Anyone on Phentermine??

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  • d8106red
    d8106red Posts: 5 Member
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    I too have been on phentermine and the first time I lost 40 lbs and later gained it back, later on I had taken it again and it didn't do anything for me. I will say that most people I know gain weight after they go off of it. To be fair when I took it, I was extremely diligent about what I ate. I have studied many of the weight loss drugs and talked them over with my doctor, he feels this is the best one and most efficient.
    On a side note I was on a hospital program that had me on 800 calories a day of protein medicated shakes. So, is 900 extreme, no, not when your obese and no your body won't go into starvation mode, at least not at this weight. That being said, I left the program because I felt it heightened my obsession with food even more and did not teach me how to handle my food and my mental addiction to food. I am trying to be more mindful about what I eat, but without it being "dieting." Every fat person probably has done every diet out there and lost tons of weight, just to gain it back and sure 900 calories will get you to lose the weight, but what keeps the weight off??? That's all mental... and I think that is what every obese person needs to work on. All my thin friends are not eating 900 calories a day, but theyre also not eating a half of a large pizza like I can, so there has to be a way to come to a median.
  • grizzyell
    grizzyell Posts: 24 Member
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    I changed my cal goal to 1000 today. (I believe the 900 goal is just temporary to loose a chunk of the weight ) I haven't weighed myself since I started on Saturday. Just in these few days I have eaten healthier than I think I ever had. I understand that phentermine is not a magic pill I don't intend to abuse it and let the lack of hunger then lack of eating do all the work.

    I was the kind of person who ate fast food a lot and would order lunch at work almost every day. I especially ate out when stressed or sad or even bored. I have seen a big change in just these past 6 days look at my diary, who would have thought I'd be eating yogurt for breakfast, salads for lunch and apples for snacks! I'm excited about that. I'm not "healthy food" savvy I've never been but I'm learning little by little and I'm very excited about it. I truly think this is leading into a lifestyle change.
  • SLLRunner
    SLLRunner Posts: 12,942 Member
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    I changed my cal goal to 1000 today. (I believe the 900 goal is just temporary to loose a chunk of the weight ) I haven't weighed myself since I started on Saturday. Just in these few days I have eaten healthier than I think I ever had. I understand that phentermine is not a magic pill I don't intend to abuse it and let the lack of hunger then lack of eating do all the work.

    I was the kind of person who ate fast food a lot and would order lunch at work almost every day. I especially ate out when stressed or sad or even bored. I have seen a big change in just these past 6 days look at my diary, who would have thought I'd be eating yogurt for breakfast, salads for lunch and apples for snacks! I'm excited about that. I'm not "healthy food" savvy I've never been but I'm learning little by little and I'm very excited about it. I truly think this is leading into a lifestyle change.

    You need a whole lot more calories than 1000. Please reconsider taking the drug and upping your calories.
  • grizzyell
    grizzyell Posts: 24 Member
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    [/quote]

    You need a whole lot more calories than 1000. Please reconsider taking the drug and upping your calories.
    [/quote]

    Yes I am going to up the calories more than 1000
  • OMGeeeHorses
    OMGeeeHorses Posts: 732 Member
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    I guess I am a little confused...you consider 238 (as does your doctor) being consider super overweight. It is overweight, yes. but I am 290lbs ( started at 330) and my doctor about smacked me when I asked if there was any pill I should be/ or could be taking.

    I guess I can see why others would say get a new doctor (I am 5'3 as well and 27)...so maybe get a second opinion, for your own health and safety :)
  • Junebuggyzy
    Junebuggyzy Posts: 345 Member
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    Long time yo yo dieter here and going to weigh in on this (no pun intended!) - have been working with a bariatric doctor (obesity specialist) for almost 2 years now. lost 83lbs as of this morning. Almost to goal ( I am shooting for a body fat percentage of 30% versus a number on the scale - currently at 33%). And for the first time in my life, I know I will never be fat again.
    I have used phentermine and diethylpropion during this time period (3 months on/ 1 month off). I eat 1200 - 1500 calories a day. BALANCED diet. Work out almost daily, play tennis, cycle, hike, strength train, yoga. I only really got active over the past 5 months once my weight got low enough to LOVE the activity. Mainly took walks before that. Now I miss working out when I can't get it in.

    My doctor explained that for many obese patients the medication helps balance the brain and that is why it works well for some. It is not about "will power" - it actually helps the person feel "normal" for the first time in their life. I started this pattern at the age of 14 - constantly thinking about where the next food item would come from - I grew up in a normal family, never starved, abused, et. As an adult - I had everything I could ask for - so what's the problem???? There is just something going on in my brain - my doc feels it is most likely genetic (that I could understand!). Finally now that my kids are grown, I am in control and living life. We went on vacation as a family and I threw on my swimsuit and went snorkeling with them - I had missed out on so much of their lives. So it makes me sad/mad when I hear others put people down for searching for something that will help them, especially when they are working with medical professionals. Obesity is a complex issue and our medical community is only now just discovering how to combat this out of control societal monster.

