Treatments / Metformin

Metformin in Costa Rica: the low-cost route

The oldest and cheapest option on this page, and for a good number of people the right one. Sixty years of safety data sit behind it.

Colegio de Médicos y CirujanosLicensed pharmaciesReceta DigitalAll 7 provinces, by video

The low-cost route

from $140per monthapprox. ₡70,000 per month

An assessment with a physician, by video
A seven-marker baseline panel at a laboratory near you
A prescription through Receta Digital, if treatment is right for you
A repeat panel at three months, then once a year

Measure my biomarkers No payment is taken to book, and we never reply with a prescription.

What it looks at

Metformin: what this programme is for

Blood sugar

HbA1c and fasting glucose, and whether they are creeping up.

Insulin resistance

The step before pre-diabetes, and the easiest one to turn back.

A long safety record

Sixty years of use makes it the best understood medicine on this site.

Cost

The cheapest programme we offer, and for a good number of people the right one.

How it works

Four steps

Nothing is prescribed before your blood has been drawn and read. We take no margin on your laboratory tests.

1
Pre-qualification

A short questionnaire. Free, no appointment, no clinician. It tells us what to measure, and it rules out anyone this would not be safe for. Not everyone goes further, and that is the point.
2
Bloodwork (if applicable)

Everyone is assessed on blood: the seven baseline markers, plus whatever your answers call for. What varies is only whether you need a fresh draw, or recent results of your own will do.
3
Expert plan

A molecular biologist reads your panel; a physician decides whether medicine is right at all. Either answer comes with a plan — medicine, or nutrition alone. Nobody leaves with nothing.
4
Continued monitoring

Someone stays with you. A repeat panel at three months, then once a year — re-measuring what moved rather than everything, with shorter check-ins in between so nothing drifts unnoticed.

Pricing

Metformin: what it costs

from $140 per month — the medicine and the clinic fee together. The assessment and the laboratory panel are paid once at the start, and the laboratory is paid directly.

Metformin

from $140per monthapprox. ₡70,000 per month

Medicine $15Clinic fee $125

Everyone starts here

The Clinic Fee

The same for every patient, whatever your plan.

Initial assessment, 30 minutes$125₡62,500

Monitoring, and your doctor two to three times a year$125/mo₡62,500

Baseline panel, seven markersfrom $219₡109,300

Repeat panel, three markersfrom $106₡53,000

Sometimes the answer is no medicine.The fee buys the assessment and the reading of your results, not a prescription. If your panel says treatment is not right for you, your doctor will say so — and we would rather tell you that here than after you have paid.

Laboratory figures are the Colegio de Microbiólogos minimum tariff, which is the legal floor in Costa Rica; your laboratory may charge above it, and anything your doctor adds for your own case is extra. Colon figures are converted at ₡500 to the dollar on 22 October 2026, and the rate moves. Package prices are indicative and include the clinic fee above. Medicines are dispensed by a licensed pharmacy and paid for there. Laboratory fees are paid to the laboratory.

The medicine

What your doctor may prescribe

Metformin — a small moleculeNot a hormone at all. It works in the liver, telling it to release less stored sugar while you sleep.

PrescribedMetformin tablets, the same medicine your pharmacy already stocks.

TrackedHbA1c, fasting glucose, renal function, vitamin B12, liver enzymes

ReviewedFirst review at three months, then once a year.

Your dose

How the dose is decided

On your results, not on a chart. Your doctor sets it after reading your panel and your history with you.
Adjusted on repeat testing. The three-month panel shows what moved, and the plan follows it.
Sometimes the answer is no medicine. If your results say treatment is not right for you, your doctor will say so.

Who reads your results

A physician and a molecular biologist

A panel is only worth what the person reading it knows. These are the people who would read yours.

Dr. Luis Chacón

Prescribing physician

A Costa Rican physician in general practice, with a year of clinical training through the CCSS across primary care, hospital and ambulatory settings. He works daily with chronic pain, sleep disorders and inflammatory conditions, taking an evidence-based approach, and prescribes on what he finds rather than on what is asked for.

M.D., Universidad de Ciencias Médicas (UCIMED)
MED18961 — Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos de Costa Rica

Laura Flanagan

Biomarkers

Over thirty years in scientific research as a molecular biologist, now working in functional nutrition. She specialises in functional blood chemistry analysis — reading a panel for the subclinical drift that sits inside the reference range and gets reported as normal. That is the part of this clinic most people underestimate.

B.S., M.S. · Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor, Functional Nutrition Alliance
Member, National Association of Drugless Practitioners

Every prescription is written by a physician registered with the Colegio de Médicos y Cirujanos de Costa Rica, after an individual assessment, and dispensed by a licensed pharmacy.

Questions

Metformin: common questions

How much does it cost per month?

from $140 per month, which is about ₡70,000 per month. That is the medicine and the clinic fee together. The initial assessment and the laboratory panel are separate, and are set out above.

Do I need blood work first?

Yes. Nothing is prescribed before your blood has been drawn and read. If you have recent results of your own, they may do instead of a fresh draw.

What if my results say medicine is not right for me?

Then your doctor will say so, and you still leave with a plan. The fee buys the assessment and the reading of your results, not a prescription.

Is it covered by insurance?

Usually not. Laboratory fees are paid to the laboratory and medicines at the pharmacy, so you can see every part of what you pay.

Why is vitamin B12 on the list?

Because long-term metformin can lower vitamin B12, so it is checked rather than assumed.

Is metformin only for diabetes?

It is best known for diabetes, but it is also used where blood sugar is drifting upwards before that point. Whether it is right for you is your doctor’s decision. Metformin, the oldest drug explains how it works.

Why choose this over a newer medicine?

For some people the evidence, the safety record and the price all point here. For others they do not. That is what your results decide.

Measure it rather than guess

Every patient starts the same way: an assessment with a physician, then a full biomarker panel drawn at a laboratory near you. Whether any medicine follows is your doctor’s decision, made after reading your results with you.

Measure my biomarkers

Metabolic Men’s hormones Women’s hormones Growth and recovery Cardiovascular

This page is information about a medical service. It is not medical advice, and nothing on it recommends or promotes any specific medicine. Treatment is prescribed only by a licensed physician after an individual assessment, and only where clinically appropriate.