I was so desperate to be slim I took ‘killer’ diet pills daily – I nearly died, I’m so glad they’re being named a poison
A MODEL desperate to shed weight told how she became addicted to “killer” diet pills and only stopped when she started seizing in hospital, close to death.
Helen Hine, now 39, spoke after the inquest into Bethany Shipsey, 21, who purchased the "fat-burning" tablets, which contained Dinitrophenol (DNP), from Ukraine in 2017.
Bethany was rushed to hospital, where she suffered a cardiac arrest and died two days later.
DNP is sold illegally as a weight-loss supplement and can cause organ failure and be lethal, according to Healthline.
From October this year, it will be classified as a poison.
This means anyone wanting to buy it, or products that contain it, must do so through a registered pharmacist.
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Royal Pharmaceutical Society English Board Chair, Thorrun Goviind said: “It’s killing people and that’s why we’re so concerned about it. So we're really pleased that it’s been put on the poisons’ register but we want to see it banned completely.
"There is no reason that this is needed for human or animal use.”
Worcestershire Coroners’ Court was told “precious” Bethany was left stranded on a hospital trolley in a packed A&E corridor while the pills "burned her from in the inside".
Coroner Geraint Williams recorded a narrative verdict, including a finding of suicide.
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Helen Hine, 39 from Sherbourne, Dorset, an events organiser, who is in a relationship, and mum to two children, was in her early 20s, when she started taking slimming pills including DNP.
Despite weighing just 9st as a model she thought she would get more work if she was slimmer.
Now it is something she regrets.
She said: “I got really into the gym.
"People there talked a lot about diet aids, food supplements and slimming tablets, saying they could help you shed pounds and they were easy to get hold of.”
So in 2006 she began buying diet pills from other gym members and was soon spending £120 a month.
But six weeks later, while on six diet pills a day including DNP, she took a painkiller for a headache and had a severe adverse reaction which needed treatment at her local Yeovil Hospital for a heart rate of 280 beats per minute – four times the normal rate.
Helen said: “I was in agony and boiling. I felt I was dying.”
Diet pills are so dangerous and it is worrying that they are so available online. Please don’t take them.
Helen Hine
But after treatment, rather than quit the pills she began buying them online instead.
In 2012 she began suffering from exhaustion and recalled: “I was so tired I couldn’t carry a handbag.
"I’d cry from exhaustion at night. I would cough up blood.”
By 2014 her health was even worse and - suffering from seizures and close to death - Helen finally quit the pills.
";Diet pills are so dangerous and it is worrying that they are so available online,” she said. “Please don’t take them.
“Soon after I started taking them, I realised they were addictive. In the same way people can be addicted to fags and so on, I was addicted to diet pills.
“I am so pleased DNP is being declared a poison. It’s the right move - it isn’t safe. It can kill people and I would never take it now. Too many vulnerable people want a quit fix, get addicted but the results can be devastating.
“I’m a huge advocate of healthy eating and exercise. I feel so sad for the people who have lost their lives and their families.
“Awareness is key - it is not safe and I am glad it is being named a poison… because that is what it is.
I’m glad I survived, changed things and pulled my life back.
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My only worry is it might encourage people to buy it illegally and open up an entirely new trade.”
If you are affected by any of the issues raised in this article, please call the Samaritans for free on 116 123.
More about Dinitrophenol (DNP)
DNP works by preventing energy being stored as fat, instead this energy gets released by the body as heat.
This increased body temperature damages the organs, such as the kidneys and brain and can lead to seizures, coma or kidney failure.
And there is no known antidote.
It was initially used during World War I for weapons until scientists discovered it boosts metabolism and burns fat if ingested.
But it can cause an increase in temperature and metabolic rate, which can prove fatal.
The drug is used as a photographic chemical, a fertiliser and in the manufacturing of dyes and explosives.