Who else is taking contrave pills?
babyrko
Posts: 10 Member
My goal is to lose weight. I have a trainer 2x a week and I cardio 3-4x a week.
This is my second day on this pill and I noticed immediate change in my appetite , I could care less if I eat or not. But as soon as I took the pill I noticed the following: little nauseous, dry mouth, don't care for food at all but I still eat cause I know I need to eat, and lastly the most annoying part is I can't sleep well, 4hrs is max of sleep I have been getting on this pill.
I have been meaning to go see my doctor before I start my second week on contrave and ask him if I can keep it at one pill until I feel like it's not working.
What do you guys think? How do you guys feel about the pill? Tell me anything that you feel like I need to know, thank you!
This is my second day on this pill and I noticed immediate change in my appetite , I could care less if I eat or not. But as soon as I took the pill I noticed the following: little nauseous, dry mouth, don't care for food at all but I still eat cause I know I need to eat, and lastly the most annoying part is I can't sleep well, 4hrs is max of sleep I have been getting on this pill.
I have been meaning to go see my doctor before I start my second week on contrave and ask him if I can keep it at one pill until I feel like it's not working.
What do you guys think? How do you guys feel about the pill? Tell me anything that you feel like I need to know, thank you!
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I got hungry and ate the whole bottle.0
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I don't know, but for now I'm using it to help me help myself out lol and I can't say much its day two and I'm looking for someone who actually used the pill before.
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The 4hrs sleep thing is what alarms me. Sleep is a huge component of losing weight. 7-8hrs minimum for healthy body repair.
Speaking from some one who lost 50lbs, slowly, and kept it off for 3 years, you don't need those pills. You need some patience.0 -
First, I don't want this to sound lecture-y. I'm just putting out my opinion.
I don't know, but for now I'm using it to help me help myself out lol and I can't say much its day two and I'm looking for someone who actually used the pill before.
If you legitimately had trouble controlling your appetite before, and this pill helps you control it, and you've researched proper safe usage and side effect, preferably with a doctor, then you'll probably have some measure of success in losing the weight.
However, what others are saying is true. If you had an unhealthy relationship with food, as soon as the chemical crutch is gone, you may find yourself going back to old habits and find the weight creeping back on. It's not a foregone conclusion, but the pattern is common enough to raise concerns.
How did the weight come on in the first place? If it was a satiety problem, where you always felt legitimately hungry, you may have a hormone imbalance that you can combat with a change in diet (fewer carbs, more protein and fat, perhaps?) or with some kind of medication therapy in partnership with your doctor.
Did you eat out of boredom? If so, find a hobby (or hobbies) that you are passionate about. Reading, running, model building, hiking, dog training, drift racing, nuclear arms collection. Something to keep you from being bored.
Was it emotional eating? Do you eat when you feel sad or depressed? Do you eat as a reward for feeling good? These are things that you should probably seek professional advice on. It could require medication, or therapy, or something else entirely.
I wish you luck, and hope you reach your goal weight successfully. I also hope that in 10 years you've managed to stay happy and healthy.0 -
Sounds like you have no long term plan. So your taking pills now but aren't sure how you'll sort it out when your doctor won't write them anymore. You won't understand things like portion control, moderation. Those are things needed for long term success . there's really no magic pill or quick fix, you'll learn that when your doctor says he's no longer willing to write them and you'll be forced to put in the hard work necessary . nothing can replace hard work. Sometimes taking the easy way out will lead you right back to where you started0
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I honestly thought with this pill I will learn how to portion control , actually I don't eat a lot, my only issue is that I can live on a bag of chips or for some reason I can not eat all day until 6pm hits and I start to crave a lot Of things , it's night time where I feel so hungry. So, I'm using this pill to stop my cravings. Because I'm already doing calories and portion control and I even have a trainer. So...idk what else to dothorsmom01 wrote: »Sounds like you have no long term plan. So your taking pills now but aren't sure how you'll sort it out when your doctor won't write them anymore. You won't understand things like portion control, moderation. Those are things needed for long term success . there's really no magic pill or quick fix, you'll learn that when your doctor says he's no longer willing to write them and you'll be forced to put in the hard work necessary . nothing can replace hard work. Sometimes taking the easy way out will lead you right back to where you started
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Keep doing what you're doing, but talk to your doctor about the sleep issue and the nausea. The dosage might need to be adjusted. Or your doc might have some other advice on alleviating the side effects. Ignore all these naysayers - Contrave has the same stuff in it that they prescribe to smokers to help with their cravings. So it's not like you're taking some vitamin supplement off the internet - it's a prescription medication and a legitimate tool to use to begin to deal with the cravings and anxiety.
