There are many different types of weight loss medicine available today. Some pills are hyped as medicine thats prescription strength and as effective as a prescription but you can order them off the television, online or through the mail. Dont. Unlike prescription medication, these pills arent regulated by the FDA.

Over-the-counter or mail order diet pills dont have claims that can be proven or backed up, because theres no evidence that has to be presented anywhere for them to make that claim. They can claim to make your hair grow, make you lose weight, make you taller or anything else, and get away with it.

At worse, this kind of weight loss medicine is dangerous and even deadly. Pills that expand and fill you up so youll eat less as well as pills designed to rev up your metabolism or keep you from being hungry have all made people ill. Deaths have been reported that were linked to each of those kinds of easily purchased pills. Dont risk your health on a bottle of snake oil that can potentially make you sick.

Any weight loss medicine you do decide to take should come directly from your doctor. And even then, you should ask lots of questions about the medication. Ask how youll feel on it, because sometimes there are side effects, especially in the beginning. Some medicines can make you feel slightly nauseous. You wont want to eat because of that, but thats no way to have to lose weight! Usually such side effects go away fairly quickly, but you should ask to make sure. You dont want any surprises after youre on the weight loss medicine.

An important factor in deciding to take medicine is to decide how committed you really are to losing weight. Since youre even thinking about pills, youve probably already tried many times with little progress. But you should think back and try to figure out why you didnt lose weight, or why you lost weight only to gain it back later. Be honest with yourself before you start taking the pills. Its best to be completely honest with yourself even before your doctor writes the prescription.

If you still feel weight loss medicine is the best thing for you, then you need to make a commitment right now to the other aspects of your weight loss plan. Youll want to commit to making cheating on your diet a very rare thing. Commit to not skipping that workout because youve had a long day.

Dont make the mistake so many other people make in thinking that prescription diet pills will work some kind of magic on them. The pills wont do all the work of losing weight for you. And they certainly cant undo anything you d wrong. Some diabetics eat all the sweets they want, figuring that since theyre on insulin, itll be ok. Dieters do the same thing. Dont make the mistake of thinking you can eat what you want while on weight loss medicine.