Thirty-four percent of U.S. adults are overweight, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and dieters may turn to over-the-counter and prescription diet pills, including orlistat, sibutramine and phentermine, as a way to manage excess pounds. Although diet pills may help you lose weight, they do pose potential risks to your health, so discuss any diet pill decision first with your physician.
Tolerance
After using diet drugs about six months, people may experience weight plateaus even if they're still taking the medication, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases' Weight-control Information Network.
Gastrointestinal Problems
Orlistat can cause stomach cramping, flatulence and diarrhea. Some people who take this diet pill also experience an oily discharge from the anus. The gastrointestinal problems associated with diet pills occur more frequently after eating high-fat foods, according to the Weight-control Information Network.
Decreased Absorption of Vitamins
Taking the diet pill orlistat interferes with your absorption of fat-soluble vitamins, particularly vitamin A, vitamin D and vitamin E, according to MayoClinic.com. Diet pills may also compromise your ability to absorb diabetes or thyroid medications. If you take medications for a chronic disease, talk to your doctor about whether diet pills could interfere with your prescribed medicines.
Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Changes
Sometimes diet pills induce changes to blood pressure and heart rate. According to the Weight-Control Information Network, the diet pill sibutramine causes small increases in blood pressure and heart rate, along with other side effects such as sleeplessness, headache and constipation. Another drug called phentermine also causes changes to heart rate and blood pressure. Doctors who prescribe diet pills should monitor your blood pressure on a regular basis; people who have a medical history of blood pressure problems, cardiovascular disease, arrhythmias or stroke should not take these drugs.
Sleeplessness and Nervousness
Although they suppress appetite, the diet pills diethylpropion, phentermine and phendimetrazine can also cause insomnia and sleeplessness, anxiety and an unusual feeling of well-being called euphoria.
Liver Injury
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigated reports of orlistat's link to liver injury in 2009; however, they did not establish a link between serious liver problems and orlistat-containing diet pills, according to MayoClinic.com.
Member Comments