Phentermine

[ButlerPharm.D.]

Hey guys, I just have a quick question about Phentermine. I've been contemplating asking my doctor about prescribing it for me and I was wondering if any of you have personally tried it and if so what types of results have you seen. My BMI is 33 and I've recently started a diet and exercise program...yeah yeah....the fat pharmacy student... I know, I know. Even if you haven't tried it personally but have a patient who has, please share....any info/experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks.

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[trishias]

Hey guys, I just have a quick question about Phentermine. I've been contemplating asking my doctor about prescribing it for me and I was wondering if any of you have personally tried it and if so what types of results have you seen. My BMI is 33 and I've recently started a diet and exercise program...yeah yeah....the fat pharmacy student... I know, I know. Even if you haven't tried it personally but have a patient who has, please share....any info/experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I dont know how current I am but wasnt this banned by the FDA after the whole Fen-Phen debacle? 😕

 

[bananaface]

Phenteramine is still on the market.

 

[Caverject]

I dont know how current I am but wasnt this banned by the FDA after the whole Fen-Phen debacle? 😕

Fen-Phen had three drugs in it, if I remember correctly. Fenfluramine, phentermine, dexfenfluramine. Fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine were removed from the market, thus the discontinuation of Fen-Phen.

 

[tetra327]

My mom tried this a couple years ago, but they paired phentermine with prozac. It didnt work for her, and it seemed to make her more moody, even with the prozac. Plus phentermine wasnt covered by insurance and was a little pricey.

 

[Trancelucent1]

Fen-Phen had three drugs in it, if I remember correctly. Fenfluramine, phentermine, dexfenfluramine. Fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine were removed from the market, thus the discontinuation of Fen-Phen.

Yup this is exactly right. It was the combination that was dangerous. Phentermine has been proven safe and effective. Sorry I can't give you better advice on the drug, but my experience has been that a lot of weight can be lost by diet and exercise alone. Even just cutting back calories can help (stop drinking coke, pepsi, switch to diet if you must; cut out fried foods). Losing weight isn't that hard it's just about discipline. If I were you then I'd try the diet and exercise first (weight watchers has an excellent program, my mom lost 40 lbs and has kept it off for 5 years). Good luck and sorry I couldn't be of more help with the actual drug info.

 

[dgroulx]

It's not going to melt pounds off of your body, but it is effective. You still have to diet and exercise while taking it.

I'm significantly overweight, but I don't take anything for it. My doctor said that she had my sucky metabolism. She conquered the weight problem by eating 600 calories per day and exercising for a couple of hours at a time. I'm on my feet running around all day at Wags, don't have time to eat, but still manage to gain weight. It blows, but my husband still loves me.

 

[dramblys]

I started taking this pill on 5/24/08 and have already lost 9 lbs. I weighed 180 LBS and now I weigh 171 lbs. I am really excited about this medicine. I needed a jump start because I craved sugars and carbs alot and had been working out 4-5 times per week since January and not lost any weight. I haven't worked out because the doctor says to see how the pills affect me and then start slowly incorporating exercise. He has me on a strict plan and I will be off them in 6 weeks.

phentermine

 

[Jabberwocky12]

I started taking this pill on 5/24/08 and have already lost 9 lbs. I weighed 180 LBS and now I weigh 171 lbs. I am really excited about this medicine. I needed a jump start because I craved sugars and carbs alot and had been working out 4-5 times per week since January and not lost any weight. I haven't worked out because the doctor says to see how the pills affect me and then start slowly incorporating exercise. He has me on a strict plan and I will be off them in 6 weeks.

it took around 18 months to lose 9 pounds? That is like half a pound a month. Is that even significant? Some people could lose that weight just by dropping soda...

Congratulations on the weight loss though, looking at the scale and seeing 9 pounds less is still nice. I am just concerned about how effective that is for you...

 

[J ROD]

I started taking this pill on 5/24/08 and have already lost 9 lbs. I weighed 180 LBS and now I weigh 171 lbs. I am really excited about this medicine. I needed a jump start because I craved sugars and carbs alot and had been working out 4-5 times per week since January and not lost any weight. I haven't worked out because the doctor says to see how the pills affect me and then start slowly incorporating exercise. He has me on a strict plan and I will be off them in 6 weeks.

More like 2.5 yrs.....😕

 

[Sparda29]

it took around 18 months to lose 9 pounds? That is like half a pound a month. Is that even significant? Some people could lose that weight just by dropping soda...

Congratulations on the weight loss though, looking at the scale and seeing 9 pounds less is still nice. I am just concerned about how effective that is for you...

Yeah, I lost 15 pounds in a month just by not drinking soda, fruit juices, sweet drinks. IMO, sweet drinks are the hardest thing to give up.

 

[PharmD RPh]

There are tons of clinical studies on use of phentermine and weight loss. Do a pubmed search or read the package insert and you'll understand what the average weight loss is.

 

[Jackie B]

Hey guys, I just have a quick question about Phentermine. I've been contemplating asking my doctor about prescribing it for me and I was wondering if any of you have personally tried it and if so what types of results have you seen. My BMI is 33 and I've recently started a diet and exercise program...yeah yeah....the fat pharmacy student... I know, I know. Even if you haven't tried it personally but have a patient who has, please share....any info/experiences would be much appreciated. Thanks.

I'm guessing you started this thread cuz of my other post 😀

Yeah so I've been taking it for like 3 weeks now. It doesn't increase my heart rate but it's an amazing appetite suppressant. Seriously, the effects last the whole day, and I'm on the lowest dosage. I lost around 5-7 pounds I think initially with just the pill, merely because I'm eating less. I started exercising last week and want to keep up with that because I don't want to gain the weight back when I'm off of it. I didn't take the pill one day though to see what would happen and I got HUNGRY. That was bad.

The way my doctor explained it to me is it's a good motivation tool for the beginning of your weight loss efforts. How many times have you wanted to lose weight, ate healthy for a week or so and exercised, didn't notice a drop in the scale, got discouraged and gave up? Since this thing helps you lose the initial 5 pounds you get really excited and want to keep going. I suggest u give it a try since you can't be on it for longer than a month or two anyways.

I'm personally trying to "ease" into the healthier lifestyle. The first 2 weeks I ate what I wanted (but ofcourse with the help of the pill I ate less) and didn't exercise. 3rd week I started exercising and am trying to eat healthier stuff. By the end of the 2 months I'm hoping that I'm exercising regularly and completely eating healthier so when I'm off the thing I can continue to lose weight on my own.

 

[Pharmavixen]

The trouble with diet pills is they don't work long term - the only thing that does is to change your lifestyle. I joined a health club after graduating to shed all those study pounds, only to nearly double my weight when I became pregnant (you're supposed to gain 20-30 pounds to ensure a healthy baby; I wanted a really healthy baby, so I gained eighty.) Took me a year to get the weight back down. A few things I do: walk an hour a day, take stairs rather than escalators when feasible, and drink only water. Soft drinks aren't a part of my life.

I was on an appetite suppressing drug, Strattera, a couple of years ago for ADHD and lost 15 pounds immediately. Trouble was, when I stopped taking it, I was hungrier and more food-obsessed than I'd ever been (except during pregnancy), and ended up overshooting my previous weight before things returned to normal. And I wonder if phentermine does the same thing, considering that people regain the weight when they stop taking it - both drugs increase dopamine in the CNS, though atomoxetine does so mainly in just the prefrontal cortex.

 

[Jabberwocky12]

More like 2.5 yrs.....😕

Yeah you're right. I still am in the mindset of 2010