Phentermine is one of the most effective weight loss drugs ever created—find out if it’s right for you.
Phentermine is one of the most effective weight loss drugs ever created—find out if it’s right for you.
To say losing weight is hard is an understatement.
It takes years to see the results you want. You can’t eat the way you always enjoyed and have to change your lifestyle to be more active.
There’s nothing easy about that.
And so we’re always looking for ways to help you lose weight faster than diet and exercise alone.
Phentermine is one of those options.
Phentermine is a weight loss drug that’s been around since 1959. It’s effective and there are decades of research to back it up.
Because of how powerful it is, this isn’t a drug you can get over the counter. Your doctor must prescribe it for you. And prescriptions generally don’t happen unless your BMI is 30 or higher—the threshold for obesity.
The reason is, it’s created for people who need to lose a lot of weight. It’s not just for losing 5 pounds before your next vacation.
But what makes phentermine unique is that the results are also quite rapid compared to others on the market. The drug is only meant to take for a short period of time and up to 12-13 weeks.
Since phentermine’s creation, it’s helped thousands of people lose weight, either alone or in combination with other weight loss medications.
So what exactly does phentermine help you lose weight faster?
Suppresses Appetite
One of the major barriers to weight loss is just feeling hungry all the time. And phentermine works wonders to suppress your appetite—making it easier to avoid junk foods and stick to your diet.
Believe it or not, exactly how phentermine suppresses appetite isn’t clear. Even after decades on the market.
What we do know is that it increases the levels of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin in your brain.
When your levels of these neurotransmitters increase, your appetite decreases.
Ultimately, the reason it’s so effective is that it’s able to help you overcome one of the biggest barriers to sticking to a new diet.
Helps Patients with Eating Disorders
Since phentermine suppresses appetite, it helps individuals deal with a challenging eating disorder: binge eating.
Binge eating is when you eat huge quantities of food in short periods of time. It’s also combined with a compulsion to keep eating—essentially feeling like you just can’t stop eating even if you know your body is full. This can often be associated with a strong feeling of losing control while eating and feeling extreme guilt or shame after.
It’s worth noting that this is different from overconsumption or overeating. Which is exactly what it sounds like—eating too much at a meal. But in this case, it’s an isolated incident or not associated with the other symptoms of a binge eating disorder.
Bulimia is another eating disorder that is similar to binging. And it’s connected with many of the same feelings: lack of control, shame, and guilt. A pattern of binging and purging can arise as a result of those feelings. With purging—or self-induced vomiting—happening in an attempt to regain a sense of control. This binging and purging pattern is what we know as bulimia nervosa.
Phentermine helps people overcome eating disorders by suppressing appetite as a start.
But it helps in other ways too.
It improves the sense of control over eating habits. And improves mood after eating.
In one study, patients with these eating disorders were able to reduce their binge days from 16 to 4 over a 28 day period—a drastic improvement!
For those who need to lose weight and struggle with eating disorders, phentermine can be an effective option.
Weight Loss
Taking phentermine is a gives you a good start for losing weight.
It lowers your appetite, prevents binge eating, and even promotes fat loss.
One study found that patients taking phentermine lost anywhere from 5-10% of their starting body weight at the end of a 12 week period.
And another study had trial participants take phentermine for 13 weeks. The average loss was 13.9 pounds by the end of the study.
But doctors won’t advise you to take phentermine in place of diet and exercise.
And this is important to understand: no medication should be taken in place of diet and exercise. In fact, phentermine is most effective when combined with dietary and lifestyle adjustments to promote weight loss.
When you’re prescribed phentermine, your doctor will also give you a diet plan and realistic exercise expectations.
And since taking phentermine is a short term option, it’s important to have those healthy lifestyle habits in place when the medication is finished.
How to find out if phentermine is right for you
There’s no doubt that phentermine helps you lose weight faster. But it isn’t an option for everybody.
The only way to get phentermine is with a prescription. So at Valley Medical Weight Loss, we can help you determine whether phentermine is right for you.
It’s always important to discuss phentermine in detail with your doctor because there are some side-effects that can be exacerbated if you have certain health complications.
Some of these side effects include:
- Dry mouth
- Insomnia
- Flushing
- Hyperactivity
- Upset stomach
And phentermine should be avoided altogether if you have heart disease, glaucoma, or are pregnant or breastfeeding.
Ultimately, phentermine is effective and helpful when taken correctly under the guidance of a doctor. And when it’s combined with a healthy diet and lifestyle changes.
Our doctors work with you to figure out the right plan for you—whether it includes phentermine or not.
Contact us to make an appointment and learn more about a personalized weight loss plan to feel healthier and happier again.
Sources:
