Often, weight loss is not about a single approach, but about a combination of factors all working together to address the root cause of your excess weight. Diet and lifestyle changes are very effective, but sometimes they need to be supported with medication to help achieve long term success.
Medication can often be the difference between a successfully reaching and maintaining a healthy weight, and struggling with maintaining consistent weight loss over time.
Diets can and do help you to lose weight. Their effectiveness is generally short term and, more often than not, weight is regained when the diet is ceased. However, a longer change is possible if you can develop healthy behaviours and understand where the calories in food lie.
Our Perth dietitians offer a wide range of diets to help you lose weight, and they will tailor the program to your needs. Specific changes will be suggested for your specific situation.
Weight loss medication | Perth weight loss centre
Prescribed weight loss medications can make the difference in achieving long term success with your weight loss program. They are often the key to sustaining weight loss goals, in combination with diet and lifestyle changes. While there are many weight loss medications, Australia has five options available that can help you:
When trying to choose the best weight loss medication, it’s important to realise that the effectiveness of each of these drugs varies between people.
What is needed is to carefully try them under the supervision of your doctor, and find the one, or the combination, that works for you. At our clinic, we are happy to work through this with you.
Duromine (Phentermine) has been around for 50 years and works really well for weight loss. It is an amphetamine derivative and has impressive appetite suppressant effects. There are some Duromine side effects to be aware of that are caused by the amphetamine-like effects.
- It can increase your blood pressure and this should be monitored;
- It can make you a little anxious and edgy;
- It can make it difficult to sleep, and often we use a sleeping tablet to counteract this (if needed).
All of these side effects go away when you cease the medication, and none of them are long term. They can also be reduced by decreasing the dose or by taking the medication on alternate days.
Duromine Cost: $100/month.
Saxenda (Liraglutide) is a diabetic drug that was found to have weight loss properties. It comes in a “pen” and is administered as a daily injection. Your surgeon will teach you how, so you can give yourself the injections at home. The injection goes just underneath the skin and is relatively painless. Each pen lasts between 2-4 weeks (depending on the dose used). It is very safe and the Saxenda side effects are minimal.
Saxenda Cost: $200-400/month.
Contrave (Bupropion/Naltrexone) is the newest drug on the market. It is a combination of two very old drugs, namely, Bupropion an antidepressant typically used to facilitate cessation of tobacco cigarette smoking, and Naltrexone, which is typically used to reduce cravings in both alcohol and morphine addiction addictions.
Contrave Cost: $225/month.
Orlistat (Xenical) is a drug that binds fat in the gut and stops it from being absorbed. The bound fat is passed into the colon and is metabolised by gut bacteria. This causes terrible flatulence and diarrhoea if you eat fatty foods. Because of these Orlistat side-effects, most people taking the tablet avoid those foods.
Orlistat Cost $100/month.
Topiramate (Topomax) is a migraine prevention medication that has weight loss effects. In the USA it is sold in combination with Duromine as Qysimia. It is available in Australia but not widely used.
Topiramate Cost: $30/month.
We know that entering into an operation is a big deal and we are very serious in getting the best outcome for you. We practice what is considered to be a world class standard. Our staff regularly attend national and international conferences and bring back what is the latest research and technology.
Our Surgeons and all of our staff try their best to run on time. Although it's not always possible, our commitment is that we do our best. Your time is valuable and we respect that.
Our surgeons (or at least one of them) are always available in a crisis. Some of them may provide you with a direct contact, but all are available through the hospital switchboard and happy to chat any time if there is a crisis.
We do our best to not miss anything. Every stitch, every staple and every clip is applied to exactly where it needs to be with the greatest care possible.
Not all operations are the same and there a few extras that we do to make things better. We know that our results are better with the minimiser ring so we offer it to everyone. We know that reflux can be an issue so we try to tighten every oesophageal hiatus to make reflux control as good as possibly can be.
If you have struggled to achieve or maintain weight loss long-term, you may be considering weight loss surgery. Here, we answer your biggest questions about the surgery, including potential weight loss, dumping syndrome, and insurance coverage.