Expert: JM Starkman, MD - 9/22/2009

Question
I have been taking Phentermine for 10 days and stopped taking it 4 days before I am scheduled to have breast reduction surgery.  Will it be ok to still have the surgery?

Answer
Phentermine is not one of those drugs that are studied by physician scientists or placed into random controlled trials and assessed and reported regularly through the usual academic channels so those of us who actually anesthetize patients on the drug know its ins and outs most thoroughly.  
We get to hear that cardiac arrhythmias and blood pressure issues may be a problem during the anesthesia............and that's about it;  you've chosen to take a drug most of us know very little about.

The very general recommendation is a week off the drug.  Four days in the face of normal liver and kidney function should probably be OK, but play it safe and let the drug clear for at least a week.

Then STAY off the crap, OK?