Has anyone tried Alli?

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My fiance has been on Alli for the past two weeks.... and he has seemed to have pretty good results on it! Or maybe it's the fact that he is counting calories on MFP and working out 2 hours a day - it's hard to say. Anyways, I'm considering trying it to speed up my progress. I know, good things don't come easy... but since I'm eating healthfully and working out anyways, what's the harm in a little boost? ;)

Has anyone here tried Alli, and if so what was your experience with it?

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  • 1983Miller
    1983Miller Posts: 89 Member
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    My cousin tried it and she had diarrhea for many days. She quit using it for obvious reasons.
  • robeeen
    robeeen Posts: 15
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    no, sorry, but I hear it does stuff to you like makes you go to the bathroom when you don't want to? I'm not sure so don't mark my words, just what I've read.
  • BlueEyedTwin333
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    I'm actually taking alli and it works for me. It's a diet aid kind of thing haha. It only works if you take it 20 minutes before meal and you can skip if you skip a meal. It helps burn off fat in the food you digest before you digest them... sort of. I'm not entirely sure. But i do know that the results are the major for everyone. For people looking to lose like 30lbs or more it will help, but anything under that and it will only increase you're weight loss by like 5-7lbs in total. I've been taking it for 2 weeks now and I havn't had any bowel movement issues. diarrhea and such hasn't happened... I think that's only the colon cleansers. I think diarrhea is only in effect if you don't have that much weight to loss because it doesn't have anywhere else to go.
  • fancyladymeek
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    Alli prevents absorbtion of a percentage of the fat you intake. So it depends....if you are on a low fat diet already, it won't make a big difference. If you're on a high-fat diet, you run the risk of the squirts. If you're in the middle, it may help you out but you still gotta be careful of the side effects.

    Try it on a weekend...and for the first few weeks carry a spare pair of undergarments with you.
  • Iceprincessk25
    Iceprincessk25 Posts: 1,888 Member
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    The thing with Alli is that you need to follow the directions. A lot of people think they can get all willy nilly with it and eat high fat foods along with taking the pills. The fat that isn't absorbed needs to go some where and that's when those unfortunate accidents occur. There's a certain amount of fat that needs to be adheared to.
  • Zumbalady808
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    I Took the full dose before Alli came out, Zenical.. It works, but you can't eat anything with fat in it.. Cheese, Milk, Pizza examples or you will be running to the bathroom.. It's a good way to teach you how to eat.. And you can have accidents and you don't want to fart... LOL.....

    It can work, but you must watch what you eat!!!!
  • noltes2
    noltes2 Posts: 202 Member
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    Thanks for your responses! LOL my fiance told me everything has been fine for him in the bathroom arena, except one night we had salmon for dinner with butter and he had an issue then!!!

    I might take your advice and just sneak some of his pills for a couple days and see if my body can handle it. I don't know. I feel like any extra pill you put in your body can't be good for you, but it's so tempting if it'll help me drop a little extra weight lol
  • ouryear002
    ouryear002 Posts: 325 Member
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    I tried it and had no side effects, including no weight loss. I just don't think it works that well if you don't have that much to lose. It blocks about 25% (I think) of the fat you eat. So if you are only eating 28 g of fat daily, that's 7 g blocked, or 63 calories. Not much!
  • Alarice10
    Alarice10 Posts: 4 Member
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    I used Alli a couple of years ago & it helped tremendously! I lost 15lbs in 12 weeks & I've never been able to lose more than a couple of pounds no matter how hard I'd try. I never had an "accident" but if you eat too much fat & Alli starts to "work" lol, you'd better go soon! I mean, it won't leak out - at least, I never had that problem but I've read that other people have - but when you feel the pressure to go, you might want to or else you'll end up with stomach pains! I ended up gaining the weight back because I didn't stick with the changes I made - eating better, exercising, etc.

