HCG is BAD!!!

TrailRunner61
TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Just an fyi for all of you who want a 'quick fix' with HCG injections. My niece has been using it, with her Dr's blessing, has lost a lot of weight, looks awful and is now in the hospital, seriously ill. She is peeing 'black stuff' and may have kidney damage!
Your health and your life is more important than getting a quick fix. Please, please, do not use this stuff or any other 'fad' diets. You won't be able to maintain your weightloss and learn the right way to be healthy unless you do it right, with MYFITNESSPAL!
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Replies

  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    bumping because people need to read this!
  • mara6179
    mara6179 Posts: 8
    I've never heard of HCG before..what is it?
  • bbaker172
    bbaker172 Posts: 93
    Holy Crap!!!!!! Sending prayers for a full recovery!!!!!!!
  • laus_8882
    laus_8882 Posts: 217 Member
    Oh gosh, that is beyond awful. I'll be thinking of you and your niece. Here's to a full recovery.

    And I agree, bugger hcg. Any diet that recommends you eat at a level of semi-starvation is appalling. And the hell with her doctor for jumping on the vlcd bandwagon.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    Im not sure but I think it's a hormone derived from pregnant womens urine. Id prefer to call it a placebo since they require you to eat only FIVE HUNDRED calories per day. This poor girl is so sick and I feel awful for her. I'm praying she recovers completely and can learn how to be healthy the right way.
  • mara6179
    mara6179 Posts: 8
    oh god thats terrible...how can they expect you to only eat 500 cals a day thats absurd! best wishes to ur niece x
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    Thank you! Prayers are needed!
  • caraguard
    caraguard Posts: 41
    Truly. Any diet that involves ingesting a pregnancy hormone when you're not actually pregnant cannot be good.
  • Alzzak
    Alzzak Posts: 89 Member
    I've never heard of HCG before..what is it?

    Totally useless in weightloss

    Human chorionic gonadotropin, is a hormone made by the placenta to keep the new mother from having a period and saying bye bye to the baby, it also has been known to burn some calories when the mother can't get the right amount to keep the baby healthy. the problem is, you have to eat 400-800 calories a day

    My prayers go with her
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    I'm still in shock that any Dr. in the world would suggest this as a way to lose weight! They should lose their medical license.This girl is young, only 28 and has a life to live yet.
  • laus_8882
    laus_8882 Posts: 217 Member
    I'm still in shock that any Dr. in the world would suggest this as a way to lose weight! They should lose their medical license.This girl is young, only 28 and has a life to live yet.

    She should sue. Even Optifast gives you 800 calories a day. 500 is just... ugh, there are no words. It's beyond wrong.
  • Alzzak
    Alzzak Posts: 89 Member
    I'm still in shock that any Dr. in the world would suggest this as a way to lose weight! They should lose their medical license.This girl is young, only 28 and has a life to live yet.

    I am surprised any dr would suggest this, and not monitor the patient.... there had to be signs before it got this bad.
  • vade43113
    vade43113 Posts: 836 Member
    prayers go with her, and bumping this so friends might find it... I hope she pulls though
  • dyneemo
    dyneemo Posts: 3
    I personally do not feel that HCG is bad. I had tried it about 1.5 years ago after trying a strict low-fat diet with exercise and appropriate nutrition. I even used the calorie guidelines that were recommended for me, ate the foods I was supposed to, exercised regularly, drank water...the whole thing. I did not really lose anything. And I tried this method for many, many months yet I saw no improvement, felt really low (my self-esteem was at rock bottom) and I kept out-growing clothes and went up in pant sizes instead of down

    I thought it was maybe hereditary or that I had some kind of hormonal imbalance or something wrong with my thyroid. Had that all checked and I was fine, my cholesterol was good...I just do not lose weight at all no matter what I do.

    So, 1.5 years ago I started the HCG diet and it worked. I wanted to lose 20 lbs and I did. I kept off the weight for over a year but with travel, I had poor eating habits so I gained 12.5 lbs back. I started exercise again, tried eating right...nothing. So, I am back on the HCG diet and I can attest that this diet really works for me. I have energy, I feel good, I am losing weight at a reasonable rate and I am not, contrary to what you all believe, "starving". Yes, I am on a strict low calorie diet but I eat good proteins (fish, chicken, seafood), vegetables (any leafy green or other green veggies), fruit (whatever I want) and one very small carb (like melba toast) and I drink a lot of water and take my vitamins. I want to only lose the 12 lbs and so far I've lost 2.0 and I feel better than I have with any other diet or exercise program I have ever tried before

    Knock the diet if you want. But for those of us who kill ourselves with strenuous workouts and limit ourselves to our calorie intake in addition, this diet really works. I still work out, I eat minimally (yes, I know this is a "problem" for some people), but I am losing weight and I am feeling good.

