Prescription Drugs For Weight Loss

thepritts

First a little background: Currently 50 years old, ex-athlete, got married, had kids, got fat and decided to do something about it.

I've lost 42 lbs on my own with roughly another 40 to go. My family doc thought it would be a good idea to speak with a dietician. During the initial meeting, she presented me with four or five prescription options to aid in weight loss, one of which was an injection. She continued by stating, they would be a good option for when my weight loss plateaued and she said, "you will plateau."

I'm sorry, but I can't remember what the medications were she offered, but I emailed her for them and I'll post them when she responds, anyhow.....

How many of you have used prescription meds or injections to aid in your weight loss journey? Please share what you used or are currently using; side effects; weight lost as a direct result of the meds; would you recommend them; what would you change if presented with the same opportunity again?

Thank you for helping.

JBanx256

All I'm gonna say is "yikes." It sounds to me like you've made some pretty great progress on your own so far, so you seem to have a pretty good idea what it is you need to do to get the results you want. Also, plateaus may or may not happen, but even if/when they do, they can be worked through and you can continue on your merry way without injecting/ingesting pharmaceuticals. Don't get me wrong here - I'm not averse to any/all medical interventions, but her jumping to that right out of the gate seems a bit...fatalistic? And TBH, quite lazy on her part.

Regardless of the path you choose, I do think it's great that you're seeking the voice of experience here rather than just jumping at the 'script. Kudos & best wishes to you

TakeTheLongWayHome

☝️100% what he said.

callsitlikeiseeit

I think that it is very premature to even consider doing anything that drastic.

Most weight loss drugs come with some pretty nasty side effects. Many people who take them, find that when they stop, they gain back some, or all (or more) of the weight they lost while on it.

And then, you have to consider the possibility of future, unknown long term side effects (remember phen-phen?)

If I were you (and in a way I am, with about 40 pounds left to lose after losing a WHOLE lot more than what you have), I'd just keep doing what you are doing. It takes time, and patience. This is a marathon, not a sprint. But, plateaus or not (and I've had plenty), you will (WE will) get there

cmriverside

Well...I'm an aging hippie who is about as anti-prescription drug as it is possible to be.


I also needed to lose 80 pounds to get to a healthy weight.

I logged food, took walks, repeated that until the weight was gone.

That was in 2007-08. I'm still logging food and taking walks and still at that same healthy weight. (21 BMI)

goal06082021

I'm really curious to know what specific meds she was suggesting. Most of them are just stimulants, you can get the same appetite suppressant effects from black coffee. Others like Alli/Xenical are useless at best and traumatizing at worst, check out the threads about them around here.

I2k4

Too little information to say anything specific. Generally, I wouldn't consider any Rx for any purpose without a formally diagnosed medical dysfunction and a clear understanding of what the Rx is supposed to do for it, why it's necessary and what the downside risks for me (in particular) might be. Generally that comes from an M.D. specialist, not a dietician. From the information given, it's unclear if the GP knows the dietician well enough to have anticipated the advice or what the dietician's qualifications are.

sollyn23l2

There are a number of very informative threads about people's experiences with weight loss drugs. You can search for the threads using the key word search. Most people's experiences were... problematic. The other thing to remember is that, yes, they will help you to lose weight, but unless you change lifestyle habits, you will immediately gain it all back, generally plus some, after you stop the drug.

BTW, most modern ones work by causing you to poo out undigested fat. And this experience can be... unpleasant.

kshama2001

goal06082021 wrote: »

I'm really curious to know what specific meds she was suggesting. Most of them are just stimulants, you can get the same appetite suppressant effects from black coffee. Others like Alli/Xenical are useless at best and traumatizing at worst, check out the threads about them around here.

Here's the notorious Alli/Xenical thread:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10290083/alli-xenical-does-it-work-please-only-answer-if-you-have-actually-taken-it/p1

kshama2001

I didn't internalize healthy eating habits when my appetite was artificially suppressed by taking a legal amphetamine-like drug and I gained all the weight back when I stopped taking it. And now I am on medication for heart palpitations.

