If you’re thinking of managing your weight with diet pills, there are a few steps you need to take to make sure you are a good candidate for anti-obesity medication. The first step is to find out if you are indeed obese. Then you must take the initiative to lose weight on your own. But if this last part is not working out for you and you are dangerously flirting with a variety of sometimes deadly health complications resulting from being overweight, then there are some nifty diet pills on the market.

But before you shop for diet pills, ask yourself – do you really need them? Almost every diet pill comes with side effects and sometimes those side effects can be very serious, even life-threatening. So diet pills are really only helpful for those who are most needy of them.

If you are suffering from a severe weight problem, rather than just a few extra pounds, then you may be obese. But how do you know for sure the extent of your weight problem? People can determine how overweight or underweight they are by calculating their body mass index, or BMI. The formula for a BMI takes into account your height and your weight. If your BMI exceeds 30, then you are obese. But if you have a BMI that’s less than 30, then it might be a good idea to rule out diet pills for the time being and instead focus on making lifestyle changes to control your weight.

However, if you only seem to pack on more pounds every passing day and your doctor is concerned that you are at an increased risk for health problems like hypertension, heart attack, and even cancer (like colon, breast, uterus, and esophagus) then you may need a helping hand. And that helping hand may just come in pill form.

There are three basic diet pills. One kind of pill speeds up your metabolism, another kind blocks the absorption of fats in your body and the last kind acts to suppress your appetite so you simply eat less. Some diet pills accomplish one or more or all of these tasks. The reason medications like these are to be approached with caution is because they change fundamental body functions and can have sometimes devastating effects on your health. Take for instance Fen-phen, which was pulled from the market because it caused heart disease in some of the women who took it. But even the safe drugs approved of by the Food and Drug Administration have side effects. They may include high blood pressure, increased heart rate, heart palpitations, glaucoma, drug addiction, insomnia, and irritability. The diet pills that block the absorption of fats are especially risky, often causing stomach pain and dysfunctional bowel movements.

But diet pills really can be a blessing for many, particularly those suffering from type 2 diabetes (which is a common consequence of obesity). It’s simply a matter of properly researching the diet pills that are on the market and keeping close contact with your physician so that he or she is informed about how you feel and can monitor your progress. Diet pills are a relatively new pharmaceutical product, as obesity is a relatively new problem in America, thus they don’t benefit from a long history of research and frankly – trial and error. In the future, they will probably become safer and more helpful, but for right now, they should be deeply considered by those interested in taking them.

If you are under the impression that a diet pill will alleviate all your weight issues and you will be magically transformed into your ideal body weight overnight, then you are going into it all wrong. Diet pills should instead be a last resort effort to aid in getting your body at a healthy weight. You must not rely on diet pills alone, but combine them with healthy eating habits and a regular physical activity. And you must not invest in diet pills just to improve your physical appearance!

So now that you know the pitfalls, what are your actual options for diet pills? Most side effects are mild, so luckily you do have some realistic options for anti-obesity diet pills and prescription medications.

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease has a lot of advice about diet pills. The Institute lists appetite suppressants as the diet pills most commonly approved of by the FDA. That’s because they tend to be the safest. Some popular appetite suppressants are phentermine and sibutramine. Then there are lipase inhibitors that reduce the absorption of fats from different food. Orlistat is a lipase inhibitor often prescribed to those with diabetes.

There are some drugs that the FDA deem safe, but only for the short term. These weight loss pills include the following appetite suppressants: diethylpropion, phendimetrazine, and phentermine. However, orlistat and sibutramine can be prescribed for longer use. It’s interesting to note that diethylpropion and phentermine have been around for almost five decades, as both were approved in 1959.

There are other drugs on the market that double as anti-obesity medications but aren’t necessarily intended as such – like anti-depressant medications which tend to also suppress appetite. It’s ideal, however, to talk to your doctor about your individual lifestyle and needs and find a prescription that suits you best and is completely approved of by the FDA. Some people can benefit immensely from diet pills, while others may benefit from simply incorporating more physical activity into their daily routine and consuming fewer calories. Usually, however, those who find diet pills helpful are those who also exercise and eat healthy. A diet pill can be a wonderful tool – but it’s just that, a tool, not the total solution. And for those who are merely overweight, and not obese, the side effects may greatly outweigh the benefits.

There are some diet pills currently in the works to help treat obesity. They include Rimonabant, which alters brain activity and hormones to ultimately suppress one’s appetite (much like conventional appetite-suppressants). But right now drugs like Rimonabant are confined to clinical trials. As research progresses in the area of obesity, it is likely that safer and more useful diet pills will continue to hit the market so keep your eye out for them.