by Jason Meuller--Anabolic Extreme
GHB- I’ve tried to dispel many of the myths surrounding GHB in past article in Anabolic Extreme, so I won’t go into detail here. Bottom line, GHB is not the killer drug it’s made out to be in the media. In fact, I would go so far as to say it’s impossible to die from an overdose of GHB. That flies directly in the face of what the media will report, but in almost every case of death that’s been attributed to GHB, the individual involved was using at least one drug in conjunction with the G. Yes, combining alcohol and other depressants with GHB can result in severe consequences, including death. But on its own, GHB is remarkably safe, even at incredibly high doses.
Ok, so what does GHB do for bodybuilding? Again, reading the literature on GHB would have you believe that it’s the best GH releaser available. And realistically, it probably is, a very famous Japanese study showed a nine-fold and sixteen-fold increase in GH levels 30 and 60 minutes respectively after administration of 2.5 grams of GHB in six healthy males between the ages of 25-40. GH levels were still elevated over 7 times over baseline after 120 minutes. Although it should be noted that the 2.5 grams of GHB was administered intravenously in this study, one would expect that oral administration would produce similar effects.
So, one would think that GHB would build muscle like nobody’s business, right? Unfortunately, real world use of GHB doesn’t bear out the results one would expect from reading the studies done with GHB and growth hormone release. I’ve seen dozens of bodybuilders use GHB for extended periods of time with no appreciable muscle gain, and talked to hundreds more who confirm my first-hand observations. Further investigation into the effects of GHB reveal that while it does raise GH significantly, it also raises prolactin levels as well. Since prolactin will serve to counter many of the beneficial effects of GH, it becomes readily apparent why GHB is not a magical muscle-growing, fat-loss drug as it’s been touted in the bodybuilding literature.
So, what does GHB do for bodybuilders? Realistically, it does one thing, which is help you sleep. I’m sure all of you that have used significant amount of testosterone and other steroids can attest to the insomnia these drugs will induce. And the drugs that are used to increase fat loss while dieting, DNP, clenbuterol, and ephedrine and its related compounds will all make normal sleeping very difficult. And since sleep is a vital component to bodybuilding success, GHB can be a very effective tool for bodybuilders that are suffering from insomnia.
It should be noted that GHB will induce deep sleep for only a few hours at a time before it begins to wear off and the person is awakened from the sudden flood of stored up dopamine. In order to get the best results from GHB, it’s often necessary to take another 3 g dose about 3-4 hours after the first in order to get a good 6-8 of quality sleep. For this reason, many GHB users will keep a dose next to their bed and take it immediately after they begin to wake up from the first dose.
It should also be noted that GHB can be incredibly addicting, and can cause both psychological and physiological addiction. While this information on physiological addiction is the exact opposite of what I’ve printed in the past, I’ve seen first hand experience of physical withdrawals caused by GHB, and these withdrawals have now been documented in scientific literature. Typical withdrawal symptoms after long-term GHB use will include severe agitation, mental status changes, elevated blood pressure, and tachycardia. Treatment for withdrawals will include the use of high doses of benzodiazepines for several days following cessation of GHB us