Many bodybuilders rely on steroids to boost their gym gains. This can lead to exceptional physiques with bulging muscles. But there is a dark side. These drugs are illegal. Without federal regulation, there is no way to tell what’s in your tablets or injectables.

If you aren’t careful, this can lead to major problems. A fake batch could make you sick. In the worst-case scenario, you could poison yourself. But how can you protect yourself? How to spot fake testosterone? Let’s look at what you need to know.

How Common Are Fake Steroids

Finding the exact number of fake steroids on the market is difficult. The black market is completely unregulated. However, scientists have tried to estimate how many fake steroids might be circulating. The results they found were shocking.

36 percent of the black-market steroids were fake. These are the ones that have the potential to do damage to your health. But that’s not the end of the bad news. Another 37 percent were of low quality. For example, they didn’t have the active ingredients required to produce muscle gains. They might not have harmed your health. But they wouldn’t be getting you the gains you desired.

There are a few reasons why fake steroids are so prevalent. They include:

• Ingredients can be hard to find. Making effective steroids requires a specific combination of chemicals. Black market dealers can’t buy these through legitimate channels. Making them more difficult and expensive to source.
• Need access to a sterile lab. Even if you can get the ingredients, you need a place to mix them. This means trying to find a place to put a lab. Plus, they need to choose a location that won’t attract the attention of the police.
• Equipment is expensive. Buying equipment can be an expensive endeavor. Plus, they will need to install everything.
• Specialized skills are needed. Making quality steroids requires an in-depth knowledge of chemistry. Knowing which ingredients to mix and when. There aren’t many people with this information. Those who do have the skills are reluctant to work for black market labs.

Making quality steroids on the black market is difficult. It’s far easier to create a counterfeit. Creating something that looks similar to the real deal.

Tricks Used to Create Fake Steroids

Learning how to spot fake testosterone is important because of the dangerous tactics used to create these products. Here are some of the things that drug dealers might try:

• Using cheaper ingredients. This is one of the most common ways of cutting down on the costs of the drugs. As we’ll see, this can cause big problems. Making it harder to predict how the drug will affect you.
• Cutting packaging costs. Slashing the costs of packaging the drugs can be an effective way of saving money. But it also means creating a non-sterile environment. Increasing the risks of infection.
• Diluting the drug. Perhaps, they might use all the right ingredients. But they decide to dilute them down. Reducing the effectiveness of the steroid.
• Cutting corners when manufacturing. Professional drug labs are cleaned extensively to create a sterile working environment. Black market labs might decide to cut back on these practices. Or they might not follow the same strict quality controls. Raising the risk that dangerous substances can enter your drugs.

Dangers Of Fake Steroids

It should come as no surprise that fake steroids have the potential to do a lot of damage to your health. Here are some of the side effects that you might be confronted with.

Long-Term Damage To Your Liver

The liver plays an essential role in your body. It’s responsible for filtering the waste products out of your body. However, some counterfeit drugs will contain harsh materials. Particularly heavy metals like lead. This can do a lot of damage to your liver. In some cases, it might even lead to liver failure.

Some other side effects might go away when you stop taking the drug. This isn’t the case with liver damage. The longer you use steroids, the greater the risks will become. Some people can develop liver cancer later in life. The treatment for this kind of cancer is harsh. Expect to undergo chemotherapy and experience the harsh side effects associated with that treatment. If you don’t get the right treatment, liver cancer can be deadly.

Hypogonadism

Your body produces testosterone naturally. However, steroids will boost the amount of testosterone flowing through your system. In some cases, this is enough to shut down your body’s natural production process. This can cause major problems, including:

• Affecting your libido
• Impacting your mental health. In particular, making it harder to regulate your emotions. This leads to the infamous ‘roid rage.
• Causing fertility problems
• Enlarging your prostate. Over the long term, this can increase your risk of developing cancer.
• Raising your cholesterol and blood pressure. This can lead to heart attacks.

The worst part is that fake steroids have inconsistent chemical dosages. Making it difficult to predict how each batch will affect you.

Risk of Infection

Many black market labs don’t operate in hygienic conditions. Abiding by the strict rules of professional labs is too costly. This means that you will need to risk bacterial infection. These can trigger an allergic reaction. In the worst-case scenario, it can be fatal.

Increasing The Risk of Overdose

Knowing how to spot fake testosterone doesn’t mean eliminating side effects. Real drugs can still come with nasty side effects. But it will be safer to stick to the genuine product. Many fake steroids dilute the product, to control the costs. The issue is that many bodybuilders will need to take a higher dose to get the effects they desire. Increasing the risk of side effects.

But, when they do get the real deal, they think they need to continue the increased dose. Putting their body under a huge amount of pressure. Increasing the chances that they will overdose. This can cause major problems. For example, you might raise your blood pressure, increasing the chances of a heart attack. Or you might damage your mental health, leading to a psychotic episode.

