# Orlistat



## Lucyr (Dec 28, 2022)

I was prescribed this after speaking to the hospital diabetes doctor on the phone. I wasn’t really keen on starting it to be honest after reading online as I have only found very negative reviews of it that honestly sound terrifying. 

I have decided to give it a go, if only so I can say yes I tried that. I took it for 1-2 days before Christmas, then had a break as visiting family and have started it again today. 

It works by reducing the amount of fat you absorb from food and encouraging your body to pass some of the fat. The warnings around it are all pretty dire toilet related potentials, which sound embarrassing and distressing. 

Today I’ve taken 1 with each meal. Food hasn’t been ideal as away for Christmas and I can’t weigh myself for a few days yet. You’re advised to eat 10-15g fat per meal, and you don’t take it if a meal doesn’t contain fat as it won’t work. Today I had 10g fat in the morning, 14g in the afternoon and 20-30g (couldn’t weigh food so not too sure) in the evening meal. 

No side effects or differences in toilet habits at all today so not sure if it’s doing anything or not. Did have a bit of an uncomfortable “eaten too much” type of feeling after evening meal, though the portion wasn’t too large. It did contain more fat than it advised but I wasn’t cooking so was tricky. 

So far so good but see how it goes over the next few days. I’ll skip it for    any meals where I need to be out of the house until I am more confident about how it works for me, but take it when I’ll be in for now.


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## Leadinglights (Dec 28, 2022)

Lucyr said:


> I was prescribed this after speaking to the hospital diabetes doctor on the phone. I wasn’t really keen on starting it to be honest after reading online as I have only found very negative reviews of it that honestly sound terrifying.
> 
> I have decided to give it a go, if only so I can say yes I tried that. I took it for 1-2 days before Christmas, then had a break as visiting family and have started it again today.
> 
> ...


It sounds a bit like the XLS Medical products which are advertised as doing something similar. I have never tried them.


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## Lucyr (Dec 28, 2022)

Leadinglights said:


> It sounds a bit like the XLS Medical products which are advertised as doing something similar. I have never tried them.


Think the ingredients in those are different but the idea is the same. The non-prescription version of orlistat is called Alli and that is half the strength of orlistat.

As I’m counting calories and trying to reduce weight with it, I’m not sure how I can tell whether the orlistat is making a difference or not. I’d expect to lose weight even if I wasn’t taking it. I didn’t find much experiences of it on the forum though so wanted to write something about it for future reference.


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## Jenny65 (Dec 29, 2022)

Lucyr said:


> I was prescribed this after speaking to the hospital diabetes doctor on the phone. I wasn’t really keen on starting it to be honest after reading online as I have only found very negative reviews of it that honestly sound terrifying.
> 
> I have decided to give it a go, if only so I can say yes I tried that. I took it for 1-2 days before Christmas, then had a break as visiting family and have started it again today.
> 
> ...


My daughter had success with Orlistat, it really helped her but she was advised not to eat too much fat, and to be honest the consequences if she did were awful so works as a deterrent to eating too much, I wont give TMI just say orange oil and leaks in the same sentence x


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## Lucyr (Dec 29, 2022)

Jenny65 said:


> My daughter had success with Orlistat, it really helped her but she was advised not to eat too much fat, and to be honest the consequences if she did were awful so works as a deterrent to eating too much, I wont give TMI just say orange oil and leaks in the same sentence x


I’ve still not experienced it yet, I did today switch to taking the tablets before meals rather than just after. I forgot the breakfast one, had fat in lunch and dinner. Dinner was about 30g fat and did give an uncomfortable feeling, like the ate too much feeling again, but nothing like I’ve read. Still early days but i think it seems my limit is nearer 30g fat per meal rather than the 15g I’ve read though.


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## Sarahp (Jan 1, 2023)

I took this for a number of months, I got symptoms once over 20g fat a day but do have bowel disorders so may be more sensitive.


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## Lucyr (Jan 1, 2023)

20g fat per day? Wow that is very restrictive. 25g fat in a meal seems totally fine for me, 30g gives some discomfort but no symptoms, haven’t tried higher than that. Haven’t been taking consistently yet though with being away for Christmas so will start doing so now.


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## Sarahp (Jan 1, 2023)

Lucyr said:


> 20g fat per day? Wow that is very restrictive. 25g fat in a meal seems totally fine for me, 30g gives some discomfort but no symptoms, haven’t tried higher than that. Haven’t been taking consistently yet though with being away for Christmas so will start doing so now.


Yes per day, as you’re not using it to prescribed level then may be why you haven’t had symptoms yet, needed nighttime pads for mine. It’s designed basically to put you off fatty food and does it work.


