Ahhh at only 18, I am guilty of trying a diet pill. For a week and a half I took some in secret. Luckily, I came to my senses rather quickly, I threw the pills out. I just figured that if I was so ashamed of taking diet pills that I couldn't let anyone know, then it wasn't worth it to be taking them. I look back now and think to myself "You're an idiot for wasting your money but I'm proud of you for making the right decision in the end!" Lesson learned!

ok well I went a week without the pills and maintained the same diet - lost 3 pounds! So yeah it looks like they make little difference! That'll save me bucks!

I am going to defend Alli also. I'm a pharmacy manager, I sell it all the time. Each sale is made after a 15 minute long (or more) consultation with the patient, with agreed dates for them to come back. It is under very strict licensing over who can take it - above 28 bmi, commitment to change lifestyle etc.

It was originally a prescription drug, so it has gone through so many quality control and efficacy trials. It works - simple as - if taken correctly. It stops about 25% of the enzymes that break down fat from being produced, so it passes out of your body. Only about 1-3% of the drug is absorbed into the blood stream through digestion, and this has shown no side effects on other conditions, or interaction with other meds (except for certain liver problems, where trials are not conclusive).

The fat passes naturally out of your system. For the first couple of days, you might feel some stomach discomfort, or excess wind, as your body gets used to a change in diet and the capsules. The Alli programme is very very strict about fat intake - only up to 19g per meal. Any more, and you run the risk of the side effects - meaning being stuck on the toilet for a while! If you do not eat more than 19g of fat per meal, it is physically impossible for Alli to cause the toilet problems unless you have an allergy or something to the drug. It work only on fat, and only on a certain quantity of fat. If you cheat, you will suffer the consequences. A lot of the time people don't realise how much fat they eat, and so suffer and blame the capsules. The caps are not to blame, its fat consumption that is to blame.

This medication never says it is a magic pill. It is called Alli because it is just that - an ally to help you lose weight. It stresses in all starter packs and all packaging that you must maintain a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy and exercise. It even gives tips and recipes. It tells you that you must work hard to lose weight, and that Alli will just help you along the way if used correctly. It will stop your body absorbing around 600-900 calories per week if used correctly.

It is not for everyone. Some people have no need for it. Some people don't understand how to use it and suffer side effects, or don't lose weight because they don't alter their lifestyle. Fair enough, that is their choice. But for people who want to get started, or who are struggling to start and want a bit of a helping hand, it can be just what they need. Most people don't reach the full six month course of using it, they try it for a month or two, find that their weight loss is good, and manage to maintain weight loss without, which is great.

Obesity is such a problem to health and to various health organizations that programmes like this are going to be of massive benefit.

Either way, Alli is safe, effective, and the side effects should not bother you unless you don't adhere to the programme. For those taking it, I hope it really works out for you. For those who want to take it, have a word with a GP or a pharmacist, they will be more than happy to help. For those who don't understand it, I hope my little rant (sorry about the length!) has cleared up a few points. And for those who don't agree with it, again that is your choice, and I take my hat off to you for losing weight the good old fashioned and effective way

If you have the willpower to restrict yourself to a certain amount of fat per meal so you won't sh*t yourself while taking Alli, then you would have the willpower to do so without.

If you don't, the side effects of Alli will kick in full force. To me it's kind of like Anoerexia (sp), only from the other end. Like people who take laxatives to lose weight.

In addition, Alli doesn't know healthy fats from unhealthy ones, and will hinder the absorption of fats essential to your body. And if you are on any kind of medication (including the pill), and you go over your 'fat allowance' and end up 'glued to the loo', one of the side effects of Alli is that any medication that is digested into the bloodstream with a delay (meaning it makes it into the lower digestive tract - a lot of medicines do that), will most likely be passed through without ever having an effect on your system.

And just for the record....I know somebody who started taking diet pills when she was 19. She tried every pill in the book, most of them prescribed by doctors. She has taken Alli since it came out, also prescribed by her doctor. She is now 54, and since she was 19, she has piled a shocking 10 stone (140 pounds) on a 5"2 frame, in addition to the 11 stone (154 lbs) she was when she started. She has no willpower whatsoever, and she has ended up in hospital three times so far with dehydration and other issues. Last time she collapsed at work and was brought to the hospital and they told her that she was actually, despite the fact that she's so overweight, malnourished due to constantly taking Alli.

She has stopped taking it now, but has been told that it could be up to 12 months until her digestive system will completely recover from what she has done to it.

So....if you have the willpower to restrict what you're eating, have a healthy lifestyle and exercise, then you don't need Alli (or any other pill). If you don't have the willpower to do that, Alli (and similar stuff) is going to do you more harm than good, and it simply won't work, other than glue your butt firmly to the porcelain, mess with your insides, and probably screw your digestion up for the foreseeable future....

Hmmm...nah. I think I'll just keep sticking with healthy food and exercise and let others have embarrassing accidents in public.....*lol*

And on a side note - I think every doctor and pharmacist, and whoever else sells this stuff, should be forced to take it themselves for a week first. Just to make sure that they really know what they are talking about......

Two points:

1 - echoing San, if you have the willpower and discipline to limit your fat intake to 19g per meal, then you probably don't need the medication at all. 57grams of fat per day (assuming 3 meals/day) is not really all that much, IMO. If you can control your diet to that degree, you shouldn't need to fool around with medications.

2 - 600-900 kcal per week doesn't sound like much, especially considering the effects. That's what - 1 pound every 4-6 weeks. Is it really worth it?

I've been taking Alli, since I started Dieting, I can say honestly I've had no side effects, but saying that I don't really follow the Fat content in the food I am eating so I could be eating less than the advised amount. I follow carbs and calories mainly. I am going to be continuing using Alli I think as if they do work I am not having any side effects and it's an extra boost I guess.

if it really works i don't mind.

I won't even do diets, much less diet pills. So my answer is no.

Honestly, if there were pills out there that *REALLY* worked,and guaranteed no long-term side-effects (There have been weight loss drugs that have caused terrible things to happen. I'm watching a woman I know die of pulmonary hypertension which has been linked to certain diet pills) I would do it without hesitation.


But, I don't believe quick fix weight loss pills exist, so that'd be a no to your pills.

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This is what I use - the pros are there are no side effects but on the downside its expensive

Just curious, i've never used diet pills. I would think that if you're taking them as a shortcut (lets be honest, most diet pill users would rather take a pill than make permanent lifestyle changes) once you stopped taking them all that weight would come back with a vengeance. You cant take the pills forever.