I am having difficulty tolerating the treatment affects.  My diet recommendations are 17 grams of fat.  I have tried to stick with 15.  The first time I started Alli I started with cramping, bloating, and diarrhea after about 72 hours it lasted for about 2 days.  I was out of the country for 2 weeks and when I came back I started watching and recording what I ate.  I thought the problem with Alli was due to diet.  After a week of careful monitoring of my fat in take, I started Alli again keeping to a low fat diet.  After about 4 days, I again started to experience the same symptoms.  Again it took about 2 days for the symptoms to stop.   Any suggestions.  Glenda

 Hello. Treatment effects like those you are describing are almost always due to eating too much fat. I know it can be frustrating but often it my be due to hidden sources of fat. Things like restaurant food that you think is "healthy" but is laden with oil and butter - even steamed veggies at some restaurants can be loaded with fat! If you tell us exactly what you are eating we should be able to help better. It is hard without knowing what you are eating. Treatment effects are caused by too much fat passing through your gut undigested and unabsorbed - so they can really only be due to eating too much fat.

Sometimes, adding fiber to your diet or taking a fiber supplement can help offset treatment eefects in some people - but again, reducing your fat intake is your best bet.

Let us know what you are eating and we will try to help further. Hope this helps!

I have not been eating out and preparing foods myself.  I have checked labels of everything processed that I have eaten and been extremely careful not to exceed the 15 grams.  Most of the meat that I have eaten was chicken.  The size of the meat is about 2X3X3/4 and the beef was lean.  i only eat broiled foods.  I do not fry foods.

I have not used added fat without measuring.  I don't use butter or oil.  On salads I am using vinaigrette.  I have had some cheese but have check the serving size and fat content.  I really don't see how I can reduce it much more.

The first time I tried Alli I was not careful and quickly saw the results.  This time, I  feel like short of eating only fruits and vegetables, and one or two bites of meat. 

Any suggestions.  Should I limit Alli to once a day.

Hi Glenda,

Sorry to hear that you are experiencing treatment effects even while strigently monitoring your fat intake.  The treatment effects seen with Alli are due to the need to eliminate the unabsorbed fat in the bowels and are usually managed by the amount of fat you eat.  The majority of the population are fine and will not experience any effects at 15-17 grams of fat per meal.  Yet there are some people who can go way over the limit  with no effect and others who fall short of the limit and get effects.  Unfortunately you may be in the latter population.  Have you had any digestive problems in the past?

The body does adapt to the effects of Alli in time, but if the treatment effects are severe you may not want to stick with it. As Dr. Sulli suggested watching the fat and ensuring that you are eating high fiber foods does help.

Hope this helps.

Sophia De Monte RPh

I rarely have digestive problems but in my early 20's I had a sever reaction to eggplant, zucchini, and squash.  The symptoms were very similar to what I am experiencing with Alli.  It was determined after lots of testing, to be a food intolerance possibly due to allergy. I will also have a reaction to cantaloupe and watermelon if I eat to much.  My throat and tongue will start to itch.  I have the same reaction to mushrooms with throat, tongue, and nose itching.

Is there any relationship?

Hi Glenda.

I do hope you are doing better.     The food intolerance that you have described would not be related with the treatment effects.  There are some people who do have a problem with fat digestion, as in the case with gall bladder removal, and may experience problems even when following a strict low fat diet.

Sophia De Monte RPh