Hydroxycut Almost Killed Me
Posted on | May 7, 2009 |
On May 1st, the FDA released its study about the popular diet supplement, Hydroxycut, and lovate Health Sciences, the manufacturer of this pill, has taken Hydroxycut off the shelves.. It has been voluntarily banned in all outlets by the manufacturer and it is no longer selling the product. This is because as many as 1 death and 23 liver-related health problems, including jaundice and liver transplants, have been linked to the use of this product over the past 7 years.
It’s a scary reality to find out something that a manufacturer makes and has sold to millions of people can cause such severe, internal damage. If you check out the Hydroxycut website, you can read the FDA’s find as well as the company’s explanation for the supplement. The claim to decrease and melt fat away may have worked to an extent, but at the expense of people’s health and well-being.
I used to take the Hydroxycut supplement a lot. I thought it was pretty decent because I always maintained a decent physique with it, but I knew something wasn’t right when I was taking it. I took it pretty extensively for a year or so, always following the recommended dosages: In the morning, mid day and right before my workout. By the time the middle of my workout came around, my heart was having major palpitations. I wrote that off because I figured my blood was pumping and the pills were doing its job. I even drank coffee sometimes before my workout for that extra burst of energy, which sometimes would leave me nauseas and light headed. Even with these side effects, I still continued to use the product.
What changed for me and convinced me to not use it anymore was a day back in August of 2001. I was going to be running a 5K road race through the side streets of Boston, Massachusetts. Before the race I took 3 pills, just for the extra burst of energy I was going to get from them. Aside from the palpitations, I had no other side effects at that point (I didn’t have any coffee that day) so I figured I could deal with it for the race. The weather was warm and muggy, as are most summer days on the east coast. The race started and I was doing fine. I was at the front of the pack for the 1st mile, running at a good steady pace when I started to feel my heart beat abnormally fast. I slowed my pace down a bit but my heart began to beat faster and harder, to the point that I felt like I was going into cardiac arrest. I quickly rushed to the side of the road and sat down on the curb, trying to concentrate on controlling my heart, which felt like it was imploding. At that moment, I thought I was dying. I took a few deep breaths, slowed down my breathing, and my heart began to beat back to a normal pace. Once it got back down to normal, I walked the rest of the way, not telling anyone that I think I almost died.
From that day on, I never used the supplement again. I never reported my experience with it to the manufacturer, and at that point in time, they would have said it was a freak occurrence or side effect. It’s a good thing the FDA looked into this problem because I am sure there will be many more cases coming to light from people who were too afraid to go after such a big company with their complaints. I can only imagine what might happen in the future for this company, whether it is lawsuits, other products being pulled off the shelves, or even worse, more deaths.
Tags: 1 death and 23 liver-related health problems > hydroxycut > jaundice > liver transplants > lovate health sciences > popular Diet supplement
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