Question:
is it safe for gastric bypass patients to take diet pills to help speed up weight los

   — minkii68 (posted on April 1, 2008)

April 1, 2008
NO! First, many diet pills contain diuretics that can lead to severe dehydration if used early after surgery. Second, the pills usually contain some type of fiber or filler (to promote satiety); this can cause painful cramping and can inhibit proper intake of protein. Third, using diet pills will not help you to develop healthy lifelong eating habits which is an intended consequence of the small size of the pouch and the gradual progression through solid foods. Fourth, diet pills can harm the pouch. I'm sure I've missed a few other important reasons why you shouldn't even consider taking diet pills soon after bariatric surgery, but it would not be a stellar move.
   — SteveColarossi

April 1, 2008
If you've had surgery, then why on earth take diet pills?? Surgery is a tool that takes hard work--not diet pills. Diet pill may have detrimental side effects on your bypass surgery also. There are usually warnings on those pills, and I would NOT take them with any weight loss surgery.
   — Dave Chambers

April 1, 2008
Why would you ever think something like that? NO! You can do damage to your body. Your Surgeon needs to approve anything you are taking medication wise. Many medication can cause damage to your new tool. Even a single regular asprin can burn a hole in your pouch. Talk to your Doctor, and just follow his rules, and you will succeed without diet aids.
   — William (Bill) wmil

April 1, 2008
Trust me, you will not need diet pills. When I started to eat solid foods, I could not even eat 1/2 a meatball.
   — Carlyn M.

April 1, 2008
WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO USE DIET PILLS THEY DIDN'T WORK IN THE FRIST PLACE!!!!!!!!USE YOU TOOL!!! LEHIGH
   — lehigh

April 1, 2008
Speeding up weight loss WITH PILLS? You are supposed to lose weight slowly...At first it is quick and in large numbers per month...Then it slows down and you begin to get healthy again...Losing the amount of weight new post ops lose is so hard on our bodies....It needs desperately to slow down after 6 months. Please don't take diet pills. At this time, you should be on your new way of eating. FOREVER!!! Not dieting! When I hear people complain that they can't get approved for surgery because they need 6 mos of dieting or they are not quite heavy enough for their insurance to pay...I feel bad for them because basically the insurance companies are saying "try dieting and lose the weight without this radical surgery" even though they don't work long term. Why didn't you just lose weight with pills before surgery if you thought you'd just have to continue crazy diets that don't work? Why would you go under the knife if you thought that those old "magic pills" worked in the first place? There is no magic cure or pill and the sooner you get that out of your head, the better your chances of long term success...You have the best tool...and even it is not magic...You don't have to work to lose the weight right now but you will to maintain. Trust me...It gets harder...You still have the ability to limit your food, but to lose weight after it stops, you have to get your body moving if you want to lose weight... Get used to that. It becomes work...So enjoy the ride...even if it seems slow to you.
   — .Anita R.

April 1, 2008
Of course not! Those things are LOADED with caffeine, which can irritate your pouch and other than that THEY MOSTLY DON'T WORK, which is why we had our surgery. If those pills worked, would we have done this? You don't need to lose weight FAST, you need to lose FOREVER, and you do that by cultivating HEALTHY HABITS, and diet pills have no place in that. Please don't use them.
   — Shirley D.