Alli: Side Effects and Personal Experiences with the Weight-Loss Drug

When I was first diagnosed as a diabetic, I was advised by my doctor to lose some weight. I went on a diet, started exercising and was surprised to find that I lost nearly 40 pounds in a year. I lost an additional 10-20 pounds fairly easy and then I hit a plateau. I tried changing my dieting, changing my exercise routine, but nothing seemed to work. Then I heard about Alli, the over-the-counter diet pill endorsed by the FDA.

I found the pills at my local Wal-Mart and decided to give them a try. I read through the enclosed information carefully and was more than a little hesitant. According to the packaging you may need to use the bathroom more often and in some cases you may experience anal leakage. Neither of those sounded like things I wanted to experience.

I was also a little turned off by the way they constantly pushed users to buy their other products including their recipe book and diet books. Since I planned on following the directions, I decided against spending any more money on their other items until I saw how the pills work.

The first day I tried the Alli pills I didn't feel any different and for the first few days I felt the same as I always did. I hopped on the scale after the first week and discovered that I had lost one pound. The makers state that the pills don't work automatically and that you won't see results for quite awhile, which is understandable. However after using the Alli pills for two solid months and only losing two pounds total, I decided to stop wasting my money.

I never experienced any of the unusual side effect from Alli, but I have heard stories. I did feel some really bad stomach cramps one night that felt like something inside me was dying, but it passed within a few hours. The same cramps appeared several times and the only thing I could do was lay in bed and feel like crying. I haven't found anyone else who had a similar experience though.

According to the makers of Alli and those who have taken Alli, the side effects are pretty bad. You may experience loose stool, frequent diarrhea, gas with spotting, and an increased need to use the bathroom. The makers of Alli say that the chances of the side effects lessen if you use a low fat diet, while Alli takers say this isn't the case. I've heard of people cutting out fats completely and still needing to use the bathroom 6-8 times a day. There are also horror stories of people feeling nothing and going to the bathroom to find leaking and stains on their clothes.

Luckily I didn't have any of the side effects while taking Alli, but I also stopped taking it. I was one of those people who the pill didn't work for and I didn't want to throw away my money anymore. I took the pills while cutting back on the amount of food I ate and exercising more often and it still only helped me lose 2 pounds.

Some people say to pay attention to how your clothing fits and your measurements rather than the weight loss. Even then Alli didn't work for me because I was still wearing the same size when I quit as when I first started. Then I took a week long vacation where I ended up walking over 10 miles and only eating one or two times every day. I came home to find that I had lost 10 pounds in that week and fit into the jeans I haven't worn for several months, and I never took a single pill on that trip.

Alli works for some people, but I'm one of the people that didn't feel any effects, negative or positive. If you plan on taking Alli, make sure you do your research and learn more about the horrible side effects in case you're one of the sufferers.