"i actually started contrave on november 21, 2015 and lost a couple of pounds but gained back christmas.  it took until jan. 2 to work up to the full dose; then i really started to lose. since jan. 2 (today is jan. 30)  i have lost a total of 18 pounds with contrave, the scale-down program (weighing daily), low carb diet and 23 minutes on the  elliptical almost every day.   about mid-jan i hit a plateau and hovered around the same weight for two weeks.   i start losing again by cutting back food portions and cutting some fat out of the atkins approach.  i also doubled my elliptical workout to 46 minutes a day at least 5 days a week.  that got the weight loss going again.  i haven&#039;t had this kind of success since the old diet pill days."