One Woman's Experience with Xenical

I want to make a reservation for my English not being medically quite correct, but my aim is to make most people understand this and of course I would be grateful if there would be someone in the world able to help me. I have studied nutrition for 20 years on my own, and now I have also studied several books about the body's defense system. Before Xenical I had a strong immune system which is one of the reasons why I am still alive.

I took 4 months' consumption of Xenical in 1999. Already during these months I got problems with eczema and stopped the treatment. The problems continued. No doctor was able to help me (or even knew what happened). I became a pioneer with information about side effects. The diagnosis is chronic urticaria, but I also got other side effects caused by Xenical, as exanthema multiforme, rash erythematous, skin redness, flush, cold perspiration, ague, oedema, itching over the whole body, heart palpitation and high blood pressure.

My body considers this medicine so poisonous that it continues to defend itself against Xenical, even though it is almost two years since I stopped to take Xenical. I am a living evidence proving that the defense system of the body causes these side effects. First I became allergic towards the food I ate when I was on Xenical: olive oil, linseed and all essential fatty acids. One of the pictures (1999-10-24) is taken after a reaction of 2 spoons of linseed, which I earlier consumed for years without any problems. Then I became allergic to all vegetable fats and then hardened fats. Now I become allergic to all food when the body recognize it. And also to water, all soaps, shampoos and creams - everything that comes into my body, except air. I can stand everything in an unknown environment when my brain is diverted by new impressions. If I eat something before going to sleep, my brain instructs the body to defend itself while sleeping and when I wake up I am swollen with eczema and look grotesque. When I see food or think of food my face is burning and perspiring. The defect is in the brain, which instructs the body to defend itself and consider all food as Xenical. If I e.g. drink a lot of water, the kidneys conduct the water wrongly in effort to neutralize the poison in the body and I swell. When I become swollen, my eyelids also swell inwards and hurt the eyes. I have permanent heart palpitation and high blood pressure. In the nights I am often awake with itching and heart palpitation. In the mornings when I think of breakfast my face is burning and perspiring. After shower the water (which comes inwards by the pores) starts the defense system of the body and I perspire for 15 minutes afterwards. Then body lotion starts perspiration another quarter in the same way. When I eat breakfast my face is burning and perspiring and after that I am freezing a.s.o. day and night. I have got no help, neither economically nor medically and my life is a daily torture coupled with enormous expenses.

Hospital (Huddinge dermatological clinic) treatment is a failure (like all other hospital treatments so far). Every attack when I look like the pictures shown, earlier lasted for about 2 weeks. After ordination of heavy amount of medicine against allergy, I am more swollen with increased heart palpitation and similar attacks now last for about 5 weeks. So, doctors are of no help, so far. These attacks make me more isolated than criminals in prison. I feel like being the only one having survived a big disaster and left so seriously hurt that no one is able to understand.

I wanted to believe in Xenical and got in touch with the Swedish Medical Products Agency before I took the medicine. After they told me that the only side effect could appear if you eat too fatty food, I decided to try. I am scared that less than one percent of all the doctors I met understand this or that it can be dangerous and also unethical to force a healthy organ (pancreas) to act in a wrong way by medicine. I want to warn others of the fact that this medicine is so dangerous that you can get a severe damage in the immune system of the body, which no doctor today is able to cure.

The text above was written on 2001-05-24.

This photo is taken one day without anaphylaxis between those two pictures above

Continuation of my serious adverse reaction against Xenical (September 2002)

