Expert: Joanne - 4/25/2007

Question
Does diurex pills make you lose weight or gain because my doctor told me to take water pills" i do not want to say the name of the pills but i want to know how they work?

Answer
Diuretics will cause some weight loss, but it is not true weight loss, but the loss of water.  These tablets encourage you to excrete more water in the urine and are usually used to help prevent water retention and bloating, however you do get stronger diuretics that Drs prescribe in order to treat high blood pressure, heart failure and some kidney diseases.

There are a few different ways in which diuretics work, and without knowing which one you are on, it is impossible to say which way your's is working for sure, however, they all either block water being reabsorbed within the kidney, or stop the reabsorption of salt, which in turn pulls water back into the collecting tubules within the kidney.  When fluid and salts enter the collecting tubules within the kidney, this mixture will move on towards the bladder and then be excreted as urine.

I'm not sure how much sense this makes, I'm trying not to use to many medical words as I know they can be difficult to understand, but after learning all of this in medical terms, it is hard to tranlsate back!

So hopefully this has provided the information that you asked for, and if you have anyother questions, please feel free to come back!

All the best
Holly