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Extreme Phentermine Abuse

I will try to make this as short as possible: Close to two months ago I went to see my gyno. I asked him about prescription diet pills because I knew my dad had a prescription for them and lost a lot of weight, but I also knew he abused them pretty badly, but I didn't know how bad. And to be honest, I was looking for a quick fix because I'm in a wedding in now two weeks (shallow worries of a 22 year old girl I suppose). Due to school (I'm currently a nursing student and though I can't answer my own question in the direction this is heading, I can use my knowledge enough to know it's not good) and work I didn't feel like I had time to exercise to lose the weight the right way. In all actuality, no doctor should have given me or my dad a prescription for phentermine/adipex, neither of us are overweight to begin with. Difference is, I was given a two month prescription, it seems my father has a continuous prescription or finds them else where.

Since I started taking them, I have seen nothing but negative effects besides helping wake me up on those 4 am clinical mornings. At first, I thought I would go back after the two months (which would only be like 2 weeks from now) to try to get a refill but due to all of my side effects, I'm not going to. I'm not overweight and I've always had blood pressure that was normal/closer to the low end- 108-110/70-72 with a pulse around 60. There have been occurrences lately where I can feel my heart working fast at rest and when I have gone and checked my vitals on my own, I have caught BP at 142/97 (this was at work so not resting) and 130/92(resting). Then Pulse as high as 118. I hate to admit but I did experience a minor hallucination recently. I also want to point out that I am on the 37.5 mg once a day and have not abused it once. (Oh and can I mention I've only lost 3 lbs in almost two months?)

So here is the point: I am currently on this medication and take it correctly and I see the side effects it has on me. My father abuses it extremely bad. To the point if I knew what doctor gives him his prescription, I would probably turn him in. Although, I do believe an addict is an addict and will find one way or another to get their fix in which I do know he gets them elsewhere when he runs out. I'm pretty sure he averages around 11 or so pills a day. But I know of him taking as many as 42 and I don't know if that's the new norm. He is close to 50 now and already has high blood pressure although I don't know if that is a product of other things he does. He's been an alcoholic my whole life/pretty much his whole life. Not until long before he and my mother split up did we hear about his hydrocodone addiction (which has since seemed to have been replaced with something stronger and stronger every time). And not until recently have I found out he smokes marijuana regularly as well, along with any other thing he can get his hands on when his norm isn't available. I also want to note aside from hypertension, he doesn't have any other known medical problems.

