Has anyone tried phentermine?

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I've been hearing a lot lately about several women who were prescribed phentermine (a weight loss pill) and I've heard nothing but good things about it. I'm just looking for more opinions before I go talk to a doctor about it.
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  • AmyJopp
    AmyJopp Posts: 57 Member
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    This is the first time I have heard this!!! Let me know what you find out!!!
  • justinswife
    justinswife Posts: 49 Member
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    I did. I have a thread on here about it as well. I too thought that it would be a good way to lose weight quickly! I do not recommend it! I only took it for 3 weeks...but in that three weeks I had sooo many side effects! Your heart races, I was always cold, way too much energy, dry mouth, insomnia, and NO sex drive:( no good... I did lose over 20 pounds. But I know that it was bad for my body and I feel so much healthier being off of it!! Since I have been off it one week I have only lost half a pound but I was so worried I would gain! Like I said I do not encourage anyone to take it. But if you decide to, please eat well and exercise a ton becasue this is no "magic" pill. ou have to do thr work. Good luck on your weight loss journey!
  • cnp8942
    cnp8942 Posts: 37
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    Yepp I'll definitely post my results if I get it prescribed to me. Both my mother and aunt lost about 30 lbs each within just around 4 months of taking this pill...and neither of them ever exercise.
  • cnp8942
    cnp8942 Posts: 37
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    I did. I have a thread on here about it as well. I too thought that it would be a good way to lose weight quickly! I do not recommend it! I only took it for 3 weeks...but in that three weeks I had sooo many side effects! Your heart races, I was always cold, way too much energy, dry mouth, insomnia, and NO sex drive:( no good... I did lose over 20 pounds. But I know that it was bad for my body and I feel so much healthier being off of it!! Since I have been off it one week I have only lost half a pound but I was so worried I would gain! Like I said I do not encourage anyone to take it. But if you decide to, please eat well and exercise a ton becasue this is no "magic" pill. ou have to do thr work. Good luck on your weight loss journey!
  • cnp8942
    cnp8942 Posts: 37
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    wow well that's not good, I don't remember my mom or aunt saying anything about side effects. But just to be safe if I start experiencing any I'll stop taking it
  • deshaine
    deshaine Posts: 195
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    I did it earlier this year. I lost about 25-30 pounds on it. It made my hear race during the day. I didn't get jittery, just felt like I was running all the time. I eventually got insomnia and decided I should go to half a pill. That helped my insomnia, but the weight loss slowed. This does not happen with everyone... this is just my experience.

    I've tried every diet in the books: WW, LA Weight Loss, HCG, diet pills...

    Learning your body: how your body metabolizes food, what it takes (exercise) to burn calories and what a serving of food looks like will be more beneficial in the long run than a temporary diet pill. (JMHO)

    I was VERY successful with LA Weight Loss. I lost over 50 pounds. I felt amazing!! Two weeks after reaching my goal weight, I learned I was expecting a baby. I did not maintain my eating habits once getting pregnant and ended gaining 80+ pounds during my pregnancy. Now I am re-teaching myself the rules of food, metabolism, and calories.

    HTH... GL.
  • cnp8942
    cnp8942 Posts: 37
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    thanks for the input I really appreciate it(:
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
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    Been there, done that. Yes, the results were impressive, as long as I stayed on it. It has pros and cons. Pro - it does curb your appetite, it will increase your energy level. Con - You don't sleep well, Your heart races all the time. My BAD results. It gave me a personality disorder. I had no sex drive. I had a nervous breakdown. If you are going that way please, PLEASE be careful.
  • Kijona
    Kijona Posts: 1
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    I used it and lost about 30 lbs; however I to experienced dry mouth and insommonia (which can be a good thing if you get up and work out). It is an appetite suppresant that worked really well in fact I often had to force myself to eat. As a young person going to college I would suggest trying other things first. Walking the college campus should be great exercise..
  • mem50
    mem50 Posts: 1,384 Member
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    Oh yeah, forgot the worst part. After I went off the pills.....I gained everything back plus. Never changed my eating habits or trained myself to eat better.
  • Jamison3
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    I have taken it ...I did not get the racing heart but had the dry mouth, headaches (probably because I hardly ever ate), insomnia and mood swings that could take down the best of them (lots of snapping at my kids) I did loose weight and looked good, or so I thought, my skin was looking "loose" from the speed of the loss. I lost a total of 40 lbs the first time, went off it, back to my normal life of eating and my body hung onto everything I ate - regained the 40 plus another 10. Time #2 I lost 30 pounds and got tired of the insomnia and the snapping at my kids and decided I needed (for me) to loose the right way....diet and exercise. This is just my experience...it comes off and it comes off fast, but it also comes right back on if you use the pills as a "cure" and not a tool
  • jdsouthernbelle
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    My Dr. actually just prescribed it to me on Wednesday. So far as of today I have lost 2.8lbs. I feel great on it so far!

    But like with any medications...you still have to be careful. AND my doc told me I MUST keep exercising and eating right on it.

    Just as a side note...I have been seeing my Dr. for about 2 years now regarding my weight loss. I have only been super serious about it over the last 6 months. He saw my food diary and progress I printed off here (MFP) and was impressed that I have lost 20lbs in 6 months...but feels it could be better. Soooo kind of as a last resort and because one of my other medications is actually hindering my weight loss...he prescribed this for me. But please keep in mind it has taken him 2 years to come to this conclusion that this was the best route for me.
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
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    Yes, I have tried it and I DO NOT RECOMMEND IT.