    My advice to those who are struggling: DO NOT GIVE UP. Write down what goes into your mouth. Cut out crap food. Change what you are thinking about when you focus on sweets/junk carbs, ie: look away. Make sure everything you put into your mouth tastes good! (as in not junky fast food). You will come to love good REAL food. You will stop craving junk food - I know it sounds preachy but I lived it - DAILY for YEARS. I tell people exactly what I do to lose weight - I also tell them it is NOT a miracle - I have to do hard work to make it happen along with the medication. It only helps a bit. All those thoughts, cravings, issues can come roaring back at any time so I have to make sure I stay on track. MFP is on my phone and computer and USED daily for notes and tracking. - I have to know what is and isn't working. So to those using medication - hold your head high - you can do this. STAY ON TRACK and remember you can't go back to junk food and bad habits - ever! (doesn't mean you can't ever have dessert - it's just controlled and tastes WAY better!) Good luck :)

    Really interesting!

    "My doctor explained that for many obese patients the medication helps balance the brain and that is why it works well for some. It is not about "will power" - it actually helps the person feel "normal" for the first time in their life."

    I feel so much better when I am on Phentermine. I told my doctor that I wish I could take it long term, just for how good it makes me feel, and how in control of my eating I am. Snacking after dinner was my downfall. My doctor said that some of her patients take it long term, but when I reach my goal weight, she will gradually wean me off of it.

    "Write down what goes into your mouth. Cut out crap food. Change what you are thinking about when you focus on sweets/junk carbs, ie: look away. Make sure everything you put into your mouth tastes good!"

    I totally agree. I've been actually discretely putting my napkin over my mouth and spitting food out if I don't like it. What a difference. If I didn't like a food before I started taking Phentermine, I would eat it faster.

    " I also tell them it is NOT a miracle - I have to do hard work to make it happen along with the medication. It only helps a bit. All those thoughts, cravings, issues can come roaring back at any time so I have to make sure I stay on track. MFP is on my phone and computer and USED daily for notes and tracking. -"

    I also have MyFitnessPro on my phone so I can quickly log a food when I am out. It really isn't a miracle; it's just a tool. Someone said you have to increase the dose for it to continue to work. A Pharmacist friend of mine said it's really bad to increase the dose. Not only that, I have tried it. It didn't make any difference to increase the dose. Once it stops working, it stops working.

    I have been taking Phentermine for four months now, and it still works.
  • gmallan
    gmallan Posts: 2,099 Member
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    Does anyone else think it's a little bit ironic that people on here are always like "why are you asking for health advice from an online forum, go see you Doctor" and then as soon as the Doctor says something they don't agree with "don't take your Doctor's advice, take advice off random people from an online forum". Not saying you shouldn't question your Doctor's advice but...
  • RHachicho
    RHachicho Posts: 1,115 Member
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    I think for SOME people it can help kick start the process. I know it did help me. I only took it for two weeks though. And certainly not on a calorie restriction as harsh as yours.

    Basically you want to use it as little as humanly possible. And recognize it for the evil body hack that it is. Like all medicines it is a poison of abused. And doctors very often do abuse the medicines at their disposal.

    Just as an example by little brother is epileptic. And was subscribed Prozac by 5 doctors as part of his regimen to fight his OCD. We finally got a competent neurosurgeon and he was absolutely horrified. Because Prozac actually makes epileptics MORE prone to seizures. We immediately took him off and his seizures dropped off from 1/2 a week to well ... 3 years no seizures and counting. I know that this has nothing to do with weight loss but the moral of the story is don't trust your doctor implicitly. Remember it was only the sixth doctor that actually knew wtf he was talking about.
  • swambsganss
    swambsganss Posts: 3 Member
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    Dang! People can get so sanctimonious so quickly on this site. I've been so addicted to carbs for so many years, and no weight loss program has ever worked. I've been through cancer and lost my thyroid, a good chunk of my tongue and a host of lymph nodes. After all was said and done, I gained weight just breathing and ate fast food and all the carbs I could get my hands on. I lived in a pity party and thought I'd be alone the rest of my life, so who cared.

