He bought a fitness supplement online to bulk up, but ended up losing his mind

August 1, 2026 - 13:05

A young man who ordered a popular fitness supplement online to build muscle mass ended up in a psychiatric ward after the product was secretly laced with anabolic steroids. Daniel Murphy, 24, from Leeds, said he only wanted to gain a few pounds of lean weight before summer. Instead, he lost his grip on reality for three weeks.

The trouble started about ten days after he began taking the powder. He felt unusually energetic, then irritable. He stopped sleeping. Soon, he was convinced that his coworkers were plotting against him and that strangers on the street could read his thoughts. His family found him pacing his flat at 3 a.m., talking to the television. They called an ambulance after he tried to climb out of a second-floor window, insisting he could fly.

Doctors at the local hospital diagnosed drug-induced psychosis. Blood tests revealed traces of several synthetic steroids, including a compound banned in the UK. The supplement label listed only plant extracts and amino acids. Trading standards officers later confirmed the product had been manufactured in an unlicensed facility and that the batch was heavily contaminated with steroid powder.

Murphy spent two weeks on a secure ward and another month on antipsychotic medication. He has since recovered, but says he still struggles with anxiety and memory lapses. "I thought I was buying a safe, legal product. I ended up fighting my own brain," he said. He now warns others to buy only from verified retailers and to check batch numbers with the manufacturer. His case is one of several this year linked to a growing black market for counterfeit fitness supplements sold through social media ads.