Is Phentermine Safe?

Diet and exercise alone may not help you reach your weight goals. And it’s not because you lack the willpower to eat less and exercise more. Your body is physiologically designed to hold on to fat and fights you every step of the way when you attempt to drop those extra pounds.

At Weston Medical Health & Wellness in Weston, Florida, our medical weight-loss expert, Dr. Andrea Bretal, knows firsthand that diets don’t work for everyone, especially for those with obesity. We use many tools to help our patients reach their goals, including weight-loss medications like phentermine.

Phentermine helps with weight reduction by decreasing your appetite so you eat less. Though weight-loss medications benefit many people, it’s not the right treatment for all patients.

Here, we want to talk about phentermine, how it works, and who can safely take it.

About phentermine

Phentermine is a prescription weight-loss medication. It’s in a class of drugs called anorectics. The medication helps control appetite by increasing levels of the chemicals in the brain that help with hunger control.

These chemicals make you feel less hungry and help you feel full soon after you start eating. By controlling your appetite, phentermine helps you eat less so you can lose weight.

Phentermine is available as an immediate-release tablet that you take up to three times a day, 30 minutes before you eat, or as an extended-release capsule you take once a day.

Phentermine and weight loss

Phentermine helps you lose weight by decreasing your desire to eat. It works best when combined with a balanced eating plan and exercise program.

Phentermine is FDA-approved for short-term use. Most people only need to take the hunger-reducing medication for 3-6 weeks, but you can take it for 12 weeks.

Can phentermine help me?

If you’re overweight and you can’t reach your weight goals with diet and exercise alone, then phentermine may work for you. We don’t recommend phentermine if you have a history of heart disease, uncontrolled hypertension, or glaucoma.

Though only for short-term use, phentermine causes side effects you may find unpleasant, including:

Difficulty sleeping
Restlessness
Headaches
Dry mouth
Constipation
Diarrhea

Phentermine may also increase your heart rate and blood pressure, as well as make you feel dizzy or short of breath. We ask our patients who take phentermine to contact us right away if they experience any unpleasant side effects so we can make adjustments to their plan.

Phentermine is a safe weight-loss medication when taken as prescribed. If you can't take weight-loss medication, we may try lipotropic shots, which contain nutrients that improve how your body metabolizes fat.

If you’re struggling to reach your weight goals, don’t give up. Call our office today at 954-466-9679 or request an appointment online to schedule a consultation with our weight-management specialist who can talk to you about all of your weight-loss options.