Back in the 1960s my father’s doctor prescribed some sort of stimulant for weight loss. My father got literally hyperactive (starting projects but not finishing them), his temper – never very mellow – became explosive, and his blood pressure went up. Those are just the side effects I was aware of.
I think amphetamines score pretty low on the benefit/risk curve.
Absolutely. That is how I first heard about Adipex-people selling it on the streets as a “super Adderall” type drug.
Phentermine combined with either topamax or an SSRI can be an effective weight loss drug. Like others have said though, you have to take it for life (however some people just take it 1-2 days a week during the maintenance phase, they do 1-2 strict diet days a week and take the drug on those days to help keep the weight off).
But yeah OP, you are right.
I think part of the fear is because of other drugs and the failures they gave.
Fen/Phen was dangerous because the Fenfluramine screwed up your heart (as I said though, Phentermine + an SSRI should provide the same appetite suppression w/o the heart defects. Fenfluramine was a serotonin agonist).
Drugs that block the cannabinoid receptors cause suicidal actions. Trying to tamp down the reward mechanisms with cannabinoid receptor blockers or opioid blockers could be dangerous. Weight loss that also leads to suicidal depression helps no one.
Meridia caused heart attacks and strokes. Seeing how heart attacks & strokes are one of the biggest health risks of obesity, this defeats the purpose a bit (ephedrine is the same thing, can increase risk of stroke).
Adderall, which has a massive diversion problem, was originally marketed as a diet pill called Obetrol.
My point was that pharmaceutical aids for weight loss aren’t a cure-all, to put it lightly.
Anyone remember Dexamyl? IIRC, Judy Garland was addicted to that. It was dextroamphetamine and amobarbital, and a disaster waiting to happen on many levels.
A few years ago, i was about 40-ish pounds overweight, and I was prescribed the stimulant phentermine. I lost at more than 60 pounds in 6 months. Then I stopped taking it, and over the next few years I gained it all back. But I never though it was addictive.
The doctor who prescribed it was a little shady though, as his main business was people looking for an easy way to lose weight, and basically all he did was prescribe phentermine, which he dispensed directly out of his office (ie no pharmacy).
Yep, and the horrors of blindness (from drinking grain alcohol) and lead poisoning are why we can never legalize alcohol again.
Some of the bariatric physicians I’ve seen around basically require you to come in at least once a month (sometimes they require a once a week meeting). basically they charge you $100 to spend a few minutes to renew your script. It is a pretty good business model, do it right and you could earn 6 figures on 3 hours work a day. Get a large clientele and charge them to keep coming in to renew their script and get ‘check ups’.
Getting Rx drugs from overseas is easy, but scheduled drugs are harder. Phentermine, being schedule IV, is harder and riskier for people to get. But if the alternative is to spend several hundred dollars a month fattening some physicians wallet so he can give you a script for a generic medication I can see why some people would take that route.
Benzos work extremely well to control anxiety.
Until they don’t.
Once you begin to develop dependence on them (which can happen rather quickly – in a matter of just a few weeks), the effectiveness goes to shit, while the nasty effects of dependency snowball.
They’re also used extensively by people addicted to opiates or stimulants.
Pennsylvania requires a physical exam for your initial learner’s permit.
Heh, I was prescribed Phentermine by my previous doctor, to lose weight. The irony of him being very much fatter than me but harping on my weight was not lost on me.
Then I experienced “Phen Rage”. Quit that shit immediately and left the bottle in my new doctor’s office.
So I can certainly see why this stuff isn’t in wider use.
I have an interesting sleep disorder … and have been prescribed various weird drugs to try to counteract it … I’ve been fascinated by the effect these medications have on my appetite.
One medication: the only time I “felt” anything was when I was eating … I gained 5kg (11lbs) in 4 days … I quit that very fast. I was eating 2-3 large snickers bars at a time … I don’t even like them … I wouldn’t even want to eat ONE of them?!
My current combination of medication has completely turned off my appetite … I’ve lost over 20kg (44lbs) … and the desire to eat seems to be what other people consider normal (I was never a huge over-eater but I never felt “full”). I WISH like anything else I could have had this medication combination earlier in life. The research around some of the medication has it equal for causing weight gain as for weight loss … so it works very differently in people.
Side-effects … other than having no desire to eat … don’t seem to be anything else! I’ve now managed to stablise my weight but have to make myself eat so I don’t lose any more … but it has been over 12 months at the same weight with no issues.
I wish that it was possible for other people to have this outcome … losing weight has never been so easy … I feel fantastic (OK, other than the reason I was put on this medication was suicidal depression and anxiety panic attacks that had me completely confined to the house). It’s been over 18 months now … and I have to admit … I don’t want to stop the medication … if I forget a day … I start eating again! So long term outlook?! I don’t know! But please please PLEASE science researchers … work this out for other people!!
It has made me realise so much about food, and how differently MY head works around food compared to other people. I really was constantly hungry before … I wasn’t making it up … my body was needing food … and now … I think I ate breakfast today?! I’m not sure … I don’t care anymore! I see people hating themselves because of lack of willpower … and I think … it’s not mental control … there is so much physiologically going along with hunger that is not our conscious control and yet we’ll punish people who eat more than they should as though they have control.
Really, though…can’t one say the same about amlodipine? Or statins? Or metformin? We give lots of medications that have to be given forever or the symptoms come back. I’d go so far as to venture that MOST medications are maintenance meds.
I think there are many good answers here, but I think there’s also a persistent refusal of both society and medicine to view obesity as a true illness. We call it an “epidemic” and we know it has severe health effects, but we still persist in thinking that if we just tell people to eat less and move more, that will fix it. And if it doesn’t, it’s because the patient isn’t trying hard enough and we can’t help them. It’s like telling someone with high blood pressure to do yoga and meditate and refusing to give them medication when that isn’t effective.