Does Apetamin Work?

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What is Apetamin?

Apetamin is vitamin syrup that is used for weight gain, in the hopes that it will help fat gain in desirable areas, such as the breasts, buttocks, and hips.

But how does it work, if it does at all? And what should you know before taking it?

Here’s what you should know about Apetamin.

Lacking standardization

Apetamin is a syrup composed of cyproheptadine, an antihistamine medication, as well as lysine, an amino acid, plus a few random vitamins.

The actual vitamins and their doses seem to change depending on where you’re looking for Apetamin, which suggests a complete overall lack of standardization.

This lack of standardization is the first issue with Apetamin, since there are so many places potentially selling knock-offs of the supplement, you may be getting something they call “Apetamin”, but actually has none of the active ingredients, or has something completely different, and even dangerous inside.

This is exacerbated by the fact that Apetamin is banned for sale by the FDA, as well as many countries worldwide, forcing potential buyers to seek underground, unofficial channels.

These backdoor channels completely lack the necessary oversight and regulations to make sure the supplement you’re buying is actually the thing you want.

So right off the bat, even if you want to try Apetamin, getting it is going to be like gambling at a casino, you might lose, you might win, but you ain’t getting a refund.

Why lysine in Apetamin?

Now let’s address some of the common components in Apetamin syrups.

Start with lysine. It’s an amino acid, and proponents claim it helps to build muscle and weight.

Which I suppose is technically true, but this is true of all the essential amino acids, all 9 of them, and every single one of them will technically help to build muscle and weight.

So it got me wondering, why did they choose lysine, since there is no evidence it does anything special for weight gain over any of the other amino acids.

Here’s why I think, cost.

Lysine is the cheapest essential amino acid to buy in bulk. But these are just consumer prices, some sources suggest you can get lysine for as cheap as $1.40 per kilogram.

So if you wanted to throw some sort of protein into a supplement to claim it helps with weight and muscle gain, but wanted to spend the least amount of money, lysine would actually be ideal. It’s cheap, and an amino acid, which is a building block of protein.

Unfortunately for would-be weight gainers, lysine is only 1 amino acid, and you’ll need all of them to properly build muscle.

So in terms of providing protein for weight gain, Apetamin does a very poor job. Any regular protein powder will do far better.

What does cyproheptadine do?

What about Apetamin’s active ingredient, cyproheptadine? This must be its saving grace right?

Well let’s look into cyproheptadine.

It’s an antihistamine medication. Antihistamine medications are used to help treat allergies mostly, but they do have some side effects that some people will use off-label.

This is especially true of older, first-generation antihistamines like cyproheptadine, which have more side effects than their newer constituents. For example, there is more drowsiness, and some people will use them for insomnia, as a sleeping aid.

They also can also cause weight gain by stimulating appetite and decreasing metabolism, which is what cyproheptadine is banking on.

So cyproheptadine, like many other antihistamines such as diphenhydramine, which is Benadryl, may cause weight gain as a side effect.

But can this weight gain give you better curves? Not quite.

In terms of fat distribution, fat gain from drugs is not too much different than regular fat gain.

There are some drugs that can cause more visceral fat growth, like within the liver, but otherwise fat gain is predominantly around the belly. In women fat deposits will also occur on the buttocks and thighs, but this is mainly due to genetic and hormonal control. Not due to the drug.

Any drugs that cause weight gain are going to follow this similar fat distribution, mostly belly, but in women also buttock and thighs.

So cyproheptadine does increase appetite and cause weight gain. But where the fat is put on will be out of your control.

How to gain weight in the right areas?

There are a lot of safer ways to gain weight, like eating more often, drinking more milk or calorie rich smoothies, using good quality protein powders and not just lysine, snacking more often, and eating more calorie dense foods.

But how can you control where the weight will be put on?

Build larger muscles in those areas.

For example, an effective way to augment the buttock and thigh thickness, is to build muscle in the glutes and thighs.

Larger leg muscles will show up as larger legs, larger glute muscles will show up as a larger buttocks.

The problem with using cyproheptadine to gain weight is that it also causes drowsiness and muscle weakness, reducing your ability to exercise properly.

If you’re unable to exercise much, the weight you do gain from taking Apetamin is going to be deposited in places you potentially don’t want it to be.

Combine that with the fact that cyproheptadine has a number of unpleasant side effects, like dry mouth, nausea, dizziness, and headaches, and the fact that it can be damaging to your liver, and using Apetamin to gain weight does not seem like such a good idea.

Can I take anything to gain weight?

If you’re having problems putting on weight, don’t risk taking a supplement like Apetamin that completely lacks regulatory oversight, especially when there are just as effective and safer ways to do so.

If you do end up gaining weight from Apetamin, you could end up growing fat in unwanted areas like your belly. Once you gain belly fat, it is notoriously difficult to get rid of.

Work with your doctor or nutritionist to create a dietary plan that will help you to gain weight properly, then focus on exercises to build muscle mass in those areas you want to gain weight.

It’ll be much safer, and produce results that are much more satisfactory.

Finally, if you really want to take something to help you gain weight, apetamin works mainly because of the drug cyproheptadine.

Cyproheptadine itself is actually an approved drug available over the counter in Canada.

Approved drugs are produced under proper GMP manufacturing practices and has a DIN, unlike Apetamin which is a supplement that lacks any regulatory oversight.

Talk to your doctor if you want to use cyproheptadine since it is commonly used off-label for weight gain. It’ll be safer than taking the Apetamin you bought online from unknown sources, without any medical supervision.

Learn more about

• What Medication Can Cause Weight Gain?
• Weight loss supplements

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