would recommend against it, unless under the close supervision of a bariatric surgeon.