Here's my favorite post about Phentermine: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10329901/phentermine/p1

itschanelle wrote: »

I have seen a lot of posts on and off about this and other weight loss drugs. I can vouch that they absolutely work. I have lost a lot weight using Phentermine on and off throughout about a 10 year span.

BUT...

The weight doesn't stay off. And those side effects? They are real.

You could take Phentermine and lose the weight, but you might end up like me. I'm 30 years old, slightly over weight, and have moderate tricuspid valve regurgitation. As in, I might need open heart surgery because my heart was damaged by Phentermine. To be clear, I never took it for more than a few months at a time, was monitored by a doctor, and did everything "right".

My lifespan has likely been shortened to lose a few pounds. Weight I could have lost on my own with a little bit of gumption. It wasn't worth it.

NerdyScienceGrl

I’m very apprehensive to share this because of the stigma around pharmaceutical intervention but maybe it will be helpful.

In 2018, my PCP prescribed Phentermine to help me jumpstart weight loss. I have osteoarthritis throughout my lumbar spine, an artificial disc in my lower back and arthritis in both hips that come with a variety of associated complications - the primary being chronic inflammation that causes both nerve and mechanical pain. After living on anti-inflammatories and corticosteroids for a number of years, I’d added weight to the existing problem (from both the side effects of medications and inactivity) and couldn’t do it any more. The inflammation wasn’t being held at bay, my physical health wasn’t improving because the simple things in life were painful beyond what I could handle, and my mental health was diminishing. I’d previously had an active outdoor lifestyle and while still “overweight” wasn’t held back by it. So after a tearful conversation, multiple options were laid on the table. My PCP and I decided that Phentermine was likely the least of all the evils.

Unlike many of the stories and research I’d read, I had very few complications. I also didn’t take it thinking it was going to shed the weight for me. Over the course of the first three months, I did a ton of research on how to live in my body and treat it right — I did an elimination diet to find the food that my body didn’t like and complicated not only the inflammation but ultimately losing weight. I’d developed a slow but steady low impact exercise routine that felt good and incorporated things I missed — like hiking. I introduced yoga and learned about mindfulness and not constantly practicing negative self talk. After six months of taking it, I’d lost weight, had a plan to naturally control inflammation to the extent possible and be nice to myself when my body wasn’t working with me. It did jumpstart the weight loss but more importantly a lifestyle change.

…and then COVID came to town. My mental health went to *kitten*, the lifestyle changes were flung out the window, and I regained some of the weight. The inflammation was back to levels where household chores were painful, getting out of bed painful, etc. So, January of this year, I dusted off the books, rewatched the YouTube videos, and started working on my mental health. The eye opener — my mental health was steering the ship, and I couldn’t let it go or the lifestyle changes I’d made previously. It didn’t take me long to shed the COVID weight and shift my thinking back towards feeling good, improved fitness and ultimately continued weight loss.

So, to answer your questions — yes, I used Phentermine the complications were rather mild and easily overcome. Initially I was extremely dehydrated, had sleep issues, the jitters. All worked out within a relatively short time and with increased water and fiber consumption.

Weight lost? Overall between losses and regains, somewhere around 90 - 100 lbs. directly attributed to the Phentermine, maybe 30 but appetite wasn’t really my problem. All the rest? Lifestyle.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. I feel like there are exceptions to every rule and my personal choice to take this route benefitted me in more ways than one - in the short term it helped to get me moving again and the opportunity to help myself through identifying and making lifestyle changes. Longer term using the knowledge gained, I found the lynchpin in my overall health. I see it as a tool. A tool to get over a plateau when you have been doing something that works? That’s your personal choice. For me, nope. I adapt, mentally give myself space to work through the plateaus by going to maintenance calories for awhile — accept some imperfection, gain a few lbs (inflammation and water, generally) and return renewed and ultimately refocused and stronger. I don’t believe that most people are willing to make the necessary changes or do the necessary soul searching to identify the real issue.

