I wish I could highlight some of these - note the recommendation to "wear dark pants"

What are treatment effects?

alli™ works by preventing the absorption of some of the fat you eat. The fat passes out of your body, so you may have bowel changes, known as treatment effects. You may get:

· gas with oily spotting

· loose stools

· more frequent stools that may be hard to control

What to expect

The excess fat that passes out of your body is not harmful. In fact, you may recognize it as something that looks like the oil on top of a pizza. Eating a low-fat diet lowers the chance of these bowel changes. Limit fat intake in your meals to an average of 15 grams.

Learn more about following a reduced-calorie, low-fat diet.

Learning how to manage treatment effects is an important part of being successful with alli. Here's how to take control:

· Start trimming fat from your diet now, even before you begin taking alli. Then pick a day to begin taking alli, such as a weekend day so you can stay close to home if you experience a treatment effect. Make the timing work for you. If you're getting ready to travel or attend a social event, hold off on starting with alli until the event is over

· While no one likes experiencing treatment effects, they might help you think twice about eating questionable fat content. If you think of it like that, alli can act like a security guard for your late-night cravings

· You can't "save fat grams" from lunch and "spend them" at dinner. Spread your daily fat gram allowance of 15 grams on average per meal over the whole day

· You may feel an urgent need to go to the bathroom. Until you have a sense of any treatment effects, it's probably a smart idea to wear dark pants, and bring a change of clothes with you to work

· You may not usually get gassy, but it's a possibility when you take alli. The bathroom is really the best place to go when that happens

· You can use a food journal to recognize what foods can lead to treatment effects. For example, writing down what you eat may help you learn that marinara sauce is a better option than Alfredo sauce

To learn more about how myalliplan can guide you with smarter food choices and a wealth of resources, visit myalliplan now.

We went out with friends for dinner and I ordered fish, he got pasta and our friends got pizza. My hubby said out loud "Wow, that pizza's got a lot of squeezins on it" and our friend said "I know! Doesn't it look yummy?" We were both on the floor! Our other friend was like "what?" We just changed the subject and went on with dinner but in the car we laughed all the way home.

That's HILARIOUS! Your friends must think ya'll are loco. No way you could have explained it to them...NOT at the dinner table...for sure. LOL

Lucy,

I have to get back on my soapbox now and I hate to do it because this is a really fun post but you are just flat wrong.

The reason generics are cheaper is because they don't have to do any drug discovery. Do you think that God comes down from heaven and says "if you make it like this, you will cure diabetes"? No, it takes hundreds of compounds that fail completely before you find the one that works. Generic companies don't have to do that. They just have to make a copy of the same drug. And they aren't tremendously cheaper either. I was on Seasonale and I paid $178 for it. I went on the generic about a year ago and it cost $159. Not the huge savings you are thinking.

When was the last time an antibiotic was made? Um all the time. There are tons of antibiotics in development but after years of overuse and lots of antibacterial soap honestly, "bugs" are resistant to the new ones too.

And the "common thread here" is that all these conditions are things that millions of people suffer from. It's called supply and demand. People need cholesterol drugs so companies make them. There are lots of drugs to treat TB but again due to overuse of antibiotics, many don't work anymore. There are many drugs in development but it takes YEARS to hit the market and that is only IF they pass all the clinical trials to prove they are effective and won't kill you. There are many, many companies making drugs that only help a smaller group of people - many of the biogenerics are this. There is an orphan drug act that applies to this.

And regarding the 20 year patent? That is from the time the molecule is CREATED. If it takes another 15 years to get to market, that's 5 years of selling time to make up the $100,000,000+ that they spent to create the drug. Then, if there is even the smallest error in the patent they filed, a generic company can come out with a generic right away. How then do they get the $100,000,000 back? Think that doesn't happen? It happens ALL THE TIME.

Lastly, if you can't find accounting records for pharmaceutical companies then you are just not looking. Most of them, almost all of them, are publicly traded companies. You can get an annual report with general info and then call investor relations for more detailed information.

Do your homework and then see if you feel the same way.

Cyndilou...

What you say is absolutely true but I have to admit, I'm becoming more and more annoyed with the politics of drug co's.

I think we'll be hearing some dirt on Inamed in the near future. It doesn't have anything to do with the quality of their products but just because they have a good quality product doesn't mean they are the most ethical company in the world.

Quite frankly, Inamed has the morality of a stray alley cat and in their case, it's the almighty dollar. I have no problem with a business making money, that's what they are in business to do. But not at the expense of patients. At that point they have crossed the line.

I am with you a hundred percent as far as Inamed and a few others. The problem is the old "one bad apple spoils the whole bunch" situation. There are "dirty" companies in every single business sector but it doesn't mean the ENTIRE sector is awful.