What are the concerns about using prescription medications to lose weight?

Concerns about weight loss prescriptions

Which concerns apply to you

The concerns that matter are the ones that apply to the specific medicine you are offered and to your history. Ask the prescriber to name them for that medicine, and weigh them against the non-medication options described in the sources below.

What to look at

NIDDK's page on understanding adult overweight and obesity and the MedlinePlus obesity page describe the condition these medicines are meant to address. MedlinePlus weight control gathers further information, and NIDDK's healthy eating and physical activity page covers the non-medication side of the decision.

A skeptical reading asks what the alternatives are and what each option trades off. Concerns are easier to judge when set against the other choices.

Testing each concern with your prescriber

• Write down your own concerns first, such as side effects, cost, how long the medicine would be taken, and what happens afterward.
• Ask your clinician how each concern applies to the specific medicine they suggest.
• Ask what would make them stop or change the plan.

A note on expertise

Testing a prescriber's reasoning about weight loss prescriptions is a fair thing to do, and no general source can tell you which concerns apply to your own case.