    I know that once I am done, I will need to eat right. It recommends slowly increasing your caloric intake. I did this the last time and I did not gain a pound back for a year and then over the last few months I have gained because I was eating fast food and very unhealthy things. HCG works for me. You just have to use it appropriately
  • brokenmisunderstoodheart
    brokenmisunderstoodheart Posts: 3
    im useing te drops is that the same stuff?
  • weighlossforbaby
    weighlossforbaby Posts: 847 Member
    My friend started taking it which made her sick so she stopped taking it!!!!
  • coraliethomas
    coraliethomas Posts: 336 Member
    My sister in law did this and I begged her to stop, 500 calories a day is rediculous... some people with eating disorders eat more than that on a bad day...
  • gogonunubean
    gogonunubean Posts: 160 Member
    Yes my boss is a Doctor - a gastro specialist. Aside from a highly restrictive calorie intake Guaranteed to make you gain after you quit the diet, the drops can be harmful. From a reputable dealer, I believe it can go around $120 per month. Online and oversees the drops are most often placebos or harmful. The FDA is trying to crack down on these so called 'hormones' as they have been associated with many cases of illness and death. He has seen several of these patients who develop stomach issues, gallstones and other preventable issues.

    Is our vanity such that we will injest such a controversial and unregulated substance and starve ourselves?

    To the OP: The hospital is the best place for your niece, I hope she recovers soon!
  • naivenitara
    naivenitara Posts: 32
    That's heartbreaking! Hope your niece makes a full recovery. What a shame. :( I know lots of people that have done the HCG diet and swear by it, and I've seen them loose tons of weight very quickly. I was even tempted to try it myself, but I'm so glad I didn't. When you loose weight that quickly and that unnaturally, it just doesn't look right. It just makes you look sick. I guess I can understand the need for a doctor's prescription for EXTREME circumstance like an absorbent amount of obesity (500+ lbs) but beyond that it just doesn't seem like something you should order over the internet just to lose a few pounds.
  • droogievesch
    droogievesch Posts: 202
    I personally do not feel that HCG is bad. I had tried it about 1.5 years ago after trying a strict low-fat diet with exercise and appropriate nutrition. I even used the calorie guidelines that were recommended for me, ate the foods I was supposed to, exercised regularly, drank water...the whole thing. I did not really lose anything. And I tried this method for many, many months yet I saw no improvement, felt really low (my self-esteem was at rock bottom) and I kept out-growing clothes and went up in pant sizes instead of down

    I thought it was maybe hereditary or that I had some kind of hormonal imbalance or something wrong with my thyroid. Had that all checked and I was fine, my cholesterol was good...I just do not lose weight at all no matter what I do.

    So, 1.5 years ago I started the HCG diet and it worked. I wanted to lose 20 lbs and I did. I kept off the weight for over a year but with travel, I had poor eating habits so I gained 12.5 lbs back. I started exercise again, tried eating right...nothing. So, I am back on the HCG diet and I can attest that this diet really works for me. I have energy, I feel good, I am losing weight at a reasonable rate and I am not, contrary to what you all believe, "starving". Yes, I am on a strict low calorie diet but I eat good proteins (fish, chicken, seafood), vegetables (any leafy green or other green veggies), fruit (whatever I want) and one very small carb (like melba toast) and I drink a lot of water and take my vitamins. I want to only lose the 12 lbs and so far I've lost 2.0 and I feel better than I have with any other diet or exercise program I have ever tried before

    Knock the diet if you want. But for those of us who kill ourselves with strenuous workouts and limit ourselves to our calorie intake in addition, this diet really works. I still work out, I eat minimally (yes, I know this is a "problem" for some people), but I am losing weight and I am feeling good.

