A weight-loss drug that causes a wide range of gastrointestinal side-effects is to be widely available. Is this a great country or what?
On Tuesday January 24 federal health advisors to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) voted to recommend that Xenical – a drug prescribed for weight loss – be made available to the public in an over-the-counter dose. Final approval still has to be given by the FDA before GlaxoSmithKline can sell this non-prescription version.…
Article comments
26 - chhavee
week back i purchased xenical.and it's true abt the side effecsts gas..frequent usage of the loo..but what i saw disgusted me ..yuck..but now i am aware of the foods i eat and try avoiding fatty ones..after seeing the END results. I take one pill per day (too expensive to take 3 per day)and want to know if this REALLY works as i haven't noticed any wt change as yet
27 - sal m
that's a good point...seeing what doesn't get absorbed as a result of taking orlistat,when it makes the inevitable apppearance, should make you realize just what all that fat can do to your innards. and in the future make you think twice before eating it.
28 - Lady H
Hello, I started on Xenical because I wanted a jump start. I now have learned the proper foods to consume. I started last November and to date have lost 55 lbs. Sometimes I wish I could loose the weight faster but then I reason that I have been heavy a long time so it will probably take a while to loose the weight. I do have some of the side effects but it is not like when I first started taking the medication. I do find that you have to eat 3 small meals a day and healthy snacks in between. I also have learned that exercise is another piece of the puzzle. Good cardiovascular and weights to turn fat into muscle. I hope that they don't take it off the market because when used the proper way it really does help. I look forward to the day when I am totally off it and can control my weight completely by my eating habits. I hope this positive note for Xenical encourages others who really want to loose weight to try it.
PS- I never had any side affects for the first 2 weeks, after that the side effects were ALL that has been described.....
You can not let that get to you if you want to loose weight - they will subside when you eat properly!
29 - sal m
Lady H wrote:
"Good cardiovascular and weights to turn fat into muscle."
WRONG! you cannot turn muscle into fat...this kind of alchemy is a myth...you lose fat and/or build muscle, but muscle doesn't turn into fat as a result of exercise and fat does not turn into muscle as a result of sloth.
30 - Christine
Sal, please clarify your comment. You wrote, "WRONG! you cannot turn muscle into fat...this kind of alchemy is a myth...you lose fat and/or build muscle, but muscle doesn't turn into fat as a result of exercise and fat does not turn into muscle as a result of sloth." I believe you meant to say exercise of any kind does not turn fat into muscle, but rather burns fat; and, depending on the type of muscle exertion used in the exercise, muscle mass may increase. Is this the correct interpretation?
I realize you may not agree with Lady H endorsing the product, but her experience using it the way it was intended is positive and should not be criticized. When I began studying this drug in 1998 it still went under the name Tetrahydrolipostatin and was not yet approved by the FDA. Personally, I'm thrilled the drug is now making its way to the OTC market as I believe it has real potential to change people's acceptance of overindulging in fatty foods.
I began studying this drug as a pre-med nutrition major in college who was searching for a way to help my father's entire family get healthier. My father's entire family: mother, brothers, sisters, nieces, and nephews are all obese. Two have since died from obesity complications. The adage of diet and exercise has been the battle cry of doctors since the 80s at least, but how many lives has it saved? How many people have truly made life-long commitments to better health? Sometimes a boost is all we need, and that is all Alli can provide.
31 - sal m
i meant that not only won't fat turn into muscle but muscle won't turn into fat, regardless of the stimulus.
and i don't have a problem with this drug going OTC, i just think that the potential is there for people to misuse this drug. and when this happens, the drug will be blamed rather than the people who misuse it.
32 - pat gilbert
i have been using it for 12 weeks now and have lost 38lbs, feel great, and it has helped me change my eating habits, i get NO persistent side effects, only if i do something stupid and eat to much fat,(my fault and how i got fat in the first place) well one or two mishaps is better than a heart attack i say
33 - sal m
that's what happens when you use it the right way! congrats.
34 - this is fun.
WOW…I found your article to be very humorous.I have been only taking Xenical for two week. I have changed my eating habits and I am exercising. However, I cannot speak for anyone else, but I can state that there is a lot of truth stated in your article. I have experienced and still have some of the side effect that you have listed, some worse than other: headache, abdominal discomfort or pain, diarrhea, gas, skin rash, and back pain. So, I am saying to all the readers, if you are not willing to ware a depend to catch the excess poo and stink up the place a little then and maybe mmmmmm…you might want to think about buying Xenical. Good Luck to you all.
35 - just me
i used Xenical a few times and always lost the weight I wanted to get down to. I never noticed anything in the first week or actually never noticed anything the first ten days but after that I'd notice about 5 pounds a week. I have to say it always goes straight back on though. But it really does work and you can eat what you like as long as you take the tablet with it. You can't eat stuff that contains alot of fat because if you do you can have" anal Leakage" which is like loads and loads of candle wax. this happened to me once when I ate a chinese on it. but i should have just ate the chinese and not took the tablet and would have been fine. I would recommend it as it really does work. You have to drink a lot of water on it. not loads and loads but about a glass or two with each meal. I wouldn't be disheartened if You didn't see weight loss in the first week. Once it starts coming off in the second week it drops off really fast. You must not forget to take one after every meal. Good luck.....