one of me girl friends has been taking laxatives for about a week now and she said she has lot 5 lbs. is that possible? I have never taken a laxative before except when I have my colonoscopy done but i didnt think that was really the same thing as taking laxatives. why would someone take them to lose weight? just so you can eat and poop everything out? is it even healthy?

Ummm that sounds like a lot of weight!! I knew someone who did that too because she wanted to loose weight but she came to the conclusion herself that it was NOT the healthy way to do it. She didn't look healthy either; her skin and hair were dull and she just looked tired and too thin.

I thought laxatives were for like you said, a colonoscopy or to stay regular. I don't think they were meant as a way to loose weight. I think you would have to take a lot of laxatives too to loose weight...

Its not a safe way to lose weight. Its what those with eating disorders use to lose weight.

No No No!!!!!!! Overuse of laxatives creates problems for your body passing stools on its own. It will result in severe bowel problems, and hemmorhoids. NEVER use laxatives for an extended period of time w/o your gastro docotrs advice. Your body will get hooked on them doing the job for it, and it wont be able to do it on its own.
If looking for a safer alternative, you can do a colon cleanse. A mixture of herbal pills and teas, designed to clean out the walls of the intestines and any backed up stools. My sisters friends LOVE them, and you are passing bowels naturally, so it is MUCH safer. You lose the weight of any old stools, and it results in a flatter tummy. Somewhere between 5-10 lbs, I heard. The parasite cleanse is what the recommended.But its a process, and you get NAAAAASTY stuff coming out of you. I never did it, cuz the results seem scary, but I heard its good.
Laxatives are BAAAAAAAAAAAAD for you!!! Bad Bad Bad!!!!

Many women take laxatives to lose weight. It is not a healthy thing to do, and as the other women said it can cause severe problems.

Do not take laxatives to lose weight! GOOD GOD! If there is anyone who can tell you about it is me. They are addictive. I had an eating disorder all throughout highschool and my number one vice...laxatives. I would first pop one after a meal and then my body would get used to one then I would do two and then 3 and so on. Once you get used to taking them you have to take more for it to work. Not only does your heart suffer from taking these (I would have heart pains daily) you are dehydrated. You SEVERELY can have heart problems along with digestive problems. Im not kidding when I say DONT TAKE THEM. I am still paying for using them as I did. And you always say Im only going to use them to lose 5 pounds...well then you get addicted to them and you can put your life at risk.

Im not sure if you know of the "Barbie twins" but they had an addiction to laxatives and almost died. They also started out with only taking one...they got up to 100 a day. Stay away Kwky. I know you want to lose weight as most of us. But lets not get lazy and try an easy unhealthy way out!!! Eat right and excersice! That is the only way you CAN lose weight!!!

I know you didnt say you wanted to use laxatives but seriously stay away from that method. I have stomach pains to this day after I eat because of how I used them. I lost tons of weight because I was anorexic, didnt eat took metabolife, excersiced constantly and when I did purge, I would take a laxative asap to get rid of it, just like bulemia but out the other end. I was a mess, my skin was a weird color, my hair wasnt healthy my face was sunken in and I was just not looking good. I did wise up though when I was about 17 and stopped the laxatives...but of course I had alot to work on to get me to stop the rest of my disorder. Its just a scary thing, please tell your friend to not do this.

I totally agree with ibchick. The only healthy way to lose weight is eat right and exercise.

oh i dont want to use them. my friends is using them and i didnt know what to say to her since i dont know much about them but now i do
thanks