My doctor just put me on Phentermine, what do you think of this?

Nunya B. wrote:
You are absolutely correct. No one would tell an epileptic that
their
Tegretol won't help in the long term or an asthmatic to just stop
using
Albuterol and find another way to deal with the problem. It's just a
serious misunderstanding about the nature of illnesses like chronic
depression or other mental illnesses.


In my previous post I did not mean for her to drop everything merely on
what I had to say, but maybe to reconsider why she is taking them or
why she is seeking the answer to her problems in a pill form. I think
much of the anxiety, depression, and such kinds of prescriptions are
way overprescribed these days (pushed on people is more like it)when
adopting a healthy lifestyle could do ten times more for them. But
thats too hard, and taking pills can be an 'easier way out' for many I
think. She is looking for an answer in pill form when she isnt doing
anything for herself if you know what I mean. With all the
pharmecuetical advertisements these days everyone starts to think they
can find happiness in a pill and it just isnt so. Yes I know there are
definate mental illnesses which are based on real chemical imbalances
etc, but even if I was asthmatic or an epileptic I wouldnt want to just
rely on prescriptions for my quality of life, I would look to
alternative methods and what I could do for myself too which the OP
isnt doing. Its like she has fallen in a hole and doesnt know how to
get out. And the prescriptions just give her a shovel to dig herself in
deeper. Its a no win situation unless she comes to grip with where her
life is going - taking control is the only way to better herself.

joni

I have been struggling with weight my entire life. I am so sick and
tired of being this way. I am fatter than I ever dreamed I would be.
I absolutely despise what I see in the mirror and often wonder why my
husband stays with me.

I have a lot of health issues. Diabetes, high blood pressure, high
cholesterol, overactive thyroid, sleep apnea, enlarged heart, fatty
liver and I am sure there are more but haven't been figured out yet.
Oh yeah, did I mention depression? lol It seems the weight is what
has caused every single one of my health issues.


I am 36 years and female.


I am currently on a ton of meds, but have recently been switched from
fluoxetine to wellbutrin. I am on my 3rd month of this switch and I
find that the wellbutrin doesn't help at all. I am so miserable and
wasn't feeling this way on fluoxetine. My doc says that fluoxetine and


phentermine can't be taken together.


I finally get the doc to prescribe me this drug and I have to go off
the one drug that makes my quality of life feel so much better. Yeah,
I have lost 36 lbs in the last 2 months, wonderful. Wish I felt like I


have lost weight, I still see the same ugly person in the mirror.


Is it even possible to lose a lot of weight and keep it off without
surgery? I have lost and gained sooo much weight in my life, over and
over again and always gain it back plus some. Is there anyway I can
lose weight this time and not gain it back? Am I destined to be
bed-bound because I am just to fat to move around?


sigh, hope someone has something good to say to me. I don't know much
about phentermine, ok, I know nothing about it. What do you think of
this drug?


I have used phentermine a great deal in my on-going battle with th bulge and
I can tell you that it isn't going to do anything for your outlook on life.
The main reason I stopped taking it is because it has a lot of negative side
effects emotionally speaking. Don't be surprised if you find that it gives
you a lot of feelings of anxiety, which I definitely did not like.

Sounds to me like you need to do some work not only on your weight but your
self esteem. You seem to think there is some connection between your weight
and happiness. There isn't. You can be happy at any weight. Until you
deal with your self esteem issues, you aren't going to be happy if you
weight 100 pounds.

I think rather than sinking my money into diet therapy, I would get my head
straightened out. Being skinny and miserable isn't any better than being
heavy and miserable. Even if you achieve your weight level idea, you won't
be able to enjoy it.

chula

Depression and anxiety disorders are illnesses and may or may not be
exacerbated by specific foods. Some dietary fanatics claim their WOE will
cure everything under the sun but usually have only a small base
(themselves) to prove it. A healthy diet will help you feel better
physically and usually mentally and exercise is definitely a mood lifter,
but there are definitely mood disorders that require medication. If it's
working for you then do what you need to do.

This is so true, eating 'healthy' foods & even living a 'healthy' lifestyle
doesn't guarantee good health, there are many disfunctions & diseases that
are not related to weight, diet or exercise. Eating 'better', losing weight
& going to the gym doesn't fix everything.

Mood disorders are more likely to be the CAUSE rather than the effect of
obesity & unhealthy eating. Many morbidly obese people are happily munching
away at McD's without a care in the world whilst many skinny people take a
cocktail of anti-depresants & tranquilizers with every healthy meal.

