Diet Pill Information
By Dr. Dennis Padla

Weight loss medications have been a source of serious confusion in the past. The unscrupulous use of weight loss aids has seriously frustrated and disenchanted over weight patients.

Let us review prescription and over-the-counter diet pills in view of their application in weight management. The following information comes from both our vast experience and our trusted physician colleagues’ experience in prescribing these compounds. We strongly advise taking diet pills only as part of an integrated weight loss program. Weight loss achieved in a medically safe way will hopefully lead to a more permanent result and a more pleasant outcome.

First, in a nutshell, the following are the diet pills that in our opinion do not work in helping one lose weight:

1. Diuretics- water pills are not and never have been intended to be a weight loss medication. They should only be used for medical conditions such as hypertension, congestive heart failure and edema. They do not reduce body fat.
   
2. Amphetamines- these can be addictive and unless one has condition legitimizing their use, such as attention deficit disorder or narcolepsy, less addictive alternatives work just as well.
   
3. Anything herbal or natural that does not have Ephedra in it. This means we do not believe anything over-the-counter works including ginseng, ginko, amino acids complexes, pituitary extract, or anything else you can find. The verdict is not in regarding vanadium, guarana, garcinia, carnitine and chromium. I know some of you believe wholeheartedly that weight loss can be achieved with natural products. In the future, we will design a Natural product that we can support.
4. Thyroid medications- these are never appropriate for weight loss unless you have an actual thyroid abnormality.
5. Vitamins- forget this also please.
   
   

Diet pills that do work to enhance a more quick weight loss:

1. Phentermine - otherwise known as Adipex, Fastin. An old reliable weight loss drug that works well, is relatively safe and has a low addiction potential. We have used this diet pill successfully on well over 1,000 patients. Please use this only under a doctor’s guidance. This does not mean an Internet physician who you never saw. You should not be ordering this medication on the Internet.
2. Sibutramine - this is the generic name for Meridia. It works relatively well, but in our opinion, not quite as well as phentermine and it is a more expensive diet pill. However, we like it for patients who are unable to tolerate the stimulant effects of phentermine.
3. Orlistat - otherwise known as Xenical. This helps reduce dietary fat absorption by over 30 percent. If one eats a relatively low-fat diet, one can do relatively well with this weight loss drug. One benefit from this medication is that it is only minimally absorbed and therefore should not affect one's sense of mental well being.
4. Ephedra products - they work but can be dangerous and even lethal. I wouldn’t let my family use diet pills containing Ephedra and it is my strong opinion that they should be available by prescription only to help people lose weight.
5. Diethylproprion - otherwise known as Tenuate. It works well, and I use it as a short acting diet medication. I often combine it with phentermine.
6. Phendimetrizine - prescribed under the trade name Bontril. It works well, and I use it as a short acting diet medication. I often combine it with phentermine.
   
   Best wishes,
   
   Dr.P.