What Happens If I Take Too Much HGH?

There could be issues if you take too much HGH.

HGH is a prescription medication. It is FDA approved for the treatment of growth hormone deficiencies. But like any other prescription drug HGH has the potential for abuse or unintended overdose.

HGH overdoses are rare, but they can occur.

Symptoms of an HGH Overdose

All brands of prescription HGH are some form of the drug somatropin. According to the prescribing information for somatropin, an overdose of somatropin could lead to hypoglycemia and subsequently to hyperglycemia. In exceedingly rare instances, long-term over-dosage could result in signs and symptoms of gigantism and/or acromegaly consistent with the known effects of excess growth hormone.

Since every patient reacts somewhat differently to HGH, the signs and symptoms of overdose can vary from patient to patient.

According to the Mayo Clinic, here are some of the things to watch for that could be indicative of an HGH overdose.

• Changes in emotion and mood – A person might experience sudden episodes of anxiety and depression that come along with altered brain chemistry.
• Vision impairments – A person experiencing an overdose may suffer from blurred vision or other visual changes.
• Skin alterations – An overdose of HGH can result in cool, pale skin, extreme sweating, and a flushed pallor.
• Unconsciousness – A person suffering from an overdose can fall into a coma.
• Changes in urine – HGH overdose can result in a person urinating too much or too little while also experiencing diluted urine due to increased volume.
• Painful sensations – HGH overdose can cause pain or discomfort in the arms or legs.
• Trouble breathing. An overdose of growth hormone can complicate one’s breathing or cause respiration that sounds like rattling.
• Noticeable swelling. A person experiencing an HGH overdose may find that their hands, fingers, feet, and toes swell.

As with any medication, in case of accidental overdose, seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222. Keep HGH and all prescription medications out of the reach of children.

The Causes of an HGH Overdose

You should never, ever experiment with taking HGH on your own. HGH is a prescription medication. Your dosage must be carefully prescribed for you by a doctor, and your HGH levels must be monitored throughout your course of HGH replacement therapy.

Most cases of HGH overdose occur when people are using HGH without a prescription or exceeding their prescribed amount, thinking they can get quicker or better results. Never use HGH that has not been prescribed for you, and never take more than your prescribed dosage or number of daily or weekly shots without speaking to your doctor or pharmacist.

Overdose or other complications of HGH therapy can occur due to interactions with other drugs and/or because of other medical conditions. According to the prescribing information for HGH injections, HGH should not be used in patients with acute critical illness due to complications following open heart or abdominal surgery, multiple accidental trauma, or acute respiratory failure.

HGH is contraindicated in patients with active neoplasia (either newly diagnosed or recurrent). Any anti-tumor therapy should be completed prior to starting therapy with Zorbtive®. HGH is contraindicated in patients with a known hypersensitivity to growth hormone.

Before accepting a prescription for HGH, tell your doctor if you:

• Have any kind of active malignancy
• Have acute critical illness due to complications following open heart or abdominal surgery, multiple accidental trauma, or acute respiratory failure
• Have active proliferative or severe non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy

• Have diabetes or blood sugar problems
• Have or had numbness and tingling in your wrist and hand (carpal tunnel syndrome)
• Have thyroid problems (hypothyroidism)
• Have pancreas problems
• have kidney or liver problems
• Are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if HGH will harm your unborn baby.
• Are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if HGH passes into your breast milk.

In addition, tell your healthcare provider about any medicines you are taking, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. HGH may affect how other medicines work, and other medicines may affect how HGH works.

See your medication’s insert for a complete list of potential drug interactions.

Medical Conditions That Can Be Caused By Taking Too Much HGH

There is a disease called acromegaly or gigantism that occurs when your body over-produces HGH. Acromegaly is an exceedingly rare condition. Each year in the US, only four people in every million will receive a diagnosis of acromegaly.

