What is Xenical?

Xenical is a prescription-only tablet that can be taken to speed up weight loss. Xenical claims that those who would normally lose one or two pounds a week on a normal diet could lose three or four pounds if taking Xenical at the same time. Ideally it's suitable for those who are obese with a body mass index of 30 or more (see www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi/ to calculate your BMI) or for those who are overweight with serious health problems such as a heart condition. You can buy these tablets over the internet however it is inadvisable to do so not least because you can't be sure what you're really buying.

What does Xenical do?

I started taking Xenical in January 2008 having put on a bit too much weight over the Christmas season. I was already fat to start with so gaining six pounds really did matter. Ordinarily, a GP will ask you to go away and lose a few kilos before prescribing Xenical but this wasn't necessary in my case because I'd lost some weight just before Christmas. There's no problem with prescribing this drug before someone has lost weight, but GPs are advised to ensure they only prescribe this drug to those who are committed to use it properly. Otherwise, it would be a waste of NHS time and funding. It's important to get weighed and checked by your GP each month to make sure the prescription is still working for you too; you might not get a repeat otherwise.

The side-effects of this drug are unfortunately everything others describe them to be and they take a little getting used to in all honesty! The wind is bearable, as are the oily stools. But when you get a rush of undigested fat cells rush through your system, that's when the side-effects start to get a bit uncomfortable. That said; it serves to remind you extremely well just why you shouldn't have eaten that chocolate bar! Xenical isn't supposed to have any effect if taken more than one hour after eating but I actually feel it does have effect on in between meal snacks at times even if its minimally so. Extremely fatty eaters will quickly find themselves unable to eat anywhere near as much fat as they've become accustomed to because of these oily diarrhoea bouts; but that is surely a helpful side effect for someone needing a good shove out of the biscuit tin?

My only minor concern with taking this drug is that I've been feeling unwell for about six weeks now. I started taking Xenical three weeks before I began to feel unwell so I would like to emphasise that this may or may not be related. The leaflet that comes with the tablets does suggest consulting your GP to see if you should take a multivitamin alongside taking this medication though my own GP felt it wasn't necessary. I've had a series of blood tests conducted this week to see if there is in fact an underlying cause for my fatigue and poor immune system. If there isn't, I will try taking a multivitamin and update my review with my findings later on.

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