Doing what YOUR DOCTOR tells you to do is not taking the easy way out. o_O Good grief, people.0 -
I honestly thought with this pill I will learn how to portion control , actually I don't eat a lot, my only issue is that I can live on a bag of chips or for some reason I can not eat all day until 6pm hits and I start to crave a lot Of things
If you're used to eating like this, what you're craving is fuel. An appetite suppresant isn't going to teach you portion control. It's going to keep you from eating at all. As someone else said, not to sound lecture-y, but it doesn't sound like that's what you need.
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I completely misread the title as contraception and was so confused by the responses...
No personal experience with the pill, but I will echo the advice that you should talk to your doctor about side effects. They affect people differently, so your doctor may be concerned you are experiencing them.
And in general about diet pills: they are a tool that some people use, but you'll definitely need to focus on building healthy habits so that you can continue to lose or maintain once you stop using the pill.0 -
I pick up my prescription this afternoon. I would like to share my experience with you once i start.
I am troubled that in the MFP Community when someone asks a direct question they get so much feedback that does not answer the question. If you don't agree with taking the pills then why comment? She made an educated choice with a health care professional that has personal data not given here.
Not trying to be mean just saying that if you don't believe in persons method that is fine but maybe we should just carry on instead of tell people they are going about it wrong.0 -
If someone posts on an internet forum, people are going to respond. That's just how it works. And simply by starting a thread doesn't give that person a say in who responds, or what they can or cannot say.
Don't want all kinds of feedback? Don't start the thread in the first place. Otherwise, you get what you get. You always have the option to disregard replies that don't suit your particular agenda. But those replies are usually intended as much (if not more so) for the people reading the thread who are obviously also interested in the topic than it is for the OP, who sometimes has already formed an opinion and is just looking for responses that support that stance.
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I have not taken Contrave. I have, however, taken diet pills in the past. I took Redux back in the 1990's before it was pulled from the market, having lost about 60 pounds in 6 months. I later gained it back and then some.
In February of this year I got a prescription for phentermine/topiramate. I found it mildly effective at appetite suppressing. I felt kind of loopy for about 2 weeks and then the side effects went away, except for altered taste - Diet Coke became extremely metallic tasting and so I quit drinking it.
I quit taking the drugs in June.
I fully support the use of appetite suppressants under the supervision of a doctor. The biggest problem that people have tried to lose weight is resisting the hunger. The hunger is a defense mechanism your body throws up in response to detecting lowered Leptin levels which is a result of lowered fat levels. Most people cannot deal with the hunger for very long and then go back to their old way of eating.
I like the short-term use of appetite suppressants because it helps in a few ways. First of all, it gets you to see some success in weight loss which is extremely confidence-building and gives you a concept that you can succeed at weight loss. Secondly, it helps you learn portion control if you log your food. You can now see the kinds of portions of things you should be eating and you can stick to it because you are not hungry. But most importantly it staves off binges where you just say, "screw it" and blow the diet, which sometimes just leads to permanently staying off the diet.
There are tons of people on this forum that will berate you for using appetite suppressants. They will belittle you as being "too weak" or "not having enough willpower" to lose weight without them. Ignore them. There is nothing wrong with admitting you don't have enough willpower to stay hunger all the time. Most Americans don't, which is why most Americans are overweight in spite of spending billions each year trying to lose weight.
Believe me, if there was a safe and effective pill I could take and it would give me an olympic athlete body, I'd take it in a heartbeat and not worry a minute about all the people who decried the fact that I used a pill to get it. That's what medicine is for, is to mitigate biological shortcomings. So I embrace medicine.
All drugs have side-effects and you need to stay on top of them with your doctor.
