HCG diet? Has anyone tried it?

Thanks!  I do have a doctor who will be monitoring me.  I don't understand how I never heard of this diet before.

Were you hungry during the diet?  Did you try the maintenance protocol and did it work?

Karen

Well I did it twice. The first time I did it was 2 yrs ago and the doctor didnt have me on a 500 cal diet(I would die..lol) I was on a 1,000-1100 cal diet but certain foods where restricted.He had his own system developed ..complete with a 25pg book.I didnt get hungry at first because the diet was accompanied with 'Phentermine".Than when my body got use to phentermine...It went haywire from there. Its not meant to do forever! Honestly people do it until they lose thier desired weight(If you can make it that long) and quit right after!.

 Karen,
I am crazy enough to try this snake oil ! And you're right, we sure dont eat much right after our RNY ....I tried medifast a month ago. Because my dad is doing it through Kaiser and he lost 45 lbs...so I tried it, 800 calories a day and by day two I quit! I was so hungry!!  But guess, what I am not ravenous on this very low calorie diet...

I had the bypass 8 years ago and have 30 lbs to get back to goal weight.

Some of their suggestions above are true...concentrate on protein or RUN....
or give in to the "dark side" as I have !! ha ha

Good luck!

I am confused.  Did you try the HCG?  And you aren't hungry?  How much have you lost?
Thanks!

Uh huh. And he kept that weight off for how long?

Diets make you fat. We know this.

You have already been told at least 20 times above that it is a SCAM, and yet you cling to the ridiculous hope that it will work for you anyway.

I did this when I was young and stupid, in 1974.  I lost 25 lbs and my entire summer earnings trying to live on 500 calories/day.  I WAS STARVING THE WHOLE DAMNED TIME.  And of course, the weight came back.

You have an RNY.  The calorie malaborption goes away after a couple of years (although the vitamin, mineral and micronutrient malabsorption doesn't).  You will either continue to diet and exercise yourself very hard to maintain at least some of your weight loss, or you will accept the eventual weight gain and hope it doesn't amount to all you have lost.  Or you may have to consider a revision.  But wasting time and money on stupid fad diets isn't going to help.

Nevertheless, since you don't want to accept or believe what you are being told, knock yourself out.  I'm sure the scammers children need food on their tables and roofs over their heads.

I knew if I waited long enough, I'd agree with you about something *G*.  What I am confused about is  how  can doctors can prescribe something that is illegal??? 

It's not illegal. It is considered an "off brand" usage of HCG. If it is illegal to use for one thing it is illegal to use for everything, KWIM?

Actually you are one of the only people to say you were starving the whole time.  Did the doctor adjust your dose?  How long were you on it? 

I guess the scam is that the weight doesn't stay off?  With that reasoning our surgeries are a scam too since much of the weight is eventually regained (although it will take years rather than months).

It is obvious to anyone that the trick is keeping the weight off.  Unfortunately I stubbornly hold onto the weight so it is nearly impossible to get off in the first place.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_chorionic_gonadotrophin

Weight loss

A controversial usage of hCG is as an adjunct to the British endocrinologist Albert T. W. Simeons' ultra-low-calorie weight-loss diet^[13] (less than 500 calories).^[14] Simeons, while studying pregnant women in India on a calorie-deficient diet, and “fat boys" with pituitary problems (Frölich's syndrome) treated with low-dose hCG, claimed that both lost fat rather than lean (muscle) tissue. He reasoned that hCG must be programming the hypothalamus to do this in the former cases in order to protect the developing fetus by promoting mobilization and consumption of abnormal, excessive adipose deposits. Simeons, practicing at Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome, Italy, recommended low-dose daily hCG injections (125 IU) in combination with a customized ultra-low-calorie (500 cal/day, high-protein, low-carbohydrate/fat) diet loss of adipose tissue without loss of lean tissue. After Simeons’ death, the diet started to spread to specialized centers and via popularization by individuals, such as the controversial author Kevin Trudeau, famous for promotion of alternative therapies and treatments.

The controversy proceeds from warnings by the Journal of the American Medical Association^[15] and the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition^[16] that hCG is neither safe,^[15] nor effective as a weight-loss aid.^[17]

A meta analysis found that studies supporting hCG for weight loss were of poor methodological quality and concluded that "there is no scientific evidence that HCG is effective in the treatment of obesity; it does not bring about weight-loss or fat-redistribution, nor does it reduce hunger or induce a feeling of well-being".^[18]

Homeopathic hCG for weight control

Controversy about, and shortages^[19] of, injected hCG for weight loss have led to substantial Internet promotion of "homeopathic hCG" for weight control. The ingredients in these products are often obscure, but if prepared from true hCG via homeopathic dilution, they contain either no hCG at all or only trace amounts.

The United States Food and Drug Administration has stated that this drug is fraudulent and ineffective for weight loss. It is also not protected as a homeopathic drug and has been deemed an illegal substance.^[20][21]

According to the studies noted above, the weight loss indicated by individuals on an "hCG diet" can be attributed entirely to the fact that such diets proscribe a consumption rate of 500-550 calorie per day, or approximately one quarter of what is commonly accepted as the daily recommended value for a male adult of average build and activity. Further, double-blind studies note no decrease in appetite by those taking hCG versus individuals on placebos and have offered no evidence that individuals taking hCG are more likely to lose fat than lean tissue. Long-term results caution that unlike individuals participating in a diet of, for example, 1100 calories per day those on a 500 calorie per day diet are unlikely to develop more appropriate eating habits and will gain weight more quickly after the diet has completed.