During the past 10 years I have put on a considerable amount of weight and my dress size has slowly crept up from a Size 16 to a size 20/22. Several things have contributed to this, firstly I had my son back in 1994 and put on weight which I never lost, (largely due to eating junk foods thinking that as I was going to get fat anyway it wouldn't matter - little did I know at that time just how much it would matter). Secondly about 2 years ago I gave up smoking - I found it incredibly difficult and to help me cope with the cravings I would reward myself with a bar of chocolate instead of a cigarette and then finally last year I was prescribed antidepressants to help me to cope with panic attacks and as they slowed down the bodies metabolism I gained around a stone in weight in about a month. Whilst I appreciate that these three factors may seem like excuses, and I suppose in a way they are, I have never been one to scoff my face with loads of chocolates and burgers etc - unfortunately, this is the image that many people paint of overweight people like myself.
Towards the end of last year I received an invitation to my brothers wedding - the wedding was to take place just outside Las Vegas in the mountains in April 2003. I have never been to America and really wanted to go, as a result of lots of scrimping and saving we managed to save enough money to go and I was delighted - except for one thing - my weight. My Auntie lives in California and for part of the holiday we will be staying with her and her stick thin daughter, they have a swimming pool and almost immediately after we told them we had booked the flights the first thing she and everybody else kept talking about was how we could use the pool - there was absolutely NO WAY that I had any intention of getting into the pool as I was and so I decided that 2003 was going to be the year that I faced my growing weight problem and did something positive about it.
I had tried diets and calorie counting etc in the past but after a month when I hadn't lost any weight I got bored and gave up, resigning myself to the fact that I was obviously destined to be large and therefore I might as well face facts and get on with my life as a larger person. Because of my previous failures I was determined that this time I wanted to take a more positive step that would involve not only myself but also my GP - I felt that if I got her backing and had to attend regular weigh ins I stood a better chance of succeeding.
Just over a month ago I visited my GP and explained that I wanted to lose weight, that I had failed before and that I had heard of a weight loss pill that a friend was taking that was apparently very successful and I wondered if there was any possibility that I could try it too.
My GP explained to me that there are two types of weight loss tablets, the first type act as an appetite suppressant and mess about with the brain - apparently many users lose weight successfully with these tablets but immediately they come off them they tend to put it all back on again.
The second type are fat absorbers - they act by absorbing the fat from the foods that you eat and therefore the fat passes through the bowels and is not stored in the body. I explained that these were the tablets that my friend was taking and asked if I could be prescribed them too. I was told that before I could be prescribed the tablets I had to fit a certain criteria before the Government would allow her to prescribe the tablets to me - ie I had to have a Body Mass Index of a certain amount or above and if I was considered to be obese, (I hate that word, and still don't consider myself to be obese - I'm not huge, just overweight), then she could prescribe them to me.
The next step was for me to be weighed - I have no intention of telling you what I weighed - but I can tell you that I was horrified at my weight - I hadn't stepped on a pair of scales for a good few years and really wasn't expecting to weigh anywhere near as much as I did. The next step was for my GP to work out my Body Mass Index - she did this on the computer
and then advised me that for my height and weight my Body Mass Index was high enough for me to be able to be prescribed the weight loss tablets.
The tablets I was prescribed are called Orlistat, they are better known as Xenical which I believe is the brand name.
I was prescribed 1 months worth of tablets and was told that my I should expect to lose around 1-2 lb per week. Xenical isn't a quick way to lose weight but apparently because the weight is lost gradually over a period of time it is much more likely to stay off.
My GP advised me that she wanted me to lose 2 kg within the first month and when I was nearing the end of the first month I had to return to be weighed and to chat about how I was getting on. As well as taking the tablets I also had to follow a low fat diet, (no foods containing more than 5% fat), in order to work this out I just had to view all product packaging and ensure that the fat content was no more than 5g per 100g - as most food products have this information listed it is very easy to work out what you can and can't have. However, I was horrified at how much fat most of my favourite foods contained and initially I had to spend a good few hours traipsing around the local supermarkets checking out all the low fat options - many products describe themselves as being low fat but they still contain considerably more than 5% fat so it is very important to check the nutritional information.
Rather than jumping straight in with both feet I decided to spend a couple of days trying to carrying out research about Xenical on the Internet and checking out food products to ensure that I was prepared when I was ready to start taking the tablets. Xenical have a very informative website but it did not contain any patients views on the medicine and how it had worked for them, (neither could I find any other site that contained this information). Although I knew somebody who was taking Xenical at that stage I didn't want to tell her that I was too and therefore I would have liked to have read about other patients experiences so that I knew what to expect before I started the tablets - however, that was not to be so I decided to throw caution to the wind and hope for the best.