The problem you may have is that when you stop taking the drugs the hunger will return, and it's easy to backslide into the old ways of eating. However, hopefully by then you will be encouraged by your success and not want to lose your progress. Also you will know how to eat to achieve the results.0 -
When I took Contrave, I felt hungrier and it gave me anxiety. So I didn't take it for more than 3 or 4 weeks. The first time I took 2 pills at one time made me stop as I had extreme anxiety. Nothing was worth that.
I have now started low carb as it keeps me from being hungry all the time. I have diabetes as well so my doctor suggested that I eat low carb.
I hope you have better results as medication affects people differently.
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My goal is to lose weight. I have a trainer 2x a week and I cardio 3-4x a week.
This is my second day on this pill and I noticed immediate change in my appetite , I could care less if I eat or not. But as soon as I took the pill I noticed the following: little nauseous, dry mouth, don't care for food at all but I still eat cause I know I need to eat, and lastly the most annoying part is I can't sleep well, 4hrs is max of sleep I have been getting on this pill.
I have been meaning to go see my doctor before I start my second week on contrave and ask him if I can keep it at one pill until I feel like it's not working.
What do you guys think? How do you guys feel about the pill? Tell me anything that you feel like I need to know, thank you!
Did your doctor give this to you? Do you know anything about it? the laundry list of side effects?Some young people have thoughts about suicide when first taking bupropion. Your doctor will need to check your progress at regular visits while you are using Contrave. Your family or other caregivers should also be alert to changes in your mood or symptoms.The safety and effectiveness of this drug in combination with other products intended for weight loss, including prescription drugs, over-the-counter drugs, and herbal preparations, have not been established.Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222. An overdose of this medicine can be fatal,especially if you also take a narcotic (opioid medicine).
Overdose symptoms may include confusion, extreme drowsiness, fainting, and weak or shallow breathing (breathing may stop). [\quote]
Like seriously this sounds like the worst kind of weight loss pill, please PLEASE STOP TAKING THIS RIGHT NOW!0 -
Tedebearduff wrote: »
Like seriously this sounds like the worst kind of weightloss pill, please PLEASE STOP TAKING THIS RIGHT NOW!
To be fair, the last two warnings were "don't take with any other diet pills" and "if you take too much, it could kill you" but you could say the same thing about OTC analgesics.
The first warning was in regards to suicidal thoughts, and many drugs have this potential side effect, if you dig into the literature. It doesn't mean everyone will, just that there was a statistically significant (read: still tiny) amount of people in trials who experienced them. I'd guess some people who sign up for prescription weight loss drug trials could already be predisposed to suicidal thoughts with or without the drug.0 -
To be fair, the last two warnings were "don't take with any other diet pills" and "if you take too much, it could kill you" but you could say the same thing about OTC analgesics.
The first warning was in regards to suicidal thoughts, and many drugs have this potential side effect, if you dig into the literature. It doesn't mean everyone will, just that there was a statistically significant (read: still tiny) amount of people in trials who experienced them. I'd guess some people who sign up for prescription weight loss drug trials could already be predisposed to suicidal thoughts with or without the drug.
Exactly. You could go read the warnings for ibuprofen and come away with the same sky-is-falling advice.
Talk to a doctor, as you are doing to get your prescription. Be aware of the side effects and monitor for them.
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Thank you guys for your replies.
My doctor told me about this pill, and he asked me to do my own research until he gets my blood results and the second time I visited him we talked about it and he prescribed it. I'm very happy with the pills , I can handle the nauseous feeling but the sleeping part, I can't handle , so I made an appointment with my doctor for tomorrow to talk to him about it and see if it's possible for me to just stick to one pill a day until I no longer feel like it's working
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Thank you guys for your replies.
My doctor told me about this pill, and he asked me to do my own research until he gets my blood results and the second time I visited him we talked about it and he prescribed it. I'm very happy with the pills , I can handle the nauseous feeling but the sleeping part, I can't handle , so I made an appointment with my doctor for tomorrow to talk to him about it and see if it's possible for me to just stick to one pill a day until I no longer feel like it's working
I have been on Contrave since June 29th. I have lost weight by eating healthy & some exercise. With my schedule it's a little difficult to fit in the exercise on a regular basis. After being on 1 pill AM & 1 pill PM since the beginning, I recently added 1 more pill...( it's not all the time though).
