Alli / Xenical, Does It Work? (Please Only Answer If You Have Actually Taken It)

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Replies

  • Rebecca0224
    Rebecca0224 Posts: 810 Member
    I had been on a weightloss drug that was pulled on account it gave people suicidal thought so my gp insisted i had to take orlistat ( i was very young and wouldnt dare go against my doctors advice )

    I followed thd low fat diet plan and exercised
    We went to my husbands bosses house and since i wouldnt be able to eat the curry due to the fat content the wife speciallyade me some savory rice..... just vegetables she said

    In the taxi on the way home a small warm sensation started and some stomach pains. Ive never clenched my bum cheeks so tightly.
    I begged the driver to go faster while i prayed to every god or magical creature i could think of and penguin waddled into the house as soon as we pulled up. Bit of mess to the underwear but the taxi seat made it unscathed

    Turned out she had fried the vegetables and uncooked rice in lots of ghee

    I went back go the doctors a few days later for a weigh in....... only lost 4lb and got told off by the doctor who insisted i should have eaten more fat in order for it to work...... umm nope, refused the next months prescription

    Wouldn't more fat just give you diarrhea?

    Yes, yes it would hence the reason i refused the second months prescription

    I would also refuse to ever see a doctor again who randomly prescribes medications without the first clue about how they work.

    I moved towns not long after and have been through several doctors since one of whom used to tell me my blood work was normal and i just needed to lose weight.....

    Turns out my blood work had been coming back abnormal for years. I have hypothyroidism and by the time the hospital reviewed my notes i was in horrific pain, could hardly stay awake, had lost so much hair and couldnt string together a coherent sentence. I also had crystals forming in most of my joints from years of high uric acid levels

    I dont trust doctors these days
    I asked my new doctor how much more weight i needed to lose for the pains to go away ( ive lost 150lb ) only for him to be shocked i was told it was a pure weight issue and he started me on new meds immediately, the reduction in pain these last 2 months has been immense

    It took me a while to find a good general practitioner and even longer to find a good neurologist. I'm sorry you had such a bad experience and I'm glad you are improving.
  • kiramckell
    kiramckell Posts: 14 Member
    I’ve been taking orlistat for about a week now as an addition to my sertraline to try to stop the weight gain. I have been more constipated now than ever and after reading these stories I’m not taking any more. I follow a mostly plant based diet and have been instructed to keep my intake below 1700 calories. Even still, I’m gaining 2-3 pounds per week. No idea wtf to do.
  • MissyCHF
    MissyCHF Posts: 337 Member
    edited November 2017
    I wasted good money on Alli years ago, for about 3 months. Nothing, no embarrassments, no weight loss!! I may as well poured money down the loo.
  • BruinsGal_91
    BruinsGal_91 Posts: 1,400 Member
    sarahthes wrote: »
    I'm not ashamed to admit I have this thread bookmarked.

    Heck yeah! Me too. It's the best thread ever.
  • This content has been removed.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    kiramckell wrote: »
    I’ve been taking orlistat for about a week now as an addition to my sertraline to try to stop the weight gain. I have been more constipated now than ever and after reading these stories I’m not taking any more. I follow a mostly plant based diet and have been instructed to keep my intake below 1700 calories. Even still, I’m gaining 2-3 pounds per week. No idea wtf to do.

    Gaining 2 pounds of fat each week would be you eating 7,000 calories over your maintenance. That would mean that (if you were indeed) eating 1,700 calories a day......your maintenance = 700 calories. Nope - no way.

    A couple of things to consider - normal water weight fluctuations. High sodium = water retention, sore muscles = water retention, time of month = water retention. If you are indeed gaining weight week after week after week....see a doctor.

    How are you measuring & logging your intake? Are you logging every bite, every lick, every taste? Are you inputting recipes into recipe builder? Are you measuring solids with a digital food scale and liquids with a measuring cup? Double check your database selections...plenty are wrong.

    See this flowchart - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10484320/why-i-am-not-losing-weight-flowchart
  • jaedwa1
    jaedwa1 Posts: 114 Member
    sarahthes wrote: »
    I'm not ashamed to admit I have this thread bookmarked.