    I knew of several other people who had tried it and lost a good amount of weight with relatively NO exercise. They, too, had nothing but good things to say about it. I mean of course they would, right? They lost a ton of weight, so of course they will sing its praises!

    I just posted a blog on this topic (entitled DAY 61) and I am now against this pill. It worked for me in that I lost 14 lbs within 2 weeks. I had a ton of energy and got a lot of stuff done around my house, etc. I felt that way for about 2-3 weeks and then it was like that feeling just stopped. My heart was constantly racing, I felt very nervous all of the time, and I was very emotional- especially after the first 2-3 weeks on the pill.

    So let me give you my pro's and con's...

    PRO's
    1. 14 lbs lost in 2 weeks. Yaay!

    CON's
    1. Scalp crawls constantly
    2. Extreme heart racing
    3. Extreme nervousness
    4. Irritability towards my friends and family
    5. Dry mouth CONSTANTLY
    6. Loss of sleep
    7. MONEY...because it sure ain't free

    Even now I feel like I am still having reactions to this pill and I've been off of it for 2 months.

    You may have different reactions to this pill, though, so by no means am I saying this effects are for everyone. I just wish I would have listened to my mother when she told me not to take it!
  • neelia
    neelia Posts: 750 Member
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    Been there, done that. Yes, the results were impressive, as long as I stayed on it. It has pros and cons. Pro - it does curb your appetite, it will increase your energy level. Con - You don't sleep well, Your heart races all the time. My BAD results. It gave me a personality disorder. I had no sex drive. I had a nervous breakdown. If you are going that way please, PLEASE be careful.

    I, too, had a COMPLETE loss of sex drive! Plus, once I stopped the pills the 14 lbs just came back. Beware!
  • strongerthanb4
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    i see you said your aunt and mom took it and lost 30 pounds in 4 weeks (or something close to that) .....well if you eat right, log your calories, and exercise, you can expect to lose about 2 pounds a week (the right way) and that would be 32 pounds lost in the same amount of time....do it the healthy way and you will develop healthy habits for a lifetime and notice all the good changes you body is doing!
  • mbeltran215
    mbeltran215 Posts: 1 Member
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    I am taking the HCG homeopathic palletts and have already lost 23 lbs in a month, never hungry and no side affects.
  • azlady7
    azlady7 Posts: 471 Member
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    i see you said your aunt and mom took it and lost 30 pounds in 4 weeks (or something close to that) .....well if you eat right, log your calories, and exercise, you can expect to lose about 2 pounds a week (the right way) and that would be 32 pounds lost in the same amount of time....do it the healthy way and you will develop healthy habits for a lifetime and notice all the good changes you body is doing!

    I agree totally :)
  • MGJ123
    MGJ123 Posts: 31 Member
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    I tried it. It took away my appetite so I never ate, I lost about 20 pounds. I also never slept, my scalp felt like it was crawling, my heart raced and it cost me a copay at the doctors office plus the cost of the medication itself. When I stopped taking it I gained back all of the weight and I am currently losing the same weight all over again. I still have some left in a drawer at home that I have thought about taking from time to time but then I remember the way I felt while taking it. I am losing weight this time at the same rate of time without all the weird effects of the pill. I am just reducing calorie intake and moving more often. Every pound I lose is more incentive to push for that next pound. Plus MFP has been an awesome daily motivator!!!
  • Jena_72
    Jena_72 Posts: 1,057
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    I've heard nothing but good things about it.
    Keep listening!! :wink: I have been on it once long ago when it was very popular called phen phen. That was PHentermine WITH Pondomin since then pondomin has become illegal in the US. due to MANY complications. Some include heart failure and shortness of breath all that fun stuff!
    I went back on phentermine after my last baby about 2 years ago again, although I have never sufferred from any bad reactions myself from it it does happen! Mostly (this last time) it just made me feel like I was in a fog all the time and it only really kept my appetitie at bay for a few weeks. In short it really didn't help I wasn't ready to lose weight yet so no drugs is going to change that.

    Can I ask you how long you have been trying to lose with ONLY diet and excercise??

    Oh just so you know when I did these drugs years and years ago I did lose a lot of weight of course it all came back. This IS quite normal for this kind of weight loss, there will always be a success story of someone who lost it taking the drug and kept it off ever since I AM SURE their activity level went from 0 to very high and stayed that way but most people don't do that if they haven't been "training" to do so, as most of us here at mfp are doing. There is no retraining so to speak when you take these drugs. Most of the time people don't change how they are eating when they are on these types of drugs. They just stop eating! If you do go on it just know you will have to be very mindful of eating especially in the beginning there were times I could not remember if I had eaten! That might sound like a good thing IT IS NOT! So just know you will have to be concious of eating, you obviuosly, don't want to lose weight by starving your body or you wuldn't be here on mfp. Good luck I hope somewhere in my rambling I made sense. I personally wouldn't recommend going on these drugs because it is a quick fix to a bigger problem I now, in all my wisdom, :wink: lol believe we need to control our appetites through eating not drugs, besides like I said the effect of the drug wears off after a short while. If you do try it please use it only as a way to control your appetite while learning how to eat then get off it and control your appetite by eating!! Good Luck:flowerforyou:
  • lina1131
    lina1131 Posts: 2,246 Member
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    It's basically legal crack.