Gamma Hydroxybutyric Acid
- A View After 12 Month Trial Period
by KC Chan, 2.14.1998.
Relevent Personal Background:
I am a 44 yr old male in excellent health and condition. An athlete and yogi all my life, I have researched and experienced all the possible ways of realizing human potential: from the mystical to the scientific; from the ancient to the modern; from the internal to the external. I have been on anti-oxidants for 20 years; a tai chi practitioner as well as other Arts for 16; a high level competitive athlete and coach for almost 30 years; A professional acupressurist/herbalist for 20 years.
GHB history:
I was turned onto GHB by a close friend who at 48 has a very similar background. The before and after pictures were astonishing. After a 6 month trial he reported: Improvement from a 4 minute headstand (active Ashtanga style) to a 40 minute headstand. The ability to sprint for 2 hours, after a 2 mile open water swim and a gruelling Nautilus session. His body went from not particularly special to that of a yogi god. It might be considered a touch too cut for most people's tastes but there was no denying that he was a by god lean mean machine. (Will post these pictures with his permission, if I find them again). By his own admission he was in the "church" of GHB.
He wanted me, as a senior competitive athlete, to replicate his results in the area of more mainstream type of sports activities which were not his forte, such as tennis, volleyball, inline skating, biking and in brutal tournament environments. His report of leaving everyone he knew in his dust after a mere 60 days convinced me to conduct my own trials based on his unique personally developed protocols. The following are my results.
Protocol.
His regime was a 1.5-2.5 gram dose just prior to working out, on an empty stomach, followed by a bump of a quarter of that after, then a sauna with some Niacin, then a rest period, blue-green algae, fruits and veggie dinner, another quarter dose bump before bed. Repeat everyday.
I declined to follow this regime. I didn't want the "coming on" effect of GHB on an empty stomach, since I was involved with skill and not just endurance type sports, the slight temporary discoordination and psychedelic effect was not desirable for me. (For social, party-type occasions, however it was marvelous, but social aspects of GHB are another posting.) After some experimentation, I came up with the following procedure and personal dosages.
I used 0.8-0.9 gram doses in this following manner. 1 dose with food 20 minutes before performance. This produced a moderated but in no way reduced effect.
Effect:
Internal Philosophy. I experienced a very enhanced sense of calmness and relaxation which resulted in a more joyous feeling in performance no matter the psychological pressures of the game. I became less attached to result and more to esthetics. This was a sought-after and desirable feeling for me. In my decades of competition I have come to detest the ugly emotions that always seem to appear in confrontational environments and had, in truth, many times considered retirement from open competition as a result. I mean, really, who needs that. My friends who went to more internal sports were of the same mien. I am, myself, largely internalized in my competition already-I am my own standard. GHB gave this scenario a very nice boost in the right direction and allows me to be more zen about things as I want to be. Also the calm no-mind is the supreme advantage if one looks at it tactically from a point of view of optimal tournament performance results.
Kinesthetics (Body Feel)
The feel is this. The edge seems to retreat as you approach. Whatever your edge is, be it aerobic, anaerobic, flexibility, focus etc, it is always clear when we approach it. Oh oh, here it comes...the wall.......huh? it isn't where it usually is,.... well let's see how far we can go....I should be at that point.......nooowww.....wow, I can keep going if I want..... My subjective impression is that the wall recedes apparently indefinitely. I expected that after available food energy is exhausted, the reported lipolysis (fat burned for energy) would occur along with the documented protein sparing effect . Certainly, one look at my friend's body would convince anyone. My own intimate knowledge of my capabilities gave me the impression that I could keep going. How much of this is due to the documented "ascetic's high" effect of burning one's own body fat I am not sure.
External Results.
After a winter in front of a computer, no exercise to speak of, (except for GHB regimen) in this rainy city, I hit the beach volleyball courts for the first time last month (properly dosed) expecting to be rusty and out of condition. Surprise. I was in mid-season form and shape. I did play 7 very very tough high level beach volleyball matches with and against a bunch of 20 somethings with no rest and felt ready for more. W/O GHB I am depressingly familiar with how beat-up I would have felt the next morning. Instead it was the usual exhilarating GHB "reverse-hangover" with the feeling of being rebuilt and rejuvenated. No feelings of tightness remained by midday. Spine released, neck released, hips, pelvis and joints loosened easily.
