My Ephedrine Story

That's a relief. We don't need zombie posters in addition to spammers, people spreading false info, and those trying to sell weight loss scams.
 
Jericho said:
That's a relief. We don't need zombie posters in addition to spammers, people spreading false info, and those trying to sell weight loss scams.
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If you're inferring that I'm a spammer spreading false info and trying to sell weight loss scams, you're mistaken. I'm just paying back this forum by contributing because the forum provided information to help me with my decision to try ephedrine again. Your gloom and doom posts had no influence on me.
 
No, I was making a joke. See if you was spamming, I would have just deleted your post and banned your account. I didn't cause you aren't a spammer.

But I am disheartened to think this forum is what got you to using pills for weight loss seeing how that is pretty much something we fight against.

I've posted science and others have posted other information as well. My opinion and facts counter yours and thus you claim it is doom and gloom.

Believe me, I'm holding back many things I'd love to say about this and your posts but I try to stay above that.



though I do slip sometimes.
 
Hello Fearless,

I hope that you can continue to lose weight however you think is best. I am very concerned about the use of drugs to achieve a permanent weight level. There are so many natural and simple and lower cost ways of losing weight.

I am wondering if you think that taking medications to lose weight is a last resort? I appreciate you telling your story here.
 
The problem I have with pills is sustainability. If you take something like this, are you prepared to pop a pill and not inconsequentially PAY for a pill for the rest of your life? Both are a far higher price than learning the self discipline and attitude that makes it easy to maintain your weight for the rest of your life.

I was overweight from the time I was a child to the age of 32 which I am now. Personally, I would not trade the positivity in all aspects of my life and overall improvement in everything about me that losing weight through hard work and a lifestyle change has done for me. Not for all the magic pills in the world.

I never have doubts or fears that I am going to return to being overweight, because I would rather be dead than be back in that place again. Something I really wish I had more ability to impart the feeling of on others is that feeling of realization, that the only thing holding you back all along was your own refusal to do anything about it.

So in my opinion, you can definitely have your pills, I don't want them. I can tell you through my experience you will be much happier the day you realize just what is possible in your life when you are willing to forgo any excuses and go out and take what you want. You don't need a crutch in the form of a pill.
 
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ocd said:
The problem I have with pills is sustainability. If you take something like this, are you prepared to pop a pill and not inconsequentially PAY for a pill for the rest of your life?
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This is answered in my original post. I popped this pill 6 years ago for 2 1/2 months. I went from being consistently over 250 lbs to staying in a range of 230-235 lbs for 6 years without popping any ephedrine pills. I've proven that I can maintain a desired weight level once I reach it.

So no I'm not prepared to pop a pill and pay for a pill for the rest of my life.
It's already been stated here that you build up a tolerance for ephedrine and it loses it's effectiveness. So it's not an option anyway.
 
I'd like to chime in here if no one minds. For more than a decade I was using all sorts of ephedrine based products for weight loss, including metabolife. I know I'm not going to change anyone's mind here, but I wanted to get my little opinion out there too as a former ephedrine user.

I'm trying to lose weight without the aid of anything but willpower for the first time in my life. And it's pretty scary.

Yes, ephedrine curbed my hunger. But now I have to do the same thing on my own. To be honest, now that I've pretty much managed it for more than a month on my own, I'm even more proud of myself than I was when I was taking a pill for help.

OK, so I don't actually eat as well as I should yet, but I'm learning. And I have managed to get to the gym six days a week for the last six weeks.

I won't risk gaining all my weight back once I stop taking an appetite suppressant. I'm struggling with the hunger part now, instead of masking it and having to deal with it later. I won't get to my goal then have to struggle with maintaining it when my pills are gone. Instead I'm overcoming the hurdles on my own as I go.

I won't say that this is better, because everyone is different, but I will say that it is better for me.
 
Hey HHackney,

I like your signature tag line. That is a big move to take your program "natural." The hunger is a big issue. I remember in the early days of my new food program, how hungry I got because I was cutting out a lot of big "calorie monsters" from my diet - such as cheese, beers everyday, snack crackers.

What I learned from this experience is that I thought I would never be satisfied eating healthier choices. Over a period of 2 to 4 weeks, I transitioned to eating raw carrots, zucchini, squash, yogurt, fruit and I have grown to like it. When you leave just an opening now to the possibility of liking other food than you currently eat, then you can try these things.

You may be hungry, but you will adjust. Keep busy. For us in the northern hemisphere spring is here. Take a walk. Go down to the park and watch people. Something.

I am glad that you spoke up. Let me know if that was helpful or not.
 
