[SScottie]

Does anyone know if the new diet pill Alli (the 1st over the counter FDA approved diet pill) is gluten free?? I've tried to look around but there's not much info since it just came out on the market. Any thoughts??

[blueeyedmanda]

I have to say I am not sure on the gluten free status but I was researching it last night and I am not sure I could take it. It says it makes you very sick if you take in more fat than it allows.

[Mango04]

I don't know, but I recenlty read an article about it, and the side effects sound similiar to a glutening (if gluten gives you digestive problems):

Quote

A prescription diet drug will soon be available over the counter for the first time. The FDA has approved a non-prescription version of GlaxoSmithKline's orlistat, which will be sold under the name "alli".

The medication prevents about 25 percent of dietary fat from being absorbed by the intestines. It's will be sold starting in June and for about $50 for a bottle of 90 capsules.

Side effects of alli can include loose stools and other digestive problems. Those who use the pill are advised to follow a reduced-fat diet and take a daily multivitamin because of reduced absorption of fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, and K and beta-carotene.

Alli is likely to bring in between $150 and $200 million in annual sales, and could bring in as much as $300 million.

http://www.mercola.com/2007/feb/22/over-th...li-approved.htm

[tarnalberry]

I'd be concerned about taking it with celiac, as it reduced fat absorbtion - and hence fat-soluble vitamin absorbtion. if you get glutened and have absorbtion issues from damage for a while, that would exacerbate it

[costellosfriend]

Hi Sarah: I started taking Alli last night. There's nothing on the package to indicate that it contains gluten.

For the record: I have NOT been dx'd with celiac or gluten intolerance by a doctor. I believe that I am gluten intolerant based on my experiences with eliminating gluten from my diet - twice on the Atkins diet and once going on a gluten-free diet.

I have some fears about using Alli, but I decided to give it a try. I'm obese. I lost nothing on the Atkins diet, and I'm gaining on the gluten-free diet. I believe that when I eat gluten-free it fixes my absorption problems and causes me to gain weight. And I really don't need to gain weight. Alli is supposed to block the absorption of 25% of the fat I eat. Maybe it will help. We'll see.

[Carolyn17]

Hi. I am taking Alli - started the first day it came out. I have been diagnosed w/celiac and haven't had any trouble with it.

I have been gaining weight like crazy since going gluten-free and at this point I am willing to try anything to make the madness stop. My BMI is 27 (which categorizes me as overweight) - according the weight/height chart at my doctor's office I need to lose about 35 lbs.

About the side effects ... the literature in the package does say to keep fat grams to 15 in each meal to avoid the side effects. I've done that and not experienced any of the negative side effects.

Good luck!

[costellosfriend]

Carolyn17, on Jul 3 2007, 12:05 PM, said:

About the side effects ... the literature in the package does say to keep fat grams to 15 in each meal to avoid the side effects. I've done that and not experienced any of the negative side effects.

I've had some of the side effects - or "treatment effects," as the literature calls them. They're definitely linked to eating extra fat. Stay with the guidelines and you should have no problems. Eat more fat than they recommend and you have "treatment effects."

Have you lost any weight, Caroline?

[CMCM]

I was watching Oprah the other day....of course we all know she's the richest woman in America, maybe in the entire world. Here's what she said: "If there was some pill or other easy way to lose weight, I'd sure as heck know about it."

Oprah has learned to modify her eating, and to balance exercise with eating. That's really the only way to lose weight despite what all the very wealthy diet pill makers would have us believe. Diet products make billions....yes billions of dollars off those of us who foolishly think we can lose weight a bit easier with their products. It doesn't happen. Eat less, exercise more, that's the "secret."

[costellosfriend]

CMCM, on Jul 9 2007, 12:27 AM, said:

Diet products make billions....yes billions of dollars off those of us who foolishly think we can lose weight a bit easier with their products. It doesn't happen. Eat less, exercise more, that's the "secret."

Carole:

I have to confess to being a little irritated by this post. I don't know if you have a serious weight problem or not, but it doesn't sound to me like you understand how hard it is to lose weight. In the past 10 years I've gone from 122 pounds (at age 35) to 230 pounds (at age 45). I exercise. I eat sensibly. I exercise MORE now than I did when I was slim! And for 4 of those 10 years I was a vegan. I gained 50 pounds while on a vegan diet, a diet said to virtually guarantee no obesity.

Contrary to the image that slim people have of the obese, I don't sit around all day slurping down sodas and cramming candy bars and chips in my mouth.

Nevertheless I've gained a tremendous amount of weight, and I continue to gain. It's like a nightmare that I never wake up from. Believe me, if it were as simple as your "secret" - eat less, exercise more - I'd be slim. In fact, there'd be a lot fewer fat people around. Most of us have tried your "secret" and found that it didn't work or that it was impossible to maintain.

