Xenical review

Xenical is a prescription drug containing the active ingredient orlistat. After reviewing the studies done on orlistat, I started using it for 30 days.

Xenical's orlistat is from Roche Pharmaeuticals. (This is in contract to My Alli's orlistat supplier, which is an unnamed Indian pharmaceutical company.)

Directions: Take 1 capsule, up to 3 a day, with each meal containing fat.

Take a multivitamin once a day at bedtime.

Claims: Fat blocking

Ease of use: The capsule is average size, made of a coating that gets slick easily and goes down well. It has no smell whatsoever. I had no trouble taking it with either food or water.

FDA: Orlistat is approved for both prescription (Xenical) use in a 120 mg dose and over-the-counter (My Alli) use in a 60 mg dose. It is also available by prescription in Canada and over-the-counter in Australia and the EU.

This review is going to be TMI since orlistat works to block fat by making it come out in your stool. If you can't handle reading anything about bowel movements, just skip to the rating. If you can't handle the idea of having odd bowel movements, just skip the idea of using anything with orlistat in it all together.

My diet is fairly low in fat so I didn't actually take more than 1 capsule on most days. I didn't feel Xenical would assist me when I was eating foods like strawberries, potatoes or green beans. But I did take it when eating anything containing meat, any pastries and when eating salads because Olive Garden's salad dressing is my weak spot.

And you can definitely see the physical effects of the blocked fats in your stool. The higher the amount of fat you consumed in a meal you took with Xenical, the greasier, and oranger, your stool will be. I got diarrhea a couple times with light orange spotting, despite a diet fairly low in fat, but did not really see the greasy orange staining everywhere problem described by others. So it was time to put Xenical to a real test.

I ate out at Burger King one night; a burger and onion rings. The next day I was tethered to the toilet and afraid to fart without being on the toilet because everything about my insides felt greasy and unhappy. There was no mistaking those 'treatment effects' anymore. Some trips to the toilet were nothing but grease.

Lesson learned; Xenical means serious business, do not eat fast food.

Taking a multivitamin at bedtime is important; fat-soluble vitamins will be blocked by orlistat. Taking a multivitamin at bedtime will give you time to absorb the pill without anything interfering with digestion. Try not to take it on an empty stomach – use a bit of milk or a banana – as multivitamins often cause stomach upset if taken alone.

If you adjust how you eat, not just use Xenical as a way to get away with eating badly and losing some of the fat of it, then you'll help yourself lose weight while simultaneously teaching yourself healthy eating habits you can maintain. If you use it to get away with splurging, binging or just eating high fat foods, you're going to gain any weight lost back as soon as you go off the pills – not to mention you're going to risk grease sharting your pants.

Rating: 5/5 If you do it responsibly, Xenical can definitely help you drop weight a little more quickly and can take some of the fear of 'messing up' a diet off someone just starting. The 'treatment side effects' make it very unlikely to be abused by someone, I imagine. I hope.

Also I am happy to say I never grease sharted my pants.  

There will be no close look at this month as I'm doing My Alli next which is the same active ingredient, orlistat.