Meridia: Prescription Medication for Quick Weight Loss

Meridia, the brand name for generic sibutramine, promotes rapid weight loss by suppressing your appetite. In fact, with regular and proper use, sibutramine helps you feel contented with very little food. Your doctor will advise you about specific details related to your condition, but several rules always apply: First, always take your medication at the same time each day, so that you body makes it a part of your diurnal rhythms. Second, because your body easily becomes habituated to Meridia, you must not abruptly stop taking it; you will experience severe withdrawal symptoms. Just as importantly, however, because Meridia’s action resembles the action of amphetamines, do not take more than your prescription dictates, and do not continue taking the drug longer than your physician advises. And if you have a history of amphetamine or cocaine abuse, tell your doctor, so that she may find a more appropriate prescription for your situation.

Benefits of Meridia

Physicians emphasize that Meridia is just one piece of a three-part weight-loss regimen, and they stress that only patients more than 15% above their proper weight or Body Mass Index should take Meridia. Patients taking Meridia absolutely must comply with their physicians’ dietary requirements, and they must stay on their exercise programs.

One promising study indicated, however, Meridia may become the weight-loss medication of choice for weight-loss patients who also suffer COPD. Despite Meridia’s contribution to heart palpitations and arrhythmia in about 5% of users, no COPD sufferers reported heart problems, and all of them reported significant weight loss with only minimal exercise. One participant in the Meridia/COPD study reported exceptional results with a combination of low-fat and low-carbohydrate diet, twice-daily yoga practice, and regular doses of Meridia; both her weight and her COPD “exacerbations” dramatically diminished.

Meridia warnings

Like all Endocannsbinoid System controllers, Meridia carries risk of psychological side effects. Some patients suffer moderate to severe symptoms of depression, including suicidal ideation. If you take anti-depressants of any kind, you and your physician seriously should consider alternatives to Meridia, because it carries exceptional risk of interaction with serotonin reuptake inhibitors; Xenical represents a far more viable alternative, because it works through the digestive system rather than the brain and hypothalamus.

Aracelli O’Neill, Certified Nurse Practitioner, cautions against relying on the drug too heavily. “Taking Meridia or any of the drugs in this family, you must make sure you remain properly hydrated. The warning labels do not always detail the diuretic effects of these drugs, and they can dehydrate you to the point your muscles cramp and you experience other severe symptoms.” O’Neill goes on to warn, “Follow the healthy diet your doctor outlined when she prescribed the drug; you gain no added benefit from starving yourself. We see Meridia patients in the ER who have eaten practically nothing for the duration of their prescriptions, and they are in the early stages of scurvy and malnutrition. Remember that, when you starve yourself, your body hordes calories; you slow your weight loss when you try some extreme fast in addition to your drug.”