weight loss and prescription meds

Yesterday I did a consult about the program to two very lovely sisters and both were very concerned about taking phentermine. One of them had hypertension, and was particularly concerned about the interactions of the medication she is taking and phentermine.

I very much respect people's hesitancy about taking any medications, most certainly including prescription amphetamines. I tried to reassure them as best as possible that the dosaging, weekly follow-ups etc. are meant to minimize the risks of the medication.

Most physicians share these same concerns, and when a prospective patient for our program asks his/her physician about starting, often the physician will tell them "No..it is not safe."

Please be assured that we, at our centers, are very careful about the usage of amphetamines, and when the protocol was written for the program, I spent weeks sifting through the medical literature about the use of anorectic medications. Our dosing of the meds was based on this research. To date, we have put over 8400 patients through our program in 7 years, and (knock on wood) we have had NO significant adverse events, direct hospitalizations attributable to our program or any legal actions.

What is more dangerous: being markerdly overweight and taking meds for hypertension, cholesterol, diabetes, arthritis, etc OR being under medical supervision, taking a prescription med FDAapproved for over 40 years with 50-million-plus patient experiences? You obviously know my answer to this question.

We do not take use of these medications lightly....this is why you go through a medical clearnace before we prescribe the meds. However, they do provide a great jumpstart to your weight loss efforts and psychologically, when you embark on a weight losing effort, you need to see aggressive results quickly.