Weight Loss Drugs Prescription and OTC »
Taking a weight loss drug may not result in weight loss by itself. But using diet pills can help an overweight person stay on a diet because nearly all of these medications work on suppressing appetite. "Feeling full" is believed to be related to a number of biochemical processes in the body. Signals to indicate fullness come from fat cells and the gastrointestinal tract; these converge with signals in the central nervous system. Appetite suppressants target a couple of key neurotransmitters in this process: serotonin and norepinephrine. Increased levels of serotonin result in a feeling of fullness. Increasing norepinephrine levels stimulate the central nervous system, decreasing appetite. Only one drug among the weight loss medications works in a different way. Orlistat (Xenical, Alli) works in the gastrointestinal tract to prevent absorption of about a third of ingested fat.
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Please Note: This Brand Name drug is no longer available in the US.
Skip the missed dose and wait until it is time for your next dose to take the medicine. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medicine.
Overdose symptoms may include headache, dizziness, and fast heart rate.
Sibutramine can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert.
Do not take any other prescription or over-the-counter weight-loss products without your doctor's advice.
Avoid taking cough and cold or allergy medications while taking sibutramine.
Avoid drinking alcohol while taking sibutramine.
Before using sibutramine, tell your doctor if you regularly use other medicines that make you sleepy (such as cold or allergy medicine, sedatives, narcotic pain medicine, sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and medicine for seizures, depression, or anxiety). They can add to sleepiness caused by sibutramine.
The following drugs can interact with sibutramine. Tell your doctor if you are using any of these:
This list is not complete and there may be other drugs that can interact with sibutramine. Tell your doctor about all your prescription and over-the-counter medications, vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start a new medication without telling your doctor.
Your pharmacist can provide more information about sibutramine.
Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed
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