I am happy with my 20 lb weight loss & I'm slowly losing more. Plus, the Scale Down program is a great asset to the program.0 -
thorsmom01 wrote: »Sounds like you have no long term plan. So your taking pills now but aren't sure how you'll sort it out when your doctor won't write them anymore. You won't understand things like portion control, moderation. Those are things needed for long term success . there's really no magic pill or quick fix, you'll learn that when your doctor says he's no longer willing to write them and you'll be forced to put in the hard work necessary . nothing can replace hard work. Sometimes taking the easy way out will lead you right back to where you started
Actually this is a long term medication and can be seemingly taken as safely as many antidepressants because it is in the same class. Some people may need them to control weight loss and management, just as some need antidepressants to function in society. I don't take them, but I do support their use. The fact that the OP is on them and talking with the doctor and also on here looking for support is an indication the may be going about it in the right manner. Just my thoughts.
Furthermore, you don't know that this is the "easy" way out, just your very judgmental opinion unfortunately.0 -
People should research before posting to a thread like this. Contrave is part of the antidepressant drug category and is meant not as an appetite suppressant, but as a way to treat obesity as you would an addiction problem. It turns off the opioid receptors so that you don't feel compelled to eat when you're not hungry for mere gratification and pleasure. It doesn't work on every obese patient the same way, because not every obese person has that issue with food. However, this is a more modern form of treatment that is technically designed for long term use and has the same risk or less of other antidepressants like it. One of the medications in this drug has been around for a long time and is now being studied for its weight loss and management properties. Great thing about pharm...those off label and secondary uses.
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Yup, great, first make us hooked on addictive substances, then offer pills to stop the overeating caused by the addiction.
If there only was a way to learn how to eat like a normal person
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Leslierussell4134 wrote: »thorsmom01 wrote: »Sounds like you have no long term plan. So your taking pills now but aren't sure how you'll sort it out when your doctor won't write them anymore. You won't understand things like portion control, moderation. Those are things needed for long term success . there's really no magic pill or quick fix, you'll learn that when your doctor says he's no longer willing to write them and you'll be forced to put in the hard work necessary . nothing can replace hard work. Sometimes taking the easy way out will lead you right back to where you started
Actually this is a long term medication and can be seemingly taken as safely as many antidepressants because it is in the same class. Some people may need them to control weight loss and management, just as some need antidepressants to function in society. I don't take them, but I do support their use. The fact that the OP is on them and talking with the doctor and also on here looking for support is an indication the may be going about it in the right manner. Just my thoughts.
Furthermore, you don't know that this is the "easy" way out, just your very judgmental opinion unfortunately.
Uh, clearly not, considering all the side effects OP is getting! How is she supposed to survive on 4 hours of sleep a night long term?
Being overweight is not the same as being depressed. Yes, some people who are depressed need medication to function in society. Overweight people do not need appetite suppressants to function. Furthermore, the comment you quoted was talking about what on earth OP will do once at goal weight. Is she going to keep taking them at goal weight? Does she need it to function even when she's at a normal weight? If she can't even maintain without them, let alone lose weight, then she's definitely not learnt anything and would have done better learning portion control. You really advocate using these pills as a crutch for OP's whole life, just so she can be at a healthy weight? Like thorsmom pointed out, the doctor isn't going to prescribe them to her when she's at a healthy weight anyway - so no, she can't stay on them forever. She has to learn how to do it on her own. She also only has 42lbs to lose, going by her profile. Compared to a lot of people here, that isn't much. Going by what OP said, her problem is that she doesn't eat all day then gorges. Better pacing of her food intake (as well as better choices to keep her full) would help more than the pills.
