I quit smoking using nicorette gum 15 years ago. So I do believe that there are drugs that work. I dont think I could have done it without it.
Now I would like to try something to help kickstart this weight loss..I do not plan to stay on whatever it is forever..just a kickstart.
So far I have tried chitosan, green tea, 5htp and a few others..
Is there anything at all that gives you the extra edge......as an appetite suppresent.
It seems if there is something to help you quit smoking there should be something to help curb the appetite.
Yes yes I read that thread about how there is no pill that does it for you....but how about one that helps just a little bit to give that edge?

One of our mods, MichelleRae is taking Meridia under the supervision of her doctor - you can read her posts at this thread about Xenical.

I think the prescription drugs (used under the supervision of your doctor!!) approved by the FDA are probably the closest thing you'll see as far as giving you a 'boost' initially.

After bouncing between several prescription drugs to combat anxiety and depression, I have finally found one that works for me: Wellbutrin XL. Surprisingly, after taking it for a couple of weeks I noticed that my weight loss efforts had become easier. I assumed it was just a matter of getting used to eating less. Then I accidently let my prescription run out and was without medication for a couple of days. I immediately noticed that it was taking a lot more effort to stay on plan. I was craving foods that I hadn't even thought of in weeks. As soon as I was back on the medicine the cravings were gone.

I talked to my doctor about the episode and was informed that Wellbutrin acts on a portion of the brain that controls cravings. As a matter of fact, it is often prescribed for people who are trying to stop smoking. I know you said you are looking for an appetite suppressant but perhaps a little help controlling cravings would give you a boost. I personally don't like having to take medication and would not encourage anyone to do so unless it is necessary and doctor supervised. But, I know that being overweight is often (not always!) a symptom of underlying issues. If impulsive/compulsive eating is a problem for you it may be worth asking your doctor about Wellbutrin.

On a side note, I took Xenical some years ago and found that it did help but it was more of a mental push than anything. For me the side affects weren't horrible but I ate very healthily and kept my fat intake in check. After you take that pill, you don't want to screw up on you diet, especially if you have to leave the house. Anyway, I didn't have any actual weight loss results that I couldn't have achieved without taking the medicine.

I've been taking Meridia since March of this year and it helps considerably with portion control and the desire to overeat. I no longer eat late at night, get the urge for extras and my previous love affair with chocolate has fizzled out.

I work in an environment that offers fattening food (free) almost every day. I'm able to stay more with a healthy choice and small portion.

I have panic disorder (while driving only) so I have to be very careful about anything that peps you up. I dont tolerate caffeine very well. I tend to be a worry wort. I dont take any medicine though I was on celexa for awhile but it made me fall asleep and wasnt worth it.
I though wellbutrin made you gain weight.
What exactly is meridia?

it's Sebutrimine (sp)...works on the seratonin levels of the brain, triggers the "feel full" signal sooner. You can take anywhere from 5 to max dose of 15 mg. in the AM. My doctor alternates the dosage of 10 mg then 15mg. daily.

it has a very MILD anit-depressant effect on me, the biggest side effect can be elevated BP. You get dry mouth, but then just drink more water. I'm under doctor's care for major depression, but this gets me up and moving.

it doesn't work for everyone, but I've had good success with it. I always felt like a shark, cruising for my next meal, now I can control myself.

You probably have heard this before, but water really does help. Get into the habit of drinking a full glass before each snack/meal. I know it is not what you asked for, but it is so much less expensive! Also, my secondhand experience with Wellbutrin XL is weight gain and dramatic mood/life outlook change.

Slimcharm, if you really feel you need something to help you with hunger, why not ask your doctor if you could try Phentermine? I was on that over 10 years ago and it worked wonders! It is not an anti-depressant, but it does take away the cravings and need to over eat to feel satiated. I am no medical professional but it has been tried and tested for years so if your doctor agrees it is safe, it most likely is.

The other thing, is that I have found that once my body reaches a MILD state of ketosis (we're not talking Atkins here), my body develops its own damper against hunger. It took me about 3 full days to get into that state on my diet, but it's been smooth sailing since then.

As a last suggestion, maybe what you suffer from is over-production of acid in the stomach. For years I thought I had this HUGE appetite because I was hungry all the time. My stomach would gurgle and gnaw at itself and it actually hurt. In the mornings I'd wake up so 'hungry' I was nauseous. However, I found out that it wasn't hunger, it was over-production of acid! So maybe try a Pepsid AC for a few days and perhaps that will 'train' your stomach to stop overloading you with acid.