My GP advised me that one of the major side effects of Xenical is that if you eat too much fat you will suffer with diohrreah and wet farts, (disgusting I know but this is what I was told). This alone was enough of a incentive to me to make sure that I take great care when deciding what to eat as I have no intention of suffering from wet farts!!
Having conducted my food research I decided to go shopping on the Friday and start taking the tablets on the Saturday, that way if I ate something that contained too much fat I would at least be at home and therefore wouldn't need to worry about being out and having to dash for the loo.
For the first couple of hours after taking my first tablet I was frightened to go out - I needed to buy a birthday present but I was so worried that I may suffer a diarrhoea attack that I didn't dare leave the house. Two/three hours passed and I was ok so I had much lunch and a couple of hours after the second tablet I was still ok so I decided to go out - luckily I was fine and have been most of the time ever since.
**HOW DOES XENICAL WORK**
Basically you will normally be prescribed 4 weeks worth of tablets at a time, that is a total of 84 tablets as you take three tablets per day.
Every time you eat a meal that contains fat you have to take a tablet, either with food or up to an hour after food. If you miss a meal or eat a meal that does not contain any fat - ie a fat free yoghurt and a piece of fruit - then you can miss out the tablet as Xenical only works in the presence of dietary fat.
Xenical works by absorbing approximately 30% of the fat that you eat, therefore this fat does not get digested and cannot be used as dietary fat or as a source of energy, hence you then begin to use stored fat as a source of energy and as you are burning off stored fat eventually weight loss will follow.
Basically if you eat too much fat then you will suffer with diarrhoea, wet farts and flatulence. You will know if you have had a meal that contains too much fat as when you next pass a stool you will probably need to get to the bathroom quickly, pass loose stools and be aware that the stool is very oily has an orange colouring - Xenical colours the fat orange.
Fortunately I haven't suffered from a wet fart - however, I have suffered with a sudden need to go to the loo and if I have had a meal containing too much fat I know about it. This in itself is a good deterrent and certainly makes you more aware of ensuring that the food you are eating is low in fat. If you are going to have something which is higher in fat, (e.g., close to 5%), then it is wise to eat it with something that is relatively low in fat, for example you can have a couple of low fat sausages each containing 4.9g of fat but it is wise to have them with a plain jacket potato that contains virtually no fat rather than with low fat chips.
I was advised that I should expect to lose 1-2 lb's per week. During my first month my GP told me that she wanted me to lose 4lb and I thought great that will be nice and easy. However, you should be aware that whilst you will lose weight it may not fall off as quickly as you had hoped. As I was starting a low fat diet, plus taking the Xenical and attending an aerobics class - all of which I wasn't previously doing - I expected to lose a lot of weight very quickly. After the first week I hadn't lost a single lb and was quite despondent - I telephoned the Doctors surgery and was advised that this wasn't uncommon - most people don't lose any weight in the first 1-2 weeks. During weeks 2 - 3 I lost about 3lb in as many days and was beginning to feel a lot more positive - at this stage I set myself a goal to lose 7lb in the first month.
I went to be weighed yesterday and I had lost 6lb so I didn't quite make my half a stone. Initially I was quite disappointed that I hadn't lost more weight especially as I was attending aerobics.
When I mentioned this to my GP she advised me that whilst aerobics was good for me and would help me become more toned, it will also build muscles and therefore weight gain will be experienced - however this weight gain will come from muscle weight and not fat weight and therefore this is not a bad thing. She advised me that by exercising I would become more toned and therefore I should carry on, she also said that even if I did put on some weight through muscle building I should still begin to notice a difference in my shape and my clothing should start to feel looser.
She also told me that she had only expected me to lose 4lb and that I had already exceeded her expectations and she was very proud of me - that made me feel much better. Unfortunately the weight loss process with Xenical is a slow process but because of this it is a much more effective way to lose weight and keep the weight off after dieting so it is worthwhile taking things slowly and succeeding rather than crash dieting and then putting the weight back on within a couple of months of losing it.
Xenical should be prescribed by your GP after conducting a medical to ensure that the medication is suitable for you, you will need to have a Body Mass Index above the level that it should be for your weight and height - your GP will advise you if this is the case after checking your weight and height.
