The Truth About Prescription Weight Loss Pills

Prescription weight loss pills help you achieve your weight loss goals, but are only prescribed when you have serious health risks, such as type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol. Ideally, everyone who wishes to lose weight should follow a healthy diet and exercise regularly. You end up losing weight when you stick to a calorie deficit mode, but things are not always that simple, especially for people who have layers of fat to remove. This is when they switch to prescription weight loss pills.

Experts say that you can lose about 5-10% of your initial weight over one year, if you start taking a prescription weight loss from today. However, under no circumstances should these bills be used as a substitute to a regular exercise program and healthful eating.

How Do Prescription Weight Loss Pills Work?

Prescription weight loss pills work in different ways. Most common of these pills are the ones that help suppress the appetite.

They achieve this by promoting a feeling of fullness, which in turn keeps you from overeating. When you do not feel hungry all the time, it is likely to become easier to count your calories more efficiently, and continue eating in a calorie deficit mode.

You can also find some prescription pills that induce weight loss, by limiting the absorption of fat. Some of these pills also prove effective, because they slow gastric emptying and keep you full for a long time.

Benefits of Prescription Weight Loss Pills

Weight loss pills are never a substitute for healthy diet and exercise program. In fact, these pills work only when you combine them with healthy eating and physical activity habits. If you take these pills as part of a lifestyle program, you are likely to lose 3-9% of your starting body weight. By losing this much of weight, you will experience many health benefits. In fact, it helps lower blood pressure, control blood sugar levels, and manage healthy triglycerides levels as well. You may also notice some relief from other health problems related to obesity, such as sleep apnea and joint pain.

However, it is also a fact that weight loss pills may not suit or work for everyone. Some people may not notice any benefits, while others may experience serious side effects. When combined with a healthy diet plan and exercise, some weight loss pills may help you lose only 5% of your starting body weight. It means that a person weight 200 pounds, weight loss pills may help lose 10 pounds over one year. The thing is that you may not benefit from these pills if you are seriously overweight and need immediate results.

Possible Side Effects

Just like any other prescription pills, it is possible to experience certain side effects. Some of these weight loss pills decrease appetite and increase the feeling of fullness. Good examples are Didrex, Tenuate, Belviq, Adipex-P, and Qsymia.

When you take these appetite-suppressing pills, you increase your risk of experiencing side effects, such as increased blood pressure, nervousness, increased heart rate, constipation, dry mouth, and insomnia.

Some of these pills, like Belviq, Contrave, and Adipex-P may also cause additional side effects, such as dizziness, nausea, fatigue, and severe headache.

In addition to these appetite suppressants, you can also find pills that work by reducing fat absorption in the body. Orlistat (Xenical) is one good example, as it works by changing the way your body absorbs fat. However, you may experience side effects, such as frequent bowel movements, bowel urgency, oily rectal leakage, oily evacuation, flatulence with discharge, and fecal incontinence. Your body may not be able to absorb fat-soluble vitamins, which can lead to all sorts of health complications.

It is important to mention that pills like Qsymia are extended-release medications, but has restricted access because the pills contain topiramate, which can lead to birth defects in pregnant women. Similarly, Contrave is a lipase-inhibitor, but it contains bupropion, which is an antidepressant and increases the risk of having suicidal thoughts and actions, especially in young adults and adolescents. It is also the reason why long-term use of Contrave may lead to serious psychiatric side effects, such as psychosis, mood changes, delusions, paranoia, hallucinations, and other serious health problems.

The thing you need to bear in mind is that most prescription diet pills are actually stimulant-based pills – diethylpropion and phentermine are a couple of good examples. When you take these pills, you notice an increase in your blood pressure. This may help increase thermogenesis, which helps you burn more calories. However, these pills will also increase your risk of developing fast heart rate, increased blood pressure, and insomnia. Another big issue with stimulant based weight loss pills is that you soon develop a tolerance to these pills, and end up dealing with ‘drug dependence and abuse’. Those who try to stop taking it after some time of use end up experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, you need to be very careful when taking stimulant-based prescription diet pills and keep in mind that these pills are recommended for short-term use only – you should not take these pills for longer than 12 weeks.

Some other pills are relatively more suitable for chronic, long-term use, and some good examples include Contrave, Belviq, and Saxenda. However, you should use them on a long-term basis only if you get good results. There is no point in taking these pills if you do not end up losing at least 4% of your weight after 12 weeks of treatment.

Few Tips to Consider

If you believe that you will benefit from prescription diet pills, be sure to pay attention to the following points first.

• Always talk to your doctor and follow their instructions about weight loss pills
• Go to a pharmacy approved by your doctor to buy prescription diet pills
• Opt for prescription diet pills only to support your healthy eating and exercise program
• Understand the types of side effects you are likely to experience with specific pills
• Talk to your doctor if you fail to manage side effects
• Do not stop taking your prescription diet pills without talking to your doctor
• Consider taking multivitamin supplements to get better results
• Never take prescription diet pills when pregnant or breastfeeding

The fact of the matter is that if you think that prescription weight loss pills will work like magic pills and help you lose weight in no time, you may be hugely disappointed. These pills may serve as a useful tool to help you lose weight, but you get desired results only when you stick to a healthy diet plan and exercise program. Also, bear in mind that it is quite likely to regain the weight you have lost once you stop taking the pills, which is why it is even more important to develop and maintain good eating habits and follow a good exercise program to regain less weight.

About the author: Rachel Butler

Rachel has been with us since we launched back in 2012.

Rachel has reviewed countless products over the years, and has written many articles offering sound advice. Her professional opinions are widely respected.

Rachel graduated a BSc in Clinical Science from the University of Leicester, U.K.

She lives in York with her husband and young daughter and their dog, a little terrier named Betsy.