Weight loss and Adipex (phentermine)

From my personal experience, along with advice my sister who is a PA told me, if you can lose the weight on your own without the drug, it's a better choice.

I took it about 10 years ago and yes, I initially lost weight. My hair also started falling out, my heart rate was constantly elevated, and i swear it screwed up my thyroid bc i went hypothyroid after using it. After 6 weeks of use I developed a tolerance to the drug and it became less effective. After stopping the drug, i was exhausted and starving and the weight came back even though I tried to maintain the weightloss.

My sister explained to me that the drug works stimulating a release of norepinephrine, the neurotransmitter that is secreted during high stress situations. It stimulates the central nervous system to make you go into fight or flight mode, which includes increase of energy and appetite suppression. Your body just cannot stay in this high stress mode for long without deleterious side affects. Once you are off the drug, the pendelum can swing to the other side, causing your body to not work as efficiently as it was prior to the drug. That paired with the feeling of hunger that returns, causes you to gain back the weight.

What I wrote above, plus if you are not eating enough to sustain your BMR, you are also burning muscle to lose weight. Yes, the scale numbers do go down, but you will have less muscle at the end of it, your metabolism will be slower as a result.

I am sure there are situations where your risks of being obese can outweigh the risks of the drug, just like in the situations for weightloss surgery, but i would hope that people don't pin their hopes and dreams of weightloss success on this drug and carefully consider all of their options.

Why not just eat at a deficit, as its healthier?

I have been on it since mid Nov, I have not had any side effects except a little dry mouth and I think for the first 2 nights I had some small issues with sleeping. I was 125 lbs over weight and with a combination of eating right, working out and this drug I have lost 71lbs. I started in Jan of 2014- Mentioned the med to my Doc and he said no, you can't just take this drug and still have bad habits. I also am a medical coder and read charts all day long, and for my clinic I work for it is NOT given out to anyone, it is given out to people that are morbidly obese He made me prove that I could learn good habits before I would get the drug. So I worked as hard as I could. with the kids and fulltime job and losing weight is hard, not to mention losing 125 lbs, its a LONG road. Losing weight is a full time job in itself. For me being almost three hundred pounds and nearing 35 had more risks of me taking this pill, my mother has pre diab, high blood pressue, over weight etc, so I am bound to get there, I was just a healthy 300 lber, So I lost about 45 lbs ...working as hard as I could, so I went back to the Doc and he let me try the med, for the first month I had weekly visits and labs and BP montering, we watched it close and everything was great. I ate food each day, I made really good choices, I never did NOT eat. It just helped my cravings, I prob ate about 1300-1500 cal a day, worked out so I did not lose muscle mass, I am happy to report I am now 213 lbs and getting ready to wean off. I can tell it is losing its juice, I am starting to search for things later at night to eat, but I am fighting it and moving forth. I am taking the weaning off under doc supervision and going for it. I am Not sure what is going to happen. I hope it will be smooth and sucessful like my journey so far, I have come too far to mess it up. I feel I am there now, (well almost) my goal is 185. I would not trade the weight I have lost for anything, no matter how I got there, this is me now, the old me is gone. I struggled with weight loss for 10 years. No Way I am going back to eating crap, if I a starving and ravenous, I will eat good foods- I know I will gain some back from being on the stimulant. That is a given, but there is no way I am going to gain back these 71 lbs...But who knows I may get a heart issue, no ones knows, you may die tomo in a car wreak but losing this weigh so far has done so much good for me and my family I would not trade it. That's all.

Lots of different opinions here. OP -- good luck with your journey. I hope the medication helps you, and gets you on the right path.

I took this medication, I was like great, I was losing weight, but unknowingly, I had a heart problem I have Superventricular tachycardia. I didn't need anything else speeding up my heart rate. Even if you stopped the effects of the medication doesn't stop, so after a month of wearing a heart monitor, after seeing a cardiologist and then medications or ablation (whichever I chose) I didn't want neither of them. I chose to try and wait it out, since then I've not had too much trouble with it, it only happens about 3-4 times a year now. I don't know how much the Phentermine played a part in this, but I know that it did. So be careful when prescribed a medication. Read all of the warning labels, and make the choice that works for you.

Phentermine broke my addiction to food WHICH IS A BIG FRIGGIN DEAL. After years of struggling and using food to fill all the gaps in my life, i finally found a doctor who could agree I needed something. She put me on the lowest dose, 15mg. I had already changed my habits a little bit and lost 10lbs before starting it. I did really well on the pill and when my doc said it was time to start increasing the dose, I decided to take some time off the pill and see how I did. Lost a good bit of weight the month I stopped taking it. I realized its because I was no longer a FOOD ADDICT!!! I could handle seeing commercials and hearing people talk about food without getting CRACK *kitten* CRAZY and eating everything in sight! It was a major MENTAL break through. I started going through some hard times so i decided for now to use it more as an "as needed thing" but I have not ever increased my dose. I don't want to be on it much longer.

I have already lost 35lbs and I am feeling very motivated. For one, I now KNOW I can do this. Two, I KNOW I can survive without Outback Cheese Fries and Sprite. Three, I know I can still eat whatever I want, BUT ALWAYS IN MODERATION. Four, I am now a vegetarian and have a goal of being a FULL TIME PLANT BASED VEGAN again very soon and that helps me not eat a lot of really unhealthy stuff. Five, my taste buds have changed big time and I can truly appreciate the healthy foods out there. Six, I'VE LOST 35 FRIGGIN POUNDS! I never thought it was really possible. I am very thankful for what this pill has done for me.