I have avoided stress injuries so far this year, the nagging ones that nearly always result from not being relaxed when applying power. The one that I did experience, from swinging too hard at a soaked heavy volleyball in a rain match, was perfect again in 24 hours.
It is no problem for me to blade 10-15 Km. , then play tennis for 3 hours. I feel great with only a dinner in late afternoon, after a short deep rest. The evening is energized for social activities, dancing whatever.
My vertical jump (a natural obsession of volleyball players) has increased significantly. My major knee surgery in 76 cost me 10 inches of jump which I have slowly recovered over these years. I very nearly approach now, at 44, the vertical of my 20's. This is quite remarkable. And useful, since I am 5' 7" and the net is 8' on sand. My overall agility and balance, always good, is up a whole level. My power is improved by at least 30% I would say, based upon the reactions of opponents and team mates. I reckon this is due in part to the relaxation of antagonistic muscles. Looser equals faster equals more power.
Appearance:
My body is leanish to begin with. It has gotten more ripped with no working out-just play once a week (if lucky) and GHB. In particular around the abdominal area, the "cute" (don't you hate that?) slight love handles which I have always had, and in the last few years gotten bigger, vanished. Slight muscle mass increase in lower body and shoulders, the primary ones for my sports. In general, just a overall jock-stud feeling all the time like when I was pumping iron in my youth and fully buffed. I reason this must be a result of the teenage level growth hormone production.
I gave up working out 10 years ago reasoning that once the knife is sharpened, it only needs honing and further sharpening is detrimental. I use my knowledge of Tai Ch'i to "work out" in everyday movements in the process of naturally living. I have refined this to a pretty sophisticated point where I believe that I am in fact improving on a measurable basis (the courts are my own personal lab) daily. This is in keeping with the meaning of the words Kung Fu-or the Way of Daily Living or The Way of Working for Living. In the Far East you see many examples of this ideal in really fit really tough people in harsh working conditions. Unlike western workers, whose work usually breaks them down and who need remedial conditioning to compensate whether it be the gym or lifestyle adjustments, by using the proper attitude and techniques, work becomes strengthening, not weakening for those who know. I can attest personally that this is not bogus. This frees up alot of time and energy.
Overdose:
On 2 occasions I OD'd. Both times I used the wash from the lab implements and thus was iffy on concentration. I figured I did, once, maybe 6-8 gms in the course of an 8 hour day on the courts. It was ok during, but I was sooo high after the play was over. I was dizzy and slightly nauseous but I slept it off in a twilight waking dream state. No ill effects the day after.
2 women friends did the same thing in the mistaken idea that one is good more is better and both reported similar symptoms and about a week or so of general fatigue and sluggishness, mentally and physically. Both of were petite. Full recovery. No permanent effects.
I think the dopamine suppression effect might be the cause of these symptoms and when the levels came back up, things were ok again. The "drug high" mentality of one hit is high and therefore 2 is higher, let's see how high we can get, is a mistake with GHB. Think of it this way, if you liked one banana would you eat 30 thinking it must be 30 times better? GHB is not a drug but a nutrient. It appears to be such an intense and desirable one that one's cells seem to buzz with joy when it is available-a REAL high. At least it has been described to me that way.
Conclusion:
I suppose, depending on what you define as "working out" I either work out not at all or all the time. It is not totally clear in my mind how much of a skew this adds to the trial results, but it would have to be some. Subjectively my trial supports documented results 100%.
I too am in the Church of GHB now.
Additional Notes:
Nice Side-effect: My heavy summer hay-fever is completely and immediately gone with a half dose. The continued application of quarter doses at 4-5 hr intervals keep it away. This has proved the case now for 30 days. A friend is trying it for Asthma, which I expect should help because of the muscle relaxant effect. I will post the results as available.
The maintaining of a constant level of GHB in my blood has had a very nice effect on my everyday social interactions. Later post on this.
Any personal reports, thoughts or response on this?