I wouldn’t change the opportunity, but I also used that time wisely to change what I didn’t have the energy (mentally, physically or emotionally) to face straight on before. Chronic pain and inflammation are/were one the most difficult issues I’ve had to battle because of the overall and helpless feeling of being trapped in a body that was fighting against me. I felt, and some days still do like, “I’m much too young to feel this damn old”. But overall, I’m healthier and stronger for it. 😁

Sorry for the novel, but I figure if I’m going to tell my story, I’d tell it. Moral being — if you’re not willing to put in the time and make the changes for good, medical intervention is just money spent and not well spent. It won’t change anything.

Speakeasy76

Honestly, my first thought when reading this is that the dietician must be getting some kind of kick-back from the pharmaceutical companies. Obesity has become an epidemic in the US, so of course pharmaceutical companies would find a way to cash in on that. I know that drugs can save lives so I'm against big pharma in general (although the show the Pharmacist on Netflix really opened my eyes to some shady stuff). I am all for prescription drugs when needed and take them myself, but it seems odd that the dietician would recommend them right now.

Many people have lost weight without the use of weight-loss drugs, and it sounds like you've already got a good plan in place. I think if you find yourself at a place where you're struggling and nothing seems to be working (after reading advice that's given here when people get "stuck"), then maybe it would be a good idea?

yweight2020

thepritts wrote: »

First a little background: Currently 50 years old, ex-athlete, got married, had kids, got fat and decided to do something about it.

I've lost 42 lbs on my own with roughly another 40 to go. My family doc thought it would be a good idea to speak with a dietician. During the initial meeting, she presented me with four or five prescription options to aid in weight loss, one of which was an injection. She continued by stating, they would be a good option for when my weight loss plateaued and she said, "you will plateau."

I'm sorry, but I can't remember what the medications were she offered, but I emailed her for them and I'll post them when she responds, anyhow.....

How many of you have used prescription meds or injections to aid in your weight loss journey? Please share what you used or are currently using; side effects; weight lost as a direct result of the meds; would you recommend them; what would you change if presented with the same opportunity again?

Thank you for helping.

Congrats on your success, you lost 42 lbs and 40 to go you can lose it without the drugs and more than likely negative side effects. We all have plateaus and we get through them and keep going, I've lost 52.8 lbs and have 25.2 lbs to go and it's taken me 1 year to date I'm in a rush but at the same time I'm not my health and sustaining this for life is the goal. And don't get me wrong as a younger person I've tried a lot of stuff and none of it really works because it comes back to needing to control your calories and nutrition, on precribed drugs or not. The person who offered you drugs instead of sound nutritional advice doesn't sound good to me. It's your choice but I would be very careful some of the drugs have effected peoples heart and liver, not worth it for weight loss. When you do plateau, you will figure it out . You will either up your exercise or start exercising if you don't, change up your calorie content up or down, drink enough water, come here to stay motivated and most of all don't give up, do what you did to lose the firsr 42 lbs you got this.

AnnPT77

I didn't use drugs. I avoid non-recreational drugs that are optional. I've taken non-recreational drugs that were *literally* life-threatening (have killed people) at standard doses, because the potential benefits materially outweighed the potential risks.

You've lost weight. You know how to lose weight. Right now, maybe you're stalling or feeling burned out, and you can figure that out, too. It may not be a quick-gratification thing, but it can work. And it will be a better learning experience about what it will take to *maintain* a healthy weight long term, compared to taking a drug now to manipulate the situation.

How long have you stalled in weight loss, if you've stalled at all? (You don't mention that.)

I'm old (65), post menopausal, hypothyroid (treated), have sleep apnea and other theoretically weight-loss-complicating medical conditions (torn meniscus, OA, osteoporosis, cancer survivor, early menopause, more). I could lose weight. Betting you can, too.

