Appetite suppressants

What do you mean by appetite suppressants? I find that eating enough full fat foods while low carbing helps with avoiding hunger. I have also got used to feeling hungry. It does me no harm.

DebraW said:

I have tried losing weight through slimming clubs, NHS diets and low carb (that didn’t last long at all) and have had limited success but I always feel hungry. I’m on 1000mg Metformin twice a day, can I safely take appetite suppressants to stop me feeling hungry?

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Have you been taking Metformin when trying your various diets, including Low Carb? Many find Metformin helps suppress appetite itself.

Have you used appetite suppressants in the past? Have these been prescribed for you by a doctor or other suitably qualified person?

In terms of being safe (or wise) to take appetite suppressants alongside your Metformin. I believe that would depend what you were using.

DebraW said:

Thank you. I tried the full fat low carb but couldn’t get on with it.

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What particular element didn't you like?
How "low" did you go?
Higher fat content foods should provide satiety so the hunger doesn't appear when carbs are low enough.

I found eating less eventually made me want to eat less. One meal a day. Keto. Try drinking some water when hungry.

Amphetamine is a well known appetite suppressant, but is dangerous and not recommended. There are medications like Acarbose that can be prescribed. Then there are the glutide class of medications such as Trulicity, Ozempic, and Liraglutide that can be prescribed if your BMI is 39 or above. There is an OTC remedy called XLS but it is expensive and not validated by trial data. These are weight loss treatments, so may not help with hunger pangs and cravings. The glutides make you nauseous and vomit if you over eat while taking them so its like having a built in guard dog. IMHO a very unpleasant way of suppressing appetite but useful if that is what you need to cut portion size.

DebraW said:

I have tried losing weight through slimming clubs, NHS diets and low carb (that didn’t last long at all) and have had limited success but I always feel hungry. I’m on 1000mg Metformin twice a day, can I safely take appetite suppressants to stop me feeling hungry?

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Hi @DebraW .

Sorry to hear that.

And quite galling to read others find success more easily while some find it harder.
(The curse of individuality...)

Just to say I had never dieted, and was staring under the doctors prescribed Eatwell & struggle..

Eventually in desperation, I found salvation here, dipped a toe into the LCHF, way of eating, where almost without trying, i lost weight.

Not by way of boasting, I might add, but that for me a little thought was needed as to what LCHF was going to be, to ME.

I'd seen the testimonies.
Tried most things.
Some surprisingly enjoyable
Others, not so much
(Butter in coffee ).

So it was for me ..
Butter on bread..(yes, my guilty secret )
Though did switch mainly to low carb crackers for the 'crunch' at breakfast.
Full fat milk in tea
fat kept on meat
& Yoghurt.....

And that was about it
Basically chose the full fat option where available when buying food.

I suppose the foods I ate were more 'fatty' then a bowl of carrots..(egg & bacon, anyone )

But they were more a resumption of previous eating habits (adjusted accordingly to suit my T2d )
after eating a more 'healthy' low carb, low fat diet for around 8 years...which still led me to my diagnosis

Once I could see clear progress, I went all in.

Fully convinced, I then tried dropping from 3 meals down to 2...(never got the hang of fasting..once I get so far, felt awful...so rather defeated the object, I felt..to make this something I could maintain as a lifestyle choice )

And this was were my hunger issue crept in.

And I was reminded of that fact, by another post on the forum, so I offer it to you, as a possible alternative to pills, etc.

I rarely ate dessert pre DX.
And I had heard the argument for fat keeping us satiated.

But dropping that one meal, left me hungry, and I didn't want to increase the meal size or splosh butter in my tea..(no, I don't get the obsession with coffee . )

My solution, after reading others saying "eat until your full"
Was to not add more food to my plate, but to add a 2nd course to my evening meal.

With most ready made puddings off the menu, I dabbled with double cream & low carb jellies*.
(*Bought & made at home )
Also DC & Berries was a nice dish, as was yoghurts & real fruit.

THAT , I found tided me over, I guess until my body adjusted to less food.

I didn't feel hungry after my meal, and if I'm honest I rarely feel hungry now,
but that WAS a time of adjustment for me.

Everything was going well and I didn't want to derail the good by adding back another meal.

And that little extra fat in the DC seemed to do the trick.

I left the table stuffed, and never felt the need to eat until the next meal time, and gradually even that meal got pushed back to later in the day and actually on some days became more of a snack.

I guess I'm just offering another viewpoint before the pills, etc...that there's more then one way to do something.

Good luck finding what works best for you.

DebraW said:

I have tried losing weight through slimming clubs, NHS diets and low carb (that didn’t last long at all) and have had limited success but I always feel hungry. I’m on 1000mg Metformin twice a day, can I safely take appetite suppressants to stop me feeling hungry?

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I would go with what dr gives you, so many on the market that we really do not know what is in them, and honestly if they were going to work NHS would be giving them to us, drink water and eat slower helps me also drinking water between slower eating, a lot the time when i thought i was hungry i was just thirsty my main meal i load with veggies, and after finished fruit and natural yogurt in blender

DebraW said:

I have tried losing weight through slimming clubs, NHS diets and low carb (that didn’t last long at all) and have had limited success but I always feel hungry. I’m on 1000mg Metformin twice a day, can I safely take appetite suppressants to stop me feeling hungry?

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I'm wondering if for you, it's time to stop thinking about what you eat for a while, and instead start to concentrate on why you eat; is it because either habit, anger, tired, thirsty, socialising, celebrating, lonely, bored etc etc
Try Dr jen Unwins book and web page call Fork in the Road where she talks about how we need to look at our thinking before we can change our eating.

Once you've got the Why a bit more sorted, then the What will be easier