So here is my question: How long can someone taking that many phentermine pills continue taking that many before their heart goes out? I'm aware that depends on the person and other factors, but I'm wondering a ball park estimate. What about with the marijuana and alcohol figured in? Has anyone ever seen someone take this many for long? I ask because I do want to help. I've had the "You're going to die" talks with him. He cries and it gets to him but obviously not enough. I've explained the processes it is taking on his heart. I could tell he was thinking, but still not enough. I want to know how long this can go on taking so much. I'm getting ready to have a blow out on it and I want to tell him "You're going to be dead within a 'x amount of months/years' if you don't stop and get help". I've tried being nice. I've told him he is being selfish by not thinking of his kids and the fact he is gonna leave them without their father. He is a grown man. I can't make him go anywhere. I've thought about "tough love" but then get scared he'll get more depressed and take too much and that would be the way things would be left forever. I know some people's answers are methedone clinics and other medications. This can not be done here. He is an addict. He will abuse anything. I apologize for this being so long, but can someone who has dealt with an addict or helped a loved one break and addiction give me some pointers/answers? Thank you for your time.
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8063926 tn?1396421717
I'm 15 and I used to abuse phentermine. My mom was taking it, and I found a medical book and I looked it up and saw that you could get high from it. Every weekend, I would take 8 out of her bottle, and eat em all up.. I couldn't sleep for days on end.. I had to sit in one spot, and I couldn't drink water even, or else I would throw it back up. Once, I got up, to walk into the living room, and my mom was standing there, I said something, then turned around and passed out. I just told her that I fell because I didn't want her to worry or find out that I had been taking her medicine. I was developing these circles under my eyes, and I couldn't stand up, without getting really lightheaded. I had to stand up half way, then sit back down, and then I could stand up so that I could get used to my heart beating. It would beat really loudly, and when I stood up, I heard very loud static like sounds, and my heart felt like it was gonna explode. My phentermine abuse went on for about 1 and a 1/2 months. All my friends became worried about me, and I was starting to become very distant. I didn't talk to anyone, and when I had tried to quit, myself, I would be very irritable and lash out. So I decided I would take one more, because I couldn't quit cold turkey, and sure enough, the cycle began all over again. I couldn't go longer than 2 days without taking some pills, and when I didn't have any, I completely panicked and I would have 3 or 4 anxiety attacks every day I went without them. Pretty soon, I only had one friend left, and I wasn't in my right mind,, I began pushing him to do pills with me. He did, and I feel so guilty about it. My drug counselor, and my psychologist, think I should go to rehab, but I don't want to go. I had to be detoxed for a week in another county and it was getting better. I was given medicine for my cravings, and anxiety, and I gained back the weight I lost. (I lost 30 lbs, in nearly 60 days) I began going to N/A and a drug counseling class, at my school, but the day before my 30th clean, I took some more. I've began the cycle all over again. A part of me knows I need help, and I need to straighten out, but the other half wants to keep acting up, and running off, and stealing to get some klonopin or adderall when I can't have my speed. I am high right now writing this.. I really wish I could get help. I try and I try, but it doesn't help. :/ I got to the point, where I was peeing blood, and I wasn't even on my period. I was constantly moving when I was off the pills, and I lie, and do a lot of bad stuff just for one pill. Before I came across the pills, I had never smoked, never drank, never snuck around, and I was a really good kid. I used to be respectful, and sweet but I completely changed the second I swallowed that pill. Now, I'm doing everything I never thought I would, I've became everything I've never wanted to be, and it is so much easier to take a pill and call it quits then to out in all this effort, but I know in the long run, it will be worth it. I just need to pull myself to the position of getting and accepting help..
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Adderall is speed my dear... and though you are only 15, (17 now probably?) it doesn't matter. If you haven't stopped, (BRAVO if you have!) You will continue to use, and abuse. The drugs. The people you care about (or at least used to) and even... NO... especially yourself. I know. I have been an addict since I was 13. (Well, started using when I was 13). I've done pretty much any and every drug under the sun. Aside from PCP and  smoking "Wet cigarettes".  My first true passion was bird eggs (Phen) and Adderall  The orange (30mg I believe) round ones. Used to get them from a kid at school that had ADHD and he hated taking them. So me and a couple friends would get em and for a while, that was great. I'd be fine without em... edgy... mental withdrawal... but no physical symptoms. Then I found my drug of choice. My TRUE ADDICTION.  OPIATES. At first, I could take one Lortab, and be good for a day. But I found out quick that I had an unusual problem.  My tolerance to EVERYTHING  I used would and Was increasing exponentially with every other useage.  So while my friends were still getting off on 2 or 3 Lortabs a day, I needed at least 12 to get me through the day. And this was before I was addicted. Or maybe It wasn't. IDK. I never went without.  I told myself, what every Addict tells themselves... "I can quit ANYTIME I WANT."  The fact is, I didn't. And had I just quit while I was in that transitory period... maybe I wouldn't have started slammin' "H" at the age of 17.  Talk about something you NEVER think you'd do?! The Lortabs were making me sick. The buffer was just too much when you are taking 20+ in a few hours time. I couldn't keep it down. I couldn't eat. I had headaches.. My legs hurt so bad I would punch them. Couldn't sleep. Nose running like Niagra Falls. Hot as Hell outside and I'm in a hoodie cause I'm "cold" and yet "Hot" at the same time. Skin crawling... I had never been without, so I thought I was just sick. Til someone gave me an Oxycontin 80.mg. And 20 min later I was ridin' high. I can't say that I did anything to get my high. I was "luckier" than most. But soon. That connect was using them to get  high, so she wouldn't sell them anymore. Sure, I had connects everywhere. But you know how it is. So... one of my dealers told me where to find some "China white". I thought it was some kind of upper. lol But when you are a junkie, and I was, you'll take what you can get. So... My BF... the same Friend that I started with in the very beginning, and out of convenience was now my Boyfriend... drove over, went in, scared, you never know when you meet someone new, do ya? And that's when I realized it was Heroin. I almost walked straight out that door. And  to be honest, it wouldn't have changed a thing. I was already too far "gone."  That was 15-16 years ago. I've been on Methadone for 11 years now. And I've had a few relapses. But nothing has ever helped me like the program has... People say it's just exchanging one high for another. In the beginning, yeah... you get high. But after a month or so, you are "normal"... or as close to it as someone like I can ever be again.  Sure I want it every now and then. But I have a family now. A REAL MAN who loves me, and a son who depends on me. The cravings are nothing compared to that. And it's all mental at this point, when it happens at all. The physical cravings and withdrawal are still here... right under the surface. Right under a couple of missed doses. And that scares me more than I can tell you. But I've been living my life for over a decade without searching, waiting, hurting, pawning, and giving every ounce of energy I had  into thinking and scheming and hunting and waiting while hurting, both mentally and physically, (even when I was holding, terrified that I wouldn't have my fix in a day or two). I don't do that anymore. And I don't care what anyone say's about Methadone Maintenance... because I'm happy. And healthy. I do my UA's, I get my takehomes, I go to my counceling. I'm 33 in a few months and if I hadn't have got into the "program" when I did, I can't say whether or not I'd be here today... and honestly, if I would have really wanted to be.
  If you are anything like I was, I urge you to do something, ANYTHING, to stop... it doesn't matter what others think. It only matters that you are healthy and happy. AND ALIVE... and happy to be that way. I truly DO hope that you are getting the help you need. Addiction is a life long battle. And if you get the right help for YOU, then it WILL get easier.
Good luck to you. I would love to hear how you have been, and how you are doing since you posted.
<3 LitlMomma
P.S. Detox doesn't work for everyone. It didn't work for me. So, just because it didn't work for you, it doesn't mean that all hope is lost. If you DO ever want to try Methadone (if you are addicted to opiates), look up clinics in your area. If you don't have one close, try calling around for Methadone friendly doctors. Not all of them (doctors) are ignorant to the challenges addicts face. And to Methadone itself. I once had a doctor who thought Methadone was speed... "Meth-amphetamine"
lol... sigh.
Avatar universal
I know this is an old thread.. and not really what you want to hear. But with you being a nursing student, it baffles me that you don't know this. 1) Phentermine is only for those who are extremely overweight. 2) Those with substance abuse problems shouldn't be taking them. 3) They are short term only (typically up to 90 days). 4) Increased heart rate is one of the side effects, but it should only last a couple of days or a week at most. If it lasts longer, you're on too high of a dosage. 5) Phentermine isn't a miracle drug. You can't just take them and expect to drop weight. You need to eat healthy, and still exercise to burn off the fat. I've been on them almost two months, and even when I was sick they helped, but I was eating right. and when I'm not sick I'm at the gym an hour every other day.

