From: The Complete-ish Guide to Diet Pills

First off, I adore the little fuckers. The caffeine energy boost, that many do genuinely work for me (noticeably suppressing appetite), and that somehow it just makes me happy to do something easy that MIGHT be effective.

Edit: If anyone wants me to tell them what I think of a particular pill comment or message me. I'm no doctor so I'm going off hours of neurotic googling, but I'd like to think I learned something from it

This is safety stuff. Please read it.

Diet pills are untested and unregulated. Don't buy/use one without reading and looking up the ingredients. Also check the medications you are taking: some, such as Wellbutrin, become dangerous when mixed with a stimulant like caffeine.
This is especially true for members who have had heart arrhythmias or (God forbid) heart attacks. There are stimulant-free diet pills; if you've had heart trouble please please get one that is. People should not combine strong diet pills; many have similar ingredients so that's risking an overdose. Finally, most products say to take two pills, either two or three times a day. That's unnecessary; one pill once or twice a day gives me the benefits and taking two together makes me really sick (panicky, shaking, nauseated). Always start at a low dose and if it's working, there's no reason to increase it.

This is about how to pick an effective pill:

Read the label and research the ingredients. Many diet pills are just laxatives, and none of us want to pay 25 bucks for glorified lax. The words "cleanse" and "detoxify" indicate it is likely nothing but glorified lax. "Energy boost" generally means caffeine, which can be good or bad: it does decrease appetite, but it is addictive and sometimes dangerous.

Fat burners/metabolism support: If the product has substances in it that are known to increase the metabolism, it will do something, though it won't be a huge effect. Some of these include ginger, cayenne pepper, black pepper, cinnamon, green tea extract, and green coffee bean extract, for a start. These substances are called thermogenics.

Appetite suppressants: caffeine and ephedrine are widely recognized to be effective. Other stimulants generally thought to work are Synephrine (basically legal ephedra) and Yohimbe. There is also some research to support these non-stimulant appetite suppressants: raspberry ketones, garcinia cambogia, caralluma fimbriata, and apple cider vinegar.

All stimulants are also fat burners because they increase heart rate and body temperature, which uses more energy. How much more really isn't known and again, it won't be a huge effect, but undeniably they burn at least a few extra calories.

Recommendations/my experiences:

If you're paying $20 and up per bottle, your pill should include multiple thermogenics (aka metabolism boosters, fat burners), more than one appetite suppressant, and a stimulant if you want it. FYI, virtually all diet pills tell you to take two pills two or three times daily. I find that one pill twice a day provides all the benefits, and taking two at once causes me to be very shaky, panicky, anxious, and nauseated. Especially if you are at a lower weight, use one or two pills a day. You'll make your bottle last a lot longer too.

Lipo 6 (stimulant) is the most effective pill I have used. Between the caffeine, synephrine, bioperine, and yohimbine, my appetite was VERY suppressed, and as I was overheated when I'm usually very cold, I know my metabolism was doing some extra work. I was very energetic and happy too- some people think Yohimbine is a mood enhancer. This is the strongest pill I've used, with the most dramatic stimulant effect. Downsides: even only taking one pill per day, I experience mild nausea and jitters. I would recommend this to anyone who doesn't mind slight nausea and a serious stimulant effect; it worked very well but isn't for the faint of heart or body.

Xenadrine (stimulant) worked well. I took one pill either once or twice a day. It contains the stimulants caffeine and yohimbe, which curb my appetite and at least slightly boost my metabolism. It has a unique blend of other ingredients that work well in Xenadrine; many people find it effective. Lastly, it has two amino acids that aid weight loss. I thought I lost weight slightly faster than I would've otherwise with my intake, and I had an easy time keeping my intake low. Slight jitters, but would recommend to anyone willing to deal with that.

Hydroxycut (stimulant) baffles me. Besides caffeine, most of its ingredients aren't as popular and widely used as the other two stimulant diet pills I tried. However, it unquestionably curbed my appetite effectively, and as the dose of caffeine is lower than the other two, it was more pleasant. No sickness, no shakiness, and a slight laxative effect from some of the antioxidants. I took one pill twice a day. I'd recommend this to anyone.

Caffeine-free Hydroxycut (stimulant-free) has the same ingredients as regular Hydroxycut, except for the caffeine. As the other ingredients in hydroxycut are helpful to many people, I think it's a good option for someone who doesn't want stimulants. It should definitely curb their appetite.

Raspberry Ketones (stimulant-free): These noticeably reduced my appetite. Some companies claim they also boost metabolism; I can't respond to this. I've tried to research the science behind it and haven't found anything useful, but these are widely considered to be relatively low-risk. Definitely would recommend: effective, and likely safe.

Those are all the pills I have tried. I've done a lot of research on other pills as well, and read through their ingredients lists. If you can't find or don't want the ones I've tried, I liked the ingredients lists of Dexatrim and Phenterpril.

LAST THING I PROMISE: If you have a WalMart near you, that is the cheapest place to buy diet pills. Next best are Target and Fred Meyer's. Worst are drugstores like Bartell's; they charge about ten dollars more per bottle.

Anyone who made it through all that, I commend you