Pros and cons: works great. Seems to work effectively for a long time without losing effectiveness. It has made my life much, much better. Has side effects that are a pain but fewer overall than other meds.

Cons: labs (especially the first year, it gets easy after that) and getting communication between the pharmacy and doctor's office to go smoothly, see side effects. See side effects.

Cost: The first few years I paid $43/month. I changed policies and now pay nothing. It is a little hard to find a Med D plan that covers it. The last few years I've only had one choice. It's an expensive option but in turn I get all my generics free.



Side effects....not too many but what it has are annoying. Weight gain I'm afraid. I went on metformin and that helped reduce it but I did gain about 30 lbs which I've managed to lose with strict calorie tracking over the last year. Nighttime drooling happens for some people; for me it only happens when I am really tired now. I wear incontinence pads at night because I sometimes sleep too deeply and wake up wetting the bed (this happens rarely but enough to make pads worth it). I am tired on it but it does not put me to sleep. I'm on gabapentin and Seroquel for that. I think most people find it sedating enough without the extra meds.

I'm trying to be honest and not scary. I hope I succeeded. If you have more questions please ask. For me the good totally outweighs the bad!