Diet Pill Addiction, What You Should Know

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Last updated on June 24th, 2024 at 11:09 pm

This article was written by dietetic intern Dayle Rumley and Reviewed by Shena Jaramillo, RD

Are you taking diet pills and concerned about addiction?

Weight loss pill addiction is very common. Diet pills are abundant and come in many different forms, each having a slightly different mode of action and side effects. 

Diet pills are designed to: 

  • Suppress appetite
  • Increase your body’s ability to burn fat, and prevent absorption of fat. 
  • Act as a stimulant creating short-duration bursts of energy 

These factors can cause an illusion of control when we are in fact at a total Loss of control. This artificial sense of control perpetuates the addictive behavior in diet pill use. 

Let’s explore some of the dangers of diet pills, what leads to addiction, and how to recover from a weight loss pill addiction.

Common Diet Pills

Some of the most commonly abused diet pills include:

Diet pills may go by other names including anorectic or anorexiant drugs, appetite suppressants, anti-obesity medication or centrally acting anti-obesity preparations.

At the end of the day, each is a diet pill designed to interrupt normal metabolic processes in an attempt to shrink the body. 

Can you get addicted to Diet pills

 Yes. 

Diet pills and laxatives are typically used for weight control and have been shown to have negative effects on your body. It’s important to consider that there is a strong link between dieting and eating disorders.

Addiction to diet pills is not uncommon and is typically accompanied by other mental illnesses such as eating disorders. 

Common eating disorders that may include diet pill addiction are: 

What Causes Diet Pill Dependence

Dependence is associated with uncontrolled drug-seeking behavior or physiological responses to abruptly discontinuing substance use. Diet pills are no exception to dependense. 

It’s easy to see how diet pills can quickly lead to dependence for reasons that include: 

Your body has changed while on these pills and does not want to go back to the way it was before. Which is a form of dependence.  

The body becomes reliant on diet pills after long-term use for regulating metabolic processes and hormonal response. 

Diet pills can create a false sense of control in the ability to manipulate your body’s weight. In addition to the diet pill addiction, many users may find themselves engaging in behaviors that perpetuate poor body image including: 

Are weight loss pills safe

While many forms of diet pills that are regulated by the FDA are technically considered “safe,” if used as prescribed, there are nuances with this. 

If diet pills are not regulated by the FDA things get more complicated. Non-FDA-regulated diet pills do not have enough scientific research associated with them to guarantee safety.  In fact, there is no guarantee that the active ingredients listed on these products are even accurate which means there could be many unknown adverse health impacts. 

While some forms of diet pills are technically considered “safe,” this does not take into account abuse of the substance, side effects, and long-term implications of use.  

Common side effects of diet pills include:

  • Insomnia
  • Dizziness
  • Hallucinations
  • Chest pain
  • Rash 
  • Hair loss or changes
  • Swelling of legs and ankles
  • Itching
  • Night sweats
  • Vomiting
  • Yellowing of skin or eyes
  • Dark urine or light-colored stool

Diet pills affect everyone’s body differently so there is no way to know if they are safe for you. You will experience side effects from these pills. Which means that none of them are risk-free.

Diet pill symptoms may also be impacted disordered eating behaviors such as compulsive exercise or purging through vomiting.

Prescription weight loss pills

Even prescription diet pills are likely to result in poor body image, addictive tendencies, dangerous metabolic shifts, and disturbed thoughts about food. 

It isn’t common for physicians to hand out diet pills like hotcakes in the name of “health.” Diet pills are commonly prescribed to patients based on faulty BMI standards, to “improve health” even if all health metrics and lab values are in good standing. 

This is problematic as it disrupts a person’s relationship with food, interferes with normal metabolic processes, and often leads to dependency or disordered eating. 

Common prescription diet pills include: 

  • Ozempic
  • Wegovy
  • Orlistat
  • TIrzepatide
  • Phentermine

These pills are most often designed to decrease hunger cues and increase fullness in some way.  However, the problem is they neglect to take into account that there are numerous types of hunger that will influence when and how much we eat.  

Unfortunately, medications are often prescribed into account that many dieters already have disrupted hunger cues or rarely feel hungry. A person may also lack hunger cues with conditions like ADHD or ADHD medications. These factors render many of these weight loss medications ineffective.

Many of these prescription weight loss pills can have very unpleasant side effects like bloating, gassiness, inability to control bowel movements, vomiting, and suicidal thoughts.

What happens if you take weight loss pills for an extended period of time

Weight loss pills are not meant to be taken for a long period of time. Some possible side effects include:

Your body can also develop resistance diet pills with long-term use. Resistance means that you need to increase drug dosage to get the same effect as when you started. Weight loss pills can be one contributor to developing starvation syndrome.

You will also likely start to develop strong mental food restrictions that will disrupt your relationship with food.

Your body can also build a tolerance to drugs if they are taken for a long time. This is very similar to resistance. Both an increase in tolerance and resistance will require you to take more pills than before to experience the same effect.

If you’re noticing the need to increase the dosage of your diet pill for effectiveness,  you should stop taking the pill rather than increasing the dosage and seek support from your medical doctor. 

infographic on diet pill addiction withdrawal symptoms

What happens when you stop taking Diet pills

These are some common things to expect once you stop taking diet pills: 

  • You may  experience extreme hunger as your body attempts to return to its set point weight
  • Your appetite will increase because it has been suppressed for so long.
  • You will likely experience weight loss rebound which might include overshoot weight past the point of your starting weight

Physical Withdrawl Symptoms

  • Fatigue
  • Muscle aches and pains
  • Increased appetite
  • Weight gain
  • Lowered energy levels
  • Gastroparesis (slowed digestion)

Psychological/Emotional Withdrawl Symptoms

  • Irritability
  • Lower mood
  • Depression
  • Cravings
  • Anxiety 
infographic on recovering from a diet pill addiction

Treatment For Diet Pill Addiction

With excessive levels of diet pill use, medical monitoring may be necessary for safety as you discontinue the drug.  

Sometimes treatment for a weight loss pill addiction requires hospitalization or treatment at a residential facility specializing in substance abuse and/or eating disorders. 

If it is deemed medically safe to discontinue diet pill use on your own, you should work with a doctor, therapist, and HAES dietitian to help you resume normal metabolic function and heal your relationship with food. 

Some things that can help you heal your relationship with food as you discontinue diet pill use include: 

If you feel have an eating disorder, treatment for weight loss pill addiction will go hand in hand with treatment for your eating disorder.  It’s important to tell someone you trust right away if you feel like your diet pill addiction or relationship with food has become toxic.

Recovering from a diet pill addiction may also involve grieving the thin ideal.

These tips for recovery can help you stay strong if you are using diet pills as part of an eating disorder.

 
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Shena Jaramillo. Registered Dietitian
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