Diethylpropion 123whether patients receive diethylpropion or a placebo. In a two-week study,
former crack cocaine users receiving diethylpropion showed no change in tests
of thinking abilities. That result is interpreted as meaning that short-term use
of diethylpropion may cause no measurable harm to brain function.
Another experimental use of the drug has been for relief of arthritis pain.
Patients experienced increase of comfort but no increase in ability to use af-
fected joints.
Drawbacks.Minor unwanted actions may include dizziness, dry mouth,
and constipation. In a study of 132 patients taking the drug, about 3% had
experiences such as euphoria, muscle tremors, or trouble with sleeping. As-
sorted scientific reports indicate the drug rarely has untoward physical effects;
the medical literature mentions an addict who ingested 30 to 100 times the
recommended amount each day without major impact. Exceptions to the
drug’s relative safety do occur. Diethylpropion is suspected of being involved
in a case where someone suffered minor strokes (transient ischemic attacks),
is suspected of contributing to a case of heart trouble, and is known to cause
heart trouble if an overdose is taken. A rare affliction ascribed to the drug is
overdevelopment of the vestigial male mammary glands.
The drug may bring on psychosis, especially when taken along with a mon-
oamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI, found in some antidepressants and other
medicine). One user felt under assault from persons using mental telepathy;
another heard voices; another thought a television set was observing her; an-
other began worrying about someone using the “evil eye” to kill a child. In
some cases those problems ceased after the diet drug stopped; in others the
affliction reappeared. A therapist reporting on the latter type of cases sus-
pected that the persons would have developed psychosis regardless of
whether they used diethylpropion. The typical sufferer is a female 25 to 40
years old, leading a troubled life with a history of mental instability and drug
abuse. Drugs abused by these women often include amphetamines, an im-
portant factor because a former amphetamine abuser who later takes another
stimulant can quickly shift back into the old abuse mode. Often such persons
begin taking diethylpropion to help them lose weight but afterward continue
taking it for pleasurable psychic effect. That special group’s experience, how-
ever, is not commonplace among users in general.
Abuse factors.The drug’s amphetamine-type effects are strong enough to
have produced an illicit market for diethylpropion in the 1960s, but large
surveys determining levels of abuse for various drugs yielded no mention of
diethylpropion during the drug’s peak of popularity in the mid-1970s. In that
era analysis of 5,204 street drug samples found 1 containing diethylpropion.
Because the compound is described as producing effects resembling those of
amphetamine, diethylpropion is not recommended for persons who have suf-
fered from psychological illness or drug abuse. Binge abusers report that
pleasant sensations can be obtained for one to three days, but then nervous-
ness and restlessness predominate if dosing continues. Tolerance develops to
the drug’s stimulant actions.
Drug interactions.Experiments with mice show thatalcoholand diethyl-
propion produce more locomotor activity than either drug alone. Researchers
in Brazil speculate that combining the two substances may increase other stim-