Hubby prescribed Orlistat but not given any guidance

Taadaa

Just as the title says really - my DH went to the doctors a few weeks ago and as an aside asked if the doc could give him any dietary advice. The doc scribbled out a prescription for Orlistat, but he wasn't given any guidance on what he should/shouldn't eat. (Bloody typical of our GP :mad:). He has been taking them but he hasn't lost any weight, needless to say, because he doesn't know what he should be doing.

Does anyone who has experience of taking it have any advice that I can pass on to him, or some links to helpful stuff?

maman

Taadaa wrote: »

Just as the title says really - my DH went to the doctors a few weeks ago and as an aside asked if the doc could give him any dietary advice. The doc scribbled out a prescription for Orlistat, but he wasn't given any guidance on what he should/shouldn't eat. (Bloody typical of our GP :mad:). He has been taking them but he hasn't lost any weight, needless to say, because he doesn't know what he should be doing.



Does anyone who has experience of taking it have any advice that I can pass on to him, or some links to helpful stuff?

I don't have any experience but it has been mentioned on the Slimming World board a few times. i think some of the people on there take it. You could try posting on there? They're a friendly lot so I'm sure they wouldn't mind.

piglet74

i take it,

it is usually taken three times daily, (1 tablet)

tho if you have a meal with little to no fat, or miss a meal altogether, you dont need to take a tablet at that time.

my GP advises (as does the sheet inside) that it works best when taken in conjunction with a low fat diet, so i follow the slimming world plan.

if you take the medication, while following you regular diet, you can suffer some horrific side effects :eek:

theres lots of information online, and on the sheet inside the box

elantan

i took it years ago ... nightmare time for me ... i would suggest he really watches his fat consumption when he takes it, he really should be going as low fat as he can manage ... orlistat basically gets rid of the excess fat from the food that is eaten

you have to be careful though as low fat food generally has a high sugar content

has he thought about maybe a healthy eating plan that may mean he wont need to take the tablets? i am not trying to give medical advice here honest ...

Taadaa

Thank you for your replies. He doesn't seem to have much willpower to be honest, he isn't massively overweight (well, not as far as I'm concerned ) but he grew up in a morbidly obese family so he doesn't really know that much about health and nutrition. And he is a very fussy eater :mad:

He has already experienced some unpleasant side effects. I considered Slimming World as I am pregnant and I read somewhere that someone else only put 10lb on throughout their pregnancy when they were on this (it might have even been here). So perhaps I can suggest we do it together as it will give him a bit of encouragement and as there is no weighing food he might not feel like he is on a diet so much. Can he eat Nando's, that is what he will be worried about :eek:

piglet74

Taadaa wrote: »

Thank you for your replies. He doesn't seem to have much willpower to be honest, he isn't massively overweight (well, not as far as I'm concerned )

i thought you BMI had to be around 35/40 to get this drug, but i could be wrong,

Taadaa

I don't know what the threshold is, but I don't think his BMI meets that. I might try and encourage him to stop it when they run out.

ellay864

According to NICE guidance doctors should only prescribe Orlistat when BMI is above 30, or above 28 if there's other risk factors. But it also says that before going for drug intervention they should be satisfied that the patient has tried to lose weight by diet and physical exercise.
It doesn't sound like OPs GP has given any dietary advice but just written a prescription for a drug that has some pretty horrible side effects if the diet isn't stuck to. Hubby would be better off going to somewhere like WW or SW and getting some dieting advice. If he were to practice portion control, eating only when hungry and increasing his physical exercise there shouldn't be a need for him to cut out everything, nor depreive himself of the occasional Nando's

elantan

do you think sw will work for you both? if he is a fussy eater could this be a problem?

please stress to him that if he eats too much fat and has a tablet he will regret it, and possibly be very embarrassed:o

can you maybe slowly introduce more veg to his diet whilst slowly reducing the fatty foods that he possibly likes ?

Taadaa

Sigh you are right Elantan, he will probably only last a day. He has had the bad side effect already, fortunately he was only in the garage.

I do most of the cooking and I do sneak things like grated carrot in and use quorn instead of mince, but then he does his own thing for breakfast and lunch - I guess if he wants to eat poorly at those times it's up to him.

VfM4meplse

Orlistat is supposed to be prescribed in clinically obese patients, who have sustained a weight loss in the past. I must say the GP was very naughtly to palm your OH off in this way, if that's what happened.

The best thing you can do for your husband is get active. An hour's walk together every evening is highly recommended. If you don't increase your calorie intake, you'll find the weight dropping off.