Can't help you with the pills.  But I can say that a good way to lose weight is to reduce your carbohydrate intake, filling the 'void' with extra fruit and vegetables.  Cooking them in tasty sauces helps.  Don't worry about fat, it's the carbs that pile on the pounds, hence why that horribly unhealthy Atkin's diet 'works'.

I lost half a stone in 2 weeks by halving my carb intake for breakfast and lunch, and having minimal carbs for dinner.  And I wasn't even exercising.

Incidentally, my grandmother had to lose weight rapidly for an operation once.  The regime the doctor gave her (I live in a country with very good healthcare) was, if I remember correctly: eat as much homemade vegetable soup and bananas as you want, with fish for protein.  There was a recipe for the soup.  This sounds pretty extreme to me, I wouldn't recommend giving up carbs entirely.

I don't think using substances to suppress appetite is a very good way to diet, for various reasons.  One being that you don't learn how to improve your diet to maintain a healthy weight afterwards.  But if you really must, how about ephedra tea?  You can buy ephedra (ma huang) from a traditional Chinese medicine shop quite cheaply.  1.5g ground per cup.  Don't drink it before bedtime!  The active chemical, ephedrine, was used for weightloss before it was banned due both to 'misuse' by partygoers and the small gap between fun dose and overdose.

[EDIT: sorry we posted at the same time, before I'd seen you didn't like ephedrine]