Hydroxycut Causes Liver Damage And Death
The FDA has issued a warning against the diet drug Hydroxycut, which, as it turns out, can kill you. (It killed a teenager in 2007, but apparently the FDA was just alerted to this now.)
Other patients experienced symptoms ranging from jaundice, or yellowing of the skin, to liver failure. One received a transplant and another was placed on a list to await a new liver. The patients were otherwise healthy and their symptoms began after they started using Hydroxycut.
One researcher claims the dangerous ingredient is probably hydroxycitric acid, and that products containing that ingredient are still on the market. And it ends with a warning about weight-loss pills in general:
“You really have to be careful about dietary supplements, especially weight-loss pills… People believe that the FDA has verified that these products are at least safe and effective, and that’s really not the case. When you see fantastic claims — that’s generally what they are.”
So yet another case of a company preying on people who will do anything and take any drug that promises to make them thin. Because thin = healthy, right?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Advertising, Health, Science, Weight Loss
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I work in healthcare. I had a thin young patient a few weeks ago who most likely stroked out due to Xenadrine.
What’s really sad, is I know that won’t keep people from taking them. A friend of mine started ordering ephedra diet pills from outside of the US after the FDA decided that it was too dangerous. When I tried to talk to her about it, she told me she didn’t care, because it made her loose weight and feel good, at least she’d be sexy.
It’s getting depressing how completely unsurprising this turn of events is.
I used to laugh at the Hydroxycut commercials….now I’m going to laugh harder.
Diet pills are so stupid.
I rub my temples and just wonder… Oh God, why?
People think we’re past the days of foot binding, lead-based make up and ingesting tapeworms and what not, but really, in a few hundred years the people of that time is going to look back and wonder why we’re all so stupid.
I remember seeing products with Hydroxycut as an ingredient on a bodybuilding site.
…Geez, I don’t know why, but this just made my head spin. I sometimes feel like I’m living on Bizarro-Earth.
Kari, you’ve said it all!!!!!
I might be a little out my element on this site but I’ll comment anyway. I took Hydroxycut for 4 weeks and not only did I NOT experience the side effects talked about on the net but I lost 21 lbs. 21 lbs in 4 weeks is insane. Was it just the Hydroxy of course not. I dramatically changed my diet and began exercising. Some might say this could’ve been done without the aid of Hydroxy but I don’t think so. It’s just a little disappointing to see this recall because now I will no longer use it. I do agree that those that take diet suplements like Hydroxy and don’t exercise or change what they eat are living a pipe dream. but I won’t discount what Hydroxy can do.
The question is whether people will be so desperate to lose weight they will ignore the recall.
Vincent: Ephedra didn’t kill everyone who took it, and I’m sure some might not have felt any side effects either. It doesn’t throw away the fact that it killed and harmed people.
The point of the post, in my opinion, was to draw attention to the beginnings of perhaps a repeat of history – Oh dear someone’s dead because of the drug and it’s harming others. Ban? Not Ban? Just turn into more super-cool diet drug that will FOR SURE cure the fatties?
Until people actually start getting it into their heads that there’s nothing wrong with them in the first place if they’re healthy and happy, these disgusting diet drugs are still going to sell like hotcakes. People, until now, are still buying Ephedra on the black market, or stocking up when they go overseas. It can KILL them, but hey, they’ll look fab in that size 2 dress and tiny coffin anyways.
Augh. I can’t believe that with all the information out there people STILL buy into the notion that thin=healthy and thin=pretty
Vince- Of course people will still ignore the recall. Are there still bulemics out there that ignore all the health risks to be thin?
(Just realized that the above ‘sounds’ somewhat nasty…did not intend for this.)
“So yet another case of a company preying on people who will do anything and take any drug that promises to make them thin. Because thin = healthy, right?”
NO. Nobody actually cares about health. Thin = sexy, desirable, attractive, etc.
That’s the point, right?