    When I finally came to my senses, I reached out for help. My brother came to my rescue and signed me up with Medi-Weightloss Clinic. I needed something drastic and this is amazing. Yeah, I'm on Phentermine for a period of time. And yeah, I've cut way down on my carbs and my calorie limit is very low, but I'm being well cared for and monitored. The food choices I'm guided to and am now making on my own are incredibly healthy and life-sustaining. The all-natural supplements I take and boosters I'm given twice a week help me maintain proper balance. I eat a balanced diet, low in carbs and without any bad carbs and unhealthy fats.

    No, it's not permanent. Yes, I have to learn to make sustained and better choices for a lifetime, but this is at least giving me a fighting chance at a life I would have been denied in months, had I not taken drastic measures to make a 180 degree change. I'll be gently weaned off the extra stuff in the next couple months, but by then I'll have a healthy plan to work with for the rest of my life -- a kickstart in the right direction. Right now, and for a limited time, for me (not anyone else), Phentermine and careful nutritional health management are needed. And that's alright by me. I'm doing great, feeling fantastic, am in better health than i've been in in years. Gratefully, I'm losing the weight I need to lose right now in order to stay alive.

    The only advice I'd give is make sure your doctor is checking up on you regularly and that you have a very good nutritionist working with you while on Phentermine. More importantly, expend more energy at loving yourself right now just as you are than you expend concerning yourself about losing weight. Take people's opinions as just that, opinions, and balance them out. Everyone's got a host of options (many of which are contradictory anyway). Work diligently at creating a balanced, joyful life for yourself. Enough from me.

    I wish you all the best joy in the world and will keep you in my prayers as you undertake this wonderful journey.
  • Darton2010
    Darton2010 Posts: 137 Member
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    There is 2 I take Phentermine 37.5mg and Cr-Picolinate 200mg the Picolinate is more for fat loss the phentermine is more for energy and hunger suppresser, I have been taking them on and off for the last 3-4 years, they really do help me, takes the nasty hunger edge off while giving some needed energy, as long as I loose weight there is an endless supply but I can only get them like that out of state, in my state its much stricter on the term each time. I take them till I feel there not as effective than I will take 6 months up to a year off of them, in that time I usually gain what I lost lol but not this time. I made a lifestyle change to natural low carb food. All of the loss I have had recorded here has been on these meds, maybe someday I wont need them anyway but if there the difference from keeping on my diet vs falling off the wagon, I will choose the pills. You have to drink tons of water though or there not as effective. I have had good experience with them so far.
  • alishaq14
    alishaq14 Posts: 16
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    I am trying to get my friend to join because she is on that same prescription and we go to the gym mon-fri...But I was wanting her to track everything with me on fitness pal
  • nbg127
    nbg127 Posts: 9 Member
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    @ swambsganss - perfectly said!

    I was about to comment on the place for vlcd's (very low calorie diets) - which I have been on - but swambs explained it very well. Many medical programs/docs use it successfully to jumpstart patients into a healthy lifestyle. There are many paths to health and the main focus should be to support each other here.

    @ darton - my bariatric doc believes that the meds are used to help with maintenance, sort of how you are using them. Mainly not taking the medication once you reach maintainance but only if needed, ie: gaining from holidays, vacations, et. My goal is to be able to maintain without gaining! Guess I will see :) I pretty much don't eat any processed foods - if I have a dessert, it is a bite or two. I have made it through 2 holiday seasons and 2 long term vacations while losing weight so I feel like I have my eating plan down - in fact I don't really think of it as dieting any more. Some weeks I only lose 1/2 lb (or less!). One month I only lost .8 lb. Guess I look at this as a lifetime eating plan now - first time in my life that I don't feel like I will gain the weight back. Whats hard about this is that you also have to figure out what made you eat like this in the first place (once you get over the carb addiction issue)? If that makes any sense. I have come across a few things in my personality that I now realize I needed to change and had turned to food for (like speaking up when I don't agree with something) - that was a hard one! That's what I mean by hard work - not just the physical things but also the emotional things that you discover. Sometimes just taking it slow is not such a bad way to go. Good luck everyone! We can do it :)
  • idojpdx
    idojpdx Posts: 83 Member
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    Yep, been helping me lose for the past 10 months. Down over 50 lbs and within 10 of goal since I started taking it. My doctor is okay with keeping folks on it (especially for maintenance) provided you use it properly and can show that you are using it properly by sticking with your diet, meds and exercise routines. It is an addictive substance and most doctors will not prescribe it for longer than 6 weeks but there are some out there that will use it for what it is designed for - weight loss and maintenance of said weight loss.

    A lot of MD's won't prescribe it long term for what it can do to your liver and heart.

