Written by George N. Touliatos, MD
09 August 2022

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My Worst Experiences With PEDs in Bodybuilding

 

By George Touliatos, MD

 

Q: What was the worst experience with PED use during your bodybuilding career?

A: I had three scary incidents in 2009, 2013 and 2014. In 2009 while I was dieting, I was on Clenbuterol HCL, a beta-2 agonist that is used for asthma. It can boost BMR, VO2 max and beta-oxidation. However, it can cause a nasty cervical pain in the back of the head, and also in the temporal sides. Systolic blood pressure rises, along with tachycardia. My headache was so severe that there was no way I could sleep while lying down in bed, so I had to sleep at 45 degrees with two pillows, just like the patients who suffer from LHF (left heart failure). It was a horrible night and since then I never again abused this fat burner.

 

The other case was during my last preparation for the Masters. During a regular injection of trenbolone acetate, I noticed the so-called “tren cough.” It was a paroxysmal bronchospasm. My theory of this phenomenon is complex. It could be from an alcohol known as Benzolium that is quite irritating in the nasal cavity and throat. Moreover, trenbolone is a compound that lowers cortisol, a catabolic hormone, known to cause bronchodilation. Furthermore, trenbolone boosts prostaglandins, the inflammatory cytokines that induce bronchospasm. The combination of prostaglandins and crush on cortisol can contribute to asthmatic crisis. That day I OD’d on tren at 300 milligrams and within a few seconds, coughing started. It was so bad that I felt choking and asphyxia. I opened up the ventilator, trying to gasp for air desperately. I thought I was going to die, a very scary moment indeed. It was a reckless decision to increase my dose, since it was well tolerated up to 200 milligrams.

 

Finally after my retirement, in 2014 I faced a heart arrhythmia, ventricular tachycardia. As I was walking toward my car, right after my workout, there was a weird feeling of fear. Sort of a countdown … 3 … 2 …1. It felt like death was coming and my heart was about to stop. Soon after I visited the ER and the ECG/ultrasound showed this arrhythmia. The following week I had my first calcium score.

 

I’m very lucky, with my careless use in the past. It was God’s will for me to stay alive and teach people how to avoid my mistakes. As my uncle used to say, “Experience is not shared, but earned.” Unfortunately, the hard way sometimes.

 

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George Touliatos, MD is an author, lecturer, champion competitive bodybuilder and expert in medical prevention regarding PED use in sports. Dr. Touliatos specializes in medical biopathology and is the medical associate of Orthobiotiki.gr and Medihall.gr, Age Management and Preventive Clinics in Athens, Greece. Heis the author of four Greek books on bodybuilding, has extensively developed articles for www.anabolic.org and is the medical associate for the book “Anabolics, 11th Edition” (2017). Dr. Touliatos has been a columnist for the Greek editions of MuscleMag and Muscular Development magazines, and has participated in several seminars across Greece and Cyprus, making numerous TV and radio appearances, doing interviews in print and online. His personal website is https://gtoul.com/



 

 

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