Alarming mass: children end up in hospitals after losing weight on laxatives
Since the beginning of 2025, several schoolgirls have been hospitalized due to weight loss on laxatives and diuretics, Izvestia found out. The last high-profile case occurred at the end of March in Moscow. They will learn about the possibility of losing weight by taking Bisacodyl and other medications from TikTok. The method has become very popular among teenagers. In which other regions there are victims, why they decide to lose weight this way and what is the danger of this method — in the material of Izvestia.
How to lose weight on laxatives
Teenagers in Russia have begun to massively use laxatives and diuretics for weight loss — this method is now being actively promoted on social networks, in particular on TikTok. We are talking about the drugs Bisacodyl and Furosemide. However, an overdose of drugs has led to more than one hospitalization.
For example, in Moscow, a 13-year-old girl was hospitalized with dehydration in March 2025 due to taking Bisacodyl. She wanted to get in shape before the karate competition. The victim's parents did not know that their daughter was losing weight with the help of laxatives until she admitted it in the hospital.
In January of this year, a 17-year-old girl was hospitalized in St. Petersburg with acute poisoning while taking diuretics and laxatives. According to media reports, she took 225 of these pills at a time.
Victims from two more regions told Izvestia why they decided to lose weight using this method. So, a 16-year-old resident of Petrozavodsk explained that she was on the verge of going to the hospital because of taking laxatives, but she managed to avoid it. At the same time, according to her, the use of the drug had a negative impact on her health.
"I decided to lose weight because of the complexes," she said. — My weight was about 100 kg. I joined a social media group and there I learned about the possibility of losing weight on Bisacodyl. I was attracted to the promise of fast weight loss without dietary restrictions, and I decided to try it.
At first, she took four pills a day, then they stopped working, and the girl decided to increase the dose.
"One day I took 25 laxative pills at a time, and after that I suffered from severe abdominal pain all night, and the next day I started vomiting," she said. — But I'm very secretive, and that's why my parents didn't know about what happened to me until I shared it with them.
Now she has given up weight loss on laxatives and is trying to adhere to a healthy lifestyle — eat right, maintain water balance and exercise.
— Due to taking laxatives, I had serious health problems — for the female part and with the intestines, as well as my psychoemotional state was greatly shaken, — she explained.
Another schoolgirl from Rostov told Izvestia that she learned about the Bisacodile weight loss method through a social media group.
— Now the fashion for thinness is actively promoted on the Internet, and I also succumbed to it. I found out that many people lose weight with Bisacodyl and other medications, and I decided to try this method too," the girl said. — Severe abdominal pain after taking the drug did not stop me for a long time. I took a maximum of 35 pills at a time.
However, later, according to her, she faced serious health and mental problems and decided to stop taking such medications. But for this, the girl needed the help of a psychologist.
The method of losing weight on laxatives and diuretics is popular among schoolgirls, as children in adolescence are dependent on public opinion and are not trained to critically evaluate information published on the Internet, psychologist Roman Tsvetkov told Izvestia.
"Parents should not take away computers and phones from their children, but build trusting relationships with them and help them cope with the flow of information, analyze it together," the expert emphasized.
Teaching a child to think critically, to distinguish good from bad is primarily the task of parents, said Roman Tsvetkov.
What is the danger of this method of weight loss?
Bisacodyl is a laxative that is included in the list of vital and essential drugs, the chief physician, neurologist of the spine and joints treatment clinic, Dr. Sergey Dolgov, reminded Izvestia. According to him, Furosemide is also included in this list.
— The presence of drugs on this list suggests that they should be available to everyone if necessary. Once a decision has been made to release them without a prescription, it means that their use is safe according to their main indications and when monitored by doctors," he stressed. — Taking medications in reasonable doses will not harm the body, and overdose is dangerous with other equally harmless drugs.
Gastroenterologist Andrey Yakushev added that uncontrolled use of both drugs can lead to the leaching of vital trace elements from the body and heart problems.
"Laxatives and diuretics remove water, but fat and muscle remain the same percentage," the doctor noted. — But taking them leads to the withdrawal of, for example, potassium, zinc, sodium and other electrolytes important for the vital functions of the body. Their absence leads to muscle spasms and cramps. In addition, taking such medications disrupts the heart rhythm and lowers blood pressure. Weakness, lethargy, and dehydration also occur.
The expert also stressed that when using Bisacodyl, inflammatory processes in the intestine may occur and addiction to the drug may form, which leads to problems with emptying when stopping its intake.
— Withdrawal from the drug should be gradual and necessarily under the supervision of a doctor. With the right approach, intestinal function will fully recover within 2-4 weeks," added Sergey Dolin.
The use of laxatives and diuretics gives a temporary effect and after stopping their intake, the weight returns, said Rosa Garasim, an endocrinologist and nutritionist at the medical center of Dr. Alexandrovsky. The expert reminded that there are safer, more affordable and effective methods of weight loss.
Bloggers and content authors who publish recommendations on the use of drugs should be held accountable, according to medical lawyer Irina Hrytsenko. But, according to her, law enforcement practice against those who disseminate information about drugs and "weight loss methods" is still being formed. In this case, there may be a violation of Article 13.15 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation "Abuse of freedom of the media". But it will be quite difficult to prove this fact, the expert concluded.
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