    Heck yeah! Me too. It's the best thread ever.

    Me three....this and the gummy bear reviews on amazon

    "Adorable little bears plucked from the pits of hell..."
  • kiramckell
    kiramckell Posts: 14 Member
    TeaBea wrote: »
    kiramckell wrote: »
    I’ve been taking orlistat for about a week now as an addition to my sertraline to try to stop the weight gain. I have been more constipated now than ever and after reading these stories I’m not taking any more. I follow a mostly plant based diet and have been instructed to keep my intake below 1700 calories. Even still, I’m gaining 2-3 pounds per week. No idea wtf to do.

    Gaining 2 pounds of fat each week would be you eating 7,000 calories over your maintenance. That would mean that (if you were indeed) eating 1,700 calories a day......your maintenance = 700 calories. Nope - no way.

    A couple of things to consider - normal water weight fluctuations. High sodium = water retention, sore muscles = water retention, time of month = water retention. If you are indeed gaining weight week after week after week....see a doctor.

    How are you measuring & logging your intake? Are you logging every bite, every lick, every taste? Are you inputting recipes into recipe builder? Are you measuring solids with a digital food scale and liquids with a measuring cup? Double check your database selections...plenty are wrong.

    See this flowchart - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10484320/why-i-am-not-losing-weight-flowchart

    Yes I am. My doc put me on this specifically because my sertraline is messing with my hormones so badly that my body is holding on to everything it can. When I’m not on it, my body goes back to normal very quickly but the depression is too severe to stop treatment. He’s advised me to slowly lower my doe until I’m at half and he hopes that will help.
  • Lesscookies1
    Lesscookies1 Posts: 250 Member
    Interesting thread...
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kiramckell wrote: »
    TeaBea wrote: »
    kiramckell wrote: »
    I’ve been taking orlistat for about a week now as an addition to my sertraline to try to stop the weight gain. I have been more constipated now than ever and after reading these stories I’m not taking any more. I follow a mostly plant based diet and have been instructed to keep my intake below 1700 calories. Even still, I’m gaining 2-3 pounds per week. No idea wtf to do.

    Gaining 2 pounds of fat each week would be you eating 7,000 calories over your maintenance. That would mean that (if you were indeed) eating 1,700 calories a day......your maintenance = 700 calories. Nope - no way.

    A couple of things to consider - normal water weight fluctuations. High sodium = water retention, sore muscles = water retention, time of month = water retention. If you are indeed gaining weight week after week after week....see a doctor.

    How are you measuring & logging your intake? Are you logging every bite, every lick, every taste? Are you inputting recipes into recipe builder? Are you measuring solids with a digital food scale and liquids with a measuring cup? Double check your database selections...plenty are wrong.

    See this flowchart - http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10484320/why-i-am-not-losing-weight-flowchart

    Yes I am. My doc put me on this specifically because my sertraline is messing with my hormones so badly that my body is holding on to everything it can. When I’m not on it, my body goes back to normal very quickly but the depression is too severe to stop treatment. He’s advised me to slowly lower my doe until I’m at half and he hopes that will help.

    There are mistakes that people commonly make that cause them to not lose weight that we might be able to spot if you change your Diary Sharing settings to Public: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Sertraline / Zoloft is more commonly associated with loss of appetite and weight loss than weight gain.

    Look, there are plenty of antidepressants out there. No need to use one that has bad side effects for you. I stopped Prozac because it gave me anxiety attacks and Zoloft because it caused me to lose the ability to orgasm. I'm taking Wellbutrin now, and am very happy with it.

    My brother was on anti-psychotics that worked for him for 15 years...until they stopped. It was a rough two years before his team found a new set of meds that worked for him. Good thing they kept experimenting, because he might have died otherwise.
  • taylormclean21
    taylormclean21 Posts: 3 Member
    I took Xenical as prescribed by my doctor. It was awesome at first. I had tons of energy and lost weight fast. The bad news was I did experience some pretty annoying side effects like insomnia and hair loss. The hair loss hit me hard because I am a young woman. It was definitely a huge mistake for me and I will never take a pill again to lose weight. It’s not for me, but it did work.
  • PaulaWallaDingDong
    PaulaWallaDingDong Posts: 4,641 Member
    jofjltncb6 wrote: »
    astrampe wrote: »
    Where did the OP go?