    Not true about the liver. From the National Institutes of Health:

    "Hepatotoxicity
    Phentermine has not been linked to an increased rate of serum enzyme elevations during therapy; however, results of ALT monitoring during phentermine therapy have rarely been reported. Despite long-term availability and wide use of phentermine, there have been no published reports linking it to clinically apparent acute liver injury."

    http://livertox.nlm.nih.gov/Phentermine.htm
  • jtrack3d
    jtrack3d Posts: 91
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    I know wanting the weight off NOW is the goal, but the faster you lose it, the less time you give your skin to shrink....

    It's more important to set a slow steady pace which ALSO gives your time to relearn how to eat.
  • ShellF415
    ShellF415 Posts: 182 Member
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    I took Phentermine in 2010 and lost 50 pounds. The good thing about it was that I lost a lot of weight very quickly. That was also the bad thing about it. I put all the weight back on within a year once I stopped taking it and now I am taking it off slowly with lifestyle changes and exercise. It's a good way to kick start your weight loss but it is VERY short acting and will lose it's effectiveness pretty quickly. But as long as you are exercising and continue to make good choices after you are off it you should do fine. Good luck!
  • _HeartsOnFire_
    _HeartsOnFire_ Posts: 5,304 Member
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    Yep, been helping me lose for the past 10 months. Down over 50 lbs and within 10 of goal since I started taking it. My doctor is okay with keeping folks on it (especially for maintenance) provided you use it properly and can show that you are using it properly by sticking with your diet, meds and exercise routines. It is an addictive substance and most doctors will not prescribe it for longer than 6 weeks but there are some out there that will use it for what it is designed for - weight loss and maintenance of said weight loss.

    A lot of MD's won't prescribe it long term for what it can do to your liver and heart.

    Not true about the liver. From the National Institutes of Health:

    "Hepatotoxicity
    Phentermine has not been linked to an increased rate of serum enzyme elevations during therapy; however, results of ALT monitoring during phentermine therapy have rarely been reported. Despite long-term availability and wide use of phentermine, there have been no published reports linking it to clinically apparent acute liver injury."

    http://livertox.nlm.nih.gov/Phentermine.htm

    I stated that because I was going by what my MD said when I was on it - granted it's been a few years - and a couple docs that I worked with.
  • hmmngbrd
    hmmngbrd Posts: 1 Member
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    I agree with the post telling you that 900 calories is too low. Do some research. Your body turns on itself when your calorie intake is too little. There is internal organ damage to consider as well. I'm betting that Fitness Pal is telling you that you are not getting enough calories. Your body thinks you are starving. Also, do your research on diet pills and their side effects. I've worked in the health care profession for 40 years and I know of no MD who would tell you 900 calories is ok. Good luck but remember that taking off 1 lb a week may be slow but it is more likely to stay off than if you take off several pounds a week.
  • Saratini76
    Saratini76 Posts: 115 Member
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    I am on Phentermine. There, you have it! Fire away! Seriously though, for some people who are emotional eaters, binge eaters, etc, the drug is a great tool to refocusing your relationship with food. I do, however, agree with most about the calorie limit. 900 does seem quite extreme. Especially if you were eating 3000 just a week before. My doctor taught me that you had to change your lifestyle, the way you think about eating. The drug is just a tool, quite like MFP. It's not a quick answer.

    I, personally, was at 299 at my highest weight. I was prescribed Phentermine then given a modest calorie goal of 2230. The next month, my calorie goal was reduced to 1800, and so on. He was adamant that I was not to go under 1200 calories for more than a day or two at a time.

    I've been on and off the phentermine for a year now and have lost 54 pounds. I had gotten down 70 pounds but had an emotional lapse and ate 20 pounds back.

    Good luck and don't expect the drug to lose weight for you, use it only as a tool to help you reach your goals.

    :heart:
  • parkscs
    parkscs Posts: 1,639 Member
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    To be honest, with adequate protein intake and resistance training, the OP can very likely get by on 900 calories for quite a while without seeing significant muscle loss. Getting adequate nutrition on 900 calories is going to be tough but doable. I love the keyboard jockeys who are so quick to call the OP's doctor a quack but his advice isn't quite so ridiculous as people are making it out to be. It's not really what I'd recommend but I can see where he's coming from.

    That said, I'd have to question the use of an appetite suppressant to lose weight because what are you going to do after you stop taking Phentermine? Not to say you can't keep the weight off, but realize the odds are against long-term success and to the extent you can develop good habits and the proper mindset while losing weight, that only helps to increase your odds of success when it comes to maintenance. If you opt to go this route, don't rely solely on the drug to do all the work for you.
  • gosney1953
    gosney1953 Posts: 1 Member
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    started back in april its working well have lost 25 lbs so far I have found you need to exercise along with everything else your doing find something you enjoy so you will continue doing it mines walking

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