I watched a family member take this pill (starting at full strength, which I think the doctors shouldn't even be allowed to do) and she bounced between killing McDonalds and starving herself constantly. She cant even handle being off the pill. Thankfully, it gave me the mindset going in "If I'm doing this, I'm doing it the right way". I don't think its right to DEPEND on the pill. You still have to make the decision within yourself to eat and do the right things. Otherwise, you will surely gain the weight back as soon as you stop it. I have always believed, its not a diet, its a lifestyle change. I can't expect to lose weight and keep it off if I ever plan to go back to eating ALL THE GARBAGE I ate before. Its common sense.

I have always had a pretty high resting heart rate so my doc did warn me to look out for high heart rates. (She also did an EKG before she put me on it and made me document my heart rate for a month.) Since I have managed to stay on the low dose, I am happy to report I have not had ANY problems. If I feel like its not working well (your body gets used to it), I go off the pill for a week or two. And now I only use it on days I know I will struggle. But I have found that it has greatly improved my level of self control, even when I am not on it. I've gone out for ice cream three times and I always either share with my 4 year old or get a kiddie cup. I even gave away my french fries the other day because I realized one bite in, that I didn't even want them!!!!

I find it extremely disappointing that people on MFP with freak out on you if you mention this pill. Its sad. I don't think diet pills are healthy, but neither is being twice the weight you should be or being severely addicted to food. It also blows my mind when I go read the food diaries of the people who are judging me! I hope this helps anyone out there who is considering taking it or even already taking it.

I'm pretty sure it's illegal where I live (Canada). So, there's that.

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

tracylollar wrote: »

Trust me, I am taking it for as short a time as possible. It is helping though. I was at a total stand still no matter what I did. I am finally losing a little. It is hard to get enough food throughout the day. I have to make myself eat 3 meals a day. Would taking a multi-vitamin help with not eating so much?

You do understand that once you stop taking this diet pill/appetite suppressant, you will regain the weight you lost because you will start eating more calories due to the return of your appetite…… right?

Not necessarily if you are a major over eater then your stomach expands if you are on this for a month or so and your stomach shrinks as long as you continue to eat small meals you can stay eating small meals

Oh and I had major hair loss a few months after stopping the diet too. It was horrible. Thankfully my hair is finally starting to grow back in. But the message from my body was pretty clear that it did NOT like a VLCD, even for eight weeks.

lauramegan28 wrote: »

FatFreeFrolicking wrote: »

tracylollar wrote: »

Trust me, I am taking it for as short a time as possible. It is helping though. I was at a total stand still no matter what I did. I am finally losing a little. It is hard to get enough food throughout the day. I have to make myself eat 3 meals a day. Would taking a multi-vitamin help with not eating so much?

You do understand that once you stop taking this diet pill/appetite suppressant, you will regain the weight you lost because you will start eating more calories due to the return of your appetite…… right?

Not necessarily if you are a major over eater then your stomach expands if you are on this for a month or so and your stomach shrinks as long as you continue to eat small meals you can stay eating small meals

@lauramegan28‌ No, it doesn't.

christinev297 wrote: »

The only way your stomach can shrink is through surgery.

Some of these posts remind me what i was like when i was taking phen. I typed a million miles a minutes, writing huge long posts. I couldn't stop talking lol

and you are still on here ranting.......;)

christinev297 wrote: »

Jaxsonjess wrote: »

christinev297 wrote: »

The only way your stomach can shrink is through surgery.

Some of these posts remind me what i was like when i was taking phen. I typed a million miles a minutes, writing huge long posts. I couldn't stop talking lol

and you are still on here ranting.......;)

Ranting!!??? Pfffttt whatever

It's ok, you tried to inject some truth, doesn't look like it's sticking.

It did NOTHING for me. But a friend lost weight on it.

Just because your doctor prescribes you legal speed doesn't mean it's safe, as much as you try to justify it. Usually I keep my mouth shut if what I say isn't positive or nice, but I feel strongly about this.

I searched for a doc for years that would prescribe this to me. Last summer, I did. The first week I had migraine and heart palpatations, then they stopped. I started losing weight and felt a little weird physically but to me it was worth it. About 6 weeks and 12 pounds later, I started getting major anxiety and violent compulsions that were uncontrollable, aka phen rages. So scary, especially since I'm very calm, sweet person by nature. I had to stop taking it and when I did, I gained all of it back within a couple of days plus about 10 more. I couldn't control my eating, I was starving all the time. Now I'm trying to get my body back to normal and live a healthy lifestyle without drugs that I can maintain for life.

Just my experience and opinion. Very unhealthy. Will you lose weight fast? Probably. Will you keep it off? Probably not. Are you screwing up your body/hormones? Yup. Is it worth it? No. I wanted to strangle people who used to tell me this, but now I whole heartedly agree: if you want to lose weight and be healthy, eat lots of fruits and veggies, cut out the crap, drink water, and move your body.

Please be safe and listen to your bodies, people! Best of luck to everyone.

In all honesty here, how many people that are considered morbidly obese only gained the weight because they were hungry? And how many gained the weight because they are using food as a way to self-medicate, just like some people may choose drugs or alcohol or gambling or whatever?
I see no point in taking a pill, because in all honesty if you have to eat less and move more while taking the pill for it to work, why not just eat less and move more without a pill?
My doctor gave me Topomax for migraines, and pointed out that one happy side effect could be weight loss. I took one dose at night before bed and woke up the next day so out-of-it and high I don't even remember being at work - I felt like I burned about 10 joints then went to work. My point to that - medications have different side effects on different people - phentermine may cause some people's livers to rot and fall out, and other people's livers will be fine.