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Diet Pills and all that that implies
KristenG80
Posts: 19 Member
in Debate Club
One topic I find wildly varying, and passionate, answers on is Diet Pills. I mostly mean the 9 million OTC kinds. From WalMart shelves full of Raspberry Ketones to Kardashian's telling us to "Flush the fat FAST" by "turning up the heat".
What do you all think of Diet Pills, as a whole? Has anyone actually had good experiences, or bad?
Years and years ago, I got on the very first Hydroxycut and Stacker bandwagons. Damn near killed me. Nowadays we see medical professionals like the physicians from The Doctors and Dr. Oz plugging some new groundbreaking (so they call them ALL) miracle fat cure..........I wonder, have we gone from just flashy promises by shady companies hiring pseudo-celebrities to actual medical professionals plugging false hope with a pretty label, for ratings and sensationalism?
Share your thoughts on all the Diet Pill trends here, I'd love to hear them.
What do you all think of Diet Pills, as a whole? Has anyone actually had good experiences, or bad?
Years and years ago, I got on the very first Hydroxycut and Stacker bandwagons. Damn near killed me. Nowadays we see medical professionals like the physicians from The Doctors and Dr. Oz plugging some new groundbreaking (so they call them ALL) miracle fat cure..........I wonder, have we gone from just flashy promises by shady companies hiring pseudo-celebrities to actual medical professionals plugging false hope with a pretty label, for ratings and sensationalism?
Share your thoughts on all the Diet Pill trends here, I'd love to hear them.
6
Replies
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Diet pills are fantastic. If you sell them. They're worthless to take, though.49
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My honest opinion, diet pills are for lazy people who want a magic pill or potion which will melt off their fat with no effort from themselves.
I've used phentermine, garcinia etc etc in the past and this was my mindset.16 -
If diet pills worked, no one would be overweight. Prescription pills may be able to curb your appetite, but it comes back when you stop taking them.11
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Christine_72 wrote: »My honest opinion, diet pills are for lazy people who want a magic pill or potion which will melt off their fat with no effort from themselves.
That's basically how I feel. I don't know if it's justifiable, but I have a moralistic response that they are a wrong approach even if they did work.
So far the only ones that work (nothing currently over the counter) seem to be potentially dangerous, also.8 -
No.... Just no.0
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If they're not amphetamines, they're likely worthless. Unfortunately, those require prescriptions, or risking prison time.10
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I don't consider myself lazy, but I fell for those green tea pills.
I was on the side on the interstate almost dialing 911 once with a racing heartbeat.
I was so stupid.3 -
Christine_72 wrote: »My honest opinion, diet pills are for lazy people who want a magic pill or potion which will melt off their fat with no effort from themselves.
I've used phentermine, garcinia etc etc in the past and this was my mindset.
I really have to agree with you. It seems like that's become the order to fill, though. The diet pill industry has become an out-of-control monster because people want to swallow a pill and look like _______ (fill in celebrity here).
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I've heard a doctor complain that everybody who comes through her office expects to be prescribed some kind of pill, and thinks they haven't been treated unless they get one. Maybe with some tests to go with it. She said it's a shame she can't doll out placebos because a lot of what people complain about should not be treated with pills, but good luck getting them to agree. (Apparently sugar pills are a huge ethical no no.)
I wonder if that mindset - better living through chemistry, a pill for every complaint - spills over into dieting?4 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I've heard a doctor complain that everybody who comes through her office expects to be prescribed some kind of pill, and thinks they haven't been treated unless they get one. Maybe with some tests to go with it. She said it's a shame she can't doll out placebos because a lot of what people complain about should not be treated with pills, but good luck getting them to agree. (Apparently sugar pills are a huge ethical no no.)
I wonder if that mindset - better living through chemistry, a pill for every complaint - spills over into dieting?
Personally, I think it absolutely does. I think people now see a pill for everything else in their life, or on TV, or in friends lives, and think it can be done for weight loss too. "Science is doing amazing things for Timmy over there, why can't it make me lose 100lbs in a week?!"1 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I've heard a doctor complain that everybody who comes through her office expects to be prescribed some kind of pill, and thinks they haven't been treated unless they get one. Maybe with some tests to go with it. She said it's a shame she can't doll out placebos because a lot of what people complain about should not be treated with pills, but good luck getting them to agree. (Apparently sugar pills are a huge ethical no no.)
I wonder if that mindset - better living through chemistry, a pill for every complaint - spills over into dieting?
My mother - God rest her soul - was a living example of this:
Me: I've got a bit of a cold.
