Ella Scott
A weight-loss pill that first went viral on Russian TikTok has been branded ‘dangerous’ after a former user claimed it was having a ‘profound effect’ on their psyche.
Various medicines can be prescribed to patients living with obesity in the United Kingdom, including tablets like Orlistat and popular injections such as Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Saxenda.
A weight-loss method that isn’t approved in Britain is Molecule, a viral slimming pill that contains sibutramine.
The latter is a UK, EU, and US-banned compound that can cause serious side effects, including constipation, mental changes, and even seizures in rare instances.
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In 2010, the European Medicines Agency officially put an end to sibutramine sales after a study revealed the drug raised the risk of heart attacks and strokes, particularly in people who already had heart problems, as per The Conversation.
One user who admitted to ingesting sibutramine via Molecule was Maria, a Russian citizen, who said she suffered from dry mouth, insomnia, headaches, and a complete lack of appetite.
Speaking to the BBC, the 22-year-old said she purchased the pill via an online retailer and took two pills a day for a fortnight.
"I had absolutely no desire to eat, let alone drink. I was nervous. I was constantly biting my lips and chewing my cheeks,” she explained to the publication.
The St Petersburg resident admitted she soon developed severe anxiety, alleging the pills, popular on social media, were causing ‘negative thoughts’.
Endocrinologist Ksenia Solovieva from St Petersburg said that people need to be wary about buying the unlicensed drug online.
"Self-administration of this drug is very unsafe,” she warned, “because we do not know how much of the active ingredient such 'dietary supplements' may contain."
Unfortunately, Maria isn’t the first person to suffer adverse reactions to Molecule.
In April, a schoolgirl in Chita, Siberia, was reportedly rushed to hospital after overdosing on the so-called skinny drug.
A month later, a 13-year-old from St Petersburg began experiencing hallucinations and panic attacks while on Molecule.
Other people who have ingested similar sibutramine-laced products like Molecule have reported high blood pressure, insomnia, and even tremors.
According to a case report in the National Library of Medicine, a 21-year-old woman ‘without a history of cardiovascular diseases’ developed cardiac arrest after she took weight-loss drugs containing sibutramine and hypokalemia‐inducing agents.
The woman, who was successfully resuscitated without any lasting neurological impacts, claimed to have imported the tablets from Thailand after purchasing them online.
Despite its subsequent ban by the US and UK drug regulators, sibutramine is still available in Russia with a prescription for treating obesity in adults.
The BBC reported that purchasing and selling sibutramine without a prescription is a criminal offence, but that some are getting around it by listing the tablets as ‘natural’ or ‘herbal’ medications.
If you are thinking of using weight management pills or injectables, you should speak to a healthcare provider first.