You need to lose weight and you need to lose it right now. Calm down Veruca, you’ve got options. But you might not like them. Furiously shedding fat can cause serious health issues, especially when you use the methods outlined in this article. Dropping pounds quickly can leave you dehydrated, malnourished, fatigued, and shriveled like a prune. So you’ve been warned. If you choose to read on and if you choose to go through with any of the following weight-loss techniques, it’s at your own risk.

Weight-loss Drugs
Diet pills are a miracle of modern medicine, a cure for the “ailment” in our age of excess. Pop some pills and watch the fat melt away -- that’s not far from the truth. Diet pills can work pretty well, but they’re not without side effects. Most of them hit your appetite at its source: your brain. They are essentially thinly veiled amphetamines -- speed in prescription form. They’ll do a number on your appetite, but they can also be addictive and destructive.

Nature, in its nearly infinite variations, has also created a few appetite suppressors. Unfortunately, they haven’t been as rigorously tested as our synthetic drugs, but there is some evidence that they work.

Phentermine
Phentermine is one of the old boys on the block. It received FDA approval in 1959 as an appetite suppressant. It’s a prescription amphetamine that acts on neurotransmitters in the brain, reducing appetite. Take phentermine, eat less and lose weight. This product is approved for obese patients whose weight is causing serious medical problems, and it must be combined with a proper diet and exercise program in order to be effective.

However, there are some side effects. Phentermine causes increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure. It can also cause insomnia and heart palpitations. Oh, and if you take it for a long time, you could become addicted to it.

Interestingly, phentermine was a somewhat silent player in the recent Fen-Phen scandal. Fen-Phen is essentially phentermine combined with other appetite suppressants; fenfluramine or dexfenfluramine. After some Fen-Phen users experienced heart problems, both “fens” were voluntarily taken off the market. Phentermine, however, remains in production.

Orlistat
Wouldn’t it be nice if the fat we ate just didn’t stick? That’s the idea behind Orlistat, a new prescription weight-loss drug that blocks the absorption of fats into the digestive tract. Less fat means fewer calories and, hopefully, weight loss. The drug works by inhibiting a pancreatic, fat-dissolving enzyme. When taken three times daily before meals, it blocks about 30% of the fat you eat. That fat then passes harmlessly through the digestive tract.

Orlistat isn’t very effective. In year-long clinical trials, the drug reduced body mass by about 5%, but only for half of the participants. And when they stopped taking the drug, they gained some of the weight back.

More bad news: Orlistat will give you the runs. The drug has been known to cause diarrhea, gas and, on occasion, fecal incontinence.

Bontril / Phendimetrazine
Bontril is another amphetamine-related weight-loss drug, but it’s even more addictive than phentermine. About a third of the drug is metabolized into phenmetrazine, a stimulant diet drug that was taken off the market due to its addictive nature. As a result, Bontril is now a Schedule III controlled substance. That means that it’s only available with a prescription and its use is highly monitored. Like phentermine, it’s an effective weight-loss drug that attacks appetite. You’ll cut your caloric intake and your fat.

The drug is addictive and can cause increased heart rate and blood pressure. Extended periods of use can also wreck your nervous system, causing tremors, anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, and depression.

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