Either way, I would discuss this with your doctor if the Pepsid doesn't work. Even if he put you on Phentermine for 2 weeks, it would be plenty long enough for you to enter into ketosis and hopefully you wouldn't need it after that. Do bear in mind, however, that if you accidentally 'slip' and eat junk, it will take another 3 days to get back into it. That alone holds me tried and true because those 3 days were murder!

It was discussed on another topic, but this whole drink lots of water just doesn't hold any water for me. As I said there, it doesn't make me feel full - just bloated like I've accidentally swallowed too much pool water. It feels gross to me - sloshing around with nothing else in there. It's a hallow, empty feeling. It also passes through very quickly (according to that article anyway) so the 'fullness' you feel before you eat will dissipate quickly and then you'll find that you didn't eat enough food because it was a false fullness to begin with. Of course one thing may not work for another, but I thought I'd just stick that in there because I'm not one of the lucky ones who can drink water and feel like they've had an 8 oz steak.

Either way, I wish you all the very best.

Alisha

Again - let me stress here (as MichelleRae did in the Xenical thread linked in my previous post) that if you decide to take prescription diet pills, it is absolutely ESSENTIAL that your physician WORKS with you and monitors your diet and prescription usage closely. You can't just pop the pills and expect them to do all the work - you need to be TOTALLY committed to making MAJOR lifestyle changes in your diet and exercise routines, not just for a certain amount of time, but for the rest of your life.

According to the Physician's Desk Reference and posts I've read here at 3FC and other places, the effects of "Phen" wear off fairly quickly and most people regain the lost weight - I'm assuming that you did as well (this addressed to Alisha). Personally, phentermine is way too closely related to amphetamine (speed) for me to consider taking it, especially on a regular basis...

Hourglass...Sadly I went the phen/fen route but fortunately did not experience any problems..just the displeasure of having to go in for heart rate tests.
I think phentermine is the one that speeds you up and I just couldnt handle it on its own. Made me really anxious which I had to watch out for.

I would be very interested in your mild state of ketosis can you share more details on it?

I am now trying to up the protein and see what happens.

Well that's why I suggested Phentermine instead of some ridiculous money-grabbing miracle pill from off the shelf at Walgreens. Phentermine is a prescription drug and SHOULD be monitored by a physician, which is why I suggested she talk to her physician about it. Unfortunately, it has become clear that it is not for her. Fair enough. I only suggested it because I used it for 6 months and never had a bad reaction, a racing heart, or anything of the sort. I get that feeling simply from drinking more than 2 cups of coffee so I didn't think it affected most people that way. But again, everyone is different.

That is why I suggested that if she took, perhaps, only enough to get her through the rough spot until she reached ketosis, when her normal body functions would curb hunger automatically, that factor wouldn't come into play. Again - for Slimcharm it's a moot point since she can't use it.

And yes I did gain my weight back, but it had nothing to do with Phentermine. I gained my Weight Back, MrsJim, because I moved from the good ole US of A to England where my food choices were dramatically limited by lack of money and planning for a wedding! I kept my weight off for a year and a half (before I moved), which to me, was significant. However, I went from being able to afford fresh vegetables, fruit, lean meats and 'lo cal' options to a nearly destitute state where all my fiance and I could afford was boxed chicken tenders, fish fingers or tinned meat pies. One thing I can tell you is that it is NOT cheap to eat healthily. I could buy a cart full of crap for 40 pounds sterling, yet to buy food that was 'good' for me and would keep me on track would range anywhere from 120-145 pounds sterling. Can you imagine spending $290 on food for two weeks for two people when your net income is about $800 a month? Well that was us. Also, the dramatic increase in carbs triggered my cravings and the whole thing just went to **** in a handbasket.

So while I see what you're getting at with caution of using any medication, I don't find it appropriate to 'blame' a pill for my downfall. I also don't think it's a bad thing if people turn to their physician for a little help via medicine to get over the rough spots. I also think counselling can go a long way to help people. It's like I said before - counting calories and exercising may be the golden key for weight loss, but not everyone can do it or there'd BE no fat people. If someone needs a kick start or a kick in the backside to get them on the right track, as long as their doctor concurs, I don't see anything wrong with that.

I spent most of my lifetime feeling like a failure because I couldn't 'just monitor my food intake'. But now, I figure that as long as I'm healthy and not hurting myself, i.e starving or taking un-proven pills, etc. then I'm going to do whatever it takes to get this weight off, regardless if it conforms to other peoples' schemas or not. Because right now, at the weight I am, I'm inviting all sorts of ills to my body and I want to get rid of that risk as soon as possible.

Anyway, I was only trying to be helpful.

