Orlistat - anybody NOT had the awful side effects?

[FatAndFrightened]

Namechanged for this.

GP prescribed me Orlistat today as I'm 'Obese' and my BMI is 33. He told me that my stools may be greasy and hard to flush, but nothing else. He also told me that only some of his patients have experienced this and that others have had no effects at all on it.

However, on reading the leaflet inside the pack, some of the side effects seem quite horrific! They also state that these affect more than 1 person in 10.

Has anybody any good experiences of Orlistat? I've googled but most people seem to experience the same bad things!

I'm too scared to take them at the minute, I have a job which involves me being on the road quite a lot and judging by what I've read, I'll need a portaloo/nappy

Pop along to the Boots site - there is a community of users over there who have had positive results. Obviously if you eat a lot of at you are going to have a bad experience. It's not an easy option. But for some people it's fine.

I'll do that, never thought of Boots site!

Thanks wmmc

You will only get these problems if you eat something with a lot of fat in.

I have taken orlistat, and although I am overweight have always had a healthy diet.
I have never had any problems.

If you were to eat something with a high fat content then you don't digest any of the fat
which is what causes the problem.

If I have ever been in a situation where low fat food wasn't available I would not take the tablet.

I know that is not what you are supposed to do, but like you I would not want to risk an accident.

annapolly, so do you normally take the tablet after the food then or before it? What would happen if you, for instance, took a tablet in the morning then found yourself in a situation at lunchtime where there was no low fat food? Would the tablet from early morning have stopped working by then and hence not taking the lunchtime one would mean no accidents? I'm not quite sure I understand how it all works!

itsonlyajob, do you only eat low fat foods then? Or do you just eat as normal but have had no side effects?

You take one tablet for each meal. You take it with the food or up to an hour later if you forget. works better with a full glass of water.

The tablet taken in the morning is generally out of your system.

It works because it is in your stomach when you are digesting the meal and it inhibits your digestion of the fat in that particular meal. The fat is passes straight through your system.

The more fat in a meal and therefore passing undigested through your system, the more problems you will get.

Start them at the weekend when you are not at work, it really is not as bad as you imagine if you stick to the diet.

Thank you

Will give them a try this weekend and see what happens!