What is it used for?
Xenical is used to treat people who are obese (BMI ≥ 30) or overweight (BMI ≥ 27) with other risk factors.
Xenical can also help to improve risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high blood sugar. If these are not treated, they could lead to other diseases such as hypertension and diabetes.
Contraindications and cautions:
Do not take Xenical if:
1. you have had an allergic reaction to Xenical (orlistat) or any ingredients
2. your doctor has diagnosed that your uptake of essential nutrients is lower than it should be
3. you have certain pancreatic problems
4. you have had recent major surgery to your stomach or intestines
5. you have a blockage of your bile duct
Do not give Xenical to children or adolescents under 18 years of age.
Tell your doctor if:
* you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant
* you are breast-feeding or intend to breast-feed
* you have vitamin deficiencies
* you have kidney stones
* you have any allergies to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives or dyes
* you have peptic (stomach) ulcer disease
* you receive long term treatment for mental or nerve disorders
* you have symptomatic cholelithiasis (painful gall stones)
* you have post surgical adhesions
* you have an eating disorder
* you take large doses of laxatives
* you have significant heart, kidney, liver, gastrointestinal or endocrine disorders
* you have any other health problems.
Side effects:
Like all medicines, xenical can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them. Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking xenical.
These symptoms are generally mild, occur at the beginning of treatment, go away after some time and are particularly experienced after meals containing high levels of fat. Normally, these symptoms disappear if you continue treatment and keep to your recommended diet.
Rare cases of allergic reactions have occurred with Xenical. The main symptoms are itching, rash, wheals (slightly elevated, itchy skin patches that are paler or redder than surrounding skin), severe difficulty in breathing, nausea, vomiting and feeling unwell.
The use of an additional contraceptive method is recommended to prevent possible failure of oral contraception that could occur in case of severe diarrhoea.
If any of the side effects gets serious, or if you notice any side, please tell your doctor.
Interactions:
Because weight loss has many beneficial effects, it may also affect the dose of medication taken for conditions such as high cholesterol or diabetes. Be sure to discuss these and other drugs you may be taking with your doctor.
Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines including any that you have bought from a pharmacy, supermarket or healthfood shop. Some medicines and Xenical may interfere with each other. These include:
• cyclosporin, a transplant rejection drug
• amiodarone, a medicine used to treat irregular heart beat
• warfarin or other anticoagulants, medicines that prevent blood clots
• acarbose, a medicine used to treat diabetes
• other weight-loss medicines
• some vitamin supplements.
These medicines may be affected by Xenical. Your doctor will advise you.
Xenical, Orlistat, is an obesity management medicine generally advised for adults with a body mass index of not less than 30. Being a unique constitution as a gastrointestinal inhibitor of lipase, Xenical tackles obesity fundamentally by preventing its absorption. The fringe benefits of using Xenical aren’t insignificant too, like the reduced cholesterol levels, controlled blood pressure and help to gain control over diabetes.
Contraindications
Xenical is contraindicated in a number of situations including the ones listed below.
In cases of impaired functioning of liver & gallbladder due to stones, obstructed bile duct, pregnancy & breast feeding, pancreatic diseases, kidney stones, certain food allergies, peptic ulcers, Xenical is not advisable. You need to inform your doctor if you have kidney stones, liver, gastrointestinal, heart or endocrinal disorders. Likewise, xenical isn’t advised for children and adolescents below the age of 18 years. Similarly, if you have had a recent stomach or intestinal surgical or have developed an allergy for Orlistat (Xenical), you may be required to discontinue using the drug for a while on your doctor’s advice.
Side Effects
Certain side effects are of common occurrence with Xenical. The risk of side effects of Xenical increases when taken in combination with high-fat meals. The side effects are most likely to occur during the first year of usage only and they will generally recede afterwards. The most common of them are leg pain, tendonitis, swollen feet and depression. While other things like diarrhea and stomach pain may worsen if you persist with a high fat meal as they are the natural consequences of Xenical's fat-blocking metabolism which in a way is an indication that the drug is working as intended. However, all these are temporary and will reduce as you carry on with the treatment.
It is potentially risky to over use Xenical beyond your doctor’s recommendation as it could possibly lead to liver toxicity. The drug is under FDA study for analyzing its risk profile.
Drug Interactions and Caution
Like all other medicines, the effects of Xenical could potentially swing any which way if it is taken in combination with a few specific drugs, and it could be either more, less or even altered completely and this applies equally for both prescription as well as their generic equivalents. Xenical isn’t recommended for pregnant women as its effects aren’t completely studied but it is traced that the drug molecules are passed through breast milk.
Since Xenical also proves beneficial in controlling cholesterol it can come in the way of specific cholesterol management drug, if you are taking any and your doctor may consider reducing the dosage of Xenical for you. In a similar fashion, Xenical also brings down the blood glucose levels as a result of which there may be a necessity to reduce the dosage of Xenical if you are not a diabetic or the diabetes drug or insulin shot counts in case you are one. Make sure to discuss all these issues and about any drug you may be using regularly with your physician. |