You might find over time with a consistent exercise plan and eating in a
healthy manner that you will require less medication or none. OTOH there
are certainly thin and physically fit people on antidepressants and other
medications.

Some disorders are more likely to go away just by losing weight than others,
like high BP, high cholesterol levels, tiredness & pain caused by excess
weight, etc. As for depression, it all depends on whether a person is
depressed as a result of his/her weight, the cause may well be totally
different.

Based on what you've already posted it looks like you have some serious
work ahead of you. You were given some good advice in that you really do
need to fix your head before, during, and even after weight loss. If not,
you're doomed to repeat the cycle of loss and regain forever. It's not
easy and not always fun but it really is more worthwhile in the long run.
You're taking some steps now and recognizing trouble spots. Are you
getting any kind of counseling to go with the meds? It might help if you
get the right counselor.

Yes, this is the only way to find out what's really bothering you, if it
wasn't all about your weight then getting thinner won't be enough.

I don't knwo anything about phentermine. But I am very famliar with
depression. I couldn't imagine going on a diet while depressed. Although
i did go through a depressive episode where I didnb't feel liek eating
and did lose wight.

One way or the other, I hope your depression is being treated. Getting
that out of the way could definitely help you when working on your weight.

Exercise helps both depression and creating a healthier weight. Even
such little thigns as taking walks or using the stairs rahtehr then
evelvators. All the little things help.

Oops, I just discovered that phentermine is an antidepressant. I thought
it was somthing different. That emasn you're being treated for yor
depression. I think that is good is news.

joni wrote:
In my previous post I did not mean for her to drop everything merely
on
what I had to say, but maybe to reconsider why she is taking them or
why she is seeking the answer to her problems in a pill form.

Hi Joni,
Evaluation is a good thing. And no medicine will help if the
person is not ready to be helped. Regardless of the mediciation or
reason for it, if she isn't ready to "try and respond" to whatever kind
of thearpy, it won't do any good.

I think
much of the anxiety, depression, and such kinds of prescriptions are
way overprescribed these days (pushed on people is more like it)when
adopting a healthy lifestyle could do ten times more for them.

I agree with you, that perscriptions (of all kinds, for that matter)
are over perscribed. But I read your previous statement (maybe too
much of my own experiences into it ), as potentially "stop all meds
and see where you are". I'm not saying that's what you said or meant
to say. Personally, I struggled for 20+ years to buck it up and not
take medication, because "I should be able to do this on my own".
Well, maybe others could, but I had a totally miserable existance and I
couldn't. It's a miracle that I survived. I just didn't want someone
who needed help to not try and get it.

thats too hard, and taking pills can be an 'easier way out' for many
I
think.

It's hard with or without the pills. Really looking at yourself is
hard and painfull. To really want to change something about yourself
that you have blamed for all your troubles for x years is scary, then
who/what can you blame when the going gets tough. Without knowing more
about the person and condition than from the first post, I'd be afraid
too read to much or too little into the OP's problems.

With all the
pharmecuetical advertisements these days everyone starts to think
they
can find happiness in a pill and it just isnt so.

You've got that right. Truth in advertising??? sheesh

Yes I know there are
definate mental illnesses which are based on real chemical imbalances
etc, but even if I was asthmatic or an epileptic I wouldnt want to
just
rely on prescriptions for my quality of life, I would look to
alternative methods and what I could do for myself too which the OP
isnt doing. Its like she has fallen in a hole and doesnt know how to
get out. And the prescriptions just give her a shovel to dig herself
in
deeper.

And many for years have hidden in panic, pain, lonliness, fear of being
found to have a "mental illness". The public perception of MI is right
up there with the nasty looks you get for being obese. It's a stigma,
not unlike a scarlet letter that people fear will be waved in their
face, till they refuse to even consider they might (I said Might) need
help of some kind. While in that all consuming vortex of self-pity,
self-loathing, self-abuse, cycle of MIs, it's a little difficult to get
out of the box that is your world. Oh, you can look at someone elses
box and see what they need, but for the person to see it for themselves
takes an introspective analysis that the majority aren't ready to
handle....with or without medication. I don't know very many people
that could handle analysing theirself, problems, personalities, etc.
Who really wants to see what they're really like and then deal with it?

Its a no win situation unless she comes to grip with where her
life is going - taking control is the only way to better herself.

