While the Food and Drug Administration does not specifically classify diet pills and supplements as safe for the heart, several medications used for weight loss should not impact your heart, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. However, some diet pills once believed to be safe, such as fenfluramine and ephedra, were banned due to causing fatal heart damage in some patients. Therefore, talk to your doctor before taking any type of weight loss aid, especially if you already have health problems.
Prescription Orlistat
Orlistat is a lipase inhibitor that helps your body block the fat from the food you eat and pass it out of your body undigested, according to the Mayo Clinic. The prescription form of orlistat, Xenical, can be taken during or right after meals. Orlistat can cause many side effects including stomach ache, rectal pain, oily stools and uncontrollable bowel movements, but it does not affect the heart because the drug works only on the digestive system rather than suppressing appetite.
Over-the-Counter Orlistat
If you are over the age of 18, you can buy over-the-counter orlistat under the brand name Alli, notes PubMed Health. However, a few dieters have claimed that the drug caused severe liver injuries. While Alli should not harm your heart, it could cause irregular menstrual periods, fatty stools and frequent bowel movements. If you take Alli while dieting and exercising, you should lose three to five pounds more each year than you would by just making healthy lifestyle changes. Xenical users could lose five to seven pounds more each year.
Bupropion as a Diet Drug
Some doctors prescribe the antidepressant bupropion “off label” to help patients lose weight, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. While the side effects associated with bupropion are not as potentially heart unsafe as those associated with appetite suppressants such as phentermine, use bupropion cautiously. Some people, especially those under the age of 24, have reported suicidal thoughts after taking the drug.
Seizure Medications as Diet Aids
If you and your doctor want to avoid diet drugs that can cause cardiac problems, you could try off-label use of some seizure medications, notes the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Some doctors prescribe topiramate, metformin and zonisamide to overweight patients because a major side effect of such drugs is appetite reduction and weight loss. However, since these are not amphetamine-like substances they should not affect your heart.
References
- Weight-control Information Network; Prescription Medications for the Treatment of Obesity; December 2010
- PubMed Health; Orlistat; August 2010
- Mayo Clinic; Alli Weight-Loss Pill; June 2010
- PubMed Health; Phentermine; January 2011
- PubMed Health; Bupropion; October 2009
- The Harvard Medical School Family Health Guide; Ephedra Ban; March 2004
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