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What Are the Side Effects of Lida?

Lida daidaihua is a weight-loss supplement advertised as containing "various herbal extracts." The truth is that lida contains sibutramine, a drug that has the potential to cause harmful side effects.

  1. Significance

    • In early 2009, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a warning for Lida, a supposedly natural herbal weight-loss supplement. The FDA cautioned that Lida was not a natural or herbal product, and that it could pose serious health risks.

    Types of Common Side Effects

    • The most common side effects of the active ingredient in Lida, sibutramine, are anxiety, constipation, dizziness, dry mouth, headaches, irritability, nervousness, nasal congestion and insomnia, according to the Mayo Clinic.

    Drug Interactions

    • Sibutramine has the potential to cause life-threatening side effects. Extreme hypertension, rapid heartbeat and hyperthermia can result when combining sibutramine with medications like MAO inhibitor antidepressants, the migraine drug sumatriptan, opioids like fentanyl, or the mood-stabilizing drug lithium.

    Risks

    • Sibutramine has the potential to cause seizures, heart palpitations, racing heartbeat and hypertension, according to RxList.

    Considerations

    • Since the effects of sibutramine upon fetal development are unknown, avoid taking Lida while pregnant. If you have a history of glaucoma, congestive heart failure, hypertension, epilepsy, coronary artery disease, arrhythmia, liver disease, brain damage, gallstones, stroke or kidney disease, the Mayo Clinic warns that it may be unsafe to use products that contain sibutramine.

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