In the April 9th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) there was an article on trends in weight loss surgery.  The entire issue was a theme issue devoted to the subject of obesity.  Included in the issue were articles on some new drugs to treat obesity.

The drugs in questions are Zonegran and Axokine.  Zonegran is used to treat epilepsy and Axokine is used to treat Lou Gehrig’s disease.  For both of these drugs, a side effect was weight loss.  Therefore researchers tried the drugs on obese people and found that in the case of Zonegran, patients lost 13 pounds in 16 weeks when combining the drug with dieting.  Those taking Axokine and dieting lost 9 pounds in 12 weeks.

Having gone through the Phen-fen era as well as having taken Meridia, these reports did not particularly excite me.  Like many of you, I found Phen-fen effective, but when I stopped taking it I immediately regained weight.  Meridia seemed to work for me for awhile then it stopped working.  Perhaps my body adjusted to it. What I did not like with Meridia was the insomnia side effect. 

Some of you may want to investigate these drugs prior to making your final decision about surgery.  Both drugs are approved by the FDA, but they are not yet approved for use in weight loss, therefore you would not likely be able at this time to have the drug prescribed for you.  What you do have to consider is if you would be happy losing 10 to 15 pounds? The trials show and the odds are that you would lose only that amount of weight.

I seemed to have spent my entire dieting career trying to beat the odds.  I would reason that if I took a drug for 16 weeks and lost 13 pounds, then that averaged 1 pound per week.  I calculated that I could lose 50 pounds the first year and another 50 the second year.  Then my weight problem would be over!! And if I just dieted harder, then instead of taking 2 years, it might take 1 ½ years.  I could do it!!! After all, I had accomplished a lot in my life.  I could lick this problem if I could just find the solution.  But it never worked that way for me. The trials so far on these drugs, specifically Zonegran, indicate a weight loss of 13 pounds in 16 weeks. Therefore losing 13 pounds in 16 weeks might be the end of it.  So ask yourself if that would truly satisfy you.  Only you know the answer to that.