Anyone else taken, thinking of taking, or on Phentermine?

I took it for two weeks. First, it got rid of my appetite completely and everything tasted funny. My mouth was EXTREMELY dry. So, I lost weight because I was not eating as much at all and was nauseated at time. When I realized I could still eat junk and not have any side effects, then I started to eat normally again. I got severely constipated which was not fun, and then I also could tell my heart rate was high when I wasn't doing anything. I opted to stop it because of the constipation.

You asked for thoughts so here is mine-
Taking pills like this teaches you nothing. The pill suppresses your hunger so you do not overeat.
What happens when the doctor takes you off the pill? Your appetite comes back and now you've learned nothing. You don't know portion control or moderation because the pill was your crutch . without the pill, most will fall back into their own habits .
Have you ever heard the saying - if you want something bad enough then you will have to work for it ! That applies here. If weight loss was as simple as popping pills then everyone would be thin. Even if people don't like to admit it, they would much rather take the easy way out then have to work for something .
Since it seems you have already gotten the pills I'm sure you already went over the side effects so I won't even go there.
If I where you I would try to educate myself about portion control and moderation . these are the tools needed for long term success. I would come up with a plan for when you no longer have the pills and try to not have a too aggressive deficit while taking them ( you'll lose muscle mass - im sure you dont want saggy hanging flabby skin so be sure to eat enough ! ) log your foods, be sure to use a food scale for solids and measure liquids. Be sure your giving your body what it needs!
I am not being rude but am giving my honest opinion. In no way was this written to bash you or make you feel badly . its your body, not mine. so you have the right to do as you wish with it.
Best of luck to you !

Well of course your going to hear some who disagree and yes it does decrease your appetite tremendously. If you want to really train yourself how to eat and what meals work and what don't being on phentramine is a good time to learn. You definitely have to eat because if you don't you will feel horrible. I hope that when I do get off I keep my exercise routine and good eating habits.

I took it a few years ago and lost 13 pounds in a month. It made me super mean but it worked great.
I had a baby in August and started taking it again. It sent my already bad postpartum depression into overdrive. It is a great tool to aid in weight loss but if you have even the slightest bit of trouble with depression I STRONGLY advise against it.
Make sure that you're also teaching yourself how to eat correctly while you're on it. You can only be on it so long and if you don't change your eating habits you'll pack weight back on as soon as you come off.

The less pharmaceuticals you take the better!

Some prescriptions are absolutely necessary for life but I wouldn't take this one.

Weight loss is hard work...

chastity0921 wrote: »

I took it for about a year. Lost quite a bit of weight, and gained it all back and more afterward. I guess it depends on the amount you are needing to lose. If you only want to lose 20-30lbs, why not do it without medication? Just a question. Also, are your thyroid levels under control right now?

I'm confused because I didn't see anyone saying the were taking phentermine plus they only had 20-30 pounds to lose. I would consider a doctor irresponsible who prescribed a drug that could potentially mess up someone's heart to a patient who only had 20-30 pounds to lose. Phentermine is a stimulant that is similar to an amphetamine.

If you're only supposed to take it for a few weeks, and are supposed to "cut back on calories and try to exercise while taking the drug" why risk the side effects?

http://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/phentermine

...People taking phentermine should also cut back on calories and try to exercise while taking the drug.

...If you take it for too long, or take more of it than your doctor prescribes, you may become dependent and develop depression or fatigue when you stop taking it.

...The FDA warns that you should only take phentermine for a maximum of a few weeks, and you should not take it with any other weight-loss drugs or herbal treatments.

...People who have any of the following should not take phentermine:

Sorry, this is long.

I'm currently taking it. I'm somewhere around week 6 or 7 on it. My doctor prescribed it because I'm 5'4" and was 250 pounds.

I set up every-other-week meetings with a nutritionist/fitness trainer before I started taking it so I'd have someone to talk with about my nutritional needs during and after I'm done taking the meds. And I have a follow-up appointment with my doctor in February to review the results with her. And I've been logging my food in here since I started it.

It has taken away my appetite and increased my metabolism, which were both issues I struggled with in regards to my weight.

Side effects I've noticed:

• Dizziness -- this has decreased a lot, but for the first several weeks, I would get very lightheaded a couple hours after taking it. This was a warning on the bottle, so I was prepared for this, but it was still disconcerting. It has mostly gone away now.
• Funky tongue -- there was a weird taste in my mouth sometimes and my mouth was definitely dry. But drinking a lot of water is good for this, and necessary for the weight loss anyway.
• Lack of hunger -- but not a lack of needing to eat. I don't get hungry much at all. There have been a couple times when I'd be sitting there and my stomach would grumble at me, loud enough for my husband to hear it across the room. So even though I wasn't feeling the hunger, I definitely needed to eat. MFP has been very helpful in this because it helps me remember that I need to eat a certain amount of calories to make sure that I can function properly.

