Will taking prohormones cause you to fail a drugs test? That’s an important question for anyone looking to supplement with prohormones or designer steroids.
Why? Because if you fail a drugs test due to prohormone use, you could lose your job, be banned from professional or amateur sports and be ostracised by everyone you know.
High stakes poker ain’t it?
So what are the risks. And can you really fail a drugs test due to prohormone use? Keep reading and I’ll tell you.
Prohormones and Drug Tests: Know the Facts
If you’re supplementing with prohormones, you need to know what you’re dealing with. Prohormones is a catch all term for a variety of anabolic (muscle building) products.
Some of these are precursors (one chemical step before) steroids. Others are true steroid compounds – also known as designer steroids. For more info, check out this post.
So if you are being drug tested with anabolic steroids or performance enhancing drugs, there is a good chance that you’ll test positive if you’ve been taking prohormones.
It’s worth saying that none of this is legal advice. We would strongly advise against illegal activity which would include buying and selling prohormones if they are illegal in the country or state you live in.
If you’re being drug tested, you’ll either provide a sample of urine, blood or, in some cases, hair. This will be tested in a lab for any illegal or banned substances.
Different Types of Drug Test
The type of drug test will depend on why you are being tested. For example, a drug test carried out by your employer will be different to that for an Olympic or professional athlete.
To keep things simple, I’ve grouped these into three of the most common types of drug test. Let’s look in turn at how your prohormone supplementation could affect each one.
1. Military
Most military organisations in developed countries will carry out some form of drug screening.
In the British army the Compulsory Drug Test is carried out at random and normally consists of a urine sample which will be tested against a range of different known drugs.
The US and Canadian military have their own versions.
Historically, supplements have led to discharges in the British military, particularly in the days when pre-workout supplements contained DMAA (an alkaloid of an amphetamine type compound). This would have readily shown up in the urine.
My research suggests that no one has been kicked out of the UK military for prohormone usage although some have for possession of steroids.
2. Sporting
If you take part in competitive, drug tested sports you’re probably no stranger to the procedure for drug testing. Prohormones are right up there on the list of banned substances including PHE favourites like EPI and Superdrol (see the WADA 2016 list here).
Testing for professional athletes is extremely stringent and will include both blood and urine testing – sometimes randomly and during the off season (depending on your sport).
Prohormones will give you a positive on a drugs test for sports. So don’t do it unless you’re prepared to accept the risks.
3. Employers
This is probably a bit more of a grey area than the zero-tolerance policies of the professional sporting and military communities. Many employers will test for illegal drugs by taking urine and often hair samples.
However these tests often focus on narcotics such as cocaine, marijuana or amphetamines. They aren’t looking at hormone levels which can be explained through prescription medication or even normal hormone ranges.
And while many ‘standard’ drug policies for employers may mention prohormones and steroids, it would be rare for a person to be dismissed due to prohormone supplementation.
UK employers have a responsibility to make sure their employees aren’t under the influence of drugs at work. However this generally extends to where that use hinders performance or safety which, arguably, prohormones do not.
Whether an employment tribunal would see it the same way is a different story…
Prohormones and Drugs Tests: Conclusions
The best way to avoid failing a drugs test is to not take prohormones in the first place. That said, not taking prohormones is probably down your list of options if you’re reading this post.
Our advice at PHE would always be to obey the laws of your country and play by the rules. Cheats are eventually found out.
If you take prohormones in a drug tested sport, you can expect to get caught at some point. Is all the shame and embarrassment really worth it? Ask Lance Armstrong how well cheating worked out for him…
Ultimately, you use prohormones at your own risk – the same as any supplement or drug. If you are subject to drugs tests and you fail one because you were taking prohormones at the time, that’s all on you.
Remember to practice safe prohormone usage, don’t break the law and train intensely.
Jack
P.S. Have you had a chance to check out our prohormone reviews? If you’re a beginner, you want to start here.