    I know that once I am done, I will need to eat right. It recommends slowly increasing your caloric intake. I did this the last time and I did not gain a pound back for a year and then over the last few months I have gained because I was eating fast food and very unhealthy things. HCG works for me. You just have to use it appropriately

    Have you considered your weight loss is due to the extremely low calories and not actually taking the hormone?
  • khaapala
    khaapala Posts: 32 Member
    I just talked today to someone who was using the drops. I fully sympathize with someone who cannot lose weight any other way, but I'm still puzzled about why the HCG is necessary. Eating only 500 calories a day I think would result in weight loss no matter what. She also told me she has to drink a gallon of water a day (that means a lot of bathroom breaks?). I know that fasting (and that's what it sounds like) creates problems for me with low blood sugar, no energy, and headaches. There is no easier way for me after 40+ years of trying to lose and maintain weight loss and no substitute for self-control and forming new eating habits (sigh).
  • LovesAdventure
    LovesAdventure Posts: 66 Member
    Have you considered your weight loss is due to the extremely low calories and not actually taking the hormone?
    [/quote]

    My thoughts exactly!
  • bradphil87
    bradphil87 Posts: 617 Member
    Im so sorry to hear about your loved one. Praying for a speedy recovery.

    That may be the worst of all the fad diets....I think you even get more cals on the cabbage soup one than that. They pray on people's desperation and it's sick. Hcg....give me a break.....if they ever come out with a "miacle cure" to shed fat trust me, the government will be shouting it from the rooftops, trying to give it to anyone they can our obesity is so out of control! you won't be hearing about it on an 90 second tv ad or from dr. Oz
  • Eve23
    Eve23 Posts: 2,352 Member
    So so sorry about your niece. That is scary indeed. Prayers go out to her and your family.
  • Helloitsdan
    Helloitsdan Posts: 5,564 Member
    That sucks!

    Unfortunately there are no magic injections!
  • celebrity328
    celebrity328 Posts: 377 Member
    Thank you for sharing your story I know its painful. My hope is people who read this will maybe think twice before deciding to take this.

    I only know of one person who has actually try this method and it really seems like a duct tape approach to losing weight. He lost maybe 15 pounds but has put most/more on when he stopped the injections.
  • bluex232
    bluex232 Posts: 135 Member
    Have you considered your weight loss is due to the extremely low calories and not actually taking the hormone?
    ...
    My thoughts exactly!

    Agreed...my mom has tried the drops several times, I keep telling her that she is loosing the weight because she is only eating 500 calories not because of the drops. The thing that gets her on it is that the ones she has are supposed to suppress your appetite or whatever, basically not make you feel hungry all the time. I keep telling her that she needs a REALISTIC diet, that 500 calories a day is not realistic for the rest of your life. That of course going from 500 calories while on the drops then back to even a normal amount of food is going to make you gain at least some of the weight back. I'm no expert, but it seems like common sense to me. She has lost 30-50 pounds each time she has done it over the last few years, but she has gained it back everytime. And she doesn't eat awful, not perfect and healthy all the time, but by all means not crap all the time.
  • 20shan08
    20shan08 Posts: 219 Member
    I dont believe the hormone even does anything, it's supposed to stop hunger pains. It doesnt aid in the weight loss, eating 500 calories a day is what does it. And your only allowed to have certain foods - no carrots, but you can have cucumber. No pork, but 3 oz of beef. No grapes, but 6 strawberries. I tried it once, with the sublingual (not the injections) and I was so weak, no energy, by day 3 I quit. You're supposed to do either 20 or 40 days, then 6 weeks of maintenance. I think it works for some and not others, just like anything else. It obviously didnt work for me. But my friend lost 60 lbs on it and has kept it off for over a year. Although, because you lose a pound a day, she is now full of saggy skin on her arms, thighs, stomach.. It's not very healthy and it's banned in a lot of places. I know in Canada, suppliers have to oder it from the states, but I believe its banned there now too.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    I've never heard of HCG before..what is it?

    It's a pregnancy hormone (it spikes in a woman's body when she is pregnant). It's what pregnancy tests measure.
  • beckajw
    beckajw Posts: 1,728 Member
    My friend started taking it which made her sick so she stopped taking it!!!!

    It makes you sick for the same reason that pregnant women get morning sickness. At least that's theory of morning sickness, the spike in HCG causes it.

    I have trouble believing that it did all the other things (kidney damage) being claimed, since pregnant women walk around with a lot of it in their system. But, it shouldn't be used for weight loss. It has a specific purpose.

    That being said, most people who take HCG aren't losing weight because of the HCG, it's because of the 500 calorie diet.
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