    I'm also using Alli this time around as well & it does help. I make a conscious effort NOT to eat more fat than needed but if I do, I'm aware of the consequences. Since I've started MFP & Alli, I've only lost about 5lbs BUT I wasn't as committed at first & I started to get discouraged. Lately, I've adjusted my eating pattern to accommodate the higher metabolism that's come from burning the extra calories, I exercise diligently & take the Alli faithfully, along with other changes :) I found my inspiration & so far, everything is going great!

    I hope everyone does well with whatever you decide to do!
  • chris0912
    chris0912 Posts: 242 Member
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    if you read through the little booklet, it recommends that your meals be no more than 30% of calories derived from fat to avoid "unfortunate side effects." i took it a few years back and am just starting to take it again. what i did in the past was take it with meals that fit the recommendations and didn't take it with meals that didn't.
  • ElliMC
    ElliMC Posts: 53
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    :smile: Hey! I've started taking Alli today after receiving mixed opinions from people on MFP.
    Apparently it works by binding to the enzymes that normally make you absorb fat (like a competitive inhibitor, for the ones of us who've done a bit of biology). For every 2lbs that you lose by dieting Alli makes you lose an extra lb.
    It does give you bowel problems if you eat more than 15g of fat in one meal but I suppose that just helps you controlling your fat intake. Oh and you need to take vitamin supplements at bedtime to compensate, A D E and K I think!
    Feel free to add me and I'll let you know how I'm getting on with it!
    :smile: Elli
  • integrapunk67
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    Thanks for your responses! LOL my fiance told me everything has been fine for him in the bathroom arena, except one night we had salmon for dinner with butter and he had an issue then!!!

    I might take your advice and just sneak some of his pills for a couple days and see if my body can handle it. I don't know. I feel like any extra pill you put in your body can't be good for you, but it's so tempting if it'll help me drop a little extra weight lol

    It's only sneaking if I don't know and good luck finding them ;)

    It definitely makes you watch and change your diet to accomodate for the amount of fat consumed. Hard to say how much I'd lose with vs without but from the times I've been using it I have lost more than when I'm not.
  • AnnaPixie
    AnnaPixie Posts: 7,439 Member
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    It takes a few days to kick in but My God, you know it! I wouldnt bother. It's not that effective and it gets very embarrassing!! In fact I gave my left over packets to my friend and she said no way would running to the toilet bother her - she rang me and said it was awful! I mean, I can't really describe on here how awful it is, but just think of soft, smelly, uncontrolled oil leaking out your bum!!! :laugh:

    Far easier to cut the saturated fat from your diet :bigsmile:
  • HydroMilk
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    I took it about 2.5 years ago and lost almost 40lbs in about 6mths. I had to stop taking it because I was afraid to keep loosing weight. (When I stopped taking it I didn't gain the weight back.) When I first started it, I had some "greasy" bowel movements, but nothing that would involve diapers, just a noticeable change when I used that bathroom. After that I was careful to watch what I ate. If I knew I was going to be going to a pizza party or something similar I would stop taking it for a few meals before and then not take it for an extra day or so just to be safe. Now that I have gained a bit of weight I'm going to start back up on Alli, but just enough to give me a boost and get me back on a routine.

    If you do it, just be safe. You need some fat to stay healthy, but don't think it is a free card to eat fattening/greasy items or you WILL regret it. LOL
  • RNewton4269
    RNewton4269 Posts: 663 Member
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    Not having a gall bladder anymore has the same results (TRUST ME!)...and well going to the bathroom all the time isn't fun. Never used Allli but I have heard similiar stories like the ones posted here. I would do it for a bit and see how your body handles it. Good luck!
  • cerace
    cerace Posts: 5 Member
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    There are new studies showing Alli and Xenical are linked to liver damage. Here are some links to read into it:

    http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/05/warning-alli-linked-to-liver-damage/

    http://www.aboutlawsuits.com/xenical-and-alli-liver-damage-reports-reviewed-by-fda-4106/

    http://www.walletpop.com/2010/05/29/diet-drugs-alli-and-xenical-may-cause-liver-failure/

    Personally, I would take weight loss at a slower pace than risk liver damage...but hey, that's just me.