Is Combo Pilling for Bodyweight Loss a good option? Combining Medications Might Be Legal Yet Is It Safe?

While watching this news this morning hours, I was alerted to the practice of "combo-pilling, " taking supposedly unrelated medications together to produce more powerful results toward a desired outcome. Combo-pilling diet drugs went mainstream in the 1980s, with the pairing of phentermine and fenfluramine (later known as "fen-phen"). This pairing, as well as a commercial related version, was heralded as the first effective weight loss drug treatment. Later, when it was uncovered that the commercial medicine was associated with potentially fatal pulmonary hypertension and heart-valve problems, it was withdrawn from the market and the manufacturer was sued to the tune of more than ten billion dollars.

Combo-pilling remains, in part because single diet drugs have not produced the results many seek. After sibutramine (Meridia) was removed from market past due this past year, the only FDA-approved drug for treating weight problems for more than 2-3 weeks is orlistat. However, if dieters eat fat-heavy dishes, the results are some less-than-pleasant side effects (oily stains on one's under garments, being one).

So combo-pilling continues.

Recently, the mix of Topomax, an anticonvulsant approved for the treatment of epilepsy and migraines; and phentermine, the above referenced appetite reducing drug, are making their way in to the collective dieters' awareness. It seems that Topomax effectively "shuts off" the desire to eat. When coupled with phentermine, the results can be downright staggering. I watched some on-line discussion groupings and found it not uncommon for participants to claim weight losses of four or five pounds a week for prolonged periods. (A healthy environmentally friendly weight loss is considered to be one to two pounds per week. )

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Using medicine for what it is not intended is called "off-label" use. Although no official data exist as to the level of this practice, phenq a March 2009 study published in Obesity found that 65 percent of weight specialists belonging to the American Society of Bariatric Physicians who responded to a survey do indeed suggest "off-label" combinations. The practice is legal; actually in accordance to a 2006 evaluation in the Archives of Internal Medicine, approximately 20 percent of common adult drugs are recommended as such. (Since the drug is approved and on the marketplace, physicians may utilize it as they observe fit. )

While some doctors are unconcerned, many are raising red red flags, pointing out that these medical "cocktails" might be taken for a long time, leading to long-term adverse interactions and unpredicted side effects. Since the FDA is not monitoring such usage, authorities might never find out about such problems; and even when they do, it could lead to catastrophic results for those experimenting with untested combinations.

Referencing the aforementioned Internet discussions, the danger appears to be of little issue to some who demand on doing "whatever it takes" to attain their right weight; consequences be darned. Said one post, "I started... 1 week ago and I've lost eight pounds already. Certainly with the post furthermore this might not be 'healthy' weight loss, but being overweight isn't healthy either. Issue gets me personally to a healthy weight, then so whether it be. " Alarming, isn't it?

Of greater concern in my opinion is not the threat of obesity, but that being over weight is considered such a stigma and so abhorrent that some would literally risk life and limb shed pounds. If it is indeed so essential to lose the weight, wouldn't it seem to be like it might be important enough to rearrange their life to eat a less and walk a tad bit more? It's a slower process, yes; but the most severe side effects in that situation are a growling belly and sore ft.