This is an herbal based weight loss pill. Anybody else seeing patients with severe adverse reactions?

I have not but it can give you a positive drug screen......this I do know.

renerian

:eek: NO WAY!!! For what? Speed?? Ummmm....wow. Glad you told me. I use the stuff.

Oh yeah, and no I haven't seen anybody having adverse reactions. Yes yes yes I know it can be bad for you. I only take one pill a day. Just to give my crappy metabolism a "boost" before work.

For almost all our psych studies, Metabolife is an exclusion as people are more likely to be irritable due to the ephedra.

Hey, what about those of us who are just naturally crabby? :chuckle

The ephedra just makes me sweat.

can cause MIs and strokes due to the ephedra...would rather be fluffy than a veggie...

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/1671.52406

Ephedra can cause heart complications, high blood pressure, seizures, strokes, even death, especially when combined with other stimulants like caffeine, guarana, and ginseng -- which are also common ingredients in these drinks. In the early 1980s, the FDA banned pills combining ephedra and caffeine, but a 1994 law removed dietary supplements from FDA control.

Although side effects to supplements do not have to be reported, about 800-1,200 serious reactions to ephedra have been -- less than 10% of the actual number, estimates Gurley. "I get calls literally every day from consumers, lawyers, and doctors describing bad reactions to ephedra," he says. "The public is not aware of the hidden dangers of these products."

When 15-20 different herbal extracts and "metabolic boosters" mix with ephedra and caffeine, side effects may be delayed or unpredictable, including insomnia, nervousness, headache, nausea, tremor, and heart palpitations. Some are serious or even fatal, like seizures, heart attack, kidney stones, and stroke.

When I was in Virginia, I took care of a patient in CCU who had a heart attack while he was taking Metabolite. Sure he probably already had coronary artery disease, but the Metabolite didn't help matters.

I once took Dexatrim...the so called "natural" one with "natural" ephredra. I had so much palpitations and fast heart rates it scared the poop out of me.

Changing my eating habits and walking worked much better for me and my health.

We (Hematology) have noted unusual cases of new onset severe thrombocytopenia and suspected ITP (idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura recently in people using Metabolife. All in people previously quite healthy - I posted a thread a while back on it. Don't know if it was a fluke or what.

I personally find that my coworkers that are using metabolite have all the personality of pit vipers. It is debatable whether they are more obnoxious on the drug or when they 'kick' the drug at the end.

Caroladybelle, ugh, I know what you mean! A friend in some of my classes is ADDICTED to ephedra and she is often more than irritable, she is downright nasty and extremely obnoxious. She talks so fast and acts really strange sometimes...people think she's a total looney tune...

Took care of a healthy 20-something male...had SVT induced by Metabolife...yes you do get a pos drug screen for anphetamines....key word here is ''screen''...then sample is sent to a lab to further id...and comes back negative...how do l know?..it happened to me.........LR

My Dear Shay,

Please get off this stuff right now. Better a big, tall latte to get you going in the morning than this cr*p! A friend of my mother's spent 2 weeks in the hospital as a result of a bad reaction to Metabolife.

Like all "nutritional supplements", it is virtually unregulated by the FDA. Its manufacturer does not need to prove safety or effectiveness, and being unregulated means that there is no guarantee of standardization. The product may or may not contain the ingredients listed on the label in the amounts listed. For example, if ephedra is listed as an ingredient, one capsule may contain no ephedra at all and the next may contain 200mg. There is also a great risk that a capsule may contain ingredients not listed at all to which you may be sensitive or allergic. Taking this stuff is a cr*pshoot at best. I enjoy your Maternal-Child posts too much to lose sleep knowing that you're risking your health for Metabolife!

I second that emotion! Ephedra is basically the same stuff they gave overweight housewives in the 1960s....you know, SPEED....which is chemically similar to the "uppers" that were illegally bought and sold on the streets in the '70s. I remember watching my mother scrubbing the kitchen floor at midnight and listening to her pressured speech "WellIcouldn'tsleepsoIthoughtI'dgetthisdonetonight!" A decade later I was the one taking "uppers" for weight loss, and there are entire months I don't even remember because I was so strung out. I ended up developing HTN and tachycardia at age 22. It's not worth it, folks.......I'm surprised they haven't outlawed this garbage yet.