Vanessa: Thin IS healthy, remember? That’s what the media says, so it MUST be true! Forget that there are plenty of fat people completing marathons and bi/triathalons – and completing them before thin people (the horrors!) – they’ll drop dead of heart disease anyway!
It’s quite hilarious to hear a bunch of fat chics saying thin is not healthy….and thin is not beautiful. What a joke.
All you people. There is no magic pill. Eat right and exercise and you will be healthy and thin. Fat is NOT healthy…PERIOD. But taking a bunch of pills to be THIN is not either.
But who really cares? If your fat and happy with yourself….then so be it. But don’t make excuses and bash the skinny hot chic. And if you are skinny and want to take pills to be so….who cares! But don’t bash the fat chic who wants to sit on the couch and eat McDonalds.
Be who you want to be and don’t worry about the guy next to you!!!
After reading the comments, I see people are on both sides on this issue.
Personally, I took Hydroxycut. I want to lose weight in a lower calorie, more excercise way because I know this is healthy. But I often felt like complete crap when I first began changing my diet and routine.
I began taking Hydroxycut because my friend suggested it. I found that it gave me more energy (thanks to all the cafeine in it) and kept me pretty um regular. (probably also thanks to the cafeine.)
I’m saddened to hear people have had such bad reactions to it. No one deserves to get sick or die from a diet drug.
But I must say, the only FDA approved diet drug alli doesn’t sound awesome either. The “treatment effects” are leaking any extra oil/fat you eat out of your anus so they strongly suggest you not only wear dark pants and panties, but also take an extra pair of pants to work with you because it’s pretty likely you’ll leak all over your pants. Fun!
Big Perm: You must be new here, and didn’t realise what we said was total sarcasm. Fat Acceptance is not about “bashing” skinny people, and if eating right and exercising made everyone thin, this blog wouldn’t exist.
You can be fat and healthy, like you can be thin and unhealthy. Fat doesn’t mean you’re automatically gorging yourself on Mickey D’s every night.
And last off: Why we *are* concerned about people popping pills is the possibility that they might experience undesirable side effects, like liver failure, heart failure, depression, and death. You might just tell people to “let them take the damn pills if they want” but if you’ve ever had someone close to you in the hospital, or dead from such diet drugs, you wouldn’t even think of such a thing.
I just want to say. That people need to check the facts before bashing the product. Have you checked the article about why hydroxcut was taken off the shelf. Out of 9 million products sold 23 people had a problem and one died. I understand 1 person dieing is one to many. But, that is a really really small amount of people. Just saying
I’m 15 years old and I weigh about 180 pounds and I’m only 5′ 5”. I have had issues my whole life with my weight. I am not only depressed all the time, but I diet and exercise. And it doesn’t work. My dad bought me hoodia pills about a year ago.. I took those for a couple months but they did nothing. Then about a month ago he bought me caffine free hydroxycut and taking those I didn’t lose weight either. So 2 weeks ago he bought me the real hydroxycut and after taking those for 3 days I had already lost 10 pounds. I felt so good about myself and I exercised way more and ate just about nothing but water and yogurt. I continued using them throughout the 2 weeks, and my friends noticed I was always so hyper, and they also noticed I got really moody and depressed. I was still depressed. Actually more then ever. My stomach always hurts and I’ve thought about suicide almost everyday, at least 2 times a day. With my stomach hurting all the time I miss school, skip class, and just want to sleep away the pain. That’s when my dad came into my room this morning. He said give me those pills. I asked why, and he responded “I saw a thing on the on TV and they are killing you” and I gave him the pills, I told him I wasn’t going to school and as dissapointed as he was, he left the room. I’m really disapointed with my life. Those pills didn’t help me lose weight. It was the dieting and exercise. Whatever the case, I just don’t know where to go from now. I just feel terrible all the time.
