weight loss and medications

Last night we attended our first Serotonin-Plus party....a gathering of friends of one of our patients who were interested in learning more about our program. Jessica and I had a really fun time...it felt like a town hall meeting without any political rancor!

One of the people attending the gathering was a person who had been in our program previously. She and her husband lost a significant amount of weight and she shared with the group "before and after" pictures. The changes aesthetically were astounding.

The part of her story last night that made me more proud of the program's results was her statement that her husband was able to discontinue the majority of the medications he had to take prior to his weight loss. Hypertensive and high cholesterol meds were able to be stopped. She also said he stopped snoring in the first week!.

From the reduction of sleep apnea to improvement of acid reflux and joint pains to the reduction of the risk for serious cardiovascular events and cancer, losing weight has an incredible impact in a positive manner on health. Listening to a personal story in a social setting was incredibly gratifying for us.

weight loss and medications

Last week I saw several patients who were able to drop several prescription medications because of the weight loss they experienced in our program. One patient was able to discontinue a blood pressure pill and a diabetic medication and another patient did not require a diabetic and acid reflux med.

Take stock of what medical problems you are experiencing as a comorbidity of weight control issues and realize that it is possible that some of these medications may be able to be discontinued as the medical problems resolve due to the weight loss.

Sleep apnea, arthritis, restless leg syndrome, cancer of the breast, colon, pancreas, stomach are some of the other life-threatening issues related to being overweight. Aside from the discontinuation of cigarette smoking, weight reduction is the most effective intervention you have control over to prolong your life and live happier and healthier.

medications for weight loss

Often, when we have new patients enter the Serotonin-Plus Weight Loss Program (word of the day: phentermine) after I explain about using the prescription medication, phentermine and our serotonin supplement, I will frequently hear;" I used Phen-Fen in the past and it really worked. I lost lots of weight".

I can assure you that virtually every person who used the combination of phentermine and fenfluramine ("phen-fen") in the past (this was used up until 1997 when the FDA pulled fenfluramine off of the market because of associated heart valve dysfunction.) gained the weight back that they lost.

Why did almost 100% of patients who used this drug combination fail to maintain their weight loss? The answer: Medications do NOT result in permanent weight loss UNLESS there is an associated life style change/behavior modification PERMANENTLY. Obviously, if you are taking medications to reduce your appetitie, you will eat less and lose weight. But, when the medications are finished, the appetite will return and unless you have learned permanent life-style changes, then eating will increase and weight goes back on.

Medications can be used as a "jump-start" but by no means are the marquee feature of any permanent weight loss effort. In our program, we utilize phentermine because we want our patients to have a very aggressive beginning to their weight loss efforts because we have learned that losing lots of weight in the first month psychologically motivates the person to keep very aggressive in their efforts.

Behavior modification is very difficult, yet necessary for the long term control of weight.