Mom: What are you taking for it?
Me: I'm not taking anything. It's just a cold.
Mom: Well have you been to the doctor?
It was worse when the children were sick, so I actually stopped telling her when that happened.13 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I've heard a doctor complain that everybody who comes through her office expects to be prescribed some kind of pill, and thinks they haven't been treated unless they get one. Maybe with some tests to go with it. She said it's a shame she can't doll out placebos because a lot of what people complain about should not be treated with pills, but good luck getting them to agree. (Apparently sugar pills are a huge ethical no no.)
I wonder if that mindset - better living through chemistry, a pill for every complaint - spills over into dieting?
My mother - God rest her soul - was a living example of this:
Me: I've got a bit of a cold.
Mom: What are you taking for it?
Me: I'm not taking anything. It's just a cold.
Mom: Well have you been to the doctor?
It was worse when the children were sick, so I actually stopped telling her when that happened.
I hear this crap at work all of the time, and it's only getting worse. My job involves me being in a truck by myself all day, so since I have no worry of spreading sickness, I go to work no matter how bad I feel. As such, all I ever hear when sick is about "you should take the day off and go to the doctor". No, I should sit my *kitten* here, make money, and let my immune system do it's job.21 -
NorthCascades wrote: »I've heard a doctor complain that everybody who comes through her office expects to be prescribed some kind of pill, and thinks they haven't been treated unless they get one. Maybe with some tests to go with it. She said it's a shame she can't doll out placebos because a lot of what people complain about should not be treated with pills, but good luck getting them to agree. (Apparently sugar pills are a huge ethical no no.)
I wonder if that mindset - better living through chemistry, a pill for every complaint - spills over into dieting?
My mother - God rest her soul - was a living example of this:
Me: I've got a bit of a cold.
Mom: What are you taking for it?
Me: I'm not taking anything. It's just a cold.
Mom: Well have you been to the doctor?
It was worse when the children were sick, so I actually stopped telling her when that happened.
The only time i go to the doctor is if i'm at deaths door, and never been for a simple cold that the doctor cant fix anyway.0 -
KristenG80 wrote: »One topic I find wildly varying, and passionate, answers on is Diet Pills. I mostly mean the 9 million OTC kinds. From WalMart shelves full of Raspberry Ketones to Kardashian's telling us to "Flush the fat FAST" by "turning up the heat".
What do you all think of Diet Pills, as a whole? Has anyone actually had good experiences, or bad?
Years and years ago, I got on the very first Hydroxycut and Stacker bandwagons. Damn near killed me. Nowadays we see medical professionals like the physicians from The Doctors and Dr. Oz plugging some new groundbreaking (so they call them ALL) miracle fat cure..........I wonder, have we gone from just flashy promises by shady companies hiring pseudo-celebrities to actual medical professionals plugging false hope with a pretty label, for ratings and sensationalism?
Share your thoughts on all the Diet Pill trends here, I'd love to hear them.
I would never ever recommend any one to use diet pills or any kind of allopathic medicine to loose weight. People have to understand the fact that diet pills may reduce their weight, as they claim, but they also comes with many kind of other health issues. I have heard so many times on public forums or consumer health forums about the side effects of consuming these diet pills.. What a yoga or exercise will do, diet pills can never. Adopt a healthy living life style, follow healthy living blogs like mynahcare to gather information on how to live healthy every day, include yoga or exercise in your routine and there you go - fit and fine body, without extra kilos and healthy mind.
That's what I think...1 -
I hope people who are using diet pills would understand my point...0
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »If they're not amphetamines, they're likely worthless. Unfortunately, those require prescriptions, or risking prison time.
Trufax. I took them in high school back in the day, when you could still get the amphetamine ones over the counter, not to lose weight, just for the energy and focus (snorted nasty *kitten* bathtub crank for the same reason, ugh). Doc says I was self-medicating. Now I take prescribed amphetamines for ADD, but they didn't even help me lose weight until I learned about macros and started eating low carb at a deficit.
My mom at one point took the unfortunately named AYDS diet candies in the 70s/80s, which I believe also had amphetamines.0 -
How many billions of dollars do folks waste on these?1
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My cousin has compulsive eating habits (an entire bag of crisps, an entire block of cheese, an entire 2litre, etc) and the cousin also have mental disabilities that make it hard for them to understand food portions/control. Doctors have put them on Belviq and a few others.. they will lose 20-30lbs, get off the pills and gain it all back.
I don't personal know many people that use them or admit to it.
