Clenbuterol HCL, also known as Clenbuterol Hydrochloride, Ventipulmin, Spiropent, Novegam and Oxyflux, is a drug that is growing in popularity as an illegal diet pill. More and more women are using this drug, which is commonly called “Clen”, to lose weight quickly. For some, this could be a potentially life threatening decision.
Recently, popular news shows and magazines have been reporting on the revelation that, for well over a decade, celebrities have been using Clenbuterol as a dieting supplement. The drug was developed as an asthma treatment and is not licensed as a weight loss pill. Clenbuterol’s use in professional sport is banned in the US and Europe. Unfortunately, Clenbuterol is disturbingly easy to buy over the internet. It was first used by body builders, who discovered it can burn fat while increasing muscle mass.
What is Clenbuterol?
Clenbuterol is a steroid-like chemical, initially developed to alleviate asthma symptoms in horses by relaxing the muscles in the airways. Its stimulant effect on the heart and central nervous system mimics the actions of adrenalin or amphetamines. It is also used in animals as a partitioning agent; a compound employed to increase lean muscle mass and reduce fat deposits. Clenbuterol is a beta-2 adrenergic agonist with similarities to ephedrine. However, its effects are more potent and longer-lasting as a stimulant and thermogenic drug. The drug facilitates an increase in aerobic capacity, stimulates the central nervous system, and elevates blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen transportation. This helps burn fat, even when the user is not exercising.
In some countries outside of the US, Clenbuterol is licensed as a prescription drug for the management of breathing disorders. It functions as a decongestant and a bronchodilator. Clenbuterol is commonly available in salt form and is used as a bronchodilator by people with chronic breathing problems like asthma.
Clenbuterol is illegal in the US for human or even animal use, to treat asthma or anything else. This is due to the fact that the drug has side effects, such as palpitations and arrhythmia [irregular heartbeat], and has been linked to several cases of poisoning in humans. In most countries in Europe, Clenbuterol is prohibited for use in animals that will enter the food chain.
How does Clenbuterol work?
Though it is often wrongly referred to as a steroid or steroid alternative, due to its muscle-building effects, Clenbuterol is a stimulant drug known as a beta-2 adrenergic agonist. It creates some of the same reactions in the body that are experienced with adrenalin. However, in contrast to adrenalin, Clenbuterol is highly selective in its action, primarily targeting only one type of adrenalin-sensitive receptor – the beta-2 receptor. The beta receptors are responsible for most of the recognized effects of adrenalin, including increasing the heart rate and stimulating thermogenesis, as well as promoting muscle growth.
The therapeutic window for Clenbuterol is narrow, and people who are sensitive to the drug, or use it in excess, can experience a rapid and potentially irregular heartbeat and other side effects that may require medical treatment.
Side effects of Clenbuterol
Clenbuterol is usually found to be effective for only 4 weeks. Thereafter, the body gets used to the drug. Even short-term usage of Clenbuterol is known to produce side-effects such as headaches, muscle tremors, insomnia, restlessness, palpitations, increased perspiration, muscle spasms, increased blood pressure, and nausea. These side effects are usually short-lived and often subside after 8-10 days, despite continued use of the drug.
After ingestion, Clenbuterol remains in the body for up to 39 hours. As a result of its long residence time, the adverse effects of Clenbuterol can be prolonged. Long-term consumption of Clenbuterol may lead to serious health problems. Permanent side effects, such as left-sided cardiac atrophy, can occur very quickly; in as little as one month in some cases when Clenbuterol is taken in high doses. Other side effects can develop rapidly when overdosing on the drug: sudden racing heart beat (tachycardia), irregular heart beat (arrhythmia), depleted phosphate levels, potassium depletion, taurine depletion, headaches, tremors, and vertigo. Liver damage is also possible.
Because Clenbuterol can increase muscle definition and reduces fat, livestock are often dosed with the drug. In Spain in 1994, 140 people were hospitalised after they consumed meat tainted with Clenbuterol. They suffered dizziness, heart palpitations, breathing difficulties, shakes and headaches. In China recently, the newspaper People’s Daily reported that 336 people in Shanghai had been poisoned after eating pork contaminated with Clenbuterol. The drug had been banned by the Chinese government in the 1990s.
Clenbuterol and weight loss
Although Clenbuterol is commonly used for weight loss by slimmers and athletes all over the world, it has not been licensed as a drug for human use by the FDA. The sale of this drug for weight loss in the USA, and other western countries for that matter, is illegal.
Although many dieters would like to use Clenbuterol indefinitely, the drug is rarely taken for more than a month at a time. This is due to progressive loss of effectiveness. It is believed that this loss of efficacy is due to a drug induced reduction in the number of beta-2 receptors in the body over time, making Clenbuterol less potent. If the dose is increased, little additional benefit is achieved and side effects become a major problem. Bodybuilders monitor for this by taking their temperature. If Clenbuterol is working, body temperature is higher than normal due to the thermogenic action of the drug. As a consequence of this characteristic of Clenbuterol, users cycle on and off the drug. Many elaborate dosing schemes have been devised to delay this loss of effectiveness, such as using Clenbuterol in a two days on/two days off cycle, but to little avail.
Terminating usage of the drug for several weeks is usually necessary for recovery of the beta-2 receptors. Bodybuilders have managed to bypass the drop in effectiveness of Clenbuterol, to some extent, by combining it with a number of other drugs. A little known drug called Ketotifen, an anti-histamine used to treat allergy symptoms, has been combined with Clenbuterol as it is believed to upregulate beta-2 receptors.
Medicinal use of Clenbuterol
As discussed earlier, Clenbuterol is used as a prescription-only drug for the treatment of airway obstruction in horses. Clenbuterol is not licensed in the US for human administration or for use in food-producing animals. The drug is approved for human use in some countries (via prescription only) as a bronchodilator for asthma patients.
Clenbuterol dosage
Clenbuterol can be administered as an inhaler spray, orally and intravenously. It is usually taken orally by slimmers and bodybuilders in dosages ranging between 20 and 60 micrograms a day. Users who have never taken Clenbuterol before, or users who have been off the drug for several weeks or months, typically start with one 20 milligram pill. Starting Clenbuterol at higher doses may induce tremors, insomnia, nausea and a fast heart rate.
Generally, Clenbuterol is gradually increased, depending on how well it is tolerated. The highest typical daily dose range is two to four tablets (40-80 micrograms) for women and two to eight tablets (40-160 micrograms) for men.
Websites selling Clenbuterol
There are numerous websites selling Clenbuterol as if it were a legal weight loss drug. Contact details are limited to an email address for product orders. As a general rule, weight loss websites that do not have a contact telephone number and mailing address should be avoided.
Websites that offer payment by Western Union, Moneygram or bank transfers exclusively should also be avoided. Payments by these methods are non refundable, and if the vendor does rip you off then you have absolutely no comeback.
Clenbuterol websites that have received negative reviews include Clenbuterol King, ClenbuterolPeople.com, RoidStore.com, Myclenbuterol.com, Ognyan Genev and Balkan Pharma.
The black market, including many internet sites, sell Clenbuterol manufactured without the rigorous quality assurance and safety taken for granted by American and European consumers. Some products sold as Clenbuterol may not contain the drug, or the dose may not be consistent with the label, or from tablet to tablet, greatly increasing the risk of an adverse event.
The information presented in this article is strictly for educational purposes only and is not intended to replace the advice or attention of healthcare professionals.
