Doctor Says Phentermine Long Term Not a Problem....Really?

PCOS_Gal

I would like some feedback from people that have taken Phentermine.

Background: I have PCOS and have struggled with it for YEARS. I recently had my 2nd baby boy, am done breastfeeding, thus was eager to get started ONCE AGAIN, loosing weight.

I have worked with weight loss doctors in the past, as well as have used phentermine before (along with metphormin) to help me lose weight and get pregnant. Now, that I am done having children, I am hoping to have this weight thing done once and for all and stop yo-yo-ing in between pregnancies.

My biggest concern due to PCOS is getting diabetes later in life, so I asked my doctor in his experience how many women with PCOS usually gain their weight back. He stated most of them....if not all that he has seen and in his experience over a period of time. He basically stated that with time it just gets too hard with women with PCOS and slowly they gain it back.

Obviously not liking this answer I asked if women just kept going on and off phentermine to help. He stated to me he recommends women with heavy PCOS symptoms to NEVER go off phentermine and just stay on it. REALLY? He stated it was not addictive and that people who go on and off it over and over, eventually it stops working on them.

So I was able to confirm the lack of addiction though scholarly journals...but I have not been able to find anything related to prolonged use (I am talking years, like 5, 10,15 or 20)

Anyone have some information they would like to share to help me sort this out in my head would be greatly appreciated.

_TastySnoBalls_

i wouldn't take it at all if i were you. Once you stop taking it, you'll gain everything back and then some. Do you really want to take pharmaceutical meth for the rest of your life?! ............and yes, i have taken phentermine before...the real stuff was far better

PCOS_Gal

My question was not if I should take it...I am going to take it to help me lose weight.

And sorry...I did not have the experience of gaining everything back last time I took it via just eating....I got pregnant and was thankful that I had the medicines to help me ovulate and conceive.

And please do your research about the phentermine and meth. Like I stated in the OP, it is non addictive from all the research I have done...and it is no wonder you found the real stuff to be better...not surprising at all.

gypsyrose64

I don't have PCOS, but I've had "some" success using phentermine short term. Basically, I crack the pill in half and take 1/2 every other day. Sometimes go weeks without taking it. Around my TOM, the cravings will come on full blast and that's when a 1/2 resets the addict behavior for me. A few days later, I'm putting them away again.

I had a friend tell me she developed a tolerance for them and had to get off them a few weeks to reset the tolerance. Just hearsay, but I imagine long term use would develop one hell of a tolerance if that's true.

I cannot take a whole pill, or even take them daily. They turn me batsh**-crazy after about a few consecutive days, where I'm either raging mad or balling like someone died. I think occasional as-needed use to control binging is ok, but I'm surprised he'd say it's ok for someone to remain on it indefinitely. :noway:

edit: you won't get many warm fuzzy comments here about taking phen.... I probably just had someone delete me as a friend for admitting I occasionally use it to control cravings. LOL

sweebum

I wouldn't worry about the long term, I'd worry about it taking out my heart in the short term.

You only have 55lbs left to lose, easily do able even with PCOS. You simply need to eat slightly less than the average calorie deficit.

Edited to add: Cardiovascular side effects include palpitations, tachycardia, and elevation of blood pressure. In the central nervous system, it can cause overstimulation, restlessness, dizziness, insomnia, euphoria, dysphoria, tremor, and headache. Its gastrointestinal effects include dryness of the mouth, unpleasant taste, diarrhea, constipation, and other gastrointestinal disturbances. It may also cause allergic effects - urticaria and changes in libido.