The doctor didn't tell me this, but when I researched the pill, I discovered two things -- there are two different types: one that you swallow and one that you dissolve under your tongue, so make sure you're taking your's the right way. And you should take it one hour before or two hours after you eat breakfast.

I've lost somewhere between 10 - 15 pounds so far. I was losing 3 pounds a week there for a while at the beginning. (My scale is broken right now so I haven't weighted in for 3 weeks. My new scale arrives on Wednesday.) For the first week, I didn't do any exercising (not really a good reason why not, I just wasn't), but I made sure to log my food and make sure to stay at the amount MFP said I should hit. And that was a huge awakening for me regarding portion sizes. Since then, I've been working on exercising more and still keeping in the calories limit, with a bit of a deficit.

So it's working for me, in the way that it's was supposed to work to decrease my appetite and increase my metabolism. Now, I'm doing the work to make sure that I'll know how to eat properly when I'm off the pill and be able to get my metabolism in gear without the pill as a crutch. I've got my support network set up, with the nutritionist, a supportive husband, and a friend who recently lost 75 pounds.

It's not a magic weight-loss with no work pill. But hopefully by the time I get off it, I'll be able to better manage the things that were causing my weight to end up so high -- namely, not managing my CICO, portion control, and failure to exercise.

So, that's my experience so far. I hope that helps!

heatherhb2016 wrote: »

Hey guys! thanks so much for your honest replies! I appreciate it! My HOPE is to learn better habits wth the aid of this medication... Not depend on it 100%. I realize it's only short term. Hence, one reason I got THIS APP yesterday. To keep a calorie/food diary and so on.
So, I've bought TONS of water(which i already drink like crazy) ensure drinks, fruit cups, yogurts, fresh fruit, etc. I'm also taking a vitamin shot(?) Called megaburn every week.
Thanks again!
P.S. I'm still SCARED to take it this morning!! (First day) Ughhhhhh!

**Have any of you tried the Megaburn vitamin shots? I'm taking those weekly as well.

P.S.S Where are y'all from? Lol My phone says you all replied In the middle of the night!? I'm from Nashville, Tn, USA

Downloading this app was a good decision! Make sure to meet your goals and learn all about portion control and moderation. Take this time while your on the pills to read up on the forums here and absorb all the info you can. Learn that there are no bad foods or food groups but instead bad portions . for long term sucess it was key for me learn that deprivation didn't work for me. ( some people deprive themselves of carbs or treats because they think it will aid in their weight loss efforts) I realized that moderation was better for me. So take this time to learn all these things while you have the crutch.
I have never taken the megaburn shot and don't know much about them. The only thing I know about them is that those ridiculous weight loss clinics that peddle all their weight loss products use them as an "add on" item to their plans . tons of these places are popping up everywhere and they peddle an array of products and usually offer tons of bad information . they seem to want people to fail so they keep coming back to spend more money. If I was going to see a doctor about weight loss ,I would talk to my general practice doctor first and then take it from there. I would not go to a fly-by-night weight loss clinic . but that's just my opinion. I'm sure there are some decent ones out there but most plans that I have looked at written by those types of places are laughable.

Oh! OP, one more thing: No alcohol while you're on it, according to the drug info. But booze is high in calories and not nutrition anyway.

I looked into a med that contains phenteramine but my insurance won't cover. I don't think it would help me long term, though because i have some poor eating habits. Good luck with whatever you do. This site is awesome. Whatever you do, keep track of your calories, macros here.

kirstinlee wrote: »

My dad took Phen-Fen in the nineties, a mix of that and Fenfluramine. It helped him lose weight, but when he came off of it, the cravings were so strong he ended up turning to meth. Sounds like a bad afterschool special, but sadly true. Just be careful.

I am so sorry. I hope he is doing better now. That story is enough for me not to even think about trying it. I just remember people in the 90's taking phen phen and then having heart trouble later. Not worth it.

I took Phentermine a few years back. Aside from the side effects that others have mentioned above of dry mouth and dizziness I also became extraordinarily cranky all the time. I was told by those closest to me that my whole personality changed, and not for the better. I decided I would rather be fat and happy than get thin on a drug that made me horrible to be around. Of course now I am trying to lose weight without drugs and doing great. Whatever you choose is fine, so long as you know what the potential downsides are.

chastity0921 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

chastity0921 wrote: »

I took it for about a year. Lost quite a bit of weight, and gained it all back and more afterward. I guess it depends on the amount you are needing to lose. If you only want to lose 20-30lbs, why not do it without medication? Just a question. Also, are your thyroid levels under control right now?

I'm confused because I didn't see anyone saying the were taking phentermine plus they only had 20-30 pounds to lose. I would consider a doctor irresponsible who prescribed a drug that could potentially mess up someone's heart to a patient who only had 20-30 pounds to lose. Phentermine is a stimulant that is similar to an amphetamine.