Yeah, doctor prescribed appetite suppressants can help some people initially, to help teach portion control... but if you're taking them long term, then you're using them as a crutch and they haven't taught you anything.0 -
I dont think Contrave is a crutch. It is a great weight loss tool for food addicts. The web page explains it well. And the scale down program that goes along with it is also another great tool. It holds you accountable sending you texts. You can read about it on the page. It was created by Harvard researchers. Its a long term drug, but that does not mean you have to stay on it long term. My MD took a lot of lab work, i had to see a psychologist to make sure i could handle it, i also have to see a dietician every couple of months. She has me on MFP and checks it each time. I made the committment to make a lifestyle change on Contrave. My BMI is almost normal. Im a food addict. A stress eater, so for those calling it a magic pill. Its far from that. If you do it right. You can get great results.0
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I dont think Contrave is a crutch. It is a great weight loss tool for food addicts. The web page explains it well. And the scale down program that goes along with it is also another great tool. It holds you accountable sending you texts. You can read about it on the page. It was created by Harvard researchers. Its a long term drug, but that does not mean you have to stay on it long term. My MD took a lot of lab work, i had to see a psychologist to make sure i could handle it, i also have to see a dietician every couple of months. She has me on MFP and checks it each time. I made the committment to make a lifestyle change on Contrave. My BMI is almost normal. Im a food addict. A stress eater, so for those calling it a magic pill. Its far from that. If you do it right. You can get great results.
What does long term mean?0 -
Leslierussell4134 wrote: »People should research before posting to a thread like this. Contrave is part of the antidepressant drug category and is meant not as an appetite suppressant, but as a way to treat obesity as you would an addiction problem. It turns off the opioid receptors so that you don't feel compelled to eat when you're not hungry for mere gratification and pleasure. It doesn't work on every obese patient the same way, because not every obese person has that issue with food. However, this is a more modern form of treatment that is technically designed for long term use and has the same risk or less of other antidepressants like it. One of the medications in this drug has been around for a long time and is now being studied for its weight loss and management properties. Great thing about pharm...those off label and secondary uses.
Interesting, I apparently checked out this thread a while ago but never looked into the drug. It looks like it's an off-label use of a drug used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence (interestingly, it's apparently more effective at treating alcohol dependence than opioid dependence even though it is an antagonist for the opiod receptor). It's also a combination drug with the opioid antagonist combined with wellbutrin, which on it's own has been rebranded to help with smoking cessation (zyban). Well, here in the US at least. Also interesting the main use in the US for wellbutrin is an off label use in the rest of the developed world and it's mostly used for smoking cessation.
I feel rather enlightened.
Anyways, I'm glad there is a plan that goes along with the drug and combines techniques for cessation programs. All of these types of programs take a long time to be effective, but they are designed to give you the tools you need to help you succeed long term. Very interesting that it's essentially a comprehensive addition treatment plan.
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Leslierussell4134 wrote: »People should research before posting to a thread like this. Contrave is part of the antidepressant drug category and is meant not as an appetite suppressant, but as a way to treat obesity as you would an addiction problem. It turns off the opioid receptors so that you don't feel compelled to eat when you're not hungry for mere gratification and pleasure. It doesn't work on every obese patient the same way, because not every obese person has that issue with food. However, this is a more modern form of treatment that is technically designed for long term use and has the same risk or less of other antidepressants like it. One of the medications in this drug has been around for a long time and is now being studied for its weight loss and management properties. Great thing about pharm...those off label and secondary uses.
Interesting, I apparently checked out this thread a while ago but never looked into the drug. It looks like it's an off-label use of a drug used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence (interestingly, it's apparently more effective at treating alcohol dependence than opioid dependence even though it is an antagonist for the opiod receptor). It's also a combination drug with the opioid antagonist combined with wellbutrin, which on it's own has been rebranded to help with smoking cessation (zyban). Well, here in the US at least. Also interesting the main use in the US for wellbutrin is an off label use in the rest of the developed world and it's mostly used for smoking cessation.
I feel rather enlightened.
Anyways, I'm glad there is a plan that goes along with the drug and combines techniques for cessation programs. All of these types of programs take a long time to be effective, but they are designed to give you the tools you need to help you succeed long term. Very interesting that it's essentially a comprehensive addition treatment plan.
I agree, this is a far better approach in treating a problem that so many struggle with. Obesity is a pandemic and needs to be treated as seriously as
other medical conditions.
And no idea why my phone is now quoting thread in this fashion. Kind of annoying, but I use the app, so I guess it happens.0 -
I just started Contrave 11/2/2015. I am so hoping it's the answer to my binge eating. Just a few days and I've already stopped a lot of my snacking/bingeing.0
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