Is anyone using Phentermine for weight loss?

"health nut' here. Not trying to make you feel bad. Just wishing you luck. Please remember that you have to be extremely vigilant and keep logging in order to keep the weight off. Losing is easy - maintenance is hard.

ETA: Phentermine is not the same as ADHD meds, and studies have shown that it is NOT addicting.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23736363

Disclaimer: Just presenting the facts ma'am. Not advocating taking appetite suppressant pills.

Dayo6 is a spammer for the website (look at their profile, all 6 posts report purchasing from online...and funny that the websites are different for the different posts). Don't buy without a doctors guidance! Please...

I'm currently taking the 37.5mg tablet myself. I'm on my 3rd month of my first 4 months of treatment.

When I first started taking it, I did not make a point to eat. I only ate when I felt my blood sugar was dropping too low. I tracked the calories in those days, and without concerted effort, I eat maybe 800 calories all day. I knew that wasn't going to be good for me, so I decided that I needed to be more careful and make a more serious effort to do it right.

The first 2 weeks, I lost about 1-1.5 pounds a day on average. Much due to not eating enough and feeling very compelled to exercise. I stalled out after 15 pounds of so, and didn't lose again until very recently. I had to increase my calories quite a bit.
I have taken several days off from taking the med here and there, as it can re-enliven the effect, and even during an entire week of not taking it, I did not gain back any weight.

I believe the biggest reason people regain after they stop taking it is because they spend the time on the medication eating very little, and since the med also jumps metabolic burn on average about 300 calories and makes you want to be active, you also burn more. It's classified as an anorectic, which means it chemically causes medical anorexia (the loss of appetite), so it makes sense that people do not eat much BUT you really have to make sure you do.

If you want to be successful with it, you need to make sure you are still eating your minimum calorie intake amount, and continue that practice when you detox from the medication and regain regular hunger sensations.

I wrote a long response to a previous post, that I opted to save in my blog, since these threads get deleted all the time due to people getting nasty. You can find it here: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Quasita/view/phentermine-use-thread-response-642160

Ultimately though, it's not a supplement, it's not a diet pill, it's a medication intended to treat a medical condition, that of having a BMI of >27 at minimum, though in most cases, you would need to be >30 to have it an approved medical situation for treatment with Phentermine. It's not something to take lightly by any means.

Editing to say... I find it interesting that people are reporting hair loss and such. Here's the thing.. Hair loss doesn't come from the medication so much as the side effects of eating so little, very suddenly. Hairloss, heart palpitations, anger/irritation, and more are all symptoms of anorexic dietary levels.

With the exception of the first few days, I have made a point to eat close to my normal intake, which is 2400ish calories. It's hard but I do it. I have had zero hairloss, no heart issues, I feel happy and vibrant most of the time, and I actually sleep better on it than I did before I started taking it. *Occasionally* I get restless at night, and have found simply adding melatonin, and on the rare occasion, taking an Ambien, has done just fine to put me to bed on those days.
The worst side effect I had was "phentermine poops" which can be pretty aggressive in the beginning, but you end up losing a lot. I'm talking I'd lose 2lbs just going to the bathroom. The second worst has been headaches in the thalamus region, which makes sense because that's where it works, but not anything tylenol can't knock out.

Other tips to make it easier on yourself are to drink A LOT of water and avoid caffeine. It's absolutely not classed with ADHD medications.

"health nut' here. Not trying to make you feel bad. Just wishing you luck. Please remember that you have to be extremely vigilant and keep logging in order to keep the weight off. Losing is easy - maintenance is hard.

ETA: Phentermine is not the same as ADHD meds, and studies have shown that it is NOT addicting.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23736363

Disclaimer: Just presenting the facts ma'am. Not advocating taking appetite suppressant pills.

Thank you! ADHD meds are not the same as Phentermine. 15yrs ago I took Phentermine and lost a lot of weight. My stomach got smaller. my cooking habits changed and I started jogging. I was able to keep the weight off for 6yrs. I didn't have withdrawls nor did I sleep for a week when I WINGED myself off the med. I did have issues with sleeping and thats mainly b/c back then the dose was much different than it is now. Then I was told to take twice daily where as now I think you only take once a day and mid morning so not to have issues with sleep. Then I tore my ACL and became very depressed b/c I couldn't do anything laied up for 8wks. Hell I couldn't even drive as I had a manual car. I was litterally stuck at home with nothing to do but eat and order in. Needless to say the weight came back due to falling back into old eating and cooking habits. Phentermine is to be used as a supplement (meaning in addition to) your diet and fitness regimen to help you get started or over the hump so to speak. And was not addictive for me. Follow your Dr's. guidlines and use this time to make changes to you lifestyle where food is concered. This can be a long term weight lose success if done porperly. Good luck!

http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search/a?dbs+hsdb:@term+@DOCNO+3158

Hi Mike,

I am no expert but one thing I have learned is to wean off of the drug when you are finished. I don't know what dose you are taking, but for me taking a small small dose for a week then every other day for another week is the way to go after I am 'done'. I find myself CRAZY hungry if I stop taking them abruptly. Then of course keep your better eating habits going It's a great drug and I feel lucky to have it-so much hate here, it's a shame really. Anyway, best of luck to you!

----And for all the people reading this: this drug is prescribed by doctors. Those of us who take it are doing so under the supervision of a doctor. If you don't approve of this drug then please don't take it. It is not addictive. It does not make you gain weight after (you do that, not the drug). Please try to be respectful.