Hydroxycut Recall: Couple Worried About Potential Side Effects

Aurora, COThe recent recall of Hydroxycut supplements has many consumers wondering if they may have been affected by Hydroxycut liver damage. Nathaniel W. says he and his wife have so far not the suffered life-threatening side effects that resulted in the Hydroxycut recall, but they worry that such problems may arise as more time passes.

"I've used this product [Hydroxycut] before, probably 2 periods in my life prior to this last period," Nathaniel says. "The goal in place was a combination of watching the diet, walking about 4.2 miles a day and taking Hydroxycut with the goal of getting down to the required weight to enlist in the army reserves.

I am not naïve enough to think that I could take any product like this without combining diet and exercise. So, this last occurrence, I started taking the product about 2.5 months after I started my walking and running program. I was taking it about a year from when I heard the news story about the recall for the first time. My wife started taking it about 2.5 to 3 months after I did.

I began walking 2 miles and I increased that to a course that I measured to be 4.2 miles. It was after roughly 2 months [of taking the Hydroxycut] that I started really noticing fatigue. It was constant—it was almost a sense of being lethargic. It was more difficult to do walking and daily activities, especially because at my age—middle age—you want to be careful for the sake of nature because it takes a little longer to heal.

I've always believed in reading the labels and sticking to the guidelines. I was taking about 4 of the pills every day. I noticed really fatigued muscles. When I was in active duty army, our standard distance every morning was 5 to 10 miles. If we went out to run, we didn't bother if we weren't going 5 to 10 miles. So, when I noticed the sore muscles, I thought to myself, 'you're older, you're working at a brisk walk to a run and you're basically over-taxing your legs, muscles arms and all that stuff.' But then, I also noticed I has having pretty noticeable itching. Again, I thought that I had a relatively recent increase in activities and it is dry in Colorado, even though I've lived here for years. I thought it was just a skin reaction.

The biggest thing, though, was the sore muscles. When my wife took Hydroxycut, she was just wiped out. She was just so fatigued all the time. She thought that it was compounding factors [chasing after children, worrying about an older daughter in college]. She also noticed the sore muscles and she was not walking with me.

To this point, that's what we've experienced. We are not currently under a doctor's care day-to-day, but I have an appointment to be examined by a VA doctor to have myself looked at. My wife is under her primary care physician and will address this with him on her next visit."

Nathaniel says that although he and his wife have so far not experienced any of the jaundice or liver failure that officials warn about, they are concerned that such issues could still come up. After all, they only stopped taking Hydroxycut a few weeks ago, when the recall was announced.

"What happens if something presents in 6 months to a year that is not ascertained right now, today?" Nathaniel says. "You don't get a free turn back the clock card on this. If a product caused death in x number of liver failure cases, that's real stuff.

To me, this comes to a question of trust and reliability. You can't go to the store and buy fresh spinach and not have some occurrences of salmonella. I understand, I'm responsible for what I eat, for what I consume, that's my decision. I trust if something is released into the market to be consumed, I work with the assumption that it is safe for my family and I to take."