Xenical is not suitable for everybody and should not be taken by children or by people who are pregnant or breast feeding. If you are taking other regular medication then Xenical may not be for you either as the medicines may react when mixed.
I believe that Xenical is available without a prescription from many online pharmacies but I would not advise you to purchase it without consulting your GP first. Setting aside medical suitability Xenical without a prescription is very expensive and a months supply is likely to cost you around £84 - £100, on prescription from your GP it will cost £6.20 or the current NHS prescription charge.
**THINGS TO CONSIDER BEFORE RUSHING TO YOUR GP**
Before you decide that Xenical is the answer to all your prayers there are a lot of questions that you should ask yourself such as.
Do I seriously want to lose weight - Xenical is a long term programme - whilst you may only be on the tablets for 3 months or you will most likely need to continue dieting after the initial three months. Most GP's will prescribe Xenical for a few months and then once they are happy that you have changed the way that you eat they will take you off the tablets and you will have to continue with the low fat diet in order to continue losing weight - if this sounds like too much trouble then Xenical is probably not for you.
Dieting and losing weight is not just about six months or so of calorie and fat counting - to successfully lose weight you will need to change your whole way of eating and although once you have reached your target weight you can happily eat the odd sweet and burger you must be prepared to continue making sure that you stick with low fat foods and follow a sensible and healthy diet or you are very likely to just put the weight straight back on.
Before your GP will prescribe you Xenical you will often be asked to prove that you want to lose weight by being told to go away and lose 2.5kg by yourself - if you go back to see your GP when you have lost the weight then if they are happy you still meet the required criteria they will prescribe the drug for you. Don't expect to walk in and come out clutching a prescription as it probably won't happen.
If you are serious you will have to be prepared to give up chocolate, puddings, crisps and many of your other favourite foods for a considerable amount of time. You can cheat and miss a tablet or two if you are going out for a special meal but you should remember that this will obviously have an affect on your weight loss for the month and therefore it is notwise to miss a tablet unless you are facing a very special occasion. Many restaurants offer low fat alternative meals nowadays and even if you are going out for a meal there is no reason why you can't enjoy a nice meal - just be prepared to experiment and that way you can still enjoy eating out but know that you are eating healthily at the same time.
**OTHER INFORMATION**
If you forget to take your medicine then you should take it as soon as you remember, provided that this is within one hour of your last meal - if it isn't then just skip the tablet and continue as normal with your next dose. DO NOT take more than one tablet at a time.
It is important to follow a healthy and well balanced diet, however even if you are eating lots of fruit and veg it is often worthwhile taking a multi-vitaminsupplement as well to ensure that your body is receiving the correct amount of vitamins as Xenical reduces the absorption of supplements of some fat soluble nutrients. If you are going to take multi-vitamin supplements you should take them before going to bed or at least two hours after taking your last Xenical tablet to ensure that if has been fully absorbed.
As with all medication Xenical may cause side effects - things to look out for are itching, rash, wheals, severe difficulty in breathing, nausea and feeling unwell. These symptoms are rare but if you should suffer with any of them you should consult your GP immediately. Mild side effects such as oily stools, diarrhoea and flatulence are to be expected if you have eaten too much fat.
**DO I RECOMMEND IT?**
Obviously I am not in a position to recommend that you try Xenical as this is a decision for your GP to make. However, I would say that since I have been taking Xenical, (just starting my 5th week today), I have found that life hasn't been too difficult following a low fat diet, especially as Weight Watchers and many of the major Supermarkets now offer low fat alternative foods. I am pleased with my 6lb weight loss and hope that by April I will have lost a stone and a half and be down to a size 16 - that is my goal but even if I don't achieve it I will know that whatever weight I have lost will be better that not losing anything at all and I will not only look better for it I will also be more healthier. I have purchased a couple of items in a Size 18 and that feels so good - so I hope that I will reach my goal by April.
Since writing this opinion a fellow Ciao member advised me about a Medical Assistance Plan, (MAP) that Roche Pharmaceuticals run. I telephoned the freephone number that I was given as was greeted by a very helpful nurse who explained the MAP to me. Basically the programme is run by nurses and they are available to answer any questions you may have. If you are already taking Xenical then you can register on the programme by giving them your name, address and telephone number as well as your current weight, height, GP name and goal weight etc. In order to register on the programme you will need to have your medication to hand as you will need to quote the batch number to the nurse before you can be registered.