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## Lucyr (Jan 1, 2023)

Sarahp said:


> Yes per day, as you’re not using it to prescribed level then may be why you haven’t had symptoms yet, needed nighttime pads for mine. It’s designed basically to put you off fatty food and does it work.


I have had some days where I’ve taken all 3 pills, as each one only works for a couple of hours they shouldn’t really build up effect over time. If i needed nighttime pads I’d just stop taking them!


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## Sarahp (Jan 1, 2023)

If you eat as low fat as possible you shouldn’t have issues, when I was on them there was a online education website run by the manufacturer you could sign up to and believe the fat recommendation were around 7g per meal, it’s to re-educate yourself to cut fat, it was help on earth the first few days at work as I was customer facing with scheduled breaks but soon settled as I tweaked my diet.


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## Lucyr (Jan 1, 2023)

Sarahp said:


> If you eat as low fat as possible you shouldn’t have issues, when I was on them there was a online education website run by the manufacturer you could sign up to and believe the fat recommendation were around 7g per meal, it’s to re-educate yourself to cut fat, it was help on earth the first few days at work as I was customer facing with scheduled breaks but soon settled as I tweaked my diet.


I’m actually doing the opposite and making sure to include some fat as I’d normally eat a pretty low fat diet. If the meal doesn’t include fat then you don’t take the pill so no point cutting fat out completely when starting orlistat. 

If the orlistat means I don’t process some of the calories from fat then I’m aiming to get more fat in my meals, but without causing the medication causing any side effects. That’s because 100 calories all from protein/carbs would be 100 calories, but 100 calories from fat is more like 60-80 calories with the orlistat. 

So I’m looking to experiment and find out where my limits are and stick below them, but I’m not looking to eat as low fat as possible as that wouldn’t get the benefits from the orlistat


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## Sarahp (Jan 1, 2023)

Ok, just be careful to avoid accidents, just found this online, it appears 15g is now recommended amount so my limit was due to my bowel disorder, must have been info given by my dr.

The primary side effects of the drug are gastrointestinal-related, and include steatorrhea(oily, loose stools with excessive flatus due to unabsorbed fats reaching the large intestine), fecal incontinence and frequent or urgent bowel movements.[17] To minimize these effects, foods with high fat content should be avoided; the manufacturer advises consumers to follow a low-fat, reduced-calorie diet. Oily stools and flatulence can be controlled by reducing the dietary fat content to somewhere in the region of 15 grams per meal.[18]The manual for Alli makes it clear that orlistat treatment involves aversion therapy, encouraging the user to associate eating fat with unpleasant treatment effects.[19]


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## Lucyr (Jan 7, 2023)

Just to update, I’ve been taking 3 of these per day all week. I’ve increased fat to my normal levels and had some high fat meal involving cheese and had no side effects whatsoever. The mild discomfort after high fat meals hasn’t been a regular thing. 

I’ve no idea how to tell if the orlistat is doing anything useful, I haven’t lost weight this week but haven’t counted calories every day and at least no side effects. Which is strange, as I’ve only read terrible reviews online. It’s definitely not going to work like an aversion therapy.


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## Sarahp (Jan 7, 2023)

Hi the fact you mentioned you had to increase fat before you started taking it shows you most likely didn’t need it, the drug is meant to be a tool to encourage you to reduce fat content within your diet so bit puzzled why you were put on it.


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## Lucyr (Jan 7, 2023)

Sarahp said:


> Hi the fact you mentioned you had to increase fat before you started taking it shows you most likely didn’t need it, the drug is meant to be a tool to encourage you to reduce fat content within your diet so bit puzzled why you were put on it.


Was put on it to help with weight loss as it is supposed to reduce the amount of calories you absorb from fat. I don’t know if not having any side effects when I eat fat means I’m lucky and it’s working or that it does nothing for me though.


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## Sarahp (Jan 7, 2023)

If your not getting side affects then sounds like maybe the fat in your diet isn’t the main issue, when I started it I had a big drop and it helped me figure out where I was going wrong.


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## Jenny65 (Jan 8, 2023)

I know with my DD she thought all was OK, but then about 10 days in it took affect, it did help her manage the fat in her meals, she now takes it before eating out, and then has several trips to the bathroom in the early hours as a result.  It did work well for her though as its made her mindful of what she is eating and has lost weight, I never really thought of her as overweight but as she is only 5ft and her weight was 11 stone at one point that made her BMI in the unhealthy range, she is someone that needs to eat very little to maintain, she has a very tiny waist and when she gains weight its her hips, bum or boobs, so she basically just looks a little more curvy.  She got the medication as she was bridesmaid twice last year and all the other bridesmaids were tall and willowy, she was worried she would be the little fat one in the photos, but she always looks gorgeous to me, (she tells me she cant ask my opinion anymore as I always think she looks nice as Im her mum - her words).  It does sound to me that if you are increasing fat to be able to take it then your original diet was probably OK.