Really, the side effects are normal - but only if you know what you're doing, taking them for the right reasons, and using them properly. Obviously neither you nor your father were doing so. The doctor that prescribed you a two month dosage at once, especially that high of one is an idiot. I started my first month on 15mg. I dropped 10-12 pounds with the food/exercise included. This is my second month and I'm now on 30mg, and doing just as good, if not better. You're only suppose to take ONE of the pills a day, and never past noon. Anything beyond this effects your sleep, and thus effects your thoughts and as you mentioned a hallucination.

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1725977 tn?1318549628
Praying for u too!
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1725977 tn?1318549628
Unfortunately you can not help an addict until they are ready to admit they have a problem. I am an addict and have 128 days clean today. I had four years until a relapse I just came back from. Have you attended any support groups? Nar_anon? That might really benefit you. My dad drinks too much and the alanon meetings really help me. :-)
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1235186 tn?1656987798
hey hun, it is heartbreaking to watch a loved one suffer from addiction. it encompasses them, they are swallowed up in it. it also affects the whole family. it truly is sad. my husband used for 14 yrs.*thank the LORD he is now in recovery for 16 months) it was very hard on my 4 children. i  had them all in counseling. i am very proud of you that you are going to school for nursing. my two oldest 25 & 20,quit hs.they both also had used. they both eventually got their ged's. my son is 25 and has now been clean for 2 yrs and has a job now for 16 months. my daughter 20 took some college classes but still hasnt found her way yet. i am praying for them all. we are healing day by day.
you know that diet pills are speed, and that is what is causing your heart to race and the increased bp, even if you are taking them as prescribed. i would stop.
have you ever been to counseling? i think it would be a good idea.
unfortunately there really isnt anything you can do for your dad. except continue to talk to him. has he been to the doctors not to get pills but to get a physical? bloodwork? this would give him an indication of his general health and a doctor could then warn him.if he already has high bp obviously the diet pills are very dangerous. after years of abuse the liver and kidneys usually dont fair so well. my husband is 57 and has a damaged liver and kidneys. we are praying for a healing for him. the LORD can restore the years. we are hoping for that.
please take care of yourself, go to counseling, stop taking the diet pills, tell your dad you love him and are concerned for him, ask him to get a physical and bloodwork.
i will pray for you,
keep up the good work and study hard
debbie
Helpful - 0
1720423 tn?1390185068
To answer your question. OBVIOUSLY that amount of drugs is not healthy for anybody. OBVIOUSLY it will cut his life MUCH shorter than average. As for a specific number, I'm not sure even a doctor could say.
That being said, I am more concerned for YOU. You seem to be more concerned about your father's health than he does. no one can blame you for being worried and wanting to help. But you are young and have your own things going on, with school and all. You have to know that you cannot save anyone who doesn't honestly want to be saved. Have you looked into some alanon meetings in your community to help you find support and fellowship with others who know what you are going through? They can also help give you some insight into your fathers addiction and tools to cope as the victim of an addict. I wish you the best. Good luck.
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