Apetamin: Regulator investigating 'slim thick' drug after BBC investigation

"I collapsed down the stairs at home. I collapsed in the street and they brought me into hospital. Apetamin is the devil."

This was just one young woman's experience of taking Apetamin - an unlicensed drug that supposedly acts as an appetite stimulant - to try to get Kardashian-esque curves and an extreme hourglass figure. The product, which is widely available online, is promoted by influencers on social media platforms.

Now, after an investigation for the BBC Three documentary Dangerous Curves: Get Thicc, Get Sick?, the UK's Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is investigating the sale of this product.

The MHRA said: "We are grateful to the BBC for bringing this issue to our attention and are investigating. Apetamin is an unauthorised medicine which should not be sold, supplied or advertised without a licence. Taking unauthorised medicines can have serious health consequences."

Social media and online retail companies like Amazon, Instagram and Depop have since begun removing the unlicensed product - although many listings still remain on Instagram.

"This product has been removed and we've taken action against the sellers in question," said an Amazon spokesperson. "Buying and selling non-medical or prescription drugs is strictly against our policies," an Instagram spokesperson added.

So what do you need to know about Apetamin?

Apetamin: What is it?

Apetamin is a liquid syrup and people usually drink it. It's marketed by social media influencers as a way to get an extreme hourglass, curvy figure and help you achieve a "slim thick" body, like Kim Kardashian or Cardi B.

Dr Victoria Garland, who wrote one of the only studies on the product, says: "What particularly worries me about Apetamin is the way that it's marketed. It's marketed as a vitamin supplement which implies that it's safe, that it's natural.

"The active ingredient that stimulates appetite is cyproheptadine and then there are a few other ingredients [...] but there are no actual studies about Apetamin. We don't know how Apetamin will actually impact a person."

The product is popular in many parts of the world but is not licensed for use in the UK or the United States.

Apetamin: Why do people use it?

Altou Mvuama, a 19-year-old model and presenter of Dangerous Curves, promoted Apetamin to her social media followers without really knowing much about it.

"Back then I didn't really do my research," she says. "I didn't really know what's in it."

"Social media is extremely toxic," she adds. "Girls in my generation, they would know what I'm talking about. They make you feel like if you don't look this way then you're nothing.

"I don't think it's just me. I feel like there's plenty of other models - and girls - out there who feel like they need to change themselves due to what they're seeing on social media."

Apetamin: What are the side effects?

Doctors say misusing the syrup can cause fatigue, jaundice and even liver failure.

"I had a patient who came into our liver clinic and she was complaining of fatigue," adds Dr Garland, based in Washington DC. "She was jaundiced, so her skin was yellowed. Her own body was fighting her liver."

One young woman who took Apetamin to try to get a curvier figure, and spoke to the BBC for the documentary, said the side effects were severe.

"I was just sleeping all the time," she says. "I kept falling over. I kept tripping up. I couldn't even write my name on a piece of paper - my hands were shaking that much."

And, ultimately, the Apetamin didn't have the result she was looking for.

"The whole of me just sort of increased," she says. "[It was] like you put me in water and I just expanded."

"I was told taking the Apetamin would only make me gain weight around my bum and my hips and my thighs - to be honest with you, it's quite daft of me to think that," another young woman says.

"I collapsed in the street and they brought me into hospital. I was probably overdosing myself."

Apetamin: What's being done to stop people using it?

Apetamin is made by a company in India. "We are not exporting this product to the UK, and we have no information on its availability in the UK," a spokesperson for TIL Healthcare says.

Alex Hall, a criminologist from Northumbria University, explains why it can be hard to stop products like Apetamin from coming into the country even though they're not licensed here: "With illicit lifestyle drugs there’s so much of a grey area that it can be really difficult for them to police.

"Some people who've been involved in cocaine trafficking have actually moved into the fake medicine trade.

"If you're caught with a certain amount of cocaine in the UK, you can end up in prison for a very long time. But if you're caught with something like a lifestyle drug, then you're probably going to get a slap on the wrist."

Social media platforms - as well as retail websites like Amazon and Depop - have promised to take action to remove Apetamin.

"Buying and selling non-medical or prescription drugs is strictly against our policies and we have removed the accounts brought to our attention," an Instagram spokesperson said.

A spokesperson for Depop added: "Medical products, including unlicensed products such as Apetamin, are not permitted on Depop and will be removed."

And a YouTube spokesperson said: "YouTube's Community Guidelines prohibit any content encouraging dangerous or illicit activities. We routinely remove content flagged by our community that violates these policies."

At the time of publication, however, several posts were still listed on Instagram.

The BBC Three documentary Dangerous Curves: Get Thicc, Get Sick? is available on BBC iPlayer now.