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Orlistat

I once bought some Orlistat. Had a prescription to be able to use it but had to pay for it (how it works in Switzerland). After a few days of side effects (explosive bowels) I got rid of it and never used it again. I think diet is a far better way to lose weight.
 
You have to limit your fat intake to avoid the explosive orange runs! Not nice stuff.

Ali
 
I used it for several months, three years ago and the unpleasant physical side effects to decrease rapidly once you remove fats from your diet, and I DID lose some weight. HOWEVER...and I cannot stress this enough....I went on to develop severe anxiety and panic attacs which my doctor (and a second opinion) attributed directly to taking Orlistat / Xenical. and I stopped taking the medication immediately.

My anxiety lessened to some degree, but I still suffer panic attacks occassionally.
 
I was offerred Orlistat this spring, by my doctor.

Now, as I understand it, your body need some fats in order to work properly. So how does taking a pill to remove all my fat for months and months keep me healthy?

And you have to cut down your intake of fats to nil if possible.

Which makes you lose weight anyway. And gives the Orlistat nothing to do. Cos it flushes out the non-existent dietary fat you are not eating.......

the Pharmacist was confused too when we talked it over. So I decided that, if I was going to cut out all fat, I wouldnt need to take the Orlistat.

And if I was going to continue to eat fat, and take Orlistat, the side effects were too unpleasant.

So why bother??? :crazy:

I think these manufacturers think we are stupid and they only have to claim something illogical and we will jump up and down and squeal with delight, just cos it says it will help with dieting.
 
Orlistat wworks by preventing your body rom absorbing fats. Almost everyone who ever uses it has at least one episode of uncontrrolable diarrhoea. It makes fats run straight through you.
Since fats are Ok for diabetics, and it's carbs which determine your Blood glucose control, I'd say you'd be better with a Low carb/ high Fat diet. it takes off weight, is fairly easy to keep to and conrols BG.
Hana
 
I have tried with low carb, I just cant do it, it cuts out too much of the food I enjoy and the food that is good on a low carb I do not like!
 
Sarah-I have answered quite a few of your posts before. I can assure you that if you continue to eat the diet that you mentioned before and take Orlistat hoping to lose weight, you are in for a nasty suprise. Even if you eat small amounts of fat it will cause problems (explosive diarrhoea) but on a diet where you regularly like to eat fatty foods such as pies, pasties etc you will have probably non-stop oily yellowish diarrhoea leaking all the time ..if I remember rightly you work, so this would present a problem.

I think you will have to look at other options.
 
sarah:

is your HbA1c still 7.6?

can we help you find low carb foods you might like? Maybe you could list the foods you like and we can find a way round the problem. There are many experienced and helpful people on here happy to share their tips and help you.
 
Sarah69 said:
Hi, has anyone on this forum used this to help lose weight? If so how well did it work for you?
Click to expand...

No, nor would I, it's horrible stuff.

Sarah, I know changing your diet is never easy, but since my diagnosis in March, that's only eight months, I have lost over 90lbs. It's rare people lose that quickly, but I had a funny reaction to Metformin, it just decimated my appetite, then I did the Newcastle diet. I then went to ultra low carbs and high fat.

Please reconsider using Orlistat, I know people who have tried it, they lasted a week if that. The weight issue still remained after the pills, and so they lost nothing, apart from one girl I know, who lost her dignity big time.

Cutting carbs is not easy at first, but it gets easier. Partly because as time goes on you lose the carb craving, and secondly because you feel so much better. You have more energy, feel mentally more alert. You won't get any of that on Orlistat.

Please think long and hard before you jump down the quick fix route. If something sounds too good to be true, it usually is.

Good luck.
 
Sarah
There was a UK trial of the drug on people with diabetes, some of whom were taking insulin.
At 6 months those who kept taking it were doing OK, they had lost some weight ( average 7kg) and had slightly better HbA1cs . At six months, those that were on insulin were taking quite a bit less.

At 2 years, there were only 23 out of the original 100 that were still taking it. These people had an average weight loss of (I think, it's not clear) another 5Kg .
HbA1c hadn't changed, and I can't see if insulin use remained lower.
It worked, to a degree, but less than a quarter of the people managed to complete the 2 years
http://www.crd.york.ac.uk/CRDWeb/ShowRe ... 2006000042

I would think that your success or not would depend a lot on how much support you abutre given. You would have to change your diet considerably.
The people were taught how to reduce their fat intake to less than 50g a day. This is very little and, as Ladybird says would be a very big change from your present diet.
 
I have the tablets but not started them yet! Yes my hba1c is still 7.6 my next appt is 24 dec. I'm not working and haven't since March 2010 due to chronic hip pain resulting in a total hip replacement in May this year. Yes I know ive had posts sent regarding my diet but it's hard to change to food I don't like, I'm not being stubborn (I know no one has said that!) I just don't like the food! I'm also on a budget and have 2 others to feed which is already hard!
 
