Has anyone taken phen/fen who has also been banded? I just wondered how the effects compare. I was very successful with phen/fen years ago...the only diet success I've had.

Thanks!

~~anne

When redux was pulled off the market my doctor called me up and apologized to me for putting me on it. I wasn't sure if he was being nice or trying to avoid a lawsuit.

When he mentioned the band he said it was because he was never recommending diet drugs anymore. When I went back to him 6 months after the surgery, which was a year after my last physical, he was so happy about my weight loss, and then, after the labs came back, was astonished by how much everything improved. It was the coolest feeling hearing that from a doctor.

Oh,Chrisann, how wonderful for you! I'll bet that was a great feeling (and still is!).

~~anne

I too took Fen Phen and it was a wonder drug, but that's it, it is a DRUG I am so happy that I can lose weight without the help of drugs and I feel healthy, and have a sex drive, with the Fen Phen I had no sex drive, and that made for a very unhappy husband. The band was a great thing for me and I was banded August 28 and lost 44 so far. Not too shabby and no residual heart problems, I was all checked out numerous times. Good luck to you , Andrea

Phen=Phentermine which is still on the market. It always has been. It is an appetite suppressant.

Fen=Fenfluramine, also called Pondimin, is the one that caused the problems. It changed something in your brain to make you not want to eat. I think it released more serotonin.

I took the two together for a few months but the Fenfluramine did not make me feel very well. I only took it a few times. Maybe for about 2 weeks. I ended up just taking the Phentermine because it stayed on the market and was working. I lost about 70 lbs but as soon as I stopped taking it the weight came back plus more.

I think that the band helps you keep the weight off while Phentermine helps you loose the weight. I think that if you do both together you will not be able to tell if the band is tight enough to keep you full and it will make the process of finding your "sweet spot" much longer since they do about the same thing in much different ways.

The only way I would take Phentermine again is if I had to have a complete unfill for awhile and did not want to regain some of the weight I already lost. Remember once you stop taking it you will regain the weight you lost unless you have something else to take its place. I would rather not have my body need it to loose weight because then it makes it hard to maintain weight without it.

Anyway, just putting my 2 cents in...FYI

phentermine (ionamin) was the only thing that made me not feel hungry. of course, once i stopped taking them, my appetite came back.

i'm glad to hear that the band will help help me feel less hungry !!! i've got surgery in 22 days !!! :wink:

I was a phen/fen girl, too. I did well with it....but I like the band so much better. I'm at about the lowest weight I got to when I was on p/f...and I feel much better than I did then...even though I was ten years younger.

I too took Phen fen and loved it but with my band I feel like i am in control and not a drug!! Lost 74 lbs since August and feel great!! All the best to you!!!:party:

this is good to know !!!

I know this isn't really where this thread was going, but I have wondered the following:

If lapband slips are caused by several things and one of the biggest reasons is patients not staying on the post op diet, then why wouldn't they prescribe phentermine to people for the first month to ensure a better compliance rate?

I will say that I don't really like the fact that doctors are saying what causes the slips and they just happen to blame the patients at about 3 times the rate of blaming themselves. So maybe slips aren't really caused that often by patients and they really know this?

Of course the other biggest reason for slips is reported as excessive vomiting, but even then they blame the patient for not telling them. Well maybe they should be prescribing anti-vomitting medicine ahead of time, to emphasize how important not vomitting really can be?

Sorry for the hi-jack, but this thread makes me think of these things.

I don't know what would have made my experience with the band a better one, one where I actually lost weight. I do know that my band never slipped and if vomiting caused it that would have happened to me. I vomited (pb'd) a lot!!

Phen fen worked for me at the time when I took it many years ago but was taken off the market mid-stream. It was basically like the "speed" I took in the 70s when I first lost weight.

Metformin also worked for me but I had to go off my antidepressant to take it which was a difficult time but like most people I only lost 10% of my body weight on it before it stopped being as effective. It made me feel nausious, not to be confused with a "PB" which kept me from wanting to eat. I know my endocrinologist told me at one time she had people on this drug after WLS.

Just because you're banded doesn't mean we're not going to want to eat. We're all very different so the lap band may stop some people and not others. It's not a sign of weakness or our own failures as human beings but that it's not necessarily the right proceedure for EVERYONE, Nancy:smile:

I initally lost 80 lbs with the band and have gained 40 lbs back over the course of about a year. I'm starting on Phentermine tomorrow to see how well it works for me. I've never been on Phentermine before but anxious to see what it does for me.

Anxious is what you will certainly feel.... read up on this drug regarding long term usage.... and I wish you the best of luck and take care! angcal26

I initally lost 80 lbs with the band and have gained 40 lbs back over the course of about a year. I'm starting on Phentermine tomorrow to see how well it works for me. I've never been on Phentermine before but anxious to see what it does for me.

Missy0224,

Just be careful & keep an eye on your blood pressure.I took phen-phen years ago & it worked well for me until it was pulled off the market but you did feel like a "crack-head"!My endocrinologist that I saw pre-lapband put me on phentermine to help get some of the initial weight off prior to qualifying for surgery.It really didn't agree with me,I would sweat and feel shaky and it would make my blood pressure go crazy.So just be careful.No judging here cause I've tried it all myself!! Take care!:huh2:

Just so you know, it will do nothing for you if you don't exercise while on it. I think if you take it early in the morning, like 2 hours before you would get up, it might work better for you.

Can't you get a fill to reduce your calorie intake? I think it could work to help motivate you to work out, but the minute you quit taking it, you will be like a meth head after a binge, and not want to do anything.

I've taken several diet pills in my day. Ephedra mostly. I'm used to that shaky feeling. My band is filled to the max and I'm not dialated. I can eat anything. I never get stuck or throw up.