GHB: Boys vs. Girls

[Stella_rallets]

I have heard from several different people that GHB is more dangerous for girls than it is for guys, and I'm curious to know if there is any truth in that?

[dr_haldol]

How do you define "dangerous"?

[vinylmesh]

I think just like alcohol they get a greater effect off a smaller amount making it theorethically easier for women to overdose coz it's usually hard to judge GHB doseage coz it's usually dissolved.

Another factor is that GHB has unfairly earned a reputation as "the date-rape drug". In fact GHB is one of possibly hundreds of drugs that could be used to facilitate rape.Also if you spike someone's drink with GHB,they're gonna notice their drink tastes strange. A study found that the drug used most often in date-rape cases was actually alcohol.

So it's possible that they meant that GHB is more dangerous for women because if they overdose there's more of a chance they might fall victim to rape than a man who overdoses (however this applies to all sedatives). Just like it's more dangerous for a woman to go for a walk,alone in the park in the middle of the night.

From a purely scientific point of view; no, GHB is not more dangerous to women (aside from the factors above which apply to all sedatives).

Reputation Comments on this post:

	Correct and well said.
	smart answer

[MrG]

Actually there is *some* truth in the rumour. Research shows that females are more sensitive to the effects of GHB than males.

This is not to say that it is "more dangerous", it simply means that their physiology is affected by it slightly more than a guy's.

Not a million miles away from how women are more prone to the effects of alcohol than men. It's not a sexist statement it's a biological fact.

[D-termine]

It is far more dangerous to SWIM, he is bound to say things he shouldn't, do things he shouldn't, and hit on girls that may or may not be his gf's best friend. Infact, nothing like G has ever made SWIM so crazy and out of control like G has. Thank the Lord it never was around when he was single.

That said, SWIM has seen it mess up the ladies rather brutally at times, it's simply dose dependent as one too many will also put SWIM and his bro's on their ass.

[Jatelka]

Originally Posted by MrG

Research shows that females are more sensitive to the effects of GHB than males.

Have you got some references for this?

I've not been able to find anything much (but I confess I've not looked very hard)

[MrG]

Actually Jat, you are quite right, I completely missed the key point previously in this regard. I had read about females being more affected, but this was to do with the smaller body size meaning that they were usually getting a higher amount of mg per kg than males. Having just double checked the information I can confirm that there is NO difference between male and female users of GHB and the subsequent physiological effects.

http://jcp.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/43/1/59

Sodium oxybate (Xyrem®; gamma-hydroxybutyrate) oral solution was recently approved in the United States for the treatment of cataplexy in patients with narcolepsy. Two single-center, randomized, open-label studies in healthy volunteers receiving single oral 4.5-g doses of sodium oxybate evaluated effects of (1) gender on oxybate pharmacokinetics and (2) food on its oral bioavailability. In the latter study, one dose was administered after an overnight fast, another after a high-fat meal; 1 week separated treatments. Sodium oxybate pharmacokinetics was not significantly different between sexes. However, food significantly altered the bioavailability of oxybate by decreasing mean peak plasma concentration, increasing median time-to-peak concentration, and decreasing the area under the plasma concentration-time curve. Food did not affect elimination and urinary excretion of unchanged drug. No dose adjustment of sodium oxybate based on sex is indicated. Although significant food effects were observed, these are minimized in patients by the nocturnal dosing of sodium oxybate hours after the evening meal at a consistent time interval following food ingestion.