I am also on a tight budget with a family to feed. Can you tell us what foods you like, and what foods you actively dislike, and maybe we can find a way round your dilemma?

sending hugs.
 
Sarah69 said:
I have the tablets but not started them yet! Yes my hba1c is still 7.6 my next appt is 24 dec. I'm not working and haven't since March 2010 due to chronic hip pain resulting in a total hip replacement in May this year. Yes I know ive had posts sent regarding my diet but it's hard to change to food I don't like, I'm not being stubborn (I know no one has said that!) I just don't like the food! I'm also on a budget and have 2 others to feed which is already hard!
Click to expand...

What food do you like?

I've had to give up the stuff i do like (chips, cakes, pasties, bread and butter, chocolate, pudding, basically everything I shouldnt eat) and so have just had to start liking the stuff I can eat - and was probably the worlds worst picky & faddy eater.

I started off eating what I did like, and now i try a new vegetable or something different, or new recipe every so often. I'd never touched a leek until a few weeks ago - i thought they must be vile - but i decided to use that instead of pasta sheets to make a lasagne, and guess what, it only tastes of onion :thumbup:

I've had to start trying and liking new things as I'd rather not lose and eye or a foot lol, thats what i try to remember when choosing what to eat, and it gives me motivation to try different things.

Re orlistat, I had it when it came out as xenical, the dr wouldnt give it to me so i bought it online. I was working as a resident liaison officer at the time, up and down estates and in and out of peoples houses. That was totally unsuitable and i came very close to a few accidents.

I would've and did try most fad diets and quick fixes - everything except a healthy diet and exercise - which i have now found out is the best and easiest way to lose weight and keep it off. I now try to eat for my health rather than what some magazine says will make me lose a stone in a week and i try to run three times a week using the couch to 5k & Bridge to 10k plans - and i have had the most noticiable and best, steady rate of weight loss ever, without putting it back on too (i've had a couple of periods this year where i didnt run for a while but I didnt put much, if any, weight back on).

but re: what you do and dont eat, try to set a goal of trying a new thing every other shop you do, and maybe you can increase your range of foods :)
 
If I carb count do I need to low carb?

Breakfast I usually have 1 weetabix.

Lunch will usually be a sandwich with cheese or ham. Have been eating soup a few times.

Tea last nite I had a take away it was Chinese, chicken curry with rice. Tonight I'll cook sausages with mash and peas. Other meals I eat are, scampi and oven chips. Spaghetti bolognaise, pasta bake, lasagna, chicken in mushroom nd walnut sauce with fried potatoes, carrots broccoli and fine beans. Roast dinners, toad in the hole mash peas nd gravey. Fish fingers chips nd baked beans. Chops mash nd peas. There is probably more stuff I eat but just can't think of it.

I like pork,chicken, beef and lamb. I usually only eat chicken as the other meats are too expensive to buy.

I'm not a lover of veg really but will eat peas, carrots, potato (every way but boiled), broccoli, parsnips but only roasted with a roast, leeks fine beans, runner beans.

I don't eat fruit. Sometimes I will eat strawberrys, cherries, grapes, clementines.

I like peanuts, cashews.

I have a very sweet tooth.

I try not to eat between meals but somedays I'm really hungry.

I drink tea.
 
Sarah, it's not for me or anyone else to tell you what to do, you're a grown up and able to make all your own choices. I do have just one thing I want to say though. I know from my own experience changing diet is not easy, but for me, there was no way food was worth possibly loosing my eyesight, limbs, being on dialysis and all the other horrors that can happen to us. Maybe I am fortunate and just the thought of all those horrors was enough to stop me eating things that could harm me. Does diabetic complications ever cross your mind? I don't want to sound mean and unkind, but I would rather say this, than have to commiserate later should something happen.

Please think of your health Sarah, we only have one life. Jo.
 
I have been on the drug for eight months, prescribed by the gp. I only take it when I have a fatty meal. It does give me the runs but I can put up with that as it has also helped my weight loss I am sure. It does not remove all fat from a meal, just one third of it I believe. I have lost around 80 lbs in 8 months.
Eddie
 
I tried it for a while a few years ago. I would totally agree with everyone else on here who says it is distinctly dodgy! Anything with a squidge of fat goes straight through you in a very squidgy way indeed! That is how it works - either all fat splats straight through you or you learn fast not to eat the stuff to save your dignity / laundry! BUT, as someone else has pointed out, it isn't the fat that we diabetics have a problem processing, so why torture yourself to cut out fat ?

I have been trying the LCHF diet for the last month and am pleasantly surprised. Have got the blood sugar back under the best control I've ever had in 4 years and have even lost a bit of weight despite all that cream!! Try sugar free jelly and cream Sarah for when you need to eat something - and then another if necessary ;) I can make 2 pints of the stuff for 69p - fantastic!!... and bacon and eggs for breakfast (my teenage son loves that part!)

Good luck :)
 
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