Identifying Fake Steroids

Now that we know some of the dangers associated with counterfeit drugs. But the big question is how to spot fake testosterone. Especially when much of it is designed to look like the real deal. Let’s look at some of the techniques you can use:

• Get a drug test. This is the best way to definitively see what’s in the drugs. But this will require lab equipment. Making it too expensive for most people. Thankfully, there are other options to explore.
• Look into the company. Investigate the company that is responsible for manufacturing the steroids. Many fakes use names that sound correct. But correlate to imaginary companies. Do some online searches. You should be able to find a website and a real-world address.
• Inspect the packaging. Fake manufacturers have a low budget. So, they take shortcuts with the packaging. The best place to look is at the dates. Real drug manufacturers print the date label separately, adding it to the box later. Fake manufacturers print it all together at the same time. You should also check the seals. They should be sealed airtight. If the packet opens too easily, it’s a warning sign.
• Look at how the drugs are packaged. Reputable companies use individual blister packets or individual glass vials. They don’t put all the pills in the bottle loose.
• Don’t be lured by cheap prices. Fake drug manufacturers can provide cheaper prices than reputable manufacturers. That’s because they are cutting corners to save money.
• Compare the pictures. Have a look online to see what the real drugs look like. Compare that with the tablets you’ve received. They should look virtually identical.

Always be vigilant. Drug manufacturers have become more adept at hiding their fake steroids. You’ll need to do some digging to find the truth. At first, learning how to spot fake testosterone can be tough. But the more you get used to vetting your products, the easier it’ll be to spot the counterfeits.

What’s In Fake Steroids?

Knowing what’s in fake steroids can be tough. The compositions might not always match what’s printed on the label. But there are a few things that you should be aware of.

First, it’s a good idea to look at the active ingredients. These are the most powerful substances. They determine what effects the drug will have on your body. If the wrong active ingredients are used, the results can be disastrous. For example, some fake steroids use lead and mercury as their active ingredients. These substances can prove deadly, even in small doses.

The next thing to consider is what inert substances are in the drug. These can be hard to pick up without testing. They are often used to dilute the mixture. They won’t harm you as badly as active ingredients. But they will limit the effectiveness of the drug. For example, some manufacturers have been known to use chalk to dilute their drugs.

The next thing to be vigilant about is the use of anabolic-androgenic steroid adulterants. This is a fancy term. Basically, it means the substances used to mimic the effects of real steroids. The chemicals used to do this will vary, depending on the manufacturer. Some are relatively benign and won’t cause many ill side effects. Others aren’t so kind. They can lead to major side effects, wrecking your physical and mental health.

How Illegal Steroids Are Sourced

In the US, many steroids are considered Schedule Three controlled substances. Get caught buying or selling them and you could be in huge legal trouble. Legitimate labs could get in huge trouble if they distribute drugs on the black market. So, how do steroids get onto the black market in the first place? There are a few methods.

The first option is using a black-market lab. These are unregulated, running without any form of oversight. As we mentioned, it is expensive to set up one of these labs properly. Without any inspections, it’s impossible to tell if these labs are following procedures.

Another option is to get genuine steroids. Sourced from places that don’t have the same strict oversight as the United States. These are then smuggled back into the country and sold to local customers.

However, as we’ve established, the more common option is not to source the steroids at all. Instead of creating a counterfeit product. Something that looks or acts similarly, even if it comes with a higher risk of side effects.

How Bodybuilders Buy Reputable Steroids

With so many fake drugs out there, it can be hard to know where to source legitimate drugs. Since they are technically illegal this can be a difficult task. But there are a few sourcing approaches that you can try.

The most common option is to buy them online. You’ll find lots of websites promising quality steroids. The key is to do your due diligence. Find a place that has a good reputation. Another option is to work your connections at the gym. See if you can find somebody willing to source high-quality steroids for you.

Other possible options include going to see a doctor. Getting them to write out a legal prescription for the drug. In theory, this should be impossible. Prescribing steroids to a patient who doesn’t need them is unethical and could cause major legal repercussions. However, some unscrupulous doctors are willing to look the other way for the right price. The next option is to head overseas. Finding a country with laxer steroid laws. Buying the drugs won’t be hard. Just walk into the store. The tricky part is smuggling them through customs. This is very risky, with huge penalties if you get caught.

Final Thoughts

If you want to use steroids, you need to be good at knowing how to spot fake testosterone. But there is another option. You can stick to a natural alternative. Get the same results, from a supplement. Approved by the FDA. No nasty side effects to worry about. No need to fear the legal consequences of failing a drug test. So, browse through the products at Crazy Mass to find safe, effective supplements to supercharge your gym gains.