I'm now about the same size I was in my early 20s - tried on the outfit I was married in at 22, and it fit. I won't guarantee that it fit exactly the same as at 22, because I don't remember . . . but it fit acceptably. That, after decades of overweight/obesity. 5+ years of maintaining a healthy weight, since loss in 2015-16. I'm confident you can do something similar, if you choose. It will take patience, maybe wiliness.

Would drugs be an alternative? Don't know. I fear it might be a blind alley, pseudo progress, no smooth exit to a good place. Might be wrong, though.

flatcoatedR

You've successfully already lost 42 lbs. Why start using drugs now? Continued doing what you used to lose the 42 lbs. Most drugs have side accents. Why risk it.

LiveOnceBeHappy

This may be, okay....is, a little snarky. Meth addicts as depicted on TV are quite thin. I guess there are also people who infect themselves with parasites to lose weight. We'll put that as Option C.

I've just started this journey (AGAIN), and if there was a pill that I knew was safe and effective, I would absolutely take it to speed up the process and not have to log food and count calories. I just don't think such a thing really exists (safe and effective that is).

Good luck on your continued journey!

Beautyofdreams

Are you diabetic? The injectable drugs that you are referencing sound like Ozempic, Saxenda and Wegovy. All of which are derived from Semaglutide which has been used to treat obesity. They have varying concentrations of Semaglutide with Saxenda being the weakest and Wegovy the strongest. Saxenda and Ozempic are used to treat Type 2 Diabetes.

If you are not diabetic and able to exercise then keep doing what you are doing. It is important to establish consistent healthy habits that lead to steady weight loss than to try to shortcut those habits and take an unneeded medication.

AlexandraFindsHerself1971

I have ADHD, and my medication has been abused before for weight control. I'd already learned how to deal with the food disinterest that it causes. (This is not as helpful if you think; if you need to eat a certain number of calories to get through to the next meal, getting bored with eating 1/3 of the way through the meal is a problem.) What it did for me is to firm up my focus and willpower, so that I could resist the gentle persistent voice that says, "You could have a snack. It would be tasty...." As opposed to finding myself halfway through the snack and saying, "Why am I eating this?" because it happened mindlessly.

It certainly helps to have the amphetamine bringing my executive functions fully online, and I probably would have difficulty being successful on my diet without it, but I would have difficulty doing anything else successfully. But just like the rest of my life, the drug is merely one part of changing habits, creating positive feedback routines, and supporting my goals. It's not a miracle.

(And the fact that I forget to take it if I don't have alarms to tell me to do it and partners who ask, "Did you take your pill this morning?" says something about how addictive we who are prescribed it find it, lol.)

thepritts

goal06082021 wrote: »

I'm really curious to know what specific meds she was suggesting. Most of them are just stimulants, you can get the same appetite suppressant effects from black coffee. Others like Alli/Xenical are useless at best and traumatizing at worst, check out the threads about them around here.

-metformin (Glucophage)
-bupropion (Wellbutrin)
-topiramate (Topamax)
-Wegovy (weekly injection)

Most of you have confirmed what I feel. I don't like to take aspirin for a headache, but I thought I'd ask and draw from other's experience.

I realize that I'm probably not answering each individual question, but what weight I've lost has come from cleaning-up my diet, eating at a caloric deficit, measuring food, logging and tracking macros and more importantly, EXERCISE. I lift three days per week and cycle (stationary bike) three days per week. Each workout consists of 60 minutes of exercise.

Thank you all so much for responding!

callsitlikeiseeit

thepritts wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

I'm really curious to know what specific meds she was suggesting. Most of them are just stimulants, you can get the same appetite suppressant effects from black coffee. Others like Alli/Xenical are useless at best and traumatizing at worst, check out the threads about them around here.

-metformin (Glucophage)
-bupropion (Wellbutrin)
-topiramate (Topamax)
-Wegovy (weekly injection)

Most of you have confirmed what I feel. I don't like to take aspirin for a headache, but I thought I'd ask and draw from other's experience.

I realize that I'm probably not answering each individual question, but what weight I've lost has come from cleaning-up my diet, eating at a caloric deficit, measuring food, logging and tracking macros and more importantly, EXERCISE. I lift three days per week and cycle (stationary bike) three days per week. Each workout consists of 60 minutes of exercise.

