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Registration of a pharmaceutical product as a medicine allows you to be sure that it has passed clinical trials. In turn, this means that the drug has been tested by the experience of several thousand people, the contraindications to its use and possible risks associated with its use have been fully investigated.
Indications
The main indication for the use of the drug "Xenical" is obesity. Doctors clarify this point a little - obesity is the weight at which the body mass index exceeds 30. It is acceptable to use Xenical to correct the figure when overweight. With it, the body mass index exceeds 25.
Doctors cannot forbid everyone to use the drug, but claim that taking Xenical to get rid of several kilograms of fat is inappropriate. Nevertheless, the drug refers to medicines and was created to treat patients of a special group. In private, Xenical can be prescribed as part of a comprehensive treatment of the following diseases.
- Type 2 diabetes. In diabetes, glucose tolerance disorders of the body's cells are noted. In some cases, the normalization of weight helps to stabilize tolerance, which reduces the need for lipid-lowering drugs.
- Hypertension. Hypertension always "steps next" to obesity, speaking as its negative consequence.
- Atherosclerosis. The use of "Xenical" in atherosclerosis helps to reduce cholesterol levels in the blood, which positively affects the dynamics of treatment and prevents serious changes in the vascular walls.
- With hormonal disorders. Doctors prescribe “Xenical” to overweight women when planning pregnancy, when infertility is provoked by hormonal disruptions or there is a risk of inability to endure a child due to obesity. For example, after repeated miscarriages in a full lady.
How does the drug work?
The active substance of the Xenical preparation, orlistat, is a white crystalline powder enclosed in a blue gelatin capsule. The dosage of one capsule is 120 mg. The chemical belongs to the group of lipid-lowering drugs. "Xenical" has a number of pharmacological actions on the body that contribute to weight loss, namely:
- prevents the accumulation of new deposits;
- lowers blood cholesterol;
- provides normalization of cell sensitivity to glucose;
- reduces the internal secretion of insulin.
All these pharmacological effects are based on a single principle of action of Xenical. The drug begins to work actively in the lumen of the small intestine, inactivating the enzyme lipase of the gastric and pancreatic juices. Due to this, there is no splitting of large fat molecules into monoglycerides and fatty acids, which means that fat from food is not absorbed by the intestinal walls, passing through it in transit. Other actions of the drug come from this.
- Effect on cholesterol. Without fat, low-density lipoproteins (harmful cholesterol) cannot be absorbed from food, which leads to a decrease in their blood counts.
- Effect on insulin. A decrease in lipid concentration causes the normalization of sugar tolerance of cells. This leads to their full absorption of glucose, which means that the body needs less insulin to process sugars.
- Effect on fat. Chronic calorie deficiency when taking Xenical forces the body to use body fat.
- Effect on weight maintenance. When taking the drug, the patient gets used to consume less fatty foods, which ensures weight stability after the end of the course of treatment.
The effect of the drug can be fully described as follows: Xenical intake requires a decrease in the amount of fat in the diet. Otherwise, you will have to face side effects in the form of leakage of fat from the anus (steatorrhea) and increased stool. This forms a healthy eating habits in the patient.
About security
The drug "Xenical" is considered the safest of the means on the market for weight loss. The reason for this is the local effect of the drug, exclusively in the intestinal lumen. The absence of a systemic effect provides a significant narrowing of the list of side effects and contraindications for use, which can not be said about herbal preparations. Contraindications include:
- obvious impaired intestinal absorption function;
- diseases of the gallbladder and bile ducts;
- the period of breastfeeding;
- pregnancy;
- age to 18 years.
The harm that accompanies the drug’s priming is a violation of the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins - A, E, D, K. Therefore, for the prevention of hypovitaminosis, doctors recommend using special drugs for the duration of treatment as additional sources of the listed nutrients.
An additional advantage of the Xenical preparation is the absence of the risk of overdose and the negative impact of the use of high doses of the drug. Clinical trials with the use of high doses have confirmed the invariance of the effect of losing weight compared with standard therapeutic dosages. This indicates a lack of sense in taking more capsules in order to enhance or accelerate weight loss.
Instructions for use "Xenical" for weight loss
To achieve a noticeable effect of weight loss, it is important to take Xenical for weight loss correctly. Comprehensive information is provided by your doctor, however, some patients misunderstand it. Typical treatment errors are as follows.
- Reception time violation. Xenical must be taken with meals.If for some reason this could not be done, you must swallow the capsule within an hour after eating. This approach will ensure uniform distribution of the active substance in the food lump, as well as effective lipase blocking. If you take the product before meals, the composition of the capsule simply enters the large intestine prematurely and is excreted without any effect.
- Multiplicity of use. Capsules are taken one to three times per day. The Xenical regimen is flexible and depends on what and when the patient eats. Doctors recommend taking the remedy with each meal, if the dish can be attributed to fatty. For example, after breakfast from porridge without butter and coffee, there is no need to drink “Xenical”. If the morning meal consists of a sandwich with butter and cheese - you need to take one capsule.
- Violation of the diet. The effectiveness of Xenical treatment depends on a balanced diet. If the patient does not reduce the concentration of fats in it, one should not expect amazing effects. The drug neutralizes only 30% of the fat, the rest will be absorbed for physiological reasons.
- Premature end of course. Most obese patients expect a lightning fast result. Not noticing it after a couple of weeks, they stop taking the drug. Nevertheless, the minimum course of treatment is two months, and the maximum is six months. The effectiveness of losing weight directly depends on compliance with the duration of the course. Doctors recommend drinking Xenical continuously for three months.
A frequently asked question in patients is the compatibility of Xenical with alcohol. Orlistat does not react with alcohols, so it does not interact with alcohol in any way. Moderate use of it will not affect the result of losing weight with the drug.
Are side effects so scary
All side effects of Xenical are due to a change in the contents of the intestine, namely, the inclusion of pure fat in the stool. This can provoke:
- abdominal pain;
- uncontrolled discharge from the intestines;
- flatulence;
- increased stool;
- fluid bowel movements;
- oily feces.
Doctors focus patients on the fact that “Xenical” for weight loss will not cause such troubles, if they strictly follow the nutritional instructions. The use of excessively fatty foods will provoke not only steatorrhea, but also involuntary bowel movements, as fatty secretions will simply drain down the walls of the intestine.
Analogs
The drug "Xenical" has analogues:
- "Orlip";
- Xenistat
- Xenalten
- Orlimax.
Reviews of losing weight on "Xenical" confirm active weight loss under the influence of this drug. Almost all of them mention unpleasant side effects. Based on this, you can advise you not to start taking the medicine before trips or important events, as well as adhere to the recommendations regarding the diet as much as possible so that the weight loss process is not overshadowed by annoying phenomena.