Alisha

Hourglass..I appreciate your help very much.
Would you please share about your mild state of ketosis. I would love to learn about your eating style now?

Please post on it.

Hourglass mentioned a lot of often overlooked "symptoms" that IMO (I'm not a physician, just an experienced and healthy "dieter" who has lost a lot of weight) mean the body is burning fat (mild ketosis, not Atkins related). I don't advocate any weight loss pills other than by prescription under a doc's supervision for people whose obesity is life-threatening, but did want to comment that even without pills, her notes on the overproduction of acid causing perceived hunger and on :water: causing a false feeling of fullness, then more hunger, for some people have both been experienced by me ... and sometimes a zantac has helped that ... also skim milk works wonders for me in helping with hydration (it's very hot where I live and I DO drink water, but all liquids help and the protein in skim milk satisifies hunger in a healthy fashion for few calories).

Another crazy thing that helps calm false hunger pains (if really hungry, I need to eat to maintain blood sugar control ... starving is not the answer), is to do pilates style ab exercises that contract the "stomach" (the pilates "scoop") and then relax the ab muscles. Sometimes that false hunger (IMO) is related to stress and tension in the core area and this relieves that ... anyway that's why I think it works, the ab muscles feel better and false hunger abates.

As I say, it sounds crazy, but really works for me.

From my understanding, your body goes into ketosis when you cut out most carbs because you no longer have glucose to burn (your body's primary source of fuel). Therefore, a pill won't get you into ketosis unless you are also cutting carbs and increasing fat and protein.

I do agree that pills can help you get started, even if it is a mental thing that just helps to motivate you. I have never taken anything other than "natural" dexatrim--I've never been on prescription diet pills because my doctor pretty much thought they were crap and that I was too young to try anything than natural weight loss. A lot of times, I actually just took the dexatrim for the caffeine to get me through college, too, so I never had much experience with any weight loss pills as far as actual weight loss goes

So clearly, I cannot speak from experience regarding pills, but I can speak from experience when I say that it takes time to find what works for YOU. If a pill works for you, then by all means, use it to get yourself started. However, the first pill you try may not be right for you. The pill that works for your friend may make you feel bloated, the pill that works for your sister may make you feel hyper and jittery, and the pill that works for me might give you *ahem* "the runs." You may have to experiment with different prescriptions just like you have to experiment with calorie levels, exercise levels, water levels, etc. People on here will say time after time again that it all comes down to calories in vs. calories out, but I recently increased my caloric intake and have been much more successful. It can take a lot of time and effort to find just the right combination of everything for you to achieve successful weight loss, so I wish you much luck!

Sure Slimcharm I'd be more than happy to explain further.

I'm currently on a meal replacement plan called Medifast. I won't go into all the ins and outs again because I've posted it before and don't want to bore people, but the main gyst is this: Medifast is a meal replacement program that has been around for over 23 years and has the 'healthy' stamp of approval from Johns Hopkins University medical staff. You either do the 5/1 plan where you eat 5 supplements a day plus a 'lean and green' (measured veggies/salad greens and a lean protein) or you do the Complete program where you consume 5-6 supplements a day and nothing else. (These supplements include but aren't limited to: shakes, pudding, chili, soup, oatmeal, snack bars, cappuccino, etc.). I'm doing the Complete plan. This is how they explain Ketosis:

As far as definition goes, I thought that would be helpful, but you can achieve ketosis on most diets by cutting back caloric intake, decreasing carb intake (cutting it out completely isn't necessary), ingesting a higher amount of lean proteins and ensuring you're receiving all of your nutrients (via food and/or a multi-vitamin) to prevent muscle tissue loss. It's also recommended that one should eat several small meals a day (4-6) rather than 3 large meals to keep your metabolism steady.

The mild level of ketosis they talk about on my program is usually not usually even detectable on the Ketone testing strips you can buy at the pharmacy (the ones Atkins recommends using). I only had experience with the strips when I belonged to a weight loss clinic I was at 10 years ago, however, they used them to ensure that you weren't over doing it and losing muscle mass. I think (if I trust my memory!) they were hoping for a lavender or wine color - if it got into the deep purples, you were losing muscle mass and was indicative of the fact that you hadn't been eating all of your food! Although this sounds silly, it was common because of the natural appetite suppressant the body produces once in ketosis. However, if you don't eat as recommended and begin skipping meals, that's when the muscle loss begins.

Anyway, I hope you find that helpful. Like I said, it's not necessary to do this particular diet to achieve ketosis, but its been my experience, that a diet higher in protein (soy or other), low fat and low carb will produce the same results.

Whatever you choose to do, I wish you all the very best!

Alisha