There is an overwhelming number of drug medications available on the market that it becomes difficult to fully know and understand how they work. Selecting a particular sport and a drug treatment for improving performance is the best way of informing athletes on what the drug is, its impact and how they can use it for their own benefit. We shall start with the drug clomiphene, brand name Clomid, as used in bodybuilding.
Controlling authority
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is the overall controlling body in competitive sport and top class athletes come under the ambit of its jurisdiction on drug medication matters.
The agency keeps a list of prohibited drugs controlled by very strict global standards. The standards forbids the use of certain substances and ways of boosting athletic performance while at the same time also cause ill health effects to themselves.
With its list of banned substances and methods, the WADA endeavors to ensure that athletes, including weightlifters are able to compete on level ground everywhere and anywhere in the world.
What Clomiphene does in men and women
Clomiphene is often used as women’s fertility brand in prescribed medications for many drug treatments including Clomid. It acts as a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM).
For women, the drug treatment triggers the pituitary gland to release targeted hormones which result in ovulation. In men, clomiphene can change the levels of testosterone by tampering with the reversal process of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.
Clomiphene has been approval as a fertility treatment by the FDA and its brand name Clomid is indicated by the same authority “for the treatment of ovulatory dysfunction in women who want to become pregnant.”
Women who make use of the treatment include those who suffer from medical conditions which stops the making of eggs (ovulation) the natural way, such as the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
By contrast, the FDA hasn’t approved the use of clomiphene by men in any condition. For instance, only recently, the authority firmly stated there are “no adequate or well-controlled studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of Clomid in the treatment of male infertility.”
Nevertheless, a doctor may still prescribe the drug treatment ‘off-label’ (outside the FDA list of approved usages).
When any drug treatment is approved by the FDA, doctors and pharmacists can decide to prescribe the drug for unapproved usage if they know that the treatment is medically suitable for the patient.
Clomiphene’s status in sport
According to the World Anti-Doping Prohibited List, clomiphene is banned for use as an anti-estrogenic drug under S4 Category of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators.
Clomiphene has also found its way into the black market as a product among many that are sold on the internet as performance boosting drug.
Athletes are reminded they should be aware of possible serious health risks and problems connected with quality control when purchasing medications from unlicensed suppliers. The safest method is to buy from licensed pharmacies and physicians.
Health risks attributed to clomiphene
Women who use clomiphene may be confronted with different types of side effects that are often connected with the stimulation of hormone and the reproduction system.
On the other hand, men are interested in increased muscle mass which is achieved by using drug products that have anabolic properties such as clomiphene.
However, this drug medication is connected with a variety of potentially serious side effects that can include:
- A more likely risk of negative cardiovascular events
- A greater chance of getting liver damage
- Gastrointestinal problems that cause discomfort.
More long-term studies needed for clomiphene effects
It should be pointed out here that in connection with the use of clomiphene, more long term studies are still needed so that all the health risks and potentially harmful side effects in men have yet to be fully determined.
Moreover, it has been reported that males who take clomiphene have suffered from testicular tumors and gynecomastia.
Even though that may be the case, the direct cause and relationship between the reports of testicular tumors and the application of clomiphene still has to be substantiated.
Can clomiphene be used to treat a diagnosed condition?
There’s no doubt that during a long career in sport many top class athletes may have suffered from illnesses or conditions that made it medically justified to use a specific medication such as clomiphene or to undergo medical treatment.
Sometimes athletes decide to use a drug medication that appears on the WADA Prohibited List as is the case for clomiphene. Even if the drug medication was prohibited, athletes would be able to apply for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE).
With a TUE or Therapeutic Use Exemption, an athlete would be granted permission to take a substance banned under the WADA Prohibited List. It would also enable an athlete to use a prohibited treatment method for a specific period of time.
The after effects of clomiphene are similar to all other drugs used for treating patients. It’s usual in the case of Clomiphene that it may stay, together with its metabolites, in an athlete’s body a long time after the completion of the treatment course.
It would be a wise move for the athlete who intends to use clomiphene to apply for a TUE well before the athlete actually uses the drug medication, regardless of what the reasons are for its prescription and use.
Applying for a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE)
When an athlete decides to use clomiphene, he mustapply for a TUE,which is not an easy task to accomplish.
The application must be fully completed with full medical supporting documentation and a diagnosis in support of the application. The application with supporting documents is prepared for review by a TUE Committee.
The committee has the task of determining if the substance of the application or the method used satisfies the criteria for the WADA International Standard for TUEs.
Bottom line
Even before thinking of actually using drug medications such as clomiphene, you should familiarize yourself with everything about the drug so that you are both legally and medically covered. While there are some strange elements in connection with clomiphene such as the TUEs, to circumvent the WADA list ban, it does indicate that athletes will go to great lengths to satisfy their demand for clomiphene. They have used it and they know that its effectiveness outweighs its side effects,