Thank you all so much for responding!

i can tell you right now that topamax's effects as far as an appetite suppressant are not long lived (though maybe for some it is?). AND it has some rather nasty other side effects for a lot of people. i take it for migraines. all of the side effects have since worn off, some took longer than others. you'll pretty much forget your name and how to tie your shoelaces. constant 'pins and needles' in my feet and hands. never stopped. bunch of others. my appetite was the first thing to come back. maybe a couple of weeks i didnt have much of one. yes, i lost weight. no, i didnt gain it back. but, it wasn't intended for that reason. A lot of people lose their taste, or things start to taste bad or off. the only item that happened to with me was with soda, which i still cant drink. not necessarily a bad thing, but if it was real food could definitely be an issue (or god forbid, coffee). If it wasnt such a miracle for me for my migraines, i would not have ever made it through the side effects to get through them to no side effects (about a month for the worst of them). I'll put it this way. I was on the verge of calling it quits when they started subsiding.

I was on wellbutrin for awhile for depression. they may as well have been tictacs for any purpose, for me. i know everyone is different though.

COGypsy

Co-sign on the Dope-amax. I took it years ago to mitigate weight gain while I was on another medication. I stayed on it for several years because, while it did nothing for my weight, it was amazing for my migraines. The brain fog is real. I spaced out for several minutes once at the gym, just staring into the mirror holding my weights in my hands like a zombie. Pins and needles were crazy. I don't recommend trying to drive through a snowstorm when your hands are tingling so badly you can't feel the steering wheel. Drinking soda and eating anything tangy/sour/acidic was like chewing tin foil. Side effects got mostly better after a year or so, but I'd never take it again. Even if my migraines came back. Even if I gained a hundred million pounds from my other meds. The side effects just weren't worth the minimal weight control benefits.

kshama2001

thepritts wrote: »

goal06082021 wrote: »

I'm really curious to know what specific meds she was suggesting. Most of them are just stimulants, you can get the same appetite suppressant effects from black coffee. Others like Alli/Xenical are useless at best and traumatizing at worst, check out the threads about them around here.

-metformin (Glucophage)
-bupropion (Wellbutrin)
-topiramate (Topamax)
-Wegovy (weekly injection)

Most of you have confirmed what I feel. I don't like to take aspirin for a headache, but I thought I'd ask and draw from other's experience.

I realize that I'm probably not answering each individual question, but what weight I've lost has come from cleaning-up my diet, eating at a caloric deficit, measuring food, logging and tracking macros and more importantly, EXERCISE. I lift three days per week and cycle (stationary bike) three days per week. Each workout consists of 60 minutes of exercise.

Thank you all so much for responding!

I've taken Wellbutrin on and off for depression for over 20 years. "Off" because I need it less Spring-Summer, and I've found not taking it then makes it more effective when my SAD kicks in in the Fall. Some springs I don't go off it, like after my father died or during a global pandemic. I've just tapered off it because my new doctor wanted me to switch to Venlafaxine. However, I HATED that and could only bear it for two days so currently am not taking an AD. I didn't find any increases in my appetite after tapering off Wellbutrin.

How Wellbutrin might be able to help for weight loss is because it is a little "speedy" so for me helped me to be more active. That's a habit now, so I no longer need that help.

One of Metformin's more common side effects is decreased appetite, along with many many other side effects. Metformin is a diabetes type 2 med, so using it as an appetite suppressant would be considered an "off label" use. Because it has so many side effects, I think it is irresponsible to prescribe it as an appetite suppressant.

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/metformin-side-effects.html

ythannah

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

I was on wellbutrin for awhile for depression. they may as well have been tictacs for any purpose, for me. i know everyone is different though.

I was on Wellbutrin (Zyban here in Canada) for smoking cessation back in 1999. It worked well for that purpose, I haven't smoked since. I'm probably one of few people who quit smoking and lost weight, largely because of the med. It definitely killed my appetite but accomplished that by making me very nauseous. The nausea was so bad I went to half the dose fairly quickly, and stopped it entirely a few weeks early.

