Everyone wants to stay healthy and physically fit. Sometimes, battling the extra pounds can be quite frustrating, leading to people thinking about using unorthodox routes to weight loss. One of the alternative weight loss hacks that have been doing rounds in social media is the use of stimulants such as Ritalin and Adderall to cut suppress appetite. People who swear by these weight loss hacks often glorify the results, but they will never tell you about the severe and possibly irreversible side-effects that you could get from using them to try and lose weight. Here are some reasons you should stay off prescription stimulants for weight loss.
How Stimulants Lead to Weight Loss
One of the most common side effects which come with stimulants is that they lead to appetite suppression. This is what causes the severe weight loss and malnutrition that is common with people who are addicted to all types of stimulants. It is important to note that even when prescribed for their rightful use, which is the treatment of narcolepsy and ADHD, the drug does result in weight loss in children. Using stimulants for weight loss is, therefore, an unwise decision because of the following reasons.
You Will Gain it Back
When you start using a drug such as Adderall to suppress your appetite, you may experience the desired effect within as little as an hour after taking it. However, as soon as you stop using the drug, and especially when you will be trying to win yourself off the drug, you will put most if not all of that weight back on. This leads to the need to use the drug for a prolonged period so that you can maintain the desired effect for that period. This could lead to serious long-term effects.
You Will Suffer Heightened Anxiety
When over the counter stimulants are taken for any length of time without a prescription, they lead to feelings of hostility, intense fear, and at times, even paranoia. It is important to note that for kids or grown-ups with ADHD, the drug might have a calming effect, but if you do not suffer from the stated condition, it will give you the same side effects like drugs such as speed. When use is repeated, it leads to panic attacks.
You Could Get Addicted
As explained, prescription stimulants are the types of drugs which you need to keep using in order to maintain the desired effect. This is a class of drugs which stimulates brain chemicals such as dopamine, which means they have the potential of becoming highly addictive. When you stop taking the stimulants, your moods drop and you start feeling depressed. It also leads to cravings and drug-seeking behavior, where you will be doing everything possible to access the drug. This is a side effect which can lead to the need to clean up through a rehabilitation center.
The Use is Illegal
First of all, the FDA does not approve the use of stimulants for weight loss. Most of the people use it without a prescription. The main reason why the drug is banned from use as a prescription weight loss drug is because it is lethal. It is also important to note that you could get into problems with the DEA for the abuse of this drug. If you are sourcing the drug from a source which allows you to have them without a prescription, it could also mean that they contain an extremely high dosage, or that they are untrustworthy.
These Drugs Can Cause Heart Problems
One other common side effect which comes from the use of stimulants is that they lead to faster heart rates and lower blood pressure. There have been documented cases of people who have suffered heart failure after overdosing on stimulants.
The danger with having these stimulants added to your supplements is that people who manufacture stimulants are not required by law to prove that what they are using as ingredients is effective. This means that even if the stimulants come to you packaged as a supplement, you will still not be in a position to know if the drug is safe to use or not. It is advisable to pursue natural and safe methods of weight loss such as watching your calorie intake and exercising.
