Diet Pills: Easy Weight Loss? Forget About it

An Account of My Struggle with Doctor Prescribed Diet Pills

My doctor offered me an easy, doctor assisted weight loss plan just over a year ago. It worked some, but I never reached my goal, and I doubt I will on this program. Here is my story.

Before the diet pills:

I like every other overweight person on the earth have been struggling with my weight for years. Lose 5 pounds, gain 10. You know the story. I personally have been told time and time again that I needed to take drastic measures. You see, all of the women in my family have died of cancer (with one remaining Aunt suffering from it now, and I too run the risk if I continue to carry around excess fat, which carries excess toxins. I even discussed gastric bypass with my husband, but decided we would ask the doctor for other options. Because I do not look morbidly obese (but the scale tells a different story), she suggested diet pills instead.

Diet pills prescribed by my doctor:

This last diet in particular involved the use of weight loss pills. Tenuate and Glucophage.

Tenuate is an appetite suppressant used along with diet, exercise, and behavior therapy for the short-term management of obesity. Side effects that may go away during treatment include restlessness, nervousness, difficulty sleeping, or dry mouth.

Glucophage also known as (metformin) is used as a treatment in type 2 diabetes. It improves glucose tolerance in patients and lowers plasma glucose. Glucophage is also used to treat Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (another problem that has been plaguing me for years and is know to cause weight gain). While it also can cause a person to lose weight, a person who actually has type 2 diabetes will lose weight on this medication. The worst side effect that I have experienced is digestive problems and diarrhea.

I was originally put on these weight loss drugs and lost 40 pounds quickly and easily. The only problem with that is you need to be very overweight to use these drugs, and I, personally, had 100 pounds to lose. After taking these drugs for 6 months, my prescription was changed to phentermine alone.