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Ditto there Grace, love the wry humour.(Chuckle)

Paris im glad reductil worked for you, but i still think it should be banned. I was ok for 3 months before i had any problems, i lost a lot of weight too. But id rather be fat than dead, and boy have i been near to that and all because of slimming pills, i have to take 6 tablets a day now, probably for life, because of reductil, have high blood pressure, constant palpatations, a weird heart beat, get very tired, dizzy etc, its just not worth it.

You know I read these things about Reductil and other drugs that have caused permanent problems for people and am stunned that any doctor would prescribe them, when they must know there are dangers. Even on the Telly ad, the fine print at the end mentins not to use them if you have any heart or blood pressure problems, and surely the GP ought to be checking all these things thoroughly first.
So, here is my theory as to why they keep prescribing it. Because they have been indoctrinated into believing that anything, any long term concerns or short term symptoms is better than being fat. So what if it wrecks your heart, at least you are 30kg lighter. It's like when they iummediately say you have to lose 30kg to get an operation, no matter how serious or urgent, this seems to be the motto. Forget the fact that there are surgeons operating on huge people successfully all the time doing gastric bypasses both with open and laproscopic methods, nope you gotta lose the 30kg or else. Nuts.

Jess, you should ask your doctor to do or refer you for an ECG, a tracing of your heart rhythm, to determine if there has been any damage to your heart. I can't believe that your doctor took this so lightly. Maryanne, your comment about how GPs should check for heart or blood pressure problems is right but remember that there are many cardiac problems that won't surface by taking someone's blood pressure or listening to their heart and often it is not until there is a crisis situation that the cardiac problem comes to light so drugs like Reductil are not safe for anyone because no one can necessarily predict when a cardiac problem might strike. So Paris, take note.

Thank's AJ I am going to my Dr this week for my usual 6 month visit and am going to have a talk to him about how I am feeling as I am still feeling a bit "fluttery" in my upper chest, am aware of my heartbeat at times, have been feeling a bit light headed at times and have got a bit of a cough. It could be because I am feeling a bit uptight about a few things, it could be the start of menopause and the light headedness could be a bit of dehydration ( I find drinking enough water when I am on the road a bit difficult) but I would like to have any possible side effects from the reductil ruled out, and I must admit if he doesn't seem to take my concerns seriously I am going to have to think about changing my Dr. There are some women Dr's in the practice and the idea of having a woman Dr through menopause appeals.

Hi everyone, this is my first posting. I wanted to tell you about my experience on Reductyl. I only took it for two months, and I found it to be very speedy- I did have a fast heartbeat, and trouble sleeping. I didn't lose weight on it. I did start smoking again. I found that it really triggered the addictive urge, and although I didn't want to eat, I did want to smoke ciggies. I was also grumpy, and quite anxious. I also had headaches. I recon it is dodgy stuff!

I was on Reductil for 6 months about 3 1/2 years ago. All great for the first
4 months. Went from 118kg to 97kg ( never been under 100kg all my adult life!!!! ) then I stopped losing weight. My doc suggested I try even more exercise ( walking 5 km most days ) and eating even less but nothing helped. Then the intense leg cramps started, mostly at night. They were so bad I could not walk for 30 mins after an attack. The doc reckoned that this had nothing to do with the drug but I had never suffered before. I rang the agents in NZ for Reductil and asked what else I could do to keep the weight loss up. He suggested I go off the drug until I had gained 5 kilo and start it again. I asked what would happen if I stopped taking the drug for good and he said I would put the weight back on but I stopped anyway. Yes over the next 12 months I stacked on all the weight I had lost even though I was walking every day and eating carefully. Next thing I was dianosed with a heart murmer. Was it worth it, NO.
The insomnia, heart palpitations, cold and hot sweats, haedaches, severe leg cramps and cost in new clothes.

And this story is all too common. It really worries me that it is still being prescribed. I was ear-wigging on the conversation between two young women at the gym I go to, the other day, and one was saying she had recently started taking to Reductil and enthused to her friend that she had lost several kgs, and was bounding in renewed energy, and why did the other lass not give it a try as well? I felt very awkward... one part of me wanted to interupt and say, " No, no NO! you might be loosing weight now, but long term you could be inducing heart damage." The other part of me told myself that I would probably only be thought of as an old fuddy -duddy putting a damper on things, and to mind my own business. It was really hard though to keep my mouth shut but I felt really sad at the thought here were 2 young mums - silly part of it was, neither of them were what I would consider to be overweight like me. Gawd... to be a size 14.. one was probably not even that!.