| |
Phentermine
| What is Phentermine? |
| Phentermine is a medication prescribed to help patients with weight loss. |
| |
| Does Phentermine work? |
| Patients given dietary management and treated with “anorectic” drugs (like Phentermine) lose more weight on average than those given placebo plus diet. Phentermine does not work well unless a dietary plan and exercise plan is included with the pills. |
| |
| How does Phentermine work? |
| Phentermine causes appetite suppression and increases the metabolic rate so that you feel less hungry and burn more calories when you take Phentermine. It acts by raising your noradrenaline levels which increases your sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”). |
| |
How much weight loss will Phentermine give me? |
| There is a lot of variability in the trials of Phentermine. Both the physician and the diet prescribed play a large role in the effectiveness of Phentermine for weight loss. The studies suggest that you need the best diet and exercise plan tailored to you, in order to have the most weight loss with Phentermine. |
| |
| Is Phentermine safe? |
| Hundreds of thousands of patients have taken Phentermine safely, without any long term effects. However, you should not take Phentermine if you have advanced arteriosclerosis, serious cardiovascular disease, moderate to severe uncontrolled hypertension, hyperthyroidism, hypersensitivity to sympathomimetic amines, or glaucoma. Phentermine should not be taken with MAO-inhibitors. Phentermine should not be taken if you have a history of drug abuse. The warning label states: “There have been rare cases of valvular heart disease in patients who reportedly have taken Phentermine alone. There have been rare cases of primary pulmonary hypertension in patients who reportedly have taken Phentermine alone”. |
| |
| Does Phentermine stop working? |
| For most patients, it does. Most patients develop a tolerance to the medication after 3-9 months, and Phentermine will no longer provide the weight loss benefits. At that time, you should ask your physician to switch to a different weight loss medicine than Phentermine or you can discuss possibly increasing the dose. Some patients must take toxic medications for lifetime which cause weight gain; for them, the benefits of lifelong phentermine might outweigh the risks of lifelong treatment.
|