A young woman who ended up on heart medication for four years after buying a pack of diet pills online is warning others about the dangers of quick-fix weight loss.
Natalie Jade Magill, from Hyde , was just 18, when she bought the pills online.
The now 26-year-old explained that at the time she had been holding down two jobs - working full-time in accounts but also doing promotion work for bars on weekends on the side - and felt under pressure to look a certain way.
I was really self conscious, she said, constantly comparing myself to other girls that I saw out. I wanted to lose weight quickly so I went online and started searching for fast weight loss tips and diet pills there were loads.
I came across this one website that was selling them really cheap, 20 for 60 pills which was enough for two months.
The reviews looked good, people saying how amazing they were and how well theyd worked, so I took that as meaning they were okay.
I never once questioned what was in them.
Just a week after she started taking them, Natalie started suffering heart palpitations as well as shaking and feeling constantly thirsty.
She added: At times it felt like I was running around at 100mph, it was so surreal, my heart was beating out of my chest.
I lost the weight I wanted to quite quickly in around three or four weeks and decided to stop taking the pills.
People did notice the weight loss, but I didnt tell them what Id done, I just told them I had been eating better.
I think part of the reason for that is because I knew it wasnt the best idea and I didnt want people to judge, I think also I knew deep down I didnt need to lose weight, and people would tell me that.
Despite stopping taking the pills after just a few weeks, Natalie continued to experience the side affects long-term.
Two years later, when she was 20, Natalie collapsed while home alone and woke up to find her self on the floor of the landing.
She was taken to hospital by ambulance, where she was hooked up to machines and drips as doctors tried to figure out what was causing her dangerously high heart beat.
They kept asking me questions like did I drink a lot of coffee, or drink a lot of alcohol, or take recreational drugs, the answer was no to all of them, and then they eventually asked me if Id ever tried extreme dieting.
Thats when it hit me, I put two and two together and realised it was the diet pills. When I first started having the side effects, I just thought it was because of the weight loss, I never thought more of it.
For the next four years, Natalie was on medication and underwent regular heart monitoring, but even now eight years on she still suffers as a result.
I still get anxious now and then, but I take care of myself, I eat well and Im very conscious of my health.
There is so much pressure nowadays to look a certain way like whats portrayed in the media, but the reality is a lot of that isnt real.
My advice to people is to love yourself and be confident in who you are. If youve not got your health youve not got anything.
Youre not invincible. I thought I was and I found out too late. Looking back I never needed to lose weight, I just wish Id realised at the time.
If you do want to lose weight, do it the safe way, and dont be embarrassed to see your GP either.
Pills such as the ones Natalie bought, along with other fake medicines, are becoming increasingly available online.
Last year, the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), which regulates medicines in the UK shut down more than 4,000 websites offering such products.
A total of 13.6m worth of fake medicines and devices were also seized by Interpol.