There is a misconception that if you are prescribed HGH therapy and you take too much, it can cause acromegaly. This is completely false. It is virtually impossible to inject yourself with enough HGH to cause acromegaly.

As long as you follow your doctor’s instructions, HGH has few if any side effects. People who experience side effects from “too much” HGH are usually abusing it or using it illegally. “Black market HGH almost always comes from inferior and unregulated labs in China or India. Since 2008 it has been illegal to import HGH from China or India into the US.

Taking HGH Without a Prescription

Almost all of the time that someone seriously overdoses on HGH is because they are using it illegally without a doctor’s prescription. HGH is a controlled substance and is only available with a doctor’s prescription. Buying HGH on the “black market” is not only illegal; you run the risk of HGH overdose and other serious health issues – even death!

Such black market HGH is usually made in China or India. Only a few certified labs are capable of producing authentic prescription HGH, the drug known as somatropin. Somatotropin is made in high-tech pharmaceutical labs using recombinant human DNA and, as such, has a very specific 191 amino acid chain sequence. Therefore, producing genuine FDA-approved HGH is an extremely complicated process.

The necessary lab equipment to produce authentic HGH is a multimillion-dollar investment – unreachable for a bargain basement “steroid lab” in the Far East. Jintropin, a once-popular brand of HGH made in China, is now banned for sale in the US because it was found to not have the correct amino acid sequence of authentic somatropin.

However, Jintropin is still made in China and is marketed under different names and sold on these black market websites. This inferior HGH only has a 192 amino acid chain. One amino acid difference may not sound like much, but it changes the drug’s entire molecular structure, making it extremely dangerous, even deadly.

No doctor in the US will ever prescribe Jintropin or any other brand of Chinese HGH; it is illegal for them to do so. Jintropin and its similar inferior HGH cousins sold under the can be toxic, even deadly.

What Do the Medical Studies Say About HGH Abuse?

As discussed earlier on this page, most HGH overdoses or other serious health problems occur when it is used illegally or otherwise abused for purposes other than for which it was prescribed. This is particularly true when it has been used by weightlifters and bodybuilders for building muscle and performance enhancement. Therefore, most medical studies on the over-use of HGH involve such abuses.

For example, Trusted sourceHuman Growth Hormone Abuse in Male WeightliftersNCBIGo to sourcea 2011 study concluded that “our findings suggest that among young male weightlifters, illicit HGH use has become a common form of substance abuse, frequently associated with both AAS dependence and classical substance dependence.”

A 2009 paper entitled Trusted sourceGrowth Hormone: Use and AbuseOxford University PressGo to sourceGrowth Hormone: Use and Abuse, published in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, stated, “People can experience harmful side effects when they abuse GH. Side effects of short-term use include joint and muscle pain, fluid build-up, and swelling in the joints. If GH is injected with shared needles, people may be exposed to HIV, AIDS, or hepatitis.

Taking high doses of GH over a long period of time may contribute to heart disease. GH sold illegally may contain unknown and potentially harmful ingredients. For example, if people take GH derived from human tissue, they risk developing a fatal brain condition called Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, a condition similar to mad cow disease.”

On the other hand, a search of Pub Med reveals nearly 400 scholarly articles on the safety and positive benefits of growth hormone therapy when it is prescribed and used properly.

One of the most recent, published in the March 2018 edition of the International Journal of Molecule Science, entitled, Trusted sourceTreatment with Growth Hormone for Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency Syndrome: Benefits and RisksNCBIGo to sourceTreatment with Growth Hormone for Adults with Growth Hormone Deficiency Syndrome: Benefits and Risks concluded:“Growth hormone replacement exerts unquestionable beneficial effects in many [adult] patients with GHD, and its use is safe for approved indications. [In addition,] HGH has shown beneficial effects on body composition, exercise capacity, bone structure, serum lipids, and quality of life.”

Now that you know a lot more about the different types of HGH injections, why not take a minute to contact us and learn more about the many other life-changing benefits of growth hormone replacement therapy?