hurf durf

January 8, 2009 12:57 PM

Tell me about phentermine and clenbuterol for appetite suppression and weight loss.
posted by asockpuppet to Health & Fitness (3 answers total)

I only have experience with phentermine. It made me really jittery and it felt like my brain was on a time-delay (i.e., I'd go to turn my head and it would take a second for everything to catch back up). I had barely any appetite which was nice, and a lot of energy, but it wasn't worth the jitters and the "Brain delay." The good news is it was relatively easy to wean myself off of it.
posted by getawaysticks at 1:05 PM on January 8, 2009

I have experience with phentermine, it was prescribed for me when I was a teen. I lost weight too quickly, so I stopped taking it after three weeks, after which I proceeded to gain nearly thirty pounds in about six weeks. Took it a second time five years later as an adult, experienced heart palpitations and the same huge weight gain after stopping the medication (yes, common sense would dictate that it is because I started eating significantly more, but this is because I wasn't able to really eat much of anything while taking the phentermine, so the rebound was awful). Nine years later, I regret having ever touched the stuff. Most of the people I've known over the years who've taken it for periods of time are still struggling with their weight, so I'm also not convinced of its long term usefulness. I imagine it's hugely helpful in critical cases where obesity is preventing necessary medical procedures from taking place for other conditions.
posted by annathea at 2:11 PM on January 8, 2009

I was prescribed phentermine for weight loss in 2001, and took it for around 2 months. It did effectively reduce my appetite, and I did become more alert (and a little jittery, but not much), and I was able to stick to a diet in ways I never had previously been able to. I went off it two months into the diet when it seemed that I was successfully losing weight; I felt I had adjusted to the diet and felt I didn't need it anymore. I continued to successfully diet for many months, and lost a large amount of weight.

I didn't regain any weight until I reverted to unhealthy eating behaviors many years later, and I still haven't regained it all. I've discussed phentermine with doctors since only to be told to avoid it -- I think it's gotten a bad name from the incessant spam mailings -- but taking it was a very positive experience for me and was effective.

Clenbuterol I know nothing about.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 4:53 PM on January 8, 2009