I have a prescription for phentermine and used it for 5 days (1/2 pill) following my first binge on day 34 of my "diet". It did knock my appetite out and I cleaned my entire house top to bottom with a toothbrush for that week. I felt like it was a reset and I'm on day 70+ and have consistently still lost 3-4lbs per week since I stopped taking them. I wouldn't say all people who use them gain the weight back. There are a few frequent commenters who take them regularly but never comment on this types of discussions where the pills are spoken of negatively.
I don't mind sharing my personal insight on them. I think they would be great for those who are looking to jumpstart a better lifestyle and who are learning portion control/how to eat/log well in the process of taking them. I remember the first 15-20 days of my 'diet' I literally thought about food all day long with intense cravings.. I would DREAM about eating 'bad' food and I had to leave the room at work a few times when they brought in their usual weekend fare of take out, cookies, candies and other good smelling goodies. I had a tremendous amount of willpower to struggle through wanting to eat everything in sight... and no 'more protein less carbs' didn't help. I wasn't physically hungry I had mental cravings that manifesting into feeling physically hungry.
Phen loses efficiency over time and doctors may add topomax to extend the effects. Topomax isn't a drug I'd be okay with taking myself but I have coworkers who use it strictly for recurring migraines. Taking phen for a few days brought me back to eating well and not feeling so ravenous/craving bad food after my binge. The other times I lost weight, binged, and gained 9lbs overnight I gave up completely and gained all my weight back plus 10. I was pretty thankful this time was different. I have eaten over my calorie goal since then (by 1000-1500) on certain days that I may go out drinking or going to a BBQ but I feel more confident in my ability to snap back without meds now that I'm 2 months and 40+ pounds deep into my new eating plan.
Definitely isn't for everyone and they're an aide, not a solution and definitely not an end all be all.15 -
A small number of 'medications' make any measurable difference in losing weight: EC stacks and DNP. And both, done wrong, will kill you.
Now that I think about it, corpses keep losing weight...0 -
Diet pills that actually work are illegal in the US. Everything available here is a placebo. Save your money.CipherZero wrote: »A small number of 'medications' make any measurable difference in losing weight: EC stacks and DNP. And both, done wrong, will kill you.
EC stack doesn't kill you if it's done wrong; it kills you if you have a pre-existing heart condition (which people may have and not realize it). 99% of people will have no problem with it, which is why it's still available just about everywhere outside of the US.
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It seems to me that they're pretty much worthless for most people.0
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ill have to be honest about this one. 2 months ago I developed a binge eating pattern as a result of being unemployed and thus unmotivated and depressed. I tried to continue exercising and obsessed over 'clean eating', until my mother came for a visit and saw what a wreck I was. The situation climaxed when we went to a takeaway place to grab something quick to eat. Seeing all the available food overwhelmed me so much that I burst out in tears - I wanted all that food and I hated it because I thought it was gross and I hated myself for wanting it and stressing over it. To give you some background, at the time I had a fairly athletic body and weighed 60 kg with a height of 170 cm, which is considered healthy. It was nonetheless too much for me and my life revolved around trying to shed 3 kilos to go back to my ideal weight. Now my mother was a med student and while she hadn't been a doctor for long, she is well aware of what is dangerous. Her solution to my binge eating cycle was to buy me sibutramine pills (which in the country I currently live in are available over the counter without prescription). The 'speedy' effect that everyone talks about lasted for only one day and didn't bother me that much. Afterwards, my binge eating and obsession over food slowly subsided and I was able to focus on other things and slowly started losing weight. I had regained motivation to have a weekly exercise schedule and re-joined FitnessPal. I have been on this pill for about a month and the results are noticeable. I still eat 3 times a day and I indulge in sweets and fats, however I do it all in moderation. I know these pills do not work for everybody. While on the diet pills, I have still maintained discipline and perseverance and tried to make sure I am eating mind fully. What sibutramine did to me is help me get in touch with my body and get back on the weight loss track. I would, however not take any other diet pill and instead take fish oil supplements, which also help the body feel more satiated after less food. I have read a myriad of reviews about certain diet pills and was not convinced I their effectiveness simply based on the contents of the pill. Sibutramine however, helped me a LOT and helped me regain control of my life.6
