Lasix

Furosemide, sold under the popular brand name Lasix is not an anabolic steroid or a steroid of any type but a loop diuretic designed to treat conditions that cause edema such as high hypertension or congestive heart failure. This is the primary purpose of Lasix to treat severe edema but as medications often do a place in the performance enhancing world has been found. It shouldn’t be too hard to see why this is; the idea behind Lasix is simple, to remove excess fluid and the same principle can be applied in an athlete who uses the medication. While there are athletes from a host of fields who use the medication by-in-large the majority will be competitive bodybuilders. Bodybuilders do not use the substance year round but only a day or two before a competition as this is when they are trying to rid themselves of every last drop of water in their body possible.

There’s no question, there are few diuretics that will remove the last bit of water like Lasix will and perform the job in a very potent way. However, the power is extreme and can be too powerful as we will see and because of this most bodybuilders will be best served looking for another more suitable option.

Understanding Lasix:

Lasix come in two forms, tablets and injectable solutions but most who use will find tablet form is all they need. Regardless of the form you choose the drugs action is the same except for the initial activity time. Oral Lasix tablets will take approximately one hour to become active in the body while injectable versions will begin working within minutes. Once action begins, regardless of the form, it will continue to perform for approximately 3-4 hours.

The mode of action is simple; once Lasix is present it flushes water out of the body at a rapid rate; yes, you will need to have a bathroom on hand while using the medication; however, as awesome as this sounds there is a downside. Along with flushing water out of your body Lasix will flush potassium and sodium out as well at an equally high rate. If you understand anything about nutrition and simple human function you understand how problematic this can be. Lasix can cause a serious imbalance in electrolytes and bring about a host of unwanted side-effects due to this fact.

If we decide to use Lasix we will necessarily supplement with a good potassium chloride; this is a must but we will further only take the bottles recommended amount as too much will lead to possible cardiac arrest Further, because Lasix drain the body so rapidly many competitors are left looking flat, even with a massive carb-up they still look flat. More often than not this is due to too much Lasix being taken, water being cut way too early; as well as not understanding proper carb-up protocol but that’s another story.

While the desired effect can be obtained through Lasix use, because of its severity many competitive bodybuilders have increasingly begun using other diuretics, particularly potassium sparing diuretics such as Dyazide. While diuretics such as Dyazide are not as powerful or as fast acting, with proper final week protocol the same end result can be achieved; a dry and hard physique.