These include:

• Octodrine
• 2-Amino Isoheptane
• 2-Amino-6-methylheptane
• 1 5 Dimethylhexylamine

Despite these different names, there are actually only two versions of DMHA:

• 2-Amino-5-methylheptane
• 2-Amino-6-methylheptane

Of the two versions, 2 amino-5-methylheptane is the most potent.

Octodrine, 2-Amino Isobutane and 1 5 Dimethylhexylamine are all based on the 2 amino-6-methylheptane version.

The letters DMHA come from Dimethylhexylamine.

The ideal dosage for best results in the gym appears to be between 100-150 mg of DMHA (the 2 amino-6-methylheptane version).

This compares with a recommended dosage of 35-50 mg for DMAA. For the more powerful 2 amino-5-methylheptane, the recommended dosage is 75 mg.

There are a number of psychostimulants that share a very similar structure.

They are all designed to make you more awake.

These stimulants are:

• DMAA
• DMBA (AMP Citrate)
• Tuaminoheptane (2-aminoheptane)
• DMHA

Because there have to date been no human or animal studies that quantify the specific actions of DMHA, the best we can, when trying to figure out how it works, is to take a look at the common features of these other products.

From the get-go, you need to be aware that DMHA is an advanced stimulant that is designed for hardcore trainers who are looking to push the envelope.

As mentioned, it does NOT have a ton of studies to back up what it can do.

These psycho stimulants work by increasing the levels of key monoamines.

Monoamines are neurotransmitters that contain a single amino group.

The two monoamines that produce the most stimulant like effects to boost your performance are dopamine and norepinephrine.

A compound will only work as a monoamine activator if it is structurally similar to monoamine itself.

DMAA, and the other products that are structurally similar to it such as DMHA, have this structural similarity to dopamine and norepinephrine.

This gives them the ability to release these two powerful neurotransmitters through the activation of trace amine associated receptor 1.

At the same time, they are temporarily prevented from binding to target receptors.

This allows dopamine and norepinephrine to remain active for longer, giving you a prolonged training effect.

Finding a stimulant that is able to activate monoamine release at a level that is not too strong nor too weak is difficult.

DMAA was so popular – it did it at the ideal level of mildness, and so, apparently does DMHA.

If the stimulant was too strong, it wouldn’t be able to be detached by the body’s enzymes.

The next common features between DMAA and DMHA is the addition of a methyl group on the alpha carbon.

This provides the following three effects:

It limits the effects of monoamine oxidase (MAO). MAO is an enzyme which breaks down monoamines, so inhibiting it affects prolongs the half-life of the key monoamines dopamine and norepinephrine.
It increases the ability of the monoamines to pass through the blood-brain barrier, increasing and enhancing their ability to improve your focus and energy levels.
It increases the compound’s affinity for the catecholamine transporters; this decreases the reuptake of dopamine and norepinephrine. The more catecholamines that are available, the better the stimulant effect that is produced.
DMHA is listed as a decongestant, which is precisely what DMAA was categorized by drug suppliers.

2-amino-6-methylheptane was used as the key ingredient in a popular decongestant named Eskays Oralator back in the 1950’s.

It appears to have fallen out of favour with the rise of ephedrine, which can still be used in medications, just not in supplements.

So, why has 2-amino-6-methylheptane been classified as a decongestant.

Let’s dig into the research to find the answer.

During the 1940’s and ‘50’s there were a number of animal studies that are relevant.

In 1952, a study was published in the British Journal of Pharmacology which found the following . . .

The respirations of dogs under chloralose were stimulated by 2-amino-6-methylheptane and the stimulation lasted for sixty minutes.

Chloralose is a sedative and anaesthetic used on animals.

The focus of the above study was a group of compounds known as octylamines, one of which, 2-aminoheptane, is closely related to DMHA.

The authors of this study concluded that 2-aminoheptane had an action that was similar to amphetamine, thought being less stimulatory and cardiovascular, less toxic and having a greater half-life.

In 1947, a study was published in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics specifically focused on 2-amino-6-methylheptane, or DMHA.

