Xenical - Tests, Diagnosis, Use, and Precautions

Xenical, a prescription medication, is also known by its generic name, orlistat and is prescribed for weight loss. However, it's important to know whether you actually need Xenical or not. To get a Xenical prescription a doctor needs to diagnose you, and ensure you are eligible for the treatment.

The Body Mass Index test

If you want to know whether you are a candidate for Xenical, all you need to do is check your Body Mass Index (BMI). A BMI test will leave you under no doubts about whether you are overweight or not. It's a very simple test. All you need do is divide your weight (Kg) by your height x height (m). If your BMI is 25 and over, you should consider yourself overweight. If your BMI is 30 or more, you are obese. In both of these cases, you need to begin losing weight as soon as possible. If you don't, you will escalate your chances of suffering from weight related disorders like heart problems and diabetes.

Diagnosis

Doctors typically prescribe Xenical if the BMI of a person is 30 or more, meaning when the person is obese. However, the medication can also be prescribed for persons who have a BMI of 27, in the event that they are also suffering from risky medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, high levels of cholesterol in the body, amongst various others. As can be imagined, these are all weight related risk factors. The decrease in weight would lead to the mitigation of these factors. Hence, doctors can prescribe Xenical in such cases.

Conversely, if a person is suffering from conditions like chronic malabsorption syndrome and that too over a long term, a doctor won't prescribe Xenical. Moreover, a doctor cannot prescribe Xenical to patients who are below 18 years of age.

Usage of Xenical (orlistat)

The Usage of Xenical Orlistat must be well-monitored. You are liable to suffer from the gastrointestinal side effects which are a common occurrence of this medication. Typically, the dosage prescribed is a daily dosage of 120mg orally administered capsule, to be taken thrice a day. The best method of taking this dosage is by taking it with a liquid (glass of water) at each meal.

The usage of Xenical is even more effective if you are taking it with diet that has a reduced amount of calories. The meal that you take must have all the nutrients, however it must contain only 30% of calories with respect to the fat content in the diet.

Precautions to be maintained

Every medication has a set of precautions associated with it. An important precaution that needs to be taken is that Xenical must be taken around meals. Either take it just before the meal or take it during the meal. You could also take this medication an hour or so, after the meal. You can miss a dose if you know that the meal did not have any fat.

An important fact about this medication is that taking more Xenical is not going to reduce more fat. Therefore, three Xenical capsules per day are the limit. One of the side effects of this medication is diarrhea. If a woman is using oral contraceptive pills, then this condition might reduce their effectiveness. Hence, as a precaution, additional contraceptive measures like condoms could be used. This is in the event that the woman is on Xenical and is experiencing severe diarrhea.

Once Xenical has shown due results, and you have discontinued its use, it's important that you do not discontinue your health routine, which includes the diet plan and stringent exercise. Otherwise, there is a good chance that you will regain the weight lost with such great difficulty.