Herbalife - dizziness and feeling depressed

[Oulik]

I have started to drink Herbalife shakes (proteien diet) twice a day.  I feel dizzy and depressed a lot.  Is it Herbalife or could there be something else wrong with me.  Maybe somebody else is using it.. please reply.

[Paxiled]

I have no idea if it's the supplement or not, but stay away from Herballife.  It's a multi-traded company, has had a lot of legal problems, is very secretive, and just isn't trustworthy.  Try to stick to what's in a good health foods store and stay away from the direct sales and the GNCs.  Who knows what they put in there?  Steroids and other drugs have been found in protein supplements at GNC several times, and I wouldn't trust Herballife any more than I would a GNC.  

[bracknelson]

Yes, I took it a couple of years ago,  It is prescribed for weight loss. Perhaps it doesn't suit you as it's disclaimer says "Not appropriate for everyone"

[Sunshine1105]

Hi, I have using herbalife for about a month now.  Not sure if it's related but I'm finding that I have dizziness (possible vertigo type symptoms) I've been to the ENT and my PCP, both dont know why I'm dizzy, not inner ear issue detected.  I was feeling like herbalife was not keeping me feeling full and I would feel jittery and hungry easily.. my friend whose been on it and lost a bunch of weight told me to eat more when it comes times to my snacks and meal.  I've tried that and it helps with the jittery feeling.  but now the dizziness has been ongoing for a couple of weeks.  I went out of town this past weekend and didn't take my shakes with me and I didn't have any dizziness.. i started my shake regiment again yesterday and I woke up with dizziness again.  I'm thinking of stopping the herbalife again and going to other types of protein shakes or just a regular diet type regimen.  

[Paxiled]

I don't know what's in what you're taking, but most diet supplements have something in them that is like taking speed -- there are a lot of things that speed up the metabolism that they put in there.  That's why the weight loss doesn't last -- if you stop them, you've stopped the speedy stuff and that's usually the only thing in diet supplements that works.  It might be something like phenalalynine, an amino acid that can have the effect of adrenaline -- it's also in diet Coke, by the way.  Some people have bad reactions to these things.  Also, never use HerbalLife -- it's probably a pyramid scheme and definitely a cult and makes its money by signing up people to sell the stuff, not from the stuff it sells.  It doesn't care or know anything about what's in it.  Also know that protein shakes won't necessarily help you keep weight off either and the ingredients can also have speedy things in them or artificial sweeteners that can be very problematic.  If you want to lose weight and keep it off, exercise more if you're able and change your diet.  Permanently.  The only real use for a protein shake is if the ingredients are pure, the form of the protein is one that actually works -- concentrates, not isolates -- and because you're doing resistance training and need more protein to build muscle.  

[snichols11]

Thank you everyone for sharing. I was freaking out, having nightmares, crying, sleepy, just an overall mess. I also feel lightheaded and just a sense of being "off." The tragedy of all of this is that I am losing weight and it helps with my cravings. But, I can't continue the product, or recommend it. I know something is going on, since I had the shake and tea at 2 PM. It's now after 7, and I can still taste it - like a fake sugary taste. I only drink water otherwise. Will be discontinuing. Every "body" is different and my body is most definitely reacting and telling me to stop.
I have seen people giving shakes to their toddlers. I want to tell them "What are you doing?!!"

[snichols11]

Thanks, but I am doing it the old fashioned way this time. Lots of willpower, and hard work!

[AnxiousNoMore]

There is no food that leaves a taste for 5 hours, so you need to reconsider your assumptions and observations, and perhaps consult with your doctor.

[snichols11]

I can still taste it, it's the artificial sweetener. Maybe I have a low tolerance for it? I am still wound up. Wired/tired. Before starting this product, I have been running every other day for three years, walking the days in between. I was trying to remove sweets and extra empty carbs from my diet. I had zero symptoms before trying the shakes, teas, and liftoff. I had extensive bloodwork drawn as a preventative maintenance physical just a month or so ago, and every one of my levels are in normal range. I monitor my blood sugar levels every so often just because I had a type 1 diabetic father, and still have his glucose monitor. Sugar levels are perfectly normal every time. I'm sorry you don't believe me - I am a 43 woman, and know my body very well, all its routine fluctuations based on hormones, stress factors, dietary changes, etc. This is not healthy for me, and if it isn't for me, it might not be for someone else. I'm just saying - people, please take care.

