Weight Loss Medications
Miscellaneous Weight-Loss Medicines
Throughout history, good doctors have always chosen medicines that have more than one effect. Instead of thinking of “side-effects” as bad-effects, smart doctors intentionally choose medicines with multiple desired effects.
Examples
Aspirin was first used for headaches and fevers. Now it is mostly used to prevent heart attacks. Most diabetics take an “ACE-inhibitor” not only for blood pressure, but also to protect their kidneys. Multiple desired effects. Not just one.
There are medicines which were developed for other medical conditions, but they have weight-loss as a “side-effect”. Sometimes that medication is still under patent and the company will go to the FDA and get approval to market the medication for both uses. That is what happened with Victoza (liraglutide) and Saxenda (liraglutide). However, with generic medications, there is no company to go to the FDA to get approval to market the medication for other uses. It is up to the physicians to prescribe the generic medications for other desired effects. The overwhelming majority of physicians prescribe generic medications this way, and our practice is no different. Since our medical practice specializes in obesity medicine, our weight loss clinicians frequently prescribe medications or vitamins which treat one of your other medical conditions and happens to have weight loss as an additional desired effect.
More Importantly
We help you identify any medicines you are already taking which cause weight gain as a bad side-effect, and often replace them with medicines which help you lose weight. Dr. Marlowe regularly provides medical lectures to non-weight-loss-physicians and teaches them what medications can cause weight gain. Many primary care physicians are surprised what medications are on that list, because this information is not taught in medical school. (Just like they teach him about the latest in Ob-Gyn or Pulmonogy or Cardiology or whatever, he teaches them about his medical field — which is weight loss. Each physician knows their focus well.) Don’t assume your non-weight-loss-physician knows all the pills which cause weight gain. They don’t.