Addictions come in all different packages including drugs, food, sex and even working out. This bodybuilder’s obsession with getting swole nearly cost him the very arms that he craved to be the biggest and best they could be.
Romario Dos Santos Alves wanted to be the Incredible Hulk, and instead of just putting in the hard work at the gym, he tried to cheat. The 25-year-old pumped up his arms by injecting a toxic cocktail of oil, painkillers and alcohol into his biceps. The dangerous solution did work in making his arms huge, but it wasn’t real muscle. The synthol made his arm muscles balloon to ridiculous proportions. Suddenly people were afraid of his unusual and beastly appearance.
Doctors soon informed Alves that his muscles were destroyed, and they had turned to a rock-like substance. The cells in his arm had died, he was literally decomposing from the inside. Despite the grave warnings his addiction to become The Hulk increased. He started using syringes made for bulls so he could inject the oil into his rock arms. Romario was in constant pain and he almost suffered kidney failure due to the toxins in the oil.
Romario then suffered a depression and even attempted to kill himself. He lost his job after his suicide attempt. One day his wife came into the room crying and threatened to leave him if he didn’t get help. That’s when Romario realized he needed to take care of his addiction. He checked himself into the hospital. Doctors did a CAT scan and thankfully they revealed that they would not have to amputate his arm.
However Alves still hadn’t defeated his addiction entirely. Just two weeks ago he purchased estigor, a horse hormone. “I put the needle in my chest and sucked in the air to see if I got a vein but nothing came out. I froze and started to sweat.” Thankfully Alves fought the temptation and didn’t inject the substance into his body.
Romario still has dreams of becoming a professional bodybuilder, but is committed to staying clean. “I regret it a lot – my ambition is still to become a bodybuilder but I’ve got a long way to go. I know I will achieve it though.”