Did These Diet Pills Have Speed (Amphetamines) in Them?

Question by Rose off Titanic: Did these diet pills have speed (amphetamines) in them?
I recently took some diet pills I brought from a herbal chinese specialist store, I took them for 3 days and they worked but I got extreme anxiety, thoughts on suicide, sickness and my bottom teeth have been aching. I’ve stopped taking them and feel better now but was there speed in them?

Best answer:

Answer by Mathieu
No, at least not legally. In The United States amphetamines are federally controlled schedule II drugs indicating they have a legitimate and established medical use but also have a high potential for abuse, addiction, dependence, and diversion. Possession, distribution, buying, selling, or improperly using schedule II drugs is highly illegal.

Amphetamines and related drugs (eg., methylphenidate (Ritalin), dexmethylphenidate (Focalin), cocaine) can only be prescribed by licensed medical prescribers- typically physicians.

It is possible the diet pills you bought had some sort of stimulant that was put in them to make them effective. The person who sold them to you may have put in stimulants or the manufacture may have added them.

You could get a home drug test and test for amphetamine, methamphetamine, cocaine, and methylphenidate- if you come up positive then you have your answer.

Having said that other substances like ephedra (which has been banned), “bitter orange,” pseudoephedrine, caffeine, yohimbine, and others are often added, sometimes in combination, to weight loss pills. There are certainly a number of instances where the drugs were added yet they were not listed on the label.

The effects you describe could potentially be due to amphetamine however typically people have reduced depression (although a small minority may have a worsening of depression) and suicidal ideation is extremely rare. Most people also do not experience “extreme anxiety” on amphetamines except in large doses. Stimulants can certainly cause anxiety but it is typically mild or moderately severe when it does occur. Non-amphetamine drugs like those I listed more commonly cause increased anxiety although badly made and impure amphetamine is more likely to produce increased anxiety. I’m not sure what you mean by “sickness” but that is not typically something people describe from stimulant use. The side effect you report that is very typical of amphetamines is pain in your bottom teeth. It is typically a result of bruxism, which means clenching and/or grinding your teeth. Due to pressure on the jaw it can be very painful. Many people prescribed stimulants experience bruxism although it typically goes away after a few days.

Aside from a drug test or an analysis of the pills (which would be expensive) it is not possible to say. Overall the likely hood you took amphetamines is fairly low, I would guess it is from other substances.

I also recommend you don’t get any type of over-the-counter diet pills, they don’t work and often cause significant side effects. It is also more common for ephedra to be added to pill when they are not major brands.

If you really NEED to lose weight talk to your doctor, come up with a plan, and in SOME cases short term use of prescription weight loss medications are appropriate. They are not typically a long term option nor do they cause massive weight loss. However when proper diet and exercise are combined with an anorectic drug people typically do see more weight loss, primarily during the first few weeks of treatment, and often people become more enthusiastic about weight loss because they see more significant weight loss when they start which may help motivate. A drug is typically best to jump start the process. Adipex-P (phentermine), Tenuate (diethylpropion), and Didrex (benzphetamine) are some of the more commonly used anorectics. None of these drugs are amphetamines although Didrex is metabolised into amphetamine. Only one amphetamine, Desoxyn (methamphetamine) is still approved for any type of weight loss however due to the stigma of prescribing methamphetamine, the high price of the medication, and the fact Desoxyn has a much higher abuse potential than the other drugs has caused it to fall out of favour. Rarely other amphetamines are used for weight loss although many doctors do not believe that is appropriate and several states, most notably Montana, do not allow doctors to prescribe amphetamines for weight loss.

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