Diet prescription medications are used if a patient has a serious health problems due to their weight, and perhaps their lifestyle changes has not resulted in a significant weight loss. It is very important you are aware that drugs prescribed as weight loss drugs doesn’t necessarily need to make healthy changes in way you eat and levels of activity.
Furthermore, weight loss drugs prescriptions are basically reserved for an individual that has not been unable to lose weight when dieting or performing and exercise, and those patients who have health problems because of their weight. Diet prescription medications are not for individuals who want to just lose a few pounds of weight for personal reasons.
The patient may need to meet one of the following criteria’s:
• The patient’s body mass index (BMI) needs to be more than 30
• If the patient’s body mass index (BMI) is more than 27 and the patient has a serious medical problem that is been related to obesity, perhaps such as high blood pressure or diabetes.
More importantly, before you can be treated by your doctor, your health history may need to be considered by your doctor, to establish any possible side effects the medications may have on you and also any possible interaction with the weight loss drug with every other medication the patient is taking.
However, weight loss drugs produce an average weight loss of about 5-10 percentage of the total body weight within the span of a year, when combined with a very low calorie diet and regular exercise by the patient. If the patient exercises and diets it will help with weight loss.
Research has shown that, if a patient loses about 5-10 percent of their total weight, it can help to your health as follows:
• It tends to decrease the patient blood pressure
• It tends to decrease the lipid levels in the patient
• It tends to decrease the patient blood glucose levels
• It tends to increase the patients insulin sensitivity
It is very important to have it in mind that, these medications may not work effectively well for different individuals, and if the patient stopped his or her medications, then s/he is likely to get much or almost all of the weight they lost.
Diet prescription medications are for short term use
Although, these short-term uses about less than 12 weeks and are approved, and they are as follows Diethylpropion (Tenuate), phentermine (Adipex-P), benzphetamine (Didrex) and phendimetrazine.
More often these drugs tend to be abused and as such they are classified as controlled substances due to the abuse potential associated with it. If a patient has a heart disease, hyperthyroidism or high blood pressure these drugs are not recommended to use by the patient because of the possible side effects it would have on the patient.
Diet prescription medications long term use
The following drugs are been approved for long term use for the patients, the include phentermine-topiramate (Qsymia), Orlistat (Xenical), lorcaserin (Belviq), ltrexone-bupropion (Contrave) and liraglutide (Saxenda). Also Orlistat is also available in a reduced-strength form without a prescription to the patient (Alli). Limiting the patient’s intake of dietary fat which is critical when the patient takes orlistat to minimize side effects it would have on them.
However, they were rare cases of severe liver injury that were reported in some individuals taking it after orlistat was approved. They were unable to establish no cause and effect relationship. Also Xenical and Alli labels now advises patients taking orlistat to be responsive to signs and symptoms that could indicate liver injury, such as itching, loss of appetite of the patient, yellow eyes or skin, light-colored stool, or brown urine.
Initially, Lorcaserin (Belviq) raised a lot of concerns due to it works like fenfluramine and for that reason it was withdrawn from the market because it damaged heart valves more often there is usually no evidence that Belviq damages heart valves. Also Belviq may perhaps increase heart rate too, so various individuals taking the drug may need to have their heart rate checked often enough.
Often enough the combinations of drugs such as Qsymia (phentermine and topiramate) tends to increase the risk of birth defects.
However, the Food and Drug Administration requires the manufacturer to have a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy that is (REMS). The risk evaluation and mitigation strategy is intended to alert women of the risks and also explain the need to avoid becoming pregnant while they take Qsymia.
Furthermore, Qsymia often considered a controlled substance due to one of the ingredients namely phentermine which has the potential for abuse. Also the combination of Contrave drug contains naltrexone and bupropion. Naltrexone is often used to treat alcohol and opioid dependence, while bupropion is known as an antidepressant drug that often reduces the risk of weight gain in individuals who are trying to stop smoking. In addition, Contrave drugs can also raise heart rate and blood pressure and may tend to increase the risk of seizures. Bupropion can increase the risk of suicidal thoughts and behaviors too.
Also, Liraglutide (Saxenda) is one of the newest drug to be approved for weight loss. The FDA approved it with the requirement that the manufacturer have a risk evaluation and mitigation strategy to inform doctors about the serious risks associated with Saxenda. Although Saxenda has a boxed warning stating that tumors of the thyroid gland have been observed in animal studies but that it is unknown whether Saxenda causes these tumors in humans. Unlike the other weight loss drugs, Saxenda is administration by injection is done once daily.
If a patient meets the criteria for prescription for weight loss drugs, s/he and the doctor will need to evaluate the potential benefits against the possible risks of taking the medicine. It is also very important that you consider the cost too, not all health insurance plans cover prescription weight-loss drugs. Severe effects are usually common with weight-loss drugs, which may perhaps make it hard to stick with treatment.
Furthermore, as the patients consider weight-loss drugs, they need to make sure that they made every effort to exercise often, they need to change their eating habits and also adjust any other lifestyle factors that might have contributed to their excess weight.
Moreover, diet prescription medications are not the easy answer to weight loss, but they can be a very useful tool to help an individual make the necessary diet and lifestyle changes. Which also help Keeping off the pounds they have lost, however, it is still an ongoing concern. And for many individuals, despite their efforts, may still regain the weight.
Rx Oasis is certified and licensed to dispense most diet drugs including those with restrictions such as Qsymia. We accept all manufacturer coupons and have very competitive cash prices when such medications are not covered by patient insurance. We can also provide advise on exercise, diet and over the counter supplements to reach you goals. Contact us at 813-677-6000 to schedule your meeting with one of our pharmacists.
