As anyone who has ever tried to shed even a few pounds can tell you, weight loss is not for wimps. It is extremely hard work and requires around the clock commitment for an extended period of time – and visible success can be a long time in coming. For this reason, when you have more than a few extra inches to drop, the battle of the bulge can seem almost insurmountable. Medical evidence suggests that just about everyone who diets simply end up falling off the wagon and regaining the weight they have lost (and often a little bit more). Because dieting is so difficult, a mega selling industry has grown up around diet aids, and more and more people are turning to diet pills to help shift their extra weight. The question is: are they safe? And more to the point are they right for you?

First, you should be aware that diet pills generally fall into two categories – those that are prescribed by a doctor and those that are sold over the counter. Diet pills prescribed by your doctor may be safer than the over the counter variety, because they have being recommended for you by a medical professional who knows all about your personal health history and concerns. That does not mean, however, that these pills are side effect free, or that they are completely safe. Diet pills are serious business, no matter who is doling them out.

However, buying diet pills over the counter is significantly riskier than getting pills from your doctor. Over the counter diet pills often contain forms of amphetamines (and in fact, over the counter diet pills were a major source of the now outlawed amphetamine ephedrine, which is blamed for many deaths). These amphetamine ingredients can be dangerous for people with heart disease, high blood pressure, thyroid disease and many other conditions. Even when they are not specifically dangerous, they can make you feel pretty unpleasant. Jittery hands, racing heart, sweating, dry mouth, nervousness, and insomnia – these effects can all be caused by diet pills.

Beyond the physical effects of diet pills, you also have to consider the effect of diet pills on your wallet. Diet aids are extremely expensive – and there is scant evidence that they actually work. The Food and Drug Administration or any other agency has not vetted the claims made by the manufacturers of most diet pills, and so there is no guarantee that you can expect the pills to do what they claim to do on the bottle. In fact, most evidence points to the fact that the vast majority of diet pills are ineffective, apart from the placebo effect seen in people who change their eating habits while they start taking diet pills as part of an overall effort to get fit. That means that you could be shelling out big bucks for a product that will not do anything to help you in the end.

Of course, this does not all mean that diet pills are not suitable for anybody. If you have a significant weight problem, there are medicinal aids that can help you in your weight loss pursuit, and taking a chance on a diet pill can be well worth the payout if you lose weight and lower your risk of obesity related medical conditions. Your doctor should always be your first port of call when it comes to choosing a diet plan that is right for you, including choosing any diet pills and medications to help you drop some pounds. Your doctor will help you balance the risks associated with diet pills with the overall health benefits you would reap from losing some weight.