Its less common, but more severe, side effects include:

Convulsions (seizures)
Fever
Hallucinations
Agitation and aggression
Bizarre behavior
Mental or mood changes
Exaggerated sense of well-being
Increased blood pressure
Severe or persistent light-headedness, fainting or headache
Periods of mania followed by period of depression
Fast or irregular heartbeat
Overactive reflexes
Tremors, trembling or shaking
Panic
Restlessness
Severe nausea, vomiting or diarrhea
Stomach cramps
Weakness
Constipation
Primary pulmonary hypertension
Regurgitant cardiac valvular disease
Pounding in the chest or shortness of breath

Being on any drug that can cause the above for any length of time cannot be a good thing.

kckBxer396

Whenever I tried it, I was horribly irritable all of the time, even after a really intense workout. I lost 40 pounds in no time at all, unfortunately I also gained it back. Same thing with HCG. Now? Losing weight is an absolute nightmare,but I am determined to do it on my own. I would hate to live my life taking it. I have diabetes, not severely, so I'm trying to manage without taking my metformin as long as possible, my sister started with metformin when she was my age,but now takes insulin to control her levels. I want to keep that at bay as long as possible,so I'm trying to learn to eat for it. Anyway, instead of phentermine, would it be safer to put you on metformin long term? A girl on my FL has been having some success with eating 100 or less carbs a day. She has lost 30 pounds and has pcos. Surely, there are a number of options?

*Edit: The rambling about diabetes may be irrelevant. haha

PCOS_Gal

I am not really worried about losing the weight...that I know I can do (Done it many many many many times!) It is his statement of two of the following:

1. Women with PCOS usually ALWAYS gain the weight back over time because it gets too hard to keep it off.
2. After a while Phentermine stops working for women if they go on and off of it all the time.

Again, I am thinking long term here in preventing diabetes. I was also told that women with PCOS have a 75% chance of getting diabetes (different doctor). He basically said that between weighing the risks of getting diabetes verses taking phentermine long term, the better option would be phentermine long term.

I am not heavy enough to get any type of medical surgery/procedure done either to make sure I don't gain the weight back either. So, I am concerned primarily for the future and managing this PCOS stuff and being realistic at the same time.

Mr_Knight

I would like some feedback from people that have taken Phentermine.

It's basically an amphetamine. You're artificially avoiding hunger by (over) stimulating the body's fight-or-flight response.

What else needs to be said? Seriously, this is destructive as hell.

sweebum

PCOS can be managed/helped long term by a lower carb diet and metformin to control blood sugar.

People will always gain the weight back if they go back to eating the way they did before. I would suggest a dietician/endocrinologist to help you come up with a workable (and healthy) plan.

PCOS_Gal

No...the diabetes information helps :-)

I took the metphormin primarily to help me conceive initially...and have stayed on it to continue to help me lose weight and control insulin resistance.

I have never had any problems with the phentermine either. Never had any bad side effects, and was able to use it well in conjunction with doing a South Beach Diet as well as using the Metphormin. Doing South Beach with and without Phentermine I noticed for sure a difference and I imagine maintaining weight with South Beach would have been doable...but after talking to this Doctor...I am not so sure.

I prefer not to be on either medicine eventually...but from the information I am getting from the endocrinologist as well as the weight loss doctor...I am feeling like this is going to be a rest of my life thing. Was hoping maybe someone had some information that had as well.

PCOS_Gal

I should have put this disclaimer out their before for the "Phentermine is bad" crowd. Please quit posting about how horrible Phentermine is. Diabetes is also horrible and does terrible things to you body. There are all kinds of physical ailments related to obesity that are much worse than phentermine....so please no more posts about how bad phentermine is OK?

TigerBite

The heart side effects are friggin' scary ... Geez, I can't even take decongestants without thinking I'm going to die ...

If diabetes is your main concern, than why don't you just follow a low glycemic type of diet, like the ones recommended for prediabetic patients?

ETA: along with a slightly more aggressive calories deficit ....

Also, I don't mean to sound accusatory, but it seems like you just want someone to say it's okay ...

PCOS_Gal

I do south beach as stated in previous post. Again, I was not concerned. Even with south beach lifestyle, apparently women with PCOS eventually gain it back or struggle keeping it off per this doctor...so I am not sure what to believe.

