Effectiveness: 5/5 • Worth It
Dosage: 80 mg PO daily • Paid: $6.25/mo
via Cost Plus Drugs
Lightheadedness
Switched to Cost Plus Drugs at 80 mg PO daily for Valsartan; monthly out-of-pocket dropped to $6.25 compared with $69.00 retail.
Selective Non-Peptide AT1 Receptor Antagonist • Rx
Valsartan
Brand Reference: Diovan
Medically Reviewed by Dr. Marcus Thorne, MD, FACC (NPI #1184629314)
85.90%
Patient “Worth It”
15 verified logs
$7.10
Lowest Monthly Cash
Valsartan Clinical & Real-World Cost Fact Matrix
| Metric | Verified Benchmark | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Valsartan RxNorm Concept ID | 69749 | U.S. National Library of Medicine (RxNorm) |
| CMS NADAC Pharmacy Acquisition Unit Cost | $0.1150 / unit | CMS Medicaid NADAC Weekly Feed |
| Walk-In Chain Pharmacy Cash Average | $69.00 / mo | CMS NADAC + U.S. Retail Markup Index |
| Mark Cuban Cost Plus Wholesale Price | $7.10 / mo | Cost Plus Drugs Wholesale Feed |
| Community Mean Out-of-Pocket Paid | $8.80 / mo | 15 Zero-PHI Verified Patient Logs |
INSTANT PRESCRIPTION & CASH ROUTING
DotMD Club Members get $29 flat-rate script renewals →
Verified Online Prescribers & Wholesale Pharmacies for Valsartan
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drugs (Wholesale Pharmacy)
Requires an existing doctor prescription. Need a script? Pair with a $29 DotMD Club TeleMed consult.
$7.10/mo
Wholesale Cash Price
Sesame Direct Cash-Pay Prescriber Network (Online Doctor Consult + Delivery)
Asynchronous physician review included • Ships in ~1 days
$
29.00
Consult / Starting Tier
Valsartan Clinical Pharmacology & DailyMed Monograph
RxCUI 69749 • NDC 00378-5814-93
FDA Boxed Warning (Valsartan):
Fetal toxicity warning during pregnancy.
Exhibits 20,000-fold higher affinity for AT1 over AT2 receptors, regressing left ventricular hypertrophy and reducing glomerular efferent arteriolar resistance without bradykinin cough.
CMS National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) tracking places Valsartan (Diovan, RxCUI 69749) at $0.1150 per unit, whereas walk-in chain pharmacies bill cash patients an average of $69.00 monthly—creating a 90% ($61.90/mo) wholesale arbitrage spread down to $7.10.
Systemic exposure to Valsartan reflects 25% oral absorption kinetics and minimal (~20%) valeryl-4-hydroxy metabolite; 83% fecal biliary elimination, sustaining receptor engagement across a 6 hours half-life window (2 hours onset; 4 weeks maximal effect response profile).
Dosing protocols (80 mg PO daily or 160 mg PO daily or 320 mg PO daily) balance efficacy (85.90% patient satisfaction across 15 logs) against lightheadedness (7% of reports), hyperkalemia (3% of reports), with strict avoidance in pregnancy; biliary cirrhosis obstruction.
Half-Life
6 hours
Bioavailability
25% oral
Metabolism & Clearance
Minimal (~20%) valeryl-4-hydroxy metabolite; 83% fecal biliary elimination
Clinical Onset
2 hours onset; 4 weeks maximal effect
Standard Adult Titration & Dosages
80 mg PO daily 160 mg PO daily 320 mg PO daily
Absolute & Relative Contraindications
- Pregnancy
- Biliary cirrhosis obstruction
Logged Side-Effect Incidence (15 Reports)
Lightheadedness 7%
Hyperkalemia 3%
Valsartan Patient Dosage Logs & Out-of-Pocket Cost Ledger
Across 15 verified cash-pay logs, Valsartan achieves a 85.90% Worth-It rating with out-of-pocket spend averaging $8.80/mo versus $69.00/mo walk-in retail.
15-Second Anonymous Micro-Log (Zero-PHI Architecture)
Share your real dosage and monthly out-of-pocket cost—no account, email, or IP stored.
Effectiveness: 5/5 • Worth It
Dosage: 160 mg PO daily • Paid: $7.24/mo
via TeleMed
Completed 10 weeks on Valsartan (160 mg PO daily). Zero notable side effects on steady dosing.
Effectiveness: 4/5 • Worth It
Dosage: 320 mg PO daily • Paid: $8.24/mo
via Compounding
Lightheadedness
Consistent biomarker response on 320 mg PO daily Valsartan sourced via Compounding ($8.24/mo cash pay without insurance prior authorization).