The prescription only anti obesity medication Phentermine is available under several brand names. Duromine is the most frequently used in Australia and New Zealand. How well does it work, are there any effective over the counter alternatives.
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Duromine
Duromine is a prescription medication that’s predominantly used in Australia and New Zealand. Doctors only prescribe it to obese patients. When used correctly, Duromine is a good weight reduction aid.
Like similar anti-obesity medications, Duromine has to be used in conjunction with diet and exercise. It’s not a magic pill and should not be seen as one.
Statistics from the Australian Institute for Health and Welfare, show obesity is a big problem in Australia. Estimates suggest that, in 2017–18, 67% of Australians aged 18 and over were overweight or obese.
Breaking it down further, the figures suggest 36% of Australians are overweight but not obese and 31% are heavy enough to be classed as obese. (https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/australias-health/overweight-and-obesity)
That’s a lot of overweight people. Duromine is one of the few anti-obesity medications approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
As with the other options approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, Duromine can cause serious side effects, is unsuitable for long-term use, and fails to help people to develop healthy eating habits.
These failings are a few of the reasons why so many Australians are keen to find good over-the-counter alternatives to Duromine. Another reason is the price.
Duromine costs more than $100 per box and, as with all anti-obesity medications approved by the Therapeutic Goods Administration, you cannot obtain Duromine via the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
This article provides a brief introduction to Duromine, explaining how it works, along with the side effects it can present. It also looks at the reasons you may want to choose an over-the-counter Duromine alternative instead.
What Is Duromine Used For?
Duromine is a brand name, not a drug. It provides the weight loss medication Phentermine, which has been available as a prescription weight loss medication in the USA since 1959.
People living in the USA can buy the drug under several different brand names but Duromine is not one of them. Regardless of the name, the medications are the same.
Many countries of the world, including the UK, do not allow their citizens to use Phentermine. This is generally because they consider the potential benefits the medication offers are not great enough to justify the severe health risks it can present.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration had similar concerns but finally approved the drug in 1991. Since then, Duromine has become one of the most popular prescription diet pills in Australia.
How Does Duromine Support Weight Loss?
Duromine is an appetite suppressant. When you use it alongside diet and exercise, it makes dieting easier by controlling hunger.
Hunger is one of the most dreadful consequences of following a low-calorie diet.
In addition to forcing you to avoid foods that are high in fat and sugar, a good weight loss diet also requires you to eat less frequently and make do with smaller portions of food.
When done correctly, a low-calorie diet creates an energy shortage in the body. It’s this energy shortage that triggers the need to burn fat. Exercise increases the energy shortage, helping you to burn more.
All the best over-the-counter alternatives to Duromine control hunger too but they achieve it in different ways.
One of the best ways to control hunger is to increase satiety. Several natural ingredients have this ability. Nopal cactus extract is a good example. Some of the best diet pills use it to suppress appetite and increase the need to burn fat.
Duromine does not work in this way. It controls appetite by initiating a state of fight or flight.
How Fight or Flight Works & Why Inducing It Can Be a Bad Idea
Fight or flight is a natural condition that normally only occurs in moments of danger. It’s a stress response that exists to help maintain life.
During times of danger, we generally have two choices. Firstly, we can stay and fight our ground. Alternatively, we can beat a retreat and try to get away as fast as possible. Fight or flight helps us to do these things by initiating a variety of chemical and hormonal changes.
One of the main things fight or flight does is release adrenalin. The presence of this hormone enhances normal function and gives us certain physical advantages. Weight loss is not one of them.
However, one of the other things fight or flight does is suppress hunger. In a possible life or death situation, nobody needs a distraction like that.
In normal circumstances, the flight or flight response is generally only short-term. Duromine tricks the body into maintaining this state for several hours. That’s not good. Some of the other features of the fight or flight stress response, such as higher blood pressure, can negatively affect your health.
Not surprisingly, experts say maintaining a state of fight or flight is not a good idea.
According to an article available on the Mayo Clinic website, the risks of long-term fight or flight may include anxiety, muscle tension, digestive disorders, and heart attack. (https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037)
Little wonder these are some of the side effects Duromine is known to present.