The nurse explained to me how Xenical works, she advised me that basically I should eat no more than 30-40g of fat per day and to break that down further I should aim at eating around 10/12g of fat per meal. I should be eating around 1400 calories per day and should be taking the Xenical before, after or with each main meal. Some of this information I did already know - although I wasn't aware of the total amount of fat I should be eating per day - I thought I could have as much as I liked provided it was under 5% per item I was eating.
The nurse also advised me that now I am registered on the MAP programme I will receive regular telephone calls from them to see how I am progressing and to help me with any queries I may have. I will receive my first call in two weeks time and then they will probably be monthly. She also asked if I had an answer machine if it would be ok to leave a message and what time of day I would like to receive my call.
At the end of the registration process the nurse advised me that I will be sent product information, recipes, a list of frequently asked questions, a food diary to help me record the foods I am eating and ensuring that they do not contain too much fat or too many calories and finally information that will help me to calculate the amount of fat in foods.
Today, 25th February 2003 I received my first telephone call from the Roche Map Programme team. They rang to check that I was getting on ok with the tablets, asked if I had any queries and took down details of my weight loss to date. I was told that in a couple of weeks, when I've completed my first month on the Plan, I will receive my first newsletter, along with a form to enable me to claim a free Collins Book which details the fat content in all foods. After two months I will receive a leaflet which details fat content in restaurants and cafes etc for use when eating out.
I will receive another call in two weeks time and monthly thereafter - the MAP scheme has proved invaluable to me and Roche should be commended for running such an excellent support scheme - I only wish that the scheme was more widely known about as I didn't find it for a month and even then I only found it by chance.
If you are currently taking Xenical or would like further information the freephone number to register on the MAP scheme is 0800 731 7138.
I have also received the following comment from TrueSatan (David) and think that this may be of interest to readers too. Thanks David.
Orlistat is often prescribed to people with diabetes and those with hypertension or high cholesterol and I note your comments about multi vitamins but I thought it might help if I quoted from the British Diabetic Association’s latest journal as they are a bit more specific “Because Orlistat (Xenical) also inhibits the absorption of some fat-soluble vitamins (vitamins A, D, E and K) and beta-carotene which are essential to a healthy diet, people taking Orlistat must also take vitamin and beta-carotene supplements.”
I hope to update this opinion every month so that you can watch my progress - wish me luck!
**5TH MARCH 2003**
I have been on Xenical for 8 weeks now and have so far lost 11 lb - this is the only diet I have successfully lost weight on and whilst weight loss is slow I am pleased to be able to see that the weight is coming off.
**4TH APRIL 2003**
I have now been on Xenical for 12 weeks and have so far lost 16 lb - I'm really pleased with my success although I'm coming off the tablets for about 3 weeks as I'm going on a holiday of a lifetime and don't want to spoil it by worrying about what I can and can't eat - I just hope that when I get back I'll manage to lose the weight I put on quickly.
**JANUARY 2004**
I returned from America last April and was delighted not to have put on very much weight.
I continued to take Xenical for a few months but in August I became ill will a strep infection and my GP wouldn't prescribe the tablets to me whilst I was ill so I had to come off them.
Unfortunately, I'd also experienced some of the nasty side effects from the tablets and was in no hurry to go back on them. Another down side I had noted was that during the time I had stopped taking the Xencial and eating normally I put on a huge amount of weight and now weighed nearly a stone heavier than I had done when I started the Xenical.
I was due to recommence the Xenical tablets in October 2003 but decided to try a different approach in the hope that I would find a diet that fitted in with my lifestyle better. In October 2003 I joined Weight Watchers, in 12 weeks I have lost 20lb and am finding the diet easy to follow - I have written a separate review about Weight Watchers so if you are researching various weight loss programmes I would recommend you read my views about Weight Watchers.
**DISCLAIMER**
The above is a detailed account of my experiences with Xenical, I cannot advise you whether Xenical is for you or not - however, if you feel that this may help you then I would advise you to make an appointment with your GP to discuss it further.
I hope that the above has been of interest and of help to you but if there are any further questions you have that I can help with please leave me a message and I will answer if I can.
Advantages: Steady, safe weight loss. No side effects if used properly. Disadvantages: Loose stools and wind (but only if you don't follow the advice given).
EliseNT 03.12.2006 (03.12.2006)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Xenical
Advantages: Losing weight is easy and you don't have to give up your favourite foods, great support offered, lots of local meetings during the day and eveing Disadvantages: Weekly fee can make it an expensive way to lose weight
junkboxjules 18.12.2003 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Weight Watchers
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Feb 10th, 2003
(Jan 3rd, 2004)
exceptional by (2%):
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