Posted by Cam W. on March 30, 2000, at 22:53:15
In reply to Cam, metabolite and lamictal, pdoc says NO, posted by Amanda S on March 30, 2000, at 20:55:40
Amanda - Is Metabolite a brand name of a diet pill? A metabolite is a breakdown product of a drug. Most drugs are lipid soluble (dissolve better in oils, or fatty tissues, than in water). The liver and blood stream metabolize, or alter the chemical nature, of these lipid soluble drugs by making them more water soluble (ie by hydroxylation, desmethylation, glucuronidization, etc.). The kidney is better able to excrete (pee out) these water soluble metabolites than the lipid soluble parent compounds.If Metabolite is a brand name of diet pill containing ephedra or ephedrine, as many diet pills in the U.S. do (I think). Ephedrine is not in Canadian diet pills. Ephedrine works as a diet aid by giving you more energy to burn off calories (eg can't sit still). The downside is that ephedrine also speeds up your heart rate and has caused problems (eg heart attacks) in some people (esp. if taken in large doses). As an aside, ephredrine is the starting compound in the manufacture of methamphetamine (speed).
I really do not think that any diet pill is effective in weight reduction. You may lose some weight with them in the short term, it usually is because of water loss (eg slight dehydration). The weight is usually regained after a period of time. Any diet aid that claims to increase metabolism is either lying or fudging the truth. Increasing one's metabolism is not easy. Exercise may not make you lose weight, but it replaces fat with muscle, which is more dense (thus heavier). I say, look at your parents' shape, that is what you are going to look like. You are doomed by genetics (in most cases). Most of us do not have the genes necessary to have "model-like" figures.
Diet also figures greatly into weight loss. When we exercise, we generally get more hungry and thus eat more. Our North American diet consists of too much fat and junk food, rather than raw veggies and fruit. We must just avoid the temptation of the comfort foods that taste good and eat the rabbit food (yeah, like I follow my own advice - added sarcasm). Rather than eating less food, we should probably eat a better balance of healthy food.
As to the hair loss. Until I started reading this board, I did not realize that hair loss was caused by Lamictal alone. Whenever someone complained of hair loss while taking Lamictal, they were usually taking another mood stabilizer that also could cause hair loss (eg lithium or divalproex). I always blamed the hair loss on the other agent, but others on this site have kinda convinced me that Lamictal can cause hair loss on its own (even though I cannot remember seeing this reported in the literature). Your hair loss could be due to an over abundance of testosterone, but I could not say this with any certainty.
If Lamictal is working for you, I would not be so ready to stop it for 10 lbs. The next drug you try could be worse. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Sorry that I don't have any other answers, but I'm sure I would like you just the way you are. Sincerely - Cam W.
poster:Cam W.
thread:28523
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000321/msgs/28531.html