History Of Phentermine

When research different drugs to help you lose extra weight, it’s all but inevitable that you’ll keep hearing the same drug mentioned over and over again- phentermine. That’s because phentermine is the most prescribe weight loss drug out there. According to some estimates the drug accounts for over half of all FDA-approved weight loss drug prescriptions written every year. Phentermine works its wonders due to its appetite suppressing effect, and is known to produce dramatic effects, such as users losing half a dozen pounds in their first week on the drug. Not only is phentermine one of the most popular and effective weight loss drugs on the market, it’s also one of the oldest.

Phentermine’s First Approval

The FDA actually approved phentermine for the first time in 1959. The drug was originally approved for use in weight loss as an appetite suppressant to be used in the short term. The drug became available within the US that year, though the more well known hydrochloride form of the drug entered the market and public use in the seventies.

It was previously sold as Fastin from King Pharmaceuticals for SmithKline Beecham. However, in 1998 it had been removed from the market. Medeva Pharmaceuticals sells the brand name of phentermine called Ionamin, and Gate Pharmaceuticals sells it as Adipex-P. Phentermine is also sold as a generic. Since the drug was approved in 1959, there have been almost no clinical studies performed. By far the most recent study was in 1990, which combined phentermine with fenfluramine, or dexfenfluramine, and became generally known as Fen-Phen.

The Big Public Phentermine Scandal

While phentermine has been around for many decades the drug really jumped into the public consciousness during the 1990’s. This surge in recognition largely came due to a huge media scandal that came out about the potentially harmful effects of phentermine mixed with fenfluramin, the weight loss drug cocktail known as Phen-fen. While this combination of drugs had been around since the early 1970’s it never had to undergo rigorous approval by the FDA. That’s because both phentermine and fenfluramine were both individually approved by the FDA, and doctors didn’t require the regulatory go ahead to prescribe the two at the same time.

Phen-fen

Even though the Phen-fen cocktail had been technically available since 1973 it didn’t reach mass popularity until nearly 20 years later, when a paper published in 1992 showed that the two drugs worked significantly better together than they did apart, and that the combination didn’t appear to produce the same side effects that other amphetamine combinations displayed. Within a few years phentermine was also being combined with Dexfenfluramine for a similar synergistic effect.

While these cocktails didn’t produce any immediate side effects, by the late 1990’s doctors were beginning to report high incidences of heart valve disorders and pulmonary hypertension in the lungs of patients prescribed these cocktails. Fenfluramine and Dexfenfluramine were both withdrawn from the market by request of the FDA, though phentermine remains available to this day, in a variety of different forms and combinations. Some phentermine drugs are only available through prescription, while others are available over the counter or through online sources.

Trying Something New

Many people these days opt out of prescription phentermine and prefer to purchase over-the-counter varieties of the drug. Often these drugs are easier and cheaper to acquire than their prescribed counterparts, while still featuring the same or better effectiveness and none of the side effects. Looking over the history of phentermine it’s natural that you might feel some concern over the safety of taking an over the counter version of this drug, but if the drug’s history has taught you anything it’s that even doctor prescribed and supervised uses and combinations of drugs can end dangerously.

No matter what- do your research before purchasing and utilizing phentermine to help you quickly lose weight.

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