Phentermine Usage and Precautions

Phentermine is a drug that people take to help suppress appetite. It has helped numerous obese people already who are at serious health risk if they would have not lost weight.

For your own safety, you should learn how to properly use this drug. You should also learn about possible side effects. Likewise, it would help to know how to prevent dangerous reactions while taking it.

Possible Side Effects

This product could possibly have an affect on your motor function, although this is not the case for most people. You might not be able to move and work as well as you normally could. For instance, while you drive your reaction time could slow down.

If you take it while drinking alcohol you could intensify coordination or concentration problems, and it could further impair your judgment while driving. More common side effects include as follows:

• Bad taste in mouth
• In consistent sexual performance
• Constipation and diarrhea
• Headache
• Restlessness or nervousness
• Upset stomach
• Insomnia

This of course is not a complete list of the common symptoms of using this drug. However, it gives you at least an idea of what could happen if you take this medication.

Drug Interactions

Phentermine or the brand names of it (Adipex-P, Ionamin, Obenix, Oby-Cap, Teramine, Zantryl) should not be taken with other diet medications. If you mix it with fenfluramine (Phen-Fen) or dexfenfluramine (Redux), for instance, it can cause pulmonary hypertension.

It would not be such a huge concern, except that this cardiovascular disorder is potentially fatal. This is one reason why you should always consult a doctor before using a drug like this.

He or she can evaluate your current health condition. Furthermore, your doctor can tell you whether you can use this medication with any other supplements or drugs-or not.

Additional drug interaction information: Should not take phentermine or brand name equivalents you if you have taken an MAO inhibitor within 14 days. Examples of MAOIs include (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam), or tranylcypromine (Parnate).

You need to make sure that the MAOI substance has cleared from your body before taking Phentermine. Otherwise, you could possibly endanger your life.

Additional Precautions

Part of the reason it is so necessary for you to be careful about taking this medication is that it cannot be used if you suffer certain health conditions. For instance, if you suffer from heart disease or high blood pressure or you have arteriosclerosis you should not use Phentermine.

You should also not use it if you have hyper-thyroidism, or if you have epileptic seizures.  If you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse-especially if you are still addicted to any street or prescription drug or alcohol-you should not use Phentermine.