Diet Pills and Prescription Drugs - Weight Loss Message Board

Bjork · 01-06-2005, 12:03 PM

Hello!

I don't know if anyone here would know this, but I have some questions. I also posted this on the "Drug Interactions" board just to cover all of my bases in hopes to get some answers. I am currently taking the diet pill Stacker 3 (though that changes from time to time, but the effects seem to be generally the same), and 10 prescription drugs for depression and another mental illness. Let me see the ones I can remember at the moment: Ativan, Wellbutrin, Provigil, Abilify, Effexor, Fosamax, Reglan, Topomax, etc. That's all I can remember at the moment. Those are the major ones. Anyway, are there any drug interactions between the diet pills and the prescription drugs that I am taking for depression? Usually, shortly after I take the diet pills, I feel rather energetic but short of breath. It's like I can't get enough air into my lungs. This lasts for quite a while even though I don't take that many pills. Not even the recommended dosage sometimes. Does anyone know if the diet pills could be interacting with my other drugs to cause the breathing problems?

Bjork

~Summer~ · 01-06-2005, 02:34 PM

I'm assuming you see a psychiatrist to get these prescriptions, so it would be very wise to consult your doctor on the effects of diet pills with these other prescriptions you're taking.

Shortness of breath is not a good sign, I'm guessing that these diet pills have large amounts of caffeine in them (because that seems to be symptoms of overuse of caffeine). If you currently drink caffeinated beverages in conjunction with the diet pills, try eliminating those beverages completely. Trust me, you don't want to over do that caffeine consumption- it can really make you feel horrible & possibley increase your chances of heart attack (because of the increased heart rate when consumed). I would half the dose of the diet pill & see if there are any improvements, in addition to eliminating caffinated beverages.

Hope this helps!

Bjork · 01-06-2005, 02:45 PM

You're right, I drink 1 or 2 cups of coffee in a typical day in addition to all that stuff I take. Not too smart on my part. My psychiatrist does know about the diet pills and he said "well, take them or don't take them, that's your choice". My therapist was a little more concerned. I already have lowered my dosage to the point where I couldn't possibly take any less. I used to think that I *was* having heart attacks, but I would just hide in my room and not let anyone know... it was horrible... that was also not smart on my part. Lucky I'm still alive, I guess. I guess my only choices are to either take them and deal with it or stop taking them completely, which I don't think I can do for more than a couple of days... I don't know...

Bjork

~Summer~ · 01-06-2005, 03:17 PM

Yeah I know how that goes because I've ran into the same problems with diet pills loaded with caffeine. Maybe try decaff coffee or soda when taking the pills, because just one of these drinks can really set it off for you. After a few days of this, you may be able to resume your normal coffee consumption- because the body does seem to adjust to increased levels of caffeine.
So, maybe:
Week 1: just the pills & only decaff coffe/beverages
Week 2: pills & maybe 1 cup of caffeinated beverage
Week 3: your normal consumption

The effects may in fact taper off, just try to take slow steps like that, and see if your body will adjust to it.