Prescription Drugs For Weight Loss

☝️100% what he said.

Well...I'm an aging hippie who is about as anti-prescription drug as it is possible to be.


I also needed to lose 80 pounds to get to a healthy weight.

I logged food, took walks, repeated that until the weight was gone.

That was in 2007-08. I'm still logging food and taking walks and still at that same healthy weight. (21 BMI)

Too little information to say anything specific. Generally, I wouldn't consider any Rx for any purpose without a formally diagnosed medical dysfunction and a clear understanding of what the Rx is supposed to do for it, why it's necessary and what the downside risks for me (in particular) might be. Generally that comes from an M.D. specialist, not a dietician. From the information given, it's unclear if the GP knows the dietician well enough to have anticipated the advice or what the dietician's qualifications are.

I’m very apprehensive to share this because of the stigma around pharmaceutical intervention but maybe it will be helpful.

In 2018, my PCP prescribed Phentermine to help me jumpstart weight loss. I have osteoarthritis throughout my lumbar spine, an artificial disc in my lower back and arthritis in both hips that come with a variety of associated complications - the primary being chronic inflammation that causes both nerve and mechanical pain. After living on anti-inflammatories and corticosteroids for a number of years, I’d added weight to the existing problem (from both the side effects of medications and inactivity) and couldn’t do it any more. The inflammation wasn’t being held at bay, my physical health wasn’t improving because the simple things in life were painful beyond what I could handle, and my mental health was diminishing. I’d previously had an active outdoor lifestyle and while still “overweight” wasn’t held back by it. So after a tearful conversation, multiple options were laid on the table. My PCP and I decided that Phentermine was likely the least of all the evils.

Unlike many of the stories and research I’d read, I had very few complications. I also didn’t take it thinking it was going to shed the weight for me. Over the course of the first three months, I did a ton of research on how to live in my body and treat it right — I did an elimination diet to find the food that my body didn’t like and complicated not only the inflammation but ultimately losing weight. I’d developed a slow but steady low impact exercise routine that felt good and incorporated things I missed — like hiking. I introduced yoga and learned about mindfulness and not constantly practicing negative self talk. After six months of taking it, I’d lost weight, had a plan to naturally control inflammation to the extent possible and be nice to myself when my body wasn’t working with me. It did jumpstart the weight loss but more importantly a lifestyle change.

…and then COVID came to town. My mental health went to *kitten*, the lifestyle changes were flung out the window, and I regained some of the weight. The inflammation was back to levels where household chores were painful, getting out of bed painful, etc. So, January of this year, I dusted off the books, rewatched the YouTube videos, and started working on my mental health. The eye opener — my mental health was steering the ship, and I couldn’t let it go or the lifestyle changes I’d made previously. It didn’t take me long to shed the COVID weight and shift my thinking back towards feeling good, improved fitness and ultimately continued weight loss.

So, to answer your questions — yes, I used Phentermine the complications were rather mild and easily overcome. Initially I was extremely dehydrated, had sleep issues, the jitters. All worked out within a relatively short time and with increased water and fiber consumption.

Weight lost? Overall between losses and regains, somewhere around 90 - 100 lbs. directly attributed to the Phentermine, maybe 30 but appetite wasn’t really my problem. All the rest? Lifestyle.

Would I recommend it? Absolutely not. I feel like there are exceptions to every rule and my personal choice to take this route benefitted me in more ways than one - in the short term it helped to get me moving again and the opportunity to help myself through identifying and making lifestyle changes. Longer term using the knowledge gained, I found the lynchpin in my overall health. I see it as a tool. A tool to get over a plateau when you have been doing something that works? That’s your personal choice. For me, nope. I adapt, mentally give myself space to work through the plateaus by going to maintenance calories for awhile — accept some imperfection, gain a few lbs (inflammation and water, generally) and return renewed and ultimately refocused and stronger. I don’t believe that most people are willing to make the necessary changes or do the necessary soul searching to identify the real issue.

I wouldn’t change the opportunity, but I also used that time wisely to change what I didn’t have the energy (mentally, physically or emotionally) to face straight on before. Chronic pain and inflammation are/were one the most difficult issues I’ve had to battle because of the overall and helpless feeling of being trapped in a body that was fighting against me. I felt, and some days still do like, “I’m much too young to feel this damn old”. But overall, I’m healthier and stronger for it. 😁

Sorry for the novel, but I figure if I’m going to tell my story, I’d tell it. Moral being — if you’re not willing to put in the time and make the changes for good, medical intervention is just money spent and not well spent. It won’t change anything.

thepritts wrote: »

First a little background: Currently 50 years old, ex-athlete, got married, had kids, got fat and decided to do something about it.

I've lost 42 lbs on my own with roughly another 40 to go. My family doc thought it would be a good idea to speak with a dietician. During the initial meeting, she presented me with four or five prescription options to aid in weight loss, one of which was an injection. She continued by stating, they would be a good option for when my weight loss plateaued and she said, "you will plateau."

I'm sorry, but I can't remember what the medications were she offered, but I emailed her for them and I'll post them when she responds, anyhow.....

How many of you have used prescription meds or injections to aid in your weight loss journey? Please share what you used or are currently using; side effects; weight lost as a direct result of the meds; would you recommend them; what would you change if presented with the same opportunity again?

Thank you for helping.

Congrats on your success, you lost 42 lbs and 40 to go you can lose it without the drugs and more than likely negative side effects. We all have plateaus and we get through them and keep going, I've lost 52.8 lbs and have 25.2 lbs to go and it's taken me 1 year to date I'm in a rush but at the same time I'm not my health and sustaining this for life is the goal. And don't get me wrong as a younger person I've tried a lot of stuff and none of it really works because it comes back to needing to control your calories and nutrition, on precribed drugs or not. The person who offered you drugs instead of sound nutritional advice doesn't sound good to me. It's your choice but I would be very careful some of the drugs have effected peoples heart and liver, not worth it for weight loss. When you do plateau, you will figure it out . You will either up your exercise or start exercising if you don't, change up your calorie content up or down, drink enough water, come here to stay motivated and most of all don't give up, do what you did to lose the firsr 42 lbs you got this.

Co-sign on the Dope-amax. I took it years ago to mitigate weight gain while I was on another medication. I stayed on it for several years because, while it did nothing for my weight, it was amazing for my migraines. The brain fog is real. I spaced out for several minutes once at the gym, just staring into the mirror holding my weights in my hands like a zombie. Pins and needles were crazy. I don't recommend trying to drive through a snowstorm when your hands are tingling so badly you can't feel the steering wheel. Drinking soda and eating anything tangy/sour/acidic was like chewing tin foil. Side effects got mostly better after a year or so, but I'd never take it again. Even if my migraines came back. Even if I gained a hundred million pounds from my other meds. The side effects just weren't worth the minimal weight control benefits.

I took topamax for nerve pain. It was very effective in my case but it made me so spacey and stupid, I’d quit talking mid sentence because I couldn’t remember what the conversation was about or I’d forget a word and get hung up and frustrated. I have to be quick on the draw in my line of work and analytical. I might as well have worn a bib and be set in the corner with a tinfoil hate.

There is Qysmia too - Phentermine and Topamax together …”the Barbi doll” drug. Amped up on an amphetamine-like drug with a side of stupid 🤔 …hard pass.