Phentermine is a popular weight loss medication that has been used for decades to help people achieve their weight loss goals. But what happens if you take phentermine for years? A recent study investigated the effects of long-term phentermine use, and the results may surprise you. The study found that people who continued to take phentermine for longer experienced greater weight loss than those who took the medication for three months or less. Long-term use was not associated with increases in blood pressure or with an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, or death.
However, when patients treated with long-term phentermine in a weight management program abruptly stopped taking phentermine, they experienced withdrawal symptoms. If phentermine is taken without any effort to change lifestyle in other ways, weight gain is to be expected once you finish the phentermine prescription. These expectations were based on the structural chemical similarities between phentermine and amphetamine and on the evidence in rats that phentermine stimulated spontaneous activity. Fear of the adverse effects of phentermine does not inhibit the use of phentermine by specialists in the treatment of obesity.
Having to take phentermine many times would indicate that it is not effectively helping the patient achieve long-term weight loss, so alternative treatment, such as more personalized dietary and lifestyle counseling or advice, should be considered. But weight gain after you stop taking phentermine is no reason to take phentermine in the long term, as this will only delay the inevitable and put your health at risk. Although phentermine is the agent of choice among physicians specializing in the treatment of obesity, the use of this medication by other doctors for the treatment of obesity has long been reduced due to misunderstandings about the safety of phentermine. In a prospective study, the addictive potential of phentermine will be evaluated with validated psychometric scales to examine patients who have been taking phentermine long-term for two years or more.
Participating patients who have taken long-term phentermine in this study will be asked to discontinue phentermine treatment for 48 hours to participate in the study. As part of a successful weight loss program with phentermine, it is important to establish a good sleep routine and take the time to de-stress and take care of your own well-being and emotional needs to create a balanced routine where you can continue to lose weight or maintain your ideal weight without phentermine. In the research and development phase, including clinical trials in which patients took phentermine and observed weight loss and side effects, phentermine was only tested for short periods of time. Other conversations about phentermine addiction include people talking about how they continue to take phentermine even though they no longer need to lose weight or become dependent on it.