    If she took Alli, probably unintentionally in a lot of places.

    (Yeah, I know, I'm replying to a 2+ year old post...but the recent thread bump had me rereading this whole thread and was disappointed that I missed this one the first time.)

    This thread doesn't die. It gets it's own special exception to the rule. Have at it.
  • pinuplove
    pinuplove Posts: 12,871 Member
    jofjltncb6 wrote: »
    astrampe wrote: »
    Where did the OP go?

    If she took Alli, probably unintentionally in a lot of places.

    (Yeah, I know, I'm replying to a 2+ year old post...but the recent thread bump had me rereading this whole thread and was disappointed that I missed this one the first time.)

    This thread doesn't die. It gets it's own special exception to the rule. Have at it.

    I have it starred just to see how many times it comes back to life. Plus, it's MFP gold!
  • Lesscookies12
    Lesscookies12 Posts: 140 Member
    FattieBabs wrote: »
    OK everyone - here is an update! I have now been on the stuff a year. I have lost 2 stone over 10 months as had 2 months off at maintenance. I agree that, between 1500-1650 cals a day without Orlistat I would probably lose weight anyway. BUT it has reeducated me re the amount of fat I was having and I am making better choices now. I still have fat - around 45g a day or less, take a multi-vitamin and so far so good. However, I don't want to be on these pills for much longer as worried about the side effects. For me it has been a fairly good experience.

    Side effects have been some hairloss and dry skin (which I have never suffered from before). Once I upped my vitamin intake things did improve.

    Cheese was my main downfall and is a "no" on this diet. I used to crave it - not so much now.. I still have matchbox-sized amounts without any problems. I can go out to Pizza Express and make sensible choices and still lose weight!

    The consultant now wants me to lose another stone before the op which is depressing as I had originally agreed 2 stone loss but I am determined to get there. Summer is my deadline.

    I can sympathise with a lot of comments above and my "near misses" taught me to be very careful! Need to work out how to bookmark this post.. If anyone is thinking of trying this stuff feel free to message me - my diary is open to friends.

    Honestly, I'm a bit concerned about having a near accident being a form of rededucation. And yes I know it's an old thread :)
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    FattieBabs wrote: »
    OK everyone - here is an update! I have now been on the stuff a year. I have lost 2 stone over 10 months as had 2 months off at maintenance. I agree that, between 1500-1650 cals a day without Orlistat I would probably lose weight anyway. BUT it has reeducated me re the amount of fat I was having and I am making better choices now. I still have fat - around 45g a day or less, take a multi-vitamin and so far so good. However, I don't want to be on these pills for much longer as worried about the side effects. For me it has been a fairly good experience.

    Side effects have been some hairloss and dry skin (which I have never suffered from before). Once I upped my vitamin intake things did improve.

    Cheese was my main downfall and is a "no" on this diet. I used to crave it - not so much now.. I still have matchbox-sized amounts without any problems. I can go out to Pizza Express and make sensible choices and still lose weight!

    The consultant now wants me to lose another stone before the op which is depressing as I had originally agreed 2 stone loss but I am determined to get there. Summer is my deadline.

    I can sympathise with a lot of comments above and my "near misses" taught me to be very careful! Need to work out how to bookmark this post.. If anyone is thinking of trying this stuff feel free to message me - my diary is open to friends.

    Just want to point out at 1650 calories a day eat 45 g or less (especially the or less parr. How low are you going?) you are just hitting your minimum daily requirement for fat intake. Other than pills that make you have explosive diarrhea why are you eating so little fat?
  • singingflutelady
    singingflutelady Posts: 8,736 Member
    Oh if you don't get at least your minimum rda odfat taking a multivitamin won't matter for some esssential vitamins as several are fat soluble.