Interesting new weight-loss drug — first one approved by the FDA since 1999.
The placebo controlled, cross-over design on Belviq’s studies look excellent. I totally believe this stuff works… and works well.
Main downsides:
1) It’s new so it’s expensive.
2) It’s basically a glorified anti-depressant (serotonergic drug) being prescribed specifically for its “loss of appetite” side-effects. Obviously that’s somewhat novel because most anti-depressants make people eat even more. But that’s also why everyone is defying thermodynamics and reporting “more energy” despite eating less.
3) Because of how it works, you pretty much have to take it forever to keep the weight off.
Potential upsides:
Taking anti-depressants when you’re not depressed is described as euphoric by most recreational drug users. So the upshot of taking this for weight loss is that you either:
1) Cure a low-grade depression that you didn’t realize you had, or
2) You’re massively happy all the time. The DEA took months to approve this drug after the FDA got done with it for a reason.
See on www.wxyz.com
