CLENBUTEROL FOR WEIGHT LOSS
Hollywood has discovered Clenbuterol, declared it the new weight-loss wonder drug and started the latest craze in slimming pills. It has been speculated that clenbuterol is behind the size zero bodies of many of Hollywood’s elite and is the celebrity weight loss drug of choice. Seemingly, increasing numbers of women are using clenbuterol for weight loss to slim down ridiculously quickly. Clenbuterol is also known as ‘clen’ and the ‘size zero pill’.
What is Clenbuterol?
Clenbuterol is a steroid like substance, but not a steroid. It falls into a group of drugs known as beta-2-agonists. Clenbuterol shares similarities with stimulant drugs (i.e. increase heart rate, blood pressure, perspiration, etc.) such as adrenalin (ephedrine) and amphetamines.
Clenbuterol was initially developed as a bronchodilator for the treatment and alleviation of symptoms of equine asthma. It main therapeutic use in many countries is still limited to horses, with the catch that any horse that has received clenbuterol, cannot later be slaughtered for food.
Clenbuterol for Weight Loss
A ‘side-effect’ of clenbuterol is its catabolic (fat loss) and anabolic (growth of skeletal muscle) properties. It is not understood, why clenbuterol causes fat loss and muscle growth. However, body builders and athletes cottoned on to this effect quickly and use it alone or in conjunction with other substances as a ‘fat burner’ to help define their muscles and lose weight. There is no human research available to confirm clenbuterols effectiveness or safety and thus has been limited to animal research. Several animal studies have indeed found clenbuterol to induce fat loss and increase skeletal muscle.
Clenbuterol Side-effects
This is the reason behind the limited knowledge of clenbuterols weight loss properties in humans. The list of potential side effects caused by clenbuterol is long and perilous. Anyone who is considering using clenbuterol as a speedy route to size zero, must consider this list very carefully and decide whether the benefit of weight loss outweighs the risks associated with taking clenbuterol.
CLENBUTEROL SIDE-EFFECTS
Clenbuterol Short-term Side-effects
Muscle crams
Hypertension (increased blood pressure)
Increased heart rate
Palpitations
Insomnia
Dry mouth
Vomiting
Tremors (shakiness especially marked in hands)
Anxiety
Nervousness/ restlessness
Headaches
Breathing difficulties
Sweating
Most of the above side-effects diminish when clenbuterol has been expelled from the body. However, the long-term effects of clenbuterol in humans are less well understood.
There are no human drug safety tests and information is obtained from incidents such as those in Spain in 1994, when 140 people were reportedly hospitalized and in China in September 2006 in which 330 people were poisoned due to eating meat that had been contaminated with clenbuterol. Information is also gained from isolated case studies of those using clenbuterol for its weight loss effects.
Clenbuterol Long-term Side-effects
Animal studies suggest that clenbuterol increases the size of heart muscle cells due to increasing the amount of an inelastic substance known as collagen. This inelastic material reduces the hearts effectiveness at pumping blood, thus reducing its output. Collagen also interferes with the electric signals sent through the heart muscle cells to keep it pumping regularly and may produce arrhythmias (irregular heart beat). This in turn increases the risk of strokes. Further studies in rodents also found that clenbuterol induced heart cell degeneration.
Furthermore, the use of clenbuterol may exacerbate any pre-existing heart condition or blood pressure problems. It is also thought that left-sided cardiac atrophy (wasting away of the left side of the heart) can occur very quickly (perhaps as little as four weeks when taken in high doses).
The degree of damage that clenbuterol may cause on developing bodies is unknown.
Clenbuterol Overdose
Symptoms may begin within minutes of ingestion of clenbuterol and last for hours/ days leading to prolonged toxicity due to the long-half life (it takes a long time for clenbuterol to break down and clear from the body) of clenbuterol.
Tachcardia (racing heart, heart rate e.g. 200 beats per minute)
Hypokalaemia
Hypophosphatemia
Taurine depletion
Headaches
Tremors
Breathing difficulties
Vertigo
Stoke
Clenbuterol Weight Gain
Despite the fact that the list of potential side-effects induced by clenbuterol is long and in perhaps life-threatening, there is one side-effect that is probably of most interest to those wanting to lose weight. In the long-term clenbuterol is known to suddenly lose its efficacy and cause rapid weight gain - possibly due to the effects it has had on the users metabolism. It is thought that this can happen as quickly as after 3 – 4 weeks.
Is Clenbuterol legal?
In many countries such as the USA, Australia and most of Europe, clenbuterol is only legal for use in horses, in the treatment in asthma. However, in the UK and Canada possession and purchase for private use is not illegal, although it is an offence in the UK to supply or have intent to supply clenbuterol. It is important to bear in mind that if someone was in possession of such a large quantity of clenbuterol that they seemed to be intending to supply, they may be prosecuted.
In addition to the legal clenbuterol preparations for medicinal use, there is a black-market in clenbuterol. There is a risk of buying counterfeit clenbuterol, which may have little, if any, active ingredients. Often, clenbuterol is illegally imported from other countries such as Mexico and Canada into the U.S.
Clenbuterol Dosage
Since the use of clenbuterol as an weight loss or athletic performance-enhancing agent is illicit, dosing recommendation and regimens for such purposes are not obtained from clinical trials or health care professionals, but instead from the anecdotal experiences of illicit users themselves.