So forgive me for "foolishly" seeking a solution to my problem. I don't go on fad diets or buy questionable weight loss products. I'm not a stupid or gullible person. I'm an intelligent person who happens to be fat and wishes she weren't.

[costellosfriend]

Carole:

I'm regretting using such a sharp tone in my reply to you. I'm sure your advice was well-intended, but those of us who are fat have heard it over and over and over again. I get to sit and listen to this from my mom all the time. I find it hurtful, because it assumes that I'm either so stupid and uninformed that I don't know it or that I'm so lazy I'm not willing to try it.

My sisters and my mom are all thin with very little effort. My dad was obese like me. Like me he began gaining weight in his 30's. And he didn't stop gaining until he collapsed of a heart attack at 65.

Obesity is a very complex medical problem. It really is. Let's not pretend it isn't.

[Jestgar]

I thought you came across as frustrated, not sharp.

It is curious why your body would suddenly decide that it really needed to carry more fat around (I'm assuming you are gaining fat, not muscle).

I wonder if there is some different way you should be exercising, or some different combination of foods you should be eating, or maybe your hormones are somehow more closely tied to adding fat cells and as they've changed with age your body has changed with them.

[costellosfriend]

A follow-up on my use of Alli: I stopped using Alli on Wednesday - just short of two weeks of starting it. I was having problems with depression and irritability which I started to suspect was connected with the med. I was also having a lot of pain in my legs and bursitis in my hip which I thought might be exercise-related but which continued to worsten despite rest. Also I wasn't sleeping well.

Within a day of discontinuing Alli my mood was much improved and my irritability was gone. I slept like a rock last night. And the leg pains are easing, and I hope they'll be gone soon.

I found this on the Internet this morning:

"Side effects that usually occur after the first year of treatment with Orlistat include: depression, leg pain, swollen feet, and tendonitis."

http://www.drugs.com/pdr/orlistat.html

I started having these side effects within a WEEK of starting Alli.

I don't think I lost any weight while on Alli.

[costellosfriend]

Jestgar, on Jul 12 2007, 01:22 PM, said:

I thought you came across as frustrated, not sharp.

Thanks. I hate it when people flame others on the web. It's so easy to get nasty when you aren't talking to people face-to-face.

Quote

It is curious why your body would suddenly decide that it really needed to carry more fat around (I'm assuming you are gaining fat, not muscle).

No, it's not muscle. I wish!

Quote

I wonder if there is some different way you should be exercising, or some different combination of foods you should be eating, or maybe your hormones are somehow more closely tied to adding fat cells and as they've changed with age your body has changed with them.

My guess is that it's the last. I'm aging. My hormones are changing. I've always had mild insulin resistance issues which have only worstened with age, so I think my body is a master of fat storage (luck me!). Early in the weight gain process I lost my period - not due to menopause, my FSH was normal.

I was hoping going gluten-free would help. It's certainly helped my mood and my life-long insomnia. But I'm actually gaining more and faster now that I'm gluten-free.

I've actually considered changing jobs - mine's sedentary. But I'm make $52000/year, and I can't think of any job-switch I can make at age 45 which would let me be active at work and come anywhere close to that salary.

[Jestgar]

costellosfriend, on Jul 12 2007, 11:40 AM, said:

I've actually considered changing jobs - mine's sedentary. But I'm make $52000/year, and I can't think of any job-switch I can make at age 45 which would let me be active at work and come anywhere close to that salary.

Mine's fairly sedentary as well. I'm trying to add tiny little bits of movement during the day. Things I've come up with:
Every hour go get a drink of water and/or go to the bathroom.
Take the stairs ALWAYS when going downstairs, and if you're only going up one.
Do a few leg stretches when sitting at your desk.

Other ideas? I know there has to be ways of just moving while we're at work.

(Headphones with loud dance music so we're bopping while working?)

[Electra375]

costellosfriend, on Jun 29 2007, 10:52 AM, said:

I have some fears about using Alli, but I decided to give it a try. I'm obese. I lost nothing on the Atkins diet, and I'm gaining on the gluten-free diet. I believe that when I eat gluten-free it fixes my absorption problems and causes me to gain weight. And I really don't need to gain weight. Alli is supposed to block the absorption of 25% of the fat I eat. Maybe it will help. We'll see.

Have you had your thyroid checked recently? And not just the TSH since it is unreliable, my TSH is fine my T4 is low and I have not lost weight in years even nursing and eating low carb and doing WW. Nothing, not even exercising 5 days a week at the gym, not 1 freakin pound. I finally got a nice doctor to test me with a complete thyroid panel and not just say eat less, exercise more

Just throwing that out there. My mom did not have clue that the TSH was not an accurate measure, I'm hoping she will get her Free T4 levels checked.