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madinagazieva93 wrote: »ill have to be honest about this one. 2 months ago I developed a binge eating pattern as a result of being unemployed and thus unmotivated and depressed. I tried to continue exercising and obsessed over 'clean eating', until my mother came for a visit and saw what a wreck I was. The situation climaxed when we went to a takeaway place to grab something quick to eat. Seeing all the available food overwhelmed me so much that I burst out in tears - I wanted all that food and I hated it because I thought it was gross and I hated myself for wanting it and stressing over it. To give you some background, at the time I had a fairly athletic body and weighed 60 kg with a height of 170 cm, which is considered healthy. It was nonetheless too much for me and my life revolved around trying to shed 3 kilos to go back to my ideal weight. Now my mother was a med student and while she hadn't been a doctor for long, she is well aware of what is dangerous. Her solution to my binge eating cycle was to buy me sibutramine pills (which in the country I currently live in are available over the counter without prescription). The 'speedy' effect that everyone talks about lasted for only one day and didn't bother me that much. Afterwards, my binge eating and obsession over food slowly subsided and I was able to focus on other things and slowly started losing weight. I had regained motivation to have a weekly exercise schedule and re-joined FitnessPal. I have been on this pill for about a month and the results are noticeable. I still eat 3 times a day and I indulge in sweets and fats, however I do it all in moderation. I know these pills do not work for everybody. While on the diet pills, I have still maintained discipline and perseverance and tried to make sure I am eating mind fully. What sibutramine did to me is help me get in touch with my body and get back on the weight loss track. I would, however not take any other diet pill and instead take fish oil supplements, which also help the body feel more satiated after less food. I have read a myriad of reviews about certain diet pills and was not convinced I their effectiveness simply based on the contents of the pill. Sibutramine however, helped me a LOT and helped me regain control of my life.
Sibutramine, that's reductil, right? I think that's been banned here in Australia for quite a few years.0 -
Diet pills are usually nothing more than some caffeine and other ingredients that "apparently" have an effect on appetite.
The con here is that YOU are in control of how much you eat even with an appetite suppressant. Wait what? Because once you stop using it, what you put in your mouth and how much you eat will be your own decision. That is unless of course you're willing to be on a drug the rest of your life. And even then, people will build a tolerance to it.
Changing habits is what people need to do, not pop a pill an hope it changes it for them.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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Total waste of time.0
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EC works quite well and is pretty mild in terms of side-effect profile if you are in good health and use it responsibly. Yohimbine can help with stubborn fat, but I find the sides to be unbearable. Someone else mentioned DNP, which is in a whole other category (that category being 'borderline suicidal' IMO... if you are taking a pesticide that interferes with the fundamental mechanisms of cellular respiration out of vanity, you really need to reexamine your life ). In all cases but the last, the actual impact is fairly small for most people on this board. If you're trying to go from 12% body fat to 8% then EC can be quite helpful. If you're going from 40% to 25%, it's not needed IMO.3
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Folks in Independence mo used to do a lot of diet things. Today many are still very skinny, mostly because they have zero teeth.
What kind of diet pills you willing to put in your system?2 -
When I was in my 20's, about 40 years ago, there were weight loss clinics women (mostly young ones) would go to and they would basically peddle speed. I was a 22 year old college student, working part time as a waitress in a dinner house to pay the bills, and quite a few of the 25 to 35 year old waitresses went to one of these "clinics".
One of my best friends there had a heart attack in the parking lot after work one night and died.....she was 26 and her death was attributed to amphetamines. Luckily for me I never tried them.3 -
I'm 28 and in my early 20 's i was obsessed with diet pills, i was anorexic and all that fun stuff. Now losing weight the healthy way is much better and diet pills are just *kitten*2
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While I can definitely see the reasoning behind the negative light often cast on diet pills, I feel that it's not quite right to say they're all sugar pills or all people on them are lazy.
I've been on phentermine for almost a week now, and for me it's about energy. My doctor and I are working closely to find a solution, and the pill is a very temporary measure. Without it (or at least some sort of powerful boost), I have enough energy to make breakfast and take the dogs outside to pee. Maybe two hours, four at most, and I'm fading into a weird state between awake and asleep, barely able to move for lack of energy. This has been an increasing problem for years, and had led to a lot of depression and, of course, weight gain.
For me, I'm using the time on phentermine as a reset. I never experienced that manic high that some people describe, but since day 2 of taking it, I have the energy of someone healthy. I can stay up all day, do chores, play with dogs (I still don't quite have enough energy to walk them alone), and make a plan for how I want to manage this going forward, when there won't be a pill (joining MyFitnessPal is part of that effort).
I fully agree that there is no magic pill that will melt away pounds for you. Diet and (when possible) exercise are the only solution to that. But sometimes perscribed diet pills have a role to play in getting back on your feet so you can take better care of yourself in the future.8
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