[Paxiled]

Sure there are, anxious -- garlic, for one, you can burp that up for a whole day sometimes.  Ever accidentally get an antibiotic stuck on your tongue?  Or eat a clove?  Only way to get rid of those tastes is to drown it in other tastes.  It just depends on the day and the person and the sharpness of the taste on your tongue and how your memory processes it -- that day, not forever, of course.  True licorice is another flavor that can stick around.  I agree, usually this doesn't happen because our minds move on, but it can happen.  And it can not happen, which is most of the time.  In this case, who knows if it's psychological or the taste is just hanging on because this person is very sensitive to it?  But the important thing here is, weight loss shakes might work for a short period of time but truly very few are made with healthful ingredients, and if you consider they're all just another meal, if you want another meal, just eat another meal with healthful ingredients.  What makes most weight loss supplements work is some form of speed -- it might be amino acids that speed up adrenaline, it might be caffeine or caffeine containing herbs, it might be actual speed, it used to be ephedra before it became a problem because people were using it to make meth -- and so it's best not to lose weight this way unless you have to make weight for your next professional fight.  

[Paxiled]

Oh, one other thing that's usually more in weight loss teas than in shakes but might be there are laxatives.  Again, doesn't last.

[snichols11]

Thank you Paxiled for pointing out about the garlic and other examples - it was exactly like that, just a lingering artificial sweetness and flavor of the tea. I'm feeling a little better today but still a bit strange. I really did go into this with a hopeful, open mind - I just figured it was a protein shake that tasted delicious, and maybe a hydration "tea" with a bit of a kick to it from green tea. It took me about three weeks (at the end, ten consecutive days of replacing lunch with a tea/shake combo) to catch onto the fact that I was having an adverse reaction. And no, it's not the same as detoxing or just cutting out sugar, I've done that before. I have never felt quite like this and it startled me. I'm not a lightweight by any means, I weigh close to 200 pounds right now and have struggled with diet and weight loss pretty much my entire life. I've tried WW, other over the counter brands of protein shakes, supplements, fasting, the "Doctors Diet," going vegetarian, all kinds of exercise. I really needed to get my cravings leveled out and it worked - but I lost a lot of sleep and my emotions were off the hook insane, racing thoughts, overwhelming anxiety, with wanting to nap, then being unable to sleep when I would try. I relay my experience so maybe someone can relate, as none of this started until I used the products, and the effects were accumulative.
Another issue is that none of this was discussed, and no nutritional content was posted, when I went into this "smoothie bar." There were no Herbalife signs anywhere. Even fast food places post info these days! I had to ask, and when I did, the info was glossed over and the conversation redirected. I just wish I'd understood more and researched this better.

[Runner2230]

Interesting enough, no other protein shake has these disturbing side effects, and there is no clinical study that supports this "detox" theory. That I am aware of. After several days of migraine headaches, I switched to 301 protein shakes and had no problems. Still losing weight.

[Runner2230]

Interesting enough, no other protein shake has these disturbing side effects, and there is no clinical study that supports this "detox" theory. That I am aware of. After several days of migraine headaches, I switched to 301 protein shakes and had no problems. Still losing weight.

[cms3333]

I have used herbalife several years ago and never had any issues.  I started up recently again and am finding that I have some really bad and funky days.  Not knowing, but suspecting that the herbalife may be a contributing  factor.  I enjoy the shakes, but doubt I will stay on it.  

[annienr2001]

hi!!! when you start taking the products there's what we call "dietary body change" for some time you've been eating trash food and so by the time you take the products you are now flushing out toxins from your body.
only 5 out of 100 experience DIETARY BODY CHANGE (DBC)
.DIZZINESS / NAUSEA / HEADACHE / RASHES / PALPITATION / DIARRHEA / CONSTIPATION/ ETC...
No problem cause you are just naturally pushing out dirt from your body!!! It's nature's way of house cleaning!
to overcome... all you need to do isjust drink lots and lots of water.

i hope my information is of help...

[annienr2001]

hi!!! when you start taking the products there's what we call "dietary body change" for some time you've been eating trash food and so by the time you take the products you are now flushing out toxins from your body.
only 5 out of 100 experience DIETARY BODY CHANGE (DBC)
.DIZZINESS / NAUSEA / HEADACHE / RASHES / PALPITATION / DIARRHEA / CONSTIPATION/ ETC...
No problem cause you are just naturally pushing out dirt from your body!!! It's nature's way of house cleaning!
to overcome... all you need to do isjust drink lots and lots of water.

i hope my information is of help...

[annienr2001]

hi!!! when you start taking Herbalife products there's what we call "dietary body change" for some time you've been eating trash food and so by the time you take the products you are now flushing out toxins from your body.
only 5 out of 100 experience DIETARY BODY CHANGE (DBC)
.DIZZINESS / NAUSEA / HEADACHE / RASHES / PALPITATION / DIARRHEA / CONSTIPATION/ ETC...
No problem cause you are just naturally pushing out dirt from your body!!! It's nature's way of house cleaning!
to overcome... all you need to do isjust drink lots and lots of water.

i hope my information is of help...

[bwillco]

How long does this last?? I thought this was my problem as I am experiencing these things but it’s been 3 months and I’m not feeling any better....

