Phentermine

[Sammie1124 0]

I took Phentermine from 1/2015 til just this last month. My dr started me on the low dose, 15mg I th

ink and was on that til Nov 2015 and then changed to the 30mg. I believe 37.5 is the "normal dosage". I did not have any side effects, it worked great, I was able to lose 60lbs before WLS. I just had surgery 2 days ago.

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Could I please tell me all the info n details I knew about phentermine cause I just started May 25th, 2016 on the 37'5mg tablets once daily. I've tried it once before but didn't really take it n stick with it, so....But if seriously get the best possible result out of it this time. So if I could help me out n inform me a lil.

Sammie Nealy

[Meldyer 12]

I took Phentermine from 1/2015 til just this last month. My dr started me on the low dose, 15mg I th

ink and was on that til Nov 2015 and then changed to the 30mg. I believe 37.5 is the "normal dosage". I did not have any side effects, it worked great, I was able to lose 60lbs before WLS. I just had surgery 2 days ago.

Sent from my Q10 using the BariatricPal App

Could I please tell me all the info n details I knew about phentermine cause I just started May 25th, 2016 on the 37'5mg tablets once daily. I've tried it once before but didn't really take it n stick with it, so....But if seriously get the best possible result out of it this time. So if I could help me out n inform me a lil.

Sammie Nealy

I didn't have any of the side effects. Not jittery or heart fluttering, just the benefits of the appetite suppressant. You need to eat a healthy diet for it to work, it's not a magical pill.

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[Hannah83 214]

Oh boy...phentermine was an awful drug for me...Lordy long story but it drove me to have a physotic break when I was younger. Stay far far away.

[jaxmom 644]

Oh man I loved phentermine!!!! I had so much energy I could clean, clean for days... Shoot I would have cleaned the neighbors houses if they didn't think I was so bat shit crazy with my excessive chatter. That was one of the problems I had with it- I could not shut up. I'm a pretty happy person anyway but phentermine turned me into a full on Disney character- my family was not at all happy with this. I also couldn't sleep and that started getting old.

The worst part is your body does get used to it and when it does, the party is over. Your appetite resumes and for me, it did with a vengeance. Ate that little Disney character right into something evil. Again, my family was not happy.

I had weight loss surgery for a permanent solution to eating issues and I feel great. My house isn't as clean but my family is VERY happy. La la la!

Good luck!!!!

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[livvsmum 2,369]

I lost 140 pounds with my surgery and then became severely anemic needing hospitalization. During this time I was not able to exercise and was too lethargic to really care about much, so I regained about 20 pounds. I went to see my weight management clinic physician and she prescribed me phentermine to "kick start" my weight loss. I've only been on it a month and I started with the very lowest dosage (15mg). I haven't had any negative side effects at all and have lost 7 pounds. I actually have my monthly check in with her and will likely increase dosage to 30mg since I've tolerated the lower dosage well.

[Rebekahlynn9 25]

I'm 6 months into my gastric sleeve and my dr prescribed low dose Phentermine to break my stall, very short term..... it worked and I'm back to loosing again. I only take it as needed to break through plateaus. 3-4 days max then off till I hit another stall. It's working for that purpose, no serious side effects thank goodness, but it does give me crazy energy.

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

I had sleeve 3/9/2021 and have regained almost all the weight. I met with the NP at the surgeons office yesterday to inquire about revision and she suggested phentermine. I have to admit I’m not even in a hurry to pick it up from pharmacy cause I don’t have too much faith it’s gonna work for me. I am glad to see some success stories here and hope that I am one of them.

[funky_monkey800 247]

I didn’t even know this was still a thing! I had it back in 2013.
I never did drugs, but it was exactly what I imagined crack would be lol

I also had bad side effects-jittery and couldn’t sleep.

only upside was a clean house in record time 🙃

never finished it or refilled it

[ShoppGirl 4,785]

I supposed the OP has already worked this out since the post was 2015 but I just want to add that the surgeons do then to weight loss drugs as one of the tools in their belts post surgery now. They have quite a few in addition to phentermine nowadays too. For anyone out there experiencing weight gain please touch base with your team. I was unable to take the meds because if interactions with other meds I was on but that was definitely an option that was presented to me early on and for someone with only a fair amount of weight to lose it could help. I have taken phentermine in the past and it did reduce my appetite significantly. My problem is I wake up several times and night and eat too so once the med wore off I was hungry. For those reasons they didn’t work for me but they do work for many people.

[SarahByNumbers 37]

Throwing my anecdotal experience in the ring here, as well!

I had a Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy (VSG) at the end of November 2023. I was a "slower loser" the whole time, and then I hit a major stall about 6 months post-op, just bouncing around the same ~5ish pounds for months. I set up an appointment with my team for July 8th, discussed the issues I was having (mainly just being hungry and therefore eating larger portions), compared the different options, and we settled on trying out Phentermine.

I did have to have a mobile heart monitor for 30 days prior to my surgery, as I had these weird heart "flutters" for YEARS and nobody could really figure out what they were (they ended up being PACs, or Premature Atrial Contractions, which apparently almost everyone has at some point and most people can't feel. I'm just unlucky! They are benign if they are not occurring in excess). My team had me do an EKG in-office that day, as well. They asked about any family history of heart issues, sudden death at early ages, etc. With a normal EKG, I was started on half of a 37.5mg tablet for 4 days, to increase to a full tablet after that if there was still residual hunger and I didn't have any major side effects. They said I'd know within those first few days if it was going to cause any issues.

I did increase to the full 37.5mg after 4 days, and I've broken the stall (dropped 5lbs since July 8th, and part of that was spent at a music festival with few healthy food options), and I feel generally great! I do also have ADHD and Narcolepsy, so the stimulant properties are helpful for me. I'm feeling satisfied with much smaller portions and not experiencing cravings at all. I did have some mild insomnia the first few days, BUT I am already a night owl with a bit of insomnia due to the Narcolepsy, so it wasn't a big issue. Other comorbid conditions include depression and anxiety, which I am taking medication for, as well. The anxiety has not been exacerbated, which WAS an issue I had with previous stimulant use for Narcolepsy.

Cost-wise, it ended up being roughly $7 USD with insurance. For me, trying Phentermine is definitely worth it, and I will follow up with my team later next month to see where I'm at. I had feared I was done losing after only 6 months post-op, and Phentermine has restored my hope that I can keep going to get to a healthier weight.

It's important to remember that, while Phentermine will decrease your appetite, it does NOT cause you to burn any more calories than normal unless you also increase your activity. You have to decrease your portions - the Phentermine just makes it easier to do that, if it works as intended.

So, your personal experience may vary, but it's worth discussing with your team if you feel stuck!

EDITED TO ADD: My team said that I need to take a break from using it daily about once a month (like, not take it for a couple of days), otherwise I'll develop a tolerance and it won't work as well. This is pretty typical for stimulant medications in general.

Edited July 23 by SarahByNumbers
add info re: tolerance & breaks