If you're considering taking Alli, the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration-approved over-the-counter weight loss pill, educate yourself carefully before you begin using it. Specifically, if you already have liver disease or elevated liver enzymes, talk with your doctor before starting treatment, since Alli might affect your liver. Your doctor will tell you whether or not you should use the drug, based on your specific health condition and test results.
Basics
Alli helps you to lose weight by blocking your body from digesting some of the fat you eat; in fact, according to the makers of Alli, 25 percent of all the fat you consume passes undigested through your body and out through your stool when you take Alli. Its over-the-counter availability means Alli is safe enough to use without medical supervision in most cases. However, it does carry a long list of side effects, including oily diarrhea, spotting in your underclothes, excess gas and flatulence and stomach pain.
Details
Alli does not seem to cause elevated liver enzymes. However, many people who use Alli might already have elevated liver enzymes due to a condition called fatty liver disease, which affects up to 90 percent of people who are obese and who have diabetes, reports Harvard Health Publications. You might not notice any symptoms of fatty liver disease, but your doctor likely can diagnose you with the condition due to your elevated liver enzymes.
Research
If you have elevated liver enzymes due to fatty liver disease, using Alli to lose weight might actually help you to reverse the condition. In a study published in the medical journal "Hepatology" in January 2009, researchers looked at 50 overweight patients with fatty liver disease who took orlistat, the active ingredient in Alli, for about eight months. Taking the drug didn't improve liver enzymes by itself, but the subjects who lost the most weight -- 9 percent or more of their body weight -- saw their liver enzymes drop significantly.
Considerations
Elevated liver enzymes occur in most forms of liver disease, not just in fatty liver disease, and it's not clear how Alli might affect you if you have some other form of liver disease. Therefore, it's critical for you to discuss your weight loss plans with your doctor, and to take her advice about whether or not to use the drug. Your doctor can help you find an alternative way to lose weight that is safer for your liver condition.