I am still suffering from the disorder in my immune system caused by Xenical, which made my immune cells constantly looking for enemies in my body to attack. From the beginning I (and also the eye doctors) thought that the attacks against my eyes were caused by the swelling. Then suddenly I was shocked when I read about myself in a scientific article in the newspaper (printed on 4th August 2001 after the immune conference in Stockholm in the summer of 2001) and the fact that there is a risk that I will become blind. When I was 2 years old, I got a pair of scissors in my right eye and have therefore had several eye surgeries. The immune cells looking for enemies now penetrate the right eye and reach the cornea. This is an abnormal situation and the immune cells believe that the cornea is an enemy and try to destroy it (them). Also the left eye is affected. Even showering causes heavy attacks against my eyes. The name of the article was "Civil War Inside Your Body" and in it was stated that the scientists do not know why this happens. But I know! In my case this was started by the weight loss medicine Xenical. In the article was also mentioned that this disease is considered as uncureable and the immune cells will keep on injuring the body in different ways. Noone told me what was happening with my eyes and I am lucky that I read about myself in the newspaper. When I several times asked the hospital why noone contacted me and warned me about this, I never got any answer. I feel certain that because I read about myself I have succeeded in saving my eyes. Sometimes I have to use 8 different eye medications to stop an attack against my eyes. I have also asked the doctors if they did not want to tell me about the immune attacks against my eyes, waiting in a scientific view to see how long it would take before I get blind!

The immune attacks are harmful and they now vary. When one kind is strong, the others are weaker. I always have heart palpitation, flushes with burning face and perspiration all days and nights and when I eat. I have attacks against my eyes, but also against my ears and asthma attacks. My relatives say that I do not hear well any more. If I should eat in a normal way I would also have constant anaphylaxis. I always have to vary the food to manipulate the immune cells. I have also heavy reactions against acupuncture, massage, yoga and meditation when the body recognizes the treatments.

This disease has become a part of my original immune system and it does not help if I eat healthy food or not. For example, if I try to increase my immune system, the disease will also be increased.

Before Xenical I had a low blood pressure and no problem with my heart. After Xenical I have a high blood pressure, always heart palpitation and about 120-130 heartbeats per minute when resting. My heartbeats are irregular and I have double beats. I do not know how long my heart will take this.

The doctors refused to show me any results of all the tests they did. I had to get in touch with authorities to get them. The results of all tests are perfect and according to them I ought to be as healthy as a person can be. Even the allergy blood test was negative. The IgE test showing if you have an allergic reaction in your body was negative despite I had anaphylaxis! The IgE showing allergy by the content of histamines in your body must be less than 120-130 IU/ml, because otherwise you have an allergic reaction. When I had anaphylaxis, my IgE test showed only 16 IU/ml and this is the reason why antihistamines are of no help! This is also the final evidence that I had no common allergic reaction. Be aware of the fact that dermatological clinics are of no help. I got anaphylaxis from the creams they ordinated for my skin!!

The drug company Roche who manufactures Xenical now admits that there are rare side effects with Xenical like pruritus (itching), skin reactions, urticaria, odema and anaphylaxis. I am sure that these adverse reactions are not so rare. I have got many mails informing about similar kinds of reactions but they have not been registered.

The Swedish Medical Agency admits that my problems are probably caused by Xenical, according to science and statistics. They also say that probably is the strongest expression they use. According to them I am entitled to get compensation.

The drug company Roche is in Sweden insured by the insurance company Zurich. They have found a Swedish doctor (so called dermatological specialist) who states that there are no skin reactions with Xenical, which is untrue. Therefore I am refused to get any compensation so far.

I have been in touch with many experts and scientists (with no connection to drug or food companies) all over the world through my web site. I will forward their message to all people and especially to the fat ones. If you want to live a healthy life, start with opening your refrigerator and throw out all light products, all margarines and all vegetable oils high in polyunsaturated fats (which have been used to depress immune system in connection with organ transplantation). Keep just virgin olive oil, rape oil and butter. I have found a tasty and healthy way of making my own margarine by mixing room temperatured 2/3 butter with 1/3 olive oil and a little salt and squeezed lemon.

And the message to all fat people is: There is no diet or drug to help you lose weight and keep it. If you try that way you will have to continue with it for the rest of your life, because once you stop manipulate the body, you will get even fatter. Avoid sugar because this makes your body not feel when it is satisfied. Start cutting carbohydrates (bread and potatoes) not fat and do it in the way William Banting did. He succeeded in losing weight in the right way and kept it for the rest of his life. It is a matter of quality rather than quantity he also stated.

Please reply to: caritaovelius@swipnet.se

Last updated 28 September 2002