PCOS_Gal

I want to know if anyone can confirm using Phentermine as safe long term. I want to know if what this doctor is saying is accurate....as I stated in my OP.

Mr_Knight

There are all kinds of physical ailments related to obesity that are much worse than phentermine....so please no more posts about how bad phentermine is OK?

There are all kinds of reasonable ways to deal with obesity that don't require the use of destructive psychoactive stimulants like this.

It IS bad - no way 'round that - it is NOT SAFE for long term use. And for a drug as powerful as this one, "long term" means "a few weeks".

_TastySnoBalls_

I want to know if anyone can confirm using Phentermine as safe long term. I want to know if what this doctor is saying is accurate....as I stated in my OP.

Hmmm... Diabetes or a heart attack/stroke? Kind of a no brainer... And you can decrease your risk of getting diabetes by exercising/diet even with PCOS. And yes, phentermine is a pharmaceutical form of methamphetamine, as is all pharmaceutical amphetamines

DopeItUp

I do south beach as stated in previous post. Again, I was not concerned. Even with south beach lifestyle, apparently women with PCOS eventually gain it back or struggle keeping it off per this doctor...so I am not sure what to believe.

Here's the problem with what you're asking. Your doctor says people with PCOS struggle to keep weight off. Guess what, EVERYONE struggles to keep weight off. If you read studies on weight loss you'll see that anywhere from 80% to 95%+ of people who diet will regain their weight over the course of a few years. Most will gain even more than their original starting point in fact. The tiny minority of people who do manage to keep the weight off, rely on long-term sustainable diets and exercise programs to boost their chances of success.

Having said that, taking known-horrible prescribed amphetamines long-term (or even short-term) is not one of those sustainable plans. In fact, if I had to venture a guess, I'd say that is one of the worst plans I could possibly think of.

Does that answer your question?

MizSookeh

I think your claim of 'never having any side effects' is just going to block out any warnings or advice against using the drugs that people here are going to offer. So you'll probably do what you want regardless.


For what it is worth, I tried it many years ago;

- the doctor actually described it as having similar properties to amphetamines

- it was prescribed to help kick off weight loss, not as the solution, as it would help me reduce my food intake and make up for the drop in energy that can come with eating less

- he gave me a 3 month prescription initially, and said would give me another if I needed it, but that my body would probably adjust and become used to it by then (as it does with many types of drugs)


I didn't last the full three months as it was horrible. I was twitchy and irritable. I couldn't sleep. I felt like I had energy that wasn't really there and would end up ready to collapse.

Nothing about my experience suggests taking this sort of drug long term is a good idea.

DavPul

I want to know if anyone can confirm using Phentermine as safe long term. I want to know if what this doctor is saying is accurate....as I stated in my OP.

From your responses to the various replies, it seems that you already know everything. Not sure how we can help. You told one of the people trying to help you that they should do their own research. Perhaps that is a good idea for you as well. Not even sure why'd you want to take the word of internet randoms over a doctor anyway. Either believe him or don't, but I wouldn't leave it up to the hoi polloi

meerkat70

I should have put this disclaimer out their before for the "Phentermine is bad" crowd. Please quit posting about how horrible Phentermine is. Diabetes is also horrible and does terrible things to you body. There are all kinds of physical ailments related to obesity that are much worse than phentermine....so please no more posts about how bad phentermine is OK?

it isnt available on prescription in the uk (or a range of other european countries where big pharma finds it harder to buy political influence...). Have you paused to consider why?

perhaps the 'crowd' have a point?

meerkat70

I do south beach as stated in previous post. Again, I was not concerned. Even with south beach lifestyle, apparently women with PCOS eventually gain it back or struggle keeping it off per this doctor...so I am not sure what to believe.

your post seems to suggest a lack of faith in the doctor. if you are determined to use the drug (and plenty of people like me lose with pcos), at least seek out a doctor you trust.