If you're only supposed to take it for a few weeks, and are supposed to "cut back on calories and try to exercise while taking the drug" why risk the side effects?

http://www.everydayhealth.com/drugs/phentermine

...People taking phentermine should also cut back on calories and try to exercise while taking the drug.

...If you take it for too long, or take more of it than your doctor prescribes, you may become dependent and develop depression or fatigue when you stop taking it.

...The FDA warns that you should only take phentermine for a maximum of a few weeks, and you should not take it with any other weight-loss drugs or herbal treatments.

...People who have any of the following should not take phentermine:

Sounds more like you're passive aggressive than confused. I didn't see that HER doctor was prescribing the drug. I also didn't see an amount of weight she was trying to lose. I went to a medical weight loss clinic both times I took the drug. Was not told that it should only be taken for a short time, and he just kept prescribing it to me. I was 24 at the time, and about 40 lbs overweight.

Anyway, good luck with the Phentermine, Heather. I think the dry mouth and fast heartbeat were the weirdest side effects I had. But I drank LOTS of water, and learned to love the hyperactivity. It sucks when that part goes away haha.

Is this more clear - who said anything about only 20-30 pounds to lose? Why did you bring that up?

chastity0921 wrote: »

I took it for about a year. Lost quite a bit of weight, and gained it all back and more afterward. I guess it depends on the amount you are needing to lose. If you only want to lose 20-30lbs, why not do it without medication? Just a question. Also, are your thyroid levels under control right now?

heatherhb2016 wrote: »

If so, Why or why not have you tried it yet? What has your personal experience been like on it? Side effects? Results, Pros and cons? Any thoughts would be very helpful, as I'm starting it tomorrow morning. Thank you!

Hey Heather

I am taking phentermine. I've been on it for a month now. Deciding to take Phentermine was a last resort and tough decision to make for me. Sorry this is long too.

Just alil of my background, I too was severely overweight and some charts would even put me in the obese categories. I began this journey at the beginning of 2014 weighing at 254 which is what I had been my heaviest. I had just separated and filed for divorce. But I felt like my life was out of control on the inside. I am an emotional eater like many of us are. I reach for something that tastes good and makes me feel better. I didn't want to do that this time. So I bought two work out DVDS and started working out in front of the tv and the cat. Lol i changed my eating habits I cut out fast fried food for about 3 months. I treat them as rewards. Weight starting coming off. I hit several plateus along the way but still kept at it. My mom is with weight watchers so she gave me some tips on eating better such as 6 small meals a day eating different snacks like more yogurt and string cheese. I lost weight that year but I wasn't at goal in clothes. See one thing I made a promise to myself was not to become obsessed about a number i.e. 155lbs no matter what or who said you have to be this weight for your height. I went by how I felt in clothes and how I felt on the inside about myself. Well 2015 came and I wasn't a size 10 just yet. I was teetering bt a 12-14. So I joined the gym changed my cardio duration and frequency of work outs and started lifting weights. More inches than numbers came off. I was okay with that. In the summer I got to be a size 10-12. I teetered on this for a few months and maintained the last 6 months at a 12 because I had alot going on and I stopped working out. However I still continued to be mindful of what I ate.

Now 2016 is here and I am committed to losing this last bit. I have returned to the gym and consulted w my doctor about phentermine. Before she even allowed me to have it we drew my blood to check my thyroid to rule out any issues w that. She also did an EKG as well. She gives me a 14 day Rx at a time and must come in every 2 weeks to be weighed and monitored. So far I've lost 12 lbs some of that is water weight. But this medication has helped curbed my appetite and address most of all my cravings. I discovered that even though I wasn't hungry I would still need to eat because I would get nauseated bc of too much stomach acid and not enough nutrition. So I started taking a box of quick oatmeal to work and protein meal bars and fruit. I do get the dry mouth I like water so I drink more of it. Constipation--Metamucil takes care of that lol...and for sleep I've been on something for that for a while bc of irregular sleep cycle my doctor upped my dose. So far all is working in my favor.

I don't believe the use of this medication should be a quick fix to anything. I believe certain things need to be put in place and you should be monitored by your doctor if taking this medication. Learning portion control and incorporating some form of exercise important and key to weight loss in my opinion. However I struggled to get this last bit of weight off so I made the decision to use this medication to help me for the short term. In addition I am also using this app the help log everything I consume and that way I feel good about myself as well. Everyone has different methods and different opinions about weight loss and goals and the use if meds. Hard work and dedication are definitely an absolute. But if you've tried everything short of surgery then I believe the use of medication is acceptable as long as you are being monitored by your doctor. I hope this was helpful in some way to you. Add me if you would like. Good luck in your goals.