I’m 15 years old and I weigh about 180 pounds and I’m only 5′ 5”. I have had issues my whole life with my weight. I am not only depressed all the time, but I diet and exercise. And it doesn’t work. My dad bought me hoodia pills about a year ago.. I took those for a couple months but they did nothing. Then about a month ago he bought me caffeine free hydroxycut and taking those I didn’t lose weight either. So 2 weeks ago he bought me the real hydroxycut and after taking those for 3 days I had already lost 10 pounds. I felt so good about myself and I exercised way more and ate just about nothing but water and yogurt. I continued using them throughout the 2 weeks, and my friends noticed I was always so hyper, and they also noticed I got really moody and depressed. I was still depressed. Actually more then ever. My stomach always hurts and I’ve thought about suicide almost everyday, at least 2 times a day. With my stomach hurting all the time I miss school, skip class, and just want to sleep away the pain. That’s when my dad came into my room this morning. He said give me those pills. I asked why, and he responded “I saw a thing on TV and they are killing you” and I gave him the pills, I told him I wasn’t going to school and as disappointed as he was, he left the room. I’m really disappointed with my life. Those pills didn’t help me lose weight. It was the dieting and exercise. Whatever the case, I just don’t know where to go from now. I just feel terrible all the time.
Chelsi, you are breaking my heart. I’m trying to think what I would have wanted to hear at 15 and 180 lbs and a parent who buys you diet pills and the words are not coming. I will tell you that at 37, I still have parents who are still obsessed with my weight, so that problem won’t go around with time.
I guess looking back, I wish I had someone who could have shown me all the great things about self so that I could love that person instead of waiting to love myself when I was thin. My own self-loathing has only contributed to my weight and not helped in my life at all. So think about all the great things about yourself, write down 5 a day and read them to yourself every day. That’s a start.
Depression is tough, that doesn’t go away by itself either. Is there anyway you could get counseling? Would your parents support that? This may sound counterintuitive to someone who hates their body, but when I got really, really depressed, I became obsessed with baking (specifically pizza) in an effort to keep myself afloat. Maybe you can find something like that to get through the dark times. And if you do, remember each failure gets you closer to your goal, not further away.
I wish you the very best and hope to hear how your are doing.
Chelsi: I don’t want to be too alarmist, but since you’re having stomach pain every day, it wouldn’t hurt to get checked out by a doctor, especially since you’ve been on this drug. Talking to a doctor would also be a way to find out about treatment for depression, if that’s something you’d consider.
As someone who’s been through depression, I wish there was something I could say except I know it sucks but it can get better. The only way to guarantee that it will never get better is to kill yourself. As long as you’re alive, there is hope.
Chelsi…I was about your age when I started dieting obsessively aided by diet pills.
I too was plagued by suicidal thoughts.
At seventeen those suicidal thoughts ceased to be only thoughts.
I survived, thankfully.
I urge you to get help now. Get a councellor talk to them about how you feel.
Your dad is in the wrong here and you need to understand that. You can still love and respect your dad even though you know he’s wrong to give you those pills. He’s trying to help you with the weight thing, but he skrewed up. YOU are not a disappointment.
Get help now and learn to accept and love who you are. If you do that now, then you’ll save yourself a lot of heartache in the future.
(btw…as a survivor…It DOES get better. Suicide is a permenant solution to a temporary problem. GET HELP)
I’m in healthcare, and I had a young, thin patient come in one day. They were taking about 3 times the recommended dose and was having anxiety attacks and really f-ed up heart arrythmias. I know this was overdose and kind of a “duh”, but it was sad to see it in real life. I don’t know why this person even used the stuff – they seemed slim and healthy enough to me.
i still am taking hydroxy cut now and even though i have read the recall i will still take them …
I have a friend, who right now has complete liver failure…he took hydroxycut for years. I am outraged!!!!Is there a class action suit against this company?
I took the Hydroxycut for a period of 2 weeks back in 2001. Right away, I started having elevated liver enzymes, while up to that day my liver was functioning perfectly. Now, 10 years later, my liver is getting worse every day and my life was never the same since that time that devil had me take those bloody pills. STAY AWAY.