Girl taking unnecessary psychiatric medications

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My friend has started taking these Asian diet pills that have worked well for her. She experiences no side effects and drops 2-3 lbs. a week without exercise or diet modification.

When she started taking them, I warned her that some Asian diet pills have been linked to death from kidney/liver failure. She wasn't worried, though, because that was a different Asian diet pill than the one she's been taking.

Now a news organization had the pills analyzed. They don't contain ephedra or fen-phen, but they were loaded with anti-psychotic medications. It had Clozapine for schizophrenia and the anti-depressant Amitriptylene. Even more shocking is a good portion of the ingredients went unidentified - they were tested against 163,000 known chemicals and a match couldn't be made.

Does she care? No. She thinks the added anti-depressants are good because not only are you losing weight, but you're getting the benefits of increased mood.

Is there anything I can say to her to scare her away from these pills?

If a person isn't depressed and isn't having hallucinations, wouldn't those anti-psychotic medications work against her? She just keeps telling me she feels great and she's getting compliments on her weight loss.

I'm getting irritated because she's young (early 20's) and taking a gamble on her life.

I'm not a nurse, but I thought I could get some feedback here. I want to say something effective to get her to stop taking these.

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Specializes in Utilization Management.

Would it be possible for you to get her to see her doctor?

Make sure she brings a copy of the article you mentioned and the pill bottle, and have her ask him to run some tests on her blood.

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

Your concern is justified, but will probably continue to fall on deaf ears. Your friend is at the age/stage where she believes she is invulnerable to almost any risk.

This is one reason why herbal supplements scare the c**p out of me. There area bsolutely no regulations requiring the manufacturer to prove safety, effectiveness, or even the contents of the bottle!

Unless an herbal remedy comes directly from the hands of an experienced practitioner of Chinese medicine, or from a well-known American pharmaceutical company, RUN THE OTHER WAY!

Bless you for your efforts, but I doubt that your friend will listen.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

She certainly is taking a gamble with her life. None of these 'natural' products are regulated by the FDA--unfortunately and there is no clue as to what they may contain.

Clozapine is prescribed to treat symptoms of schizophrenia and the patient must be closely monitored for potential lethal side effects including very serious blood conditions and heart dysrythmias.

Amitriptyline is an antidepressant and it has been studied in teens, young adults have become suicidal.

these are serious medications and should not be taken without monitoring. Stopping these medications suddenly can cause withdrawal symptoms.

I'm very concerned about this as I know of someone who took medications to lose weight and had a fatal heart dysrythmia. Unfortunately, the manufacturers are unregulated and are just in this for the money. It's a very sad situation and she should be urged to speak to her doctor.

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Specializes in Telemetry/Med Surg.

An article from Time magazine about Asian Diet Pills.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,501020812-333902,00.html

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Remember Med Savy is moderated forum...posts need to be reviewed prior posting...just approved several.

Thanks for excellent article..... show that to your friend with message "because we care more about you and don't want to see your health affected, please read this article and discuss with your doctor taking supplements." That's all anyone can do without being seen as butinski and turning off receiving the message.

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Specializes in Nursing Home ,Dementia Care,Neurology..

The sad thing is she could quite easily lose 1-2 pounds a week on just a proper diet without resorting to pills.

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Thank you guys for the Time article and the information on Clozapine. I remember my Abnormal Psychology professor saying it's the most effective drug for treating schizophrenia and that it gives very lucid thoughts, but he said it's only prescribed as a last resort when all other anti-psychotic meds have failed. I guess that's because of the serious heart dysrhythmias and blood conditions suzy mentioned.

I'm going to focus on that when I talk to her since she thinks the anti-depressant is a 2-for-1 deal. *bangs head against the wall*

I'm mad these companies care more about profits than about people's health and well-being. :down:

And I hope she listens too Jolie. You'd think seeing celebrities like Heath Ledger, Daniel Smith, and Anna Nicole Smith die from drug overdoses (a cocktail of prescription drugs in ANS's case; prescription drugs and anti-depressants in Daniel's case) would be a red flag that nobody is immune to drugs.

I hope the FDA bans this from entering the U.S. soon. The news article said they began investigating it - I really hope they take action.

Just as a red flag, they're called "Two Day Diet Pills" if any of your patients say they're taking them or ask you about them. (I think Japan meant to call them Two-A-Day since you take two daily. Yikes; I wonder how much Clozapine that is?)

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Nightmare, she isn't even overweight. She's 128 lbs (134 when she started the pills), 5'6, and a size 4. She used to be 118 lbs. at her lowest weight and wants to get back down to it. :banghead:

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