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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
499 of 564 found the following review helpful:
 Two years on Orlistat Jun 29, 2007
By calyx
"calyx"
I've been taking this product for two years now. It was prescribed by my doctor after I stopped smoking and gained quite a bit of weight. I lost 60 pounds but also dieted vigorously and exercised regularly at the gym on the treadmill for 35 minutes. Oily discharge sometimes? you bet, but only when I ate meals with a high fat content. Couple bits of advice: if you feel like you need to fart, don't. You can't be sure of what will come out. Restrain yourself until you get to a toilet, just in case. Also, not only fried chicken and fried food have fat. Any kind of red meat has fat content. Rule of thumb for me is if calories from fat are high, I take a pill with the meal. This product is a lifesaver but it only works with diet and exercise.
328 of 369 found the following review helpful:
 Read the Fine Print May 11, 2010
By KLK
I started taking Alli about two months ago to augment my diet and exercise program. I'm active, and with a BMI of 26, I just wanted to lose about 20 lbs that wasn't coming off with my fairly intense cardio routine and low-fat diet. I would take Alli as directed with meals containing some fat but rarely more than the suggested amount of fat. And I did experience the treatment effects with meals within the suggested fat allotment: frequent, oily stools, random oily discharge (very gross), and stomach pain about 45 minutes after eating. However, they weren't severe enough to make me stop taking the med. Over time, I didn't lose an ounce but kept taking the pill as directed, hoping that it would kick in over time. It didn't. And then I had a higher fat meal after taking one Alli pill. I know that the`treatment effects' are supposed to act like aversion therapy, but this was ridiculous. I ended up in the ER with crippling, stabbing stomach pain and dry-heaving. I had such a bad reaction that stomach pumping was treatment of choice. The ER doc suggested I throw the pills out as soon as I got home.
After recovering from the ER ordeal and promptly pitching the bottle of Alli (the aversion therapy didn't work to GlaxoSmithKline's advantage this time), I did a little bit of research and found that I was not the only one with adverse reactions requiring medical care. This med has been linked to pancreatitis, gall stones, and possibly colon cancer (research was kind of spotty on this). Will everyone react this way to the drug? Of course not. Every med has side effects and not everyone can tolerate certain drugs. However, I hope that people will consider the risks and weigh the benefits before spending quite a bit of money on something that may not work.
Overall, I ended up with nasty side effects, a considerable ER bill, and no weight loss. And for those it does work for, you may become dependent on the drug for continued weight loss or even weight maintenance (this is from the actual website)- quite a price to pay to lose 2 to 3 more pounds more than you would have with diet and exercise alone. If Alli works for you, awesome- more power to you. But before you buy, please read the fine print- the pill may cost you a lot more than you bargained for.
116 of 143 found the following review helpful:
Problem with Alli capsules Jan 02, 2008
By Edward J. Poor
It appears that many Alli capsules are actually empty of contents. I have cut open numerous capsules and found inconsistencies in the amount they contain with some actually completely empty.
97 of 122 found the following review helpful:
Watch Your Pants Feb 13, 2008
By Ted Mccluskey
"Open Thinker"
If you cheat on this diet and have some taco bell for lunch you pay for it by realizing you just shat in your pants. I would suggest a 'man pon' till you know how your body will react with this product. Dont forget that extra pair of undies..... you`ll need them!
27 of 32 found the following review helpful:
 Alli OTC Weight Loss Medication Jul 23, 2007
By A. Glass
I purchased this the day it became available over the counter in hopes it might help me finally lose a bit. I've taken it exactly as the directions state. Yes, there are very unpleasant side effects which can almost be hard to control, which are described in their literature, but luckily I was able to. I also take Metamucil pills with each dose, which lessens the side effects. I've taken them religiously for a whole month now, but it doesn't seem to be having any affect on my body losing any weight. I do know it works for many people, but I guess as with any drug, everyone reacts differently.
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