Today I thought I'd tell you about an over the counter "weight control" pill, that you can pick up at your local pharmacy (if you're in South Africa, that is) - Thinz. I know this has nothing to do with detoxing - as these are about the most toxic thing you can put in your system, but I feel it's my duty to warn as many of you as possible about them, in case any of you are ever tempted.
They come in packs of 16, 32 and 48. The miracle pills are appetite suppressors - medically termed anorexigenics. Thinz "work" by increasing your heart rate, and boosting your energy levels. Because of this increased level of energy, you are supposedly more active and start loosing weight rapidly! Now think about this for a second... a pill that takes away your natural desire to consume food for fuel, unnaturally increasing your heart rate giving you a false sense of energy... How is that supposed to make you more active? And why would anyone be so stupid to take something like that? Well... you guessed it... I was.
I guess the fascination with these pills started when I was pretty young. My mom always told me how she noticed some ladies of her generation with shaky hands, which she put down to a nasty side-effect of the diet pills that were available in those days. I didn't really think much about it at the time, but then a couple of years ago I was at Clicks, and saw a girl who had been a few years younger than me at school asking for Thinz at the self-medication counter. About two months ago, when the thought of losing weight seemed like the most daunting thing out there, I remember this incident - and without much though, I sped down to the pharmacy and asked for a pack of 16. I didn't tell anyone about this, and felt like I was committing some sort of crime by getting these for myself. I knew they contained Ephedrine - similar to what you find in Ecstasy pills - but even that didn't stop me.
I had such an adrenaline rush thinking that these would help me to "put down the fork!" - to quote Stewie from Family Guy (love that show!). So I drove home, and the next day I popped a pill after eating breakfast (like it directs on the packet). I was looking forward to the buzz and being able to say no to food - which, writing this now makes me realise just how stupid this whole plan of mine was! How can you say no to food? Food is the best gift you can give to yourself, it's what keeps you living! Anyway, after about half an hour I started feeling something, a little light-headed and pretty darn thirsty. Also, there was a faint metallic taste in my mouth. As the day passed I started feeling more and more nauseous - and continued drinking water. It didn't help at all that that particular week I had an absolutely colossal job to complete at work - which meant hours staring at screens and concentrating really hard. Anyway, what did I do - I took the pills every day, still ate badly, didn't get more energy, felt sick, drank too much water for my kidneys to handle, felt sick some more, sat in a chair with my "increased energy levels" and hardly even walked around the office I was so busy, had a throbbing migraine at the end of each day, didn't sleep properly, felt sick in the morning, drank some more, felt sick in the evening... you get the picture.
Don't take these pills. They release Ephedrine into the gastro-intestinal tract continuously over a period of approximately 12 hours - which is why they have to come in capsule form... if you had to ingest all this in one go, you would probably end up seriously ill and would probably have to be hospitalised. According to the packet, Thinz should not be taken more than four weeks at a time, after which your body needs a short rest. According to me, Thinz should not be taken ever, period. Not unless you want to mess your body up, starve it of nutrition, clog up your insides (did I mention the constipation?) - and basically end up nauseous, migrainey, and feeling spaced out.
2 comments:
How much is thinz i use it in 1982 never had problems for many years
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