True. That is if taking control is possible at the point where the OP
is at. Easily said, extremely difficult to do. Doesn't mean the OP
should just give up and say "woe is me. I can't be fixed". Just that
it takes a hericalean effort to realize it, then another to even try
and do something about it. And there are times, that pulling yourself
up by your own boot straps and exercising (yes, that god of weight
loss) just isn't the right formula to fix the world/problem.
Endorphines are great, but they are not eternal.

Okay, I'm going to jump off my soap box and try not to land in a hole
now. Sorry, but this is a sensitive topic that print doesn't relate
well.

Donna K.
398.8/281.8/275 (next short term goal)
NWOE began Jan 2003
LC since May 2003
LC and CR since Jan 2005

OMG Kasey! How did you lose all that weight? Was it surgery or just
changing your diet? Wow, that is amazing!

I have NO idea why I am over weight, other than I have obviously not
been eating and exercising the way I should be. I am
not sure if I am over weight because of my depression or depressed
because I am over weight. I tend to think my depression
causes the weight gain. I have lost a significant amount of weight
before and felt like a million bucks with little to no depression at
all! But then something major happened in my life and I ended up going
backwards and woke up a few years later and wa-la, here I am!

Thank you for posting and please tell me if you lose the weight with
diet alone?

Sherry

Joni, but what you don't get is by dropping such medications (for me
anyway) would make it IMPOSSIBLE to adopt a healthy lifestyle because
without the medications, I would have no will at all to try to get
better. I would become so depressed, like I was before, when I quit
taking them. I went YEARS without leaving my house! I am serious! When
I finally decided I had to get out of this, I remember creeping out the
front door and just wanting to crawl inside myself and hide. I was
TERRIFIED of coming into contact with strangers or even people I knew
and hadn't seen in a long time. That was 2 years ago and I still
struggle with leaving the house, but I do it. And I know that the
medication is a major factor in that. Once I got back on Prozac (I had
actually taken it many years earlier, before I became house-bound) I
started to find courage to do things. Even if it only meant going with
my husband to a grocery store. It was like I jumped a thousand
hurdles. Man, I remember going into the store and being so lost with
those atm/credit machines at the register. I felt like a fish out of
water. I have lived in my town for 15 years and when I became
house-bound, there was a lot of construction on many main roads,
changing the way you traveled and I had NO idea that it was even being
done! I remember going with my husband in the car and being totally
shocked at the new roads and new turns and new one way streets, etc and
he said "Oh, they have been working on this for the last 3 years." I
had no idea. Now, I drive around and I am still totally lost on those
roads! They confuse me because I never got used to them.

Anyway, my point is..... Your suggestion is totally not what could
possibly work for me. I would never want to go backwards. I am
terrified of it. And you know, you should be more careful in telling
people things like "get off your anti=depressants" because there are
people that are severly mentally ill (like, I have a sister that is
schitzophrenic and she gets off her meds all the time) that would take
your words as the gospel and get off their medication and end up
killing themself! This is how my sister is. Anyone could convince her
to stop taking her meds, anyone. And every damned time she does, she
tries to kill herself. So, although you may think you are "helping".
You never know who is on the other end and suggesting someone stop
taking medication that deal with mental illness is a very bad idea. I
think a doctor would know much more than you do as the doctor knows the
patient and you are reading someone by a mere few words over the net.

And what do you mean by "She is looking for an answer in pill form when
she isnt doing
anything for herself if you know what I mean"? How do you know? I
have jumped hurdles, thank you very much! I have gone from being
house-bound to living in the real world again, I quit smoking 2 years
ago. I have lost 36 lbs over hte last few months. I have worked every
single day trying to change my entire lifestyle. Please, leave the
diagnosing to the professionals. Cuz you don't know what you are
talking about! I am glad you have it so together, btw. You must be
perfect! I bet you are at the perfect weight and so healthy! Never
had a depressing day in your life too! Anyway, it is nice to know
there are perfect people like you around, Joni.

Thank you. When I posted the OP I was asking about the appetite
supressant my doc put me on, not the anti-depressant. Geez, I would
never stop taking the anti-depressant so when Joni comes along and
tells me to stop taking them, I am thinking she is an idiot that has no
idea what she is talking about (and judging from her second post, I am
positive she knows nothing of what she is talking about). I wanted to
know about the opinion on the diet pills. I am very very leary of
taking medications. It is important to me that they are safe, but in
the same breath, I have to weigh out the difference between it being
safe and what the pills can help me with. Anyway, yes, I know for sure
that if I lose enough weight, I will feel much better. But, meanwhile,
I need help.