[Paxiled]

Uh, not sure what you're referring to, but this a relatively old post and you might get more answers if you make a new one.  If you're referring to the 4 and a half year old post directly above your post, that sounds like bogus info.  Herbalife isn't a supplement company, it's a pyramid scheme that makes its money by signing up people to sell its products.  While it does sell products, whenever you buy direct marketed products, especially from this company, you have not idea about quality control or quality or anything because they are quite secretive, as opposed to products sold on store shelves that anyone can buy and do an assay on to see if they contain what they say they do.  It's also not true that there's a thing called dietary body change unless you lose a huge amount of weight very quickly, which you wouldn't do using an Herbalife product.  You can only do that by doing some extreme reduced calorie diet or getting surgery to block your digestive tract or something like that.  Just losing a few pounds, which is all you can expect in a short amount of time with any diet program that isn't extreme, or with supplements unless you're using speed and not eating, you wouldn't notice much.  You also wouldn't cleanse your body the way the above suggests unless you fasted altogether; as long as you continue eating even with a reduced diet you're not cleansing.  And it's not all that clear what it is you're cleasing out anyway unless your body got under stress and you built things up in your liver, because everything else is evacuated daily.  So if you had a problem that started because you took an Herbalife supplement or any other supplement or any medication it was due to a reaction to what you took, which could be an allergy or something toxic in the product.  If you stopped taking it and 3 months later you're still experiencing a problem, and you didn't take it for very long, it's probably something unrelated to the product.  If you took it for a long time, it could be you did some damage.  You probably need to start by seeing a doctor and getting a thorough exam, including blood work, to see if something is up.  If you're dieting in some extreme way or taking diet supplements for a long period of time, that's another reason to have a problem, as you might have gotten malnourished.  Hope this helps.

[Mimsyparel]

I took hetbalife shake today. I got after one hour a splitting headache that still is there aftermany hours and an swollen feeling in my body. I google it and I am happy I am not the only one with headaches aftervthe herbalifeshakes. Mmm

[Apanag]

I just google the question about herbalife making me feel depressed. I am so glad that it's not me. I get really depressed when I drink the tea. I've never had feelings like that before

[Garo14]

Me & my partner just try today afternoon to drink this herbalife strawberry powder drink after only 1hour me & my partner feel very dizzy and sleepy, anybody can explain why?

[Holzherbalife]

Hi I'm a herbalife user, it has infant helped my depression and anxiety. The main reasons you might be feeling dizzy is due to what you mixing your shakes with. I used to use cows milk and that left me feeling horrible I used water which ment I felt dizzy but since using soy milk I feel like a different person. Make sure you are reaching your water, protein intake each day and ensure you are taking the supplements correctly. The choice of snacks you have can also change the way you are feeling, if you want to know more and this goes for anyone who has questions then feel free to email me at Hollie.***@**** and I'd love to help you :)

[jackie842]

Hi,

I know you wrote about feeling depressed after taking herbalife and I have been feeling the same. I mean I used it for about 3 months then stopped for about a week and a half, started back up, and shortly thereafter I've had a lot of anxiety and a weird looming feeling of possibly depression. Can you tell me if you ever found out the cause or if stopping drinking the shakes and using the products helped?

[patient49]

I don't know what Herbalife is, but I prefer Keefer! :)

[ineedofhelf]

I'm a very happy and out going person.. love life.. had no troble getting up...but alittle over weight... so i watched my mom do herbalife and she got extra energy... happier... lost weight.. everything... so i started to take it...ya i have lost weight but i have just got sluggy...sleepy.. dizzy.. VERY moody and depressed... hate getting up in the mornings now.. yelling at my husband for no reason... wanting to sleep 24\7... and i called the 800 number and all they had to tell me was "it wasn't them.. and it must of been something else in my life"... when nothing else had happened in my life..

[Oulik]

Thanks for all the responses but I was wondering if there was anybody else out there who has used this product and had similar experiences.  Nothing dramatic has happened in my life I am a very happy and content person. :)

[smm7282]

Yes I drank at least 1 a day quite often last year and I started having panic attacks and severe anxiety to the point I couldn’t even drive without feeling terrified, I have stopped drinking them and after about a year I’m finally starting to feel better and coming back to myself again, I’ll never drink one again as I’m certain that’s the cause, I’m even on meds from my doctor now that I take every so often when I start to feel a bit anxious, I was getting dizzy spells and I thought it was my contacts at first, I’m so glad to finally feel better.

[specialmom]

smm7282, thanks for sharing your story.  That's scary! I'm not sure 'why' the shakes would cause that but you know your body and have been through a lot.  So not worth it, right? what kind of medication are you taking?  Do you do any therapy too?

[mammo]

I agree, Herballife has been around a long time and I've heard nothing but bad things about it.

[ApHrOdiTe21]

have u called the 1800 number and talked to the customer service rep? has anything happened n ur life that could cause u to b deppressed?