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What Is It
Orlistat is used with a low-calorie diet to help you lose weight and to maintain your weight after weight loss. Orlistat is used in patients with a certain weight who may also have high blood pressure
, diabetes, high cholesterol, or heart disease.
- Orlistat is in a class of drugs called lipase inhibitors. It works in your intestines, where it blocks some of the fat you eat from being abs
orbed and disgested. This undigested fat is then removed in your bowel movements (BM).
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How to Use
Orlistat prevents the absorption of some of the fat you eat. Therefore, you should take it during the meal or within 1 hour of eating. If you occasionally miss a meal or eat a meal that contains no fa
t, you should skip the dose of orlistat.
Because orlistat may decrease the amount of some vitamins that your body can absorb from food, you will need to take a multivitamin supplement once a
day. Take the vitamin supplement at least 2 hours before or after taking orlistat
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What special precautions should I follow?
Follow the diet program your doctor has given you. You should evenly divide your daily intake of fat, carbohydrates, and protein over three main meals. If orlistat is taken with a meal very high in fa
t (30% total daily calories from fat), you may experience more side effects from the medication.
Orlistat blocks your body's uptake of some fat-soluble vitamins and beta carotene. Therefore,
when you use orlistat you should take a daily multivitamin supplement that contains vitamins A, E, K, and beta-carotene. Take the vitamin once a day, 2 hours before or 2 hours after taking orlistat, o
r take the vitamin at bedtime.
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Other medical problems
Older adults¡XThere is no specific information comparing use of orlistat in the elderly with use in younger adults. However, this medicine is not expected to cause different side effects or problems i
older people than it does in younger adults.
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Significant Interactions:
Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to c
hange the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking orlistat, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking the following:
- Warf
arin¡XOrlistat may decrease the absorption of vitamin K and may change your bleeding time
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Possible Side Effect
Along with its needed effects, a medicine may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention. Check with your doctor as
soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
- Bodyache; chills; cough; fever; headache; nasal congestion; runny nose; sneezing; sore throat
- Tightness in
chest; tooth or gum problems ; troubled breathing; wheezing
- Bloody or cloudy urine; change in hearing ; contagious diarrhea; difficult or painful urination; earache; frequent ur
ge to urinate; pain in ear
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