I don't know if that is a common side effect, however. If I'm going to react badly to a med, nausea is my thing, so it might just have been me.

callsitlikeiseeit

kshama2001 wrote: »

One of Metformin's more common side effects is decreased appetite, along with many many other side effects. Metformin is a diabetes type 2 med, so using it as an appetite suppressant would be considered an "off label" use. Because it has so many side effects, I think it is irresponsible to prescribe it as an appetite suppressant.

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/metformin-side-effects.html

technically topamax is an anti seizure med.

its uses for migraines and then for some as an appetite suppressant are off label. i want to say for migraines theyre not even sure why exactly it works.

lots of meds have off label uses. most safe, but man those side effects can be doozeys, and some not worth it.

NerdyScienceGrl

I took topamax for nerve pain. It was very effective in my case but it made me so spacey and stupid, I’d quit talking mid sentence because I couldn’t remember what the conversation was about or I’d forget a word and get hung up and frustrated. I have to be quick on the draw in my line of work and analytical. I might as well have worn a bib and be set in the corner with a tinfoil hate.

There is Qysmia too - Phentermine and Topamax together …”the Barbi doll” drug. Amped up on an amphetamine-like drug with a side of stupid 🤔 …hard pass.

callsitlikeiseeit

NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »

There is Qysmia too - Phentermine and Topamax together …”the Barbi doll” drug. Amped up on an amphetamine-like drug with a side of stupid 🤔 …hard pass.

yeah, thats seems like a great idea LMAO

was phetermine part of the phen phen combo? i dont remember

for any younger members who may be reading who do not know what phen phen is, it was a prescription diet drug back in the 90s (maybe earlier, even), used widely, and effective, and it later came out that it was causing heart defects and damage and resulted in some deaths, if i recall correctly.

tracybear86

+1 on the terrible side effects of Topomax (or Dopeamax as a lot of people like to call it). I had the pins and needles, taste changes and severe memory issues the entire time I took it (3 years). The day I couldn't remember how to get home from work and had to call my husband was the day I called the Dr and told him I was done. Migraines or not this med was not the answer. The difference when I stopped taking it was night and day. What a waste of 3 years. 😕

kshama2001

callsitlikeiseeit wrote: »

NerdyScienceGrl wrote: »

There is Qysmia too - Phentermine and Topamax together …”the Barbi doll” drug. Amped up on an amphetamine-like drug with a side of stupid 🤔 …hard pass.

yeah, thats seems like a great idea LMAO

was phetermine part of the phen phen combo? i dont remember

for any younger members who may be reading who do not know what phen phen is, it was a prescription diet drug back in the 90s (maybe earlier, even), used widely, and effective, and it later came out that it was causing heart defects and damage and resulted in some deaths, if i recall correctly.

Yes, phen/fen = phentermine/fenfluramine.

It worked marvelously for me, but I didn't internalize healthy eating habits when my appetite was artificially suppressed by taking a legal amphetamine-like drug and I gained all the weight back when I stopped taking it. And now I am on medication for heart palpitations.

ruqayyahsmum

My daughters doctor tried to get me to agree to putting her on dopamax recently as she can't have the meds I take for my migraines....... Hard pass on that one doc
She's special needs, she doesn't need her life making any harder

paperpudding

One of Metformin's more common side effects is decreased appetite, along with many many other side effects. Metformin is a diabetes type 2 med, so using it as an appetite suppressant would be considered an "off label" use. Because it has so many side effects, I think it is irresponsible to prescribe it as an appetite suppressant.

I am not recomending or otherwise taking Metformin.

However here in Australia it is PBS approved - ie can be prescribed as non-private script and is not considered off label use- for weight management alone.

As well as being first line med for type 2 diabetes.

All medications have potential side effects - but most people can tolerate metformin well and do not have side effects.
Side effects are uncommon IRL.