Duromine Side Effects
Although some side effects are more common than others, some people may experience side effects of one kind or another while using Duromine.
Some possible side effects include:
- Dry mouth
- Headaches
- Dizziness
- Insomnia
- Nausea
- Rapid or irregular heartbeat
- Stomach cramps
- Diarrhoea
- Constipation
- Elevations in blood pressure
- Chest pain
- Fainting
- Difficulty breathing
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Skin rashes
- Impotence
- Swelling of the face or lower limbs
- Feeling restless
- Tremors
Additional Considerations
In addition to being a medication that can cause severe side effects, Duromine is also a medication that’s hard to obtain. Doctors only prescribe it to patients who have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher.
A lot of people who wish to lose weight are not that big, meaning Duromine will not be available to them. Nor is it available to people who have certain health conditions. It also has the potential to interact badly with some other drugs.
Another problem with Duromine is it cannot be there to support you long-term. The maximum prescription period is only 12 weeks.
Losing weight can be a long and difficult business. Most people will need something that can support them for more than 12 weeks. Especially those who are obese enough to obtain Duromine via prescription.
It’s also important to be aware Duromine only offers a very limited level of support. The main thing it does is suppress hunger. A lot of over-the-counter alternatives can do a lot more.
At the very least, most non-prescription diet pills boost metabolism, enabling you to burn extra calories and fat.
If you are thinking of using Duromine, there’s another very important consideration you need to know about. It can be addictive.
On a chemical level, Duromine is very close to amphetamine (speed). Like amphetamine, it stimulates the central nervous system in ways that can make you crave more.
Duromine Pros & Cons
Pros
- Prescription medication that has medical supervision
- Suppresses appetite for most people
Cons
- Expensive
- Possibility of severe side effects
- Known interaction issues with certain medications
- Need to be extremely overweight to obtain a prescription
- Not available long-term
- Can be addictive
- Only offers a limited level of support (appetite suppression)
PhenQ: A Good Natural Alternative to Duromine
There are several good over-the-counter diet pills that are better options than Duromine but PhenQ is easily the best. As the name suggests, it’s designed for people seeking a safe phentermine alternative (Duromine).
Unlike Duromine, PhenQ helps people to lose weight in several ways.
Like the drug it replaces, PhenQ removes the obstacle of hunger but it does not initiate fight or flight to do it.
PhenQ provides several natural ingredients that are scientifically proven to increase satiety and reduce appetite. The main one is nopal cactus extract but it does not stand alone. The PhenQ formulation provides it with several allies including a branded capsicum extract that’s highly respected for the things it can do.
Research shows that in addition to being an appetite suppressant, capsicum is also a thermogenic fat burner.
PhenQ also provides an exciting branded ingredient called a-Lacys Reset. Like capsicum, it functions both as an appetite suppressant and a fat burner.
Research shows a-Lacys Reset also protects existing muscle mass, helping to keep your metabolism high.
PhenQ is a powerful supplement. Since 2015, it’s helped more than 190,000 people to lose weight and many customers are reporting weight losses of around 9 pounds per month.
PhenQ is more suitable to use for most people than Duromine in many ways. One of them is the price. Even without taking advantage of special deals, it’s much cheaper to buy and use. It’s also a non-prescription Duromine alternative that’s backed by a 60-day money-back guarantee.
If you are presently considering using Duromine but are worried about side effects, the threat of addiction, or its ability to give you the kind of support you require, consider using PhenQ instead. It suppresses appetite like Duromine and offers many other benefits as well. It is also available in Australia and New Zealand.
FAQ
side effects can happen with any prescription medication, Duromine is no exception. Some people may experience headache, nausea, dizziness or insomnia
It is used to help obese or overweight people lose their excess body weight. Your doctor of healthcare professional will assess whether the medication is suitable for your case. Duromine is effective at reducing hunger. The medication sends a signal to the brain that it is full and does not require any more food.
You can only obtain via doctor prescription. You cannot buy it from a chemist, pharmacy or health store without a valid doctors prescription.