Fearless said:
No, just a means to an end. Anyone can suffer through hunger pains. I'd rather avoid them.
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Yeah, so would I. Which is why when I feel hunger pains, I eat. And I'm still losing weight at about 2 pounds a week. I don't ever "suffer through" hunger pains.

See, it's not about how much food you eat, it's about how many calories you eat. If you eat healthy, low calorie foods, you can eat the same amount of food you'd normally eat (and even more!) and still lose weight because you are eating fewer calories. And anyone can do that without taking a pill. Heck, I have days where it's hard to get UP to my calories for the day!

Plus, I'm concerned that depressing your appetite in this way (with a pill rather than with food) will mean you won't get the proper nutrition. How can you get enough fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals if you aren't eating enough food? These things are very important if you want to be healthy once you reach your goal weight.

I've seen the arguement here that the risk of heart damage is ok because the risk to the heart from being overweight is worse. I don't know which is actually worse for your body, extra weight or a pill. But why trade one for the other? Why not leave the pill out of it and lose the weight other ways. See, that way, instead of X-risk to Y-risk, you'll go from X-risk to no risk. Makes more sense to me. I'd rather be a thin woman than a thin corpse. Just saying.
 
Thanks dobner! I have to admit that the first thing I noticed about my new eating habits wasn't quite that I was hungry, but that I wasn't satisfied with what I was eating. Which I was confusing for hunger.

Eating a huge steak covered in butter and baked potato with everything you can put on it :drool5: on payday was so much more satisfying that having grilled chicken breast and a salad. It took a little bit of a mental shift to understand the difference between unsatisfied and actual hunger.

Fearless, Understand that I do respect your preference to use metabolife, it's your call and not anyone else's. But I strongly advise against it for anyone who hasn't made the decision yet.

I do ask that you consider this though, you say you are using it to avoid hunger; but you're actually not. The ephedrine just masks the hunger by suppressing it. You don't actually stop being hungry, you just suppress the feeling. So what are you going to do when you run out?
 
mizzie said:
Plus, I'm concerned that depressing your appetite in this way (with a pill rather than with food) will mean you won't get the proper nutrition. How can you get enough fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals if you aren't eating enough food? These things are very important if you want to be healthy once you reach your goal weight.
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I get plenty fiber, protein, vitamins and minerals. I'm taking a low dose. The recommended dose is 1-2 caplets 2 to 3 times/day. I take one caplet/day.
I still have an appetite for 3 meals/day.
 
One of my close friends took Ephedra for about a year to depress his appetite and help him lose weight. It worked well for him; he lost about 30 pounds. He says he took "one pill a day," which is apparently a low dose. In any case, he wasn't eating pills by the handful. He was exercising, not crash dieting, and thought he was being very careful.

Last month he got a long-overdue physical and it turns out he now has "a weakened mitral valve" (by which he probably means mitral valve prolapse). Although many people do have this condition without serious health impact, apparently my friend's is particularly severe - may require open heart surgery. He didn't have a history of heart murmur or mitral valve problems prior to his use of Ephedra. I'm worried about him.

I tend to agree with KaraCooks that the hysteria over Ephedra is a bit overblown. But there are genuine health risks, and they are not only associated with reckless misuse of the drug. Fearless, if you are going to use this drug, you should be getting regular medical checkups and be alert to any signs of heart trouble (racing pulse, unexplained weakness, chest discomfort). It might be a good idea to get a home blood pressure monitor and use it regularly, as ephedra will raise your blood pressure.
 
I cannot of course speak for a lot of people, but I have a deep belief that we all want for all of us to enjoy health, wealth and happiness. Medication will have a place to play in both of these, and mostly it is our innate intelligence, emotional guidance and strong daily practices that will help us achieve that. I am glad that we can talk openly and if we can help someone get off the pills for their benefit, we will all win.

Frank
 
sharoo said:
Last month he got a long-overdue physical and it turns out he now has "a weakened mitral valve" (by which he probably means mitral valve prolapse). Although many people do have this condition without serious health impact, apparently my friend's is particularly severe - may require open heart surgery. He didn't have a history of heart murmur or mitral valve problems prior to his use of Ephedra. I'm worried about him.
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Your scientific analysis is unique.
I tried to find anything that said ephedrine caused mitral valve prolapse in anyone. I couldn't. I did repeatedly find that someone that has mitral valve prolapse should not take ephedrine.

I even found one website that said this: "Researches and studies have also revealed that products containing ephedrine is also beneficial in treating mitral valve prolapse."



This illustrates the point to consider the source, including an unscientific weight loss forum post, when deciding what information to consider.

sharoo said:
It might be a good idea to get a home blood pressure monitor and use it regularly, as ephedra will raise your blood pressure.
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In the first post in this thread:

Fearless said:
I'm also monitoring my blood pressure closely.
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