I wish they invented carb blocker medication, that would make a massive difference to diabetics


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## Jenny65 (Jan 8, 2023)

Jenny65 said:


> I know with my DD she thought all was OK, but then about 10 days in it took affect, it did help her manage the fat in her meals, she now takes it before eating out, and then has several trips to the bathroom in the early hours as a result.  It did work well for her though as its made her mindful of what she is eating and has lost weight, I never really thought of her as overweight but as she is only 5ft and her weight was 11 stone at one point that made her BMI in the unhealthy range, she is someone that needs to eat very little to maintain, she has a very tiny waist and when she gains weight its her hips, bum or boobs, so she basically just looks a little more curvy.  She got the medication as she was bridesmaid twice last year and all the other bridesmaids were tall and willowy, she was worried she would be the little fat one in the photos, but she always looks gorgeous to me, (she tells me she cant ask my opinion anymore as I always think she looks nice as Im her mum - her words).  It does sound to me that if you are increasing fat to be able to take it then your original diet was probably OK.
> 
> I wish they invented carb blocker medication, that would make a massive difference to diabetics


Just googled and it seems they do!!









						What Are Carb Blockers and Do They Work?
					

Carb blockers claim to help you eat carbs without absorbing the calories. But do they work? Are they safe? This article reviews the science.




					www.healthline.com
				




WOW!  why have I never heard of these before and has anyone tried them?  Not safe if you are on insulin as can make your BG go too low, now these sound like a potential type 2 not on meds dream if they work.


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## Jenny65 (Jan 8, 2023)

Having read further this stood out, not sure I fancy the side effects but I wonder if you know you are going to have a heavy carb meal, like a wedding etc these would be good for a one off

_What happens when you take carb blockers?


These side effects include gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. Some users report an upset stomach or pain and diarrhea after taking carb blockers. Low Blood Sugar: Do not take carb blockers if you take insulin or other gastrointestinal medications, until you talk to your doctor._


Carb blocking supplements prevent digestive enzymes that break carbohydrates down into single sugar units. These supplements make it to where the carbs that remain in the larger units will not make it into your bloodstream because the small intestine only absorbs single sugars. Basically, this helps prevent spikes in blood sugar and can make it easier to lose weight because you will not absorb all of the calories from the carbohydrates consumed.
Carb blockers can however cause digestive side effects and lead to some serious problems if you are a diabetic, so make sure to talk to your doctor to make sure these kinds of supplements are safe for use.

How Do Carb Blockers Work?​Some people are prescribed carb blockers from doctors to help lower blood sugar with those who have diabetes. The prescription medicines are made by fermenting microorganisms. Carb blockers sold in pharmacies are made from white kidney beans, or cannellini beans, which contain a natural substance that block the enzymes used to digest carbohydrates.





White kidney bean extract is actually marketed as a weight loss supplement. A group of overweight men and women took white kidney bean extract for 12 weeks, and lost about 7 pounds! The same study also showed that bean extract lowered blood glucose, but it depended on the amount consumed as well.
Side Effects of Carb Blockers​
*Digestive Tract Distress*: When the fermentation of carbs occurs, it produces extra gas. These side effects include gas, bloating, and abdominal pain. Some users report an upset stomach or pain and diarrhea after taking carb blockers.
*Low Blood Sugar*: Do not take carb blockers if you take insulin or other gastrointestinal medications, until you talk to your doctor. Carb blockers lower blood sugar, and mixing them with other diabetic medications may cause blood sugar to drop dangerously low.
*Allergies and Other Warnings*: Some brands of these supplements contain wheat extract, fish, soy and other ingredients that are common allergies. Make sure to read the labels and make sure you are not allergic to any of the ingredients. Also, pregnant women should not take this supplement. If you have any type of gastrointestinal disorder, liver disease or a problem with your kidneys, don’t take carb blockers until you consult your doctor.

Take-Home Message​
While carb blockers do help people lose weight, there are some side effects that might cause some uncomfortable feelings that might not be worth it. Everyone is different though. If you have any gastrointestinal disease, please consult your doctor before considering taking any of these kinds of supplements. A drop in blood sugar is possible which could cause some major problems. Just like every other supplement, side effects are possible.


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## Leadinglights (Jan 8, 2023)

Jenny65 said:


> Having read further this stood out, not sure I fancy the side effects but I wonder if you know you are going to have a heavy carb meal, like a wedding etc these would be good for a one off
> 
> _What happens when you take carb blockers?
> 
> ...


I think the XLS medical range of products which have been around for years do.
But with all those type of things they don't necessarily re-educate eating habits and when people stop taking them they put the weight back on.


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