The following results were indicated:

DMHA increased the pain threshold in cats, as a result of its anaesthetic and analgesic properties.
DMHA is far less likely to increase blood pressure than epinephrine. However, it does still have a cardiac effect, increasing the heart-beat.
When used intravenously in dogs, there was no effect on the small intestine, urinary bladder, urine secretion or respiration.
Non-lethal 30-day large doses showed no damage to the heart, lung, liver, kidney, spleen, intestines, stomach, brain or spinal cords of the rabbits, rats and guinea pigs that were tested.
The doses given were as follows:

Rats – 20 mg/kg injected
Rats – 75-100 mg/kg oral administration
Guinea Pigs – 20-25 mg/kg injected
Rabbits – 20 mg/kg injected
It should be noted that the rats who took the high doses of 2-amino-6-methylheptane (both oral and injected) became depressed (9).

The most important revelation to come out of the 1947 study was summed up in the following statement by study co-author Edwin Fellowes . . .

While there is an indication of more activity after S-51 (DMHA) than absorbed in normal rats, a typical ‘amphetamine-like’ effect was never noted.

In other words, rats that were given amphetamines were ‘literally’ banging their heads against the walls of their cages, whereas those who were given DMHA were hyped up, but not excessively so.

The conclusion that we come to from an analysis of these animal studies from the middle of the 20th Century is that DMHA seems to possess the qualities that most people who are after a workout stimulant are after – it enhances your focus and output without making you hype (10, 11).

DMHA is a more potent stimulant milligram for milligram than caffeine.

It will provide you with a greater energy level and that level of energy will be sustained for longer.

DMHA’s other big benefit over caffeine is that it will not lead to a post workout energy crash.

It also provides enhanced benefits as far as memory enhancement, due to the increased levels of dopamine that it contains.

DMHA containing stimulants should NOT be mixed with prescription drugs.

You should be especially careful not to mix DMHA with stimulatory prescription drugs, as well as antidepressants and MAO inhibitors.

The FDA has a very acute radar when it comes to stimulants.

It doesn’t like them and has put in place stringent compliance requirements.

The bottom line is that if it can be proven that the simulant occurs naturally in the environment, it is likely to meet compliance.

It has been shown that 2-amino-5-methylheptane is found in nature – in walnut bark extract.

The evidence for this is contained in a study entitled Evaluation of Antimicrobial Properties of Two Different Extracts of Juglans regia Tree Bark and Search for Their Compounds Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrum (12).

However, 2-amino-5-methylheptane is not DMHA (2-amino-6-methylheptane).

It is, however, very similar.

2-amino-5-methylheptane is reputedly more potent than DMHA. In order to meet FDA compliance, it needs to be shown that DMHA is derived from either:

• A vitamin
• A Mineral
• An herb or other botanical
• An amino acid
• A dietary substance used by humans to supplement the diet by increasing total dietary intake
• A concentrate, metabolite. constituent, extract, or a combination of any of the above

In a 2014 study, a third of these compliance options were met.

The study was entitled Metabolomic Profiling of Kigelia Africana Extracts with Anti-Cancer Activity by High-Resolution Tandem Mass Spectroscopy.

It identified that DMHA was present in the fruit Kigelia Africana.

The study was published in a well-respected, peer reviewed academic publication that had absolutely no connections with the supplement industry (13).

The discovery that DMHA occurs in a fruit boosts the possibility that DMHA will meet FDA compliance.

There is another naturally occurring herb that may contain DMHA.

It is the plant species aconitum, which is a flowering plant with over 250 species, found mainly in the Northern Hemisphere.

Unfortunately, the aconite family are poisonous.

This is clearly a massive red flag for the FDA.

They are hardly likely to give compliance to DMHA if the natural herb or other botanical in which it is found is toxic.

The question of compliance of DMHA by the FDA is an resolved one at this time.

We expect that the pending court case Hi-Tech Pharma vs FDA will provide some further guidance on the issue (14).

As of October 1st, 2017, DMHA was banned in Australia.

At the same time, DMBA will also come under ban.

DMAA has been banned in Australia since 2013.

It is interesting (and alarming) to note that the Australian Government’s Department of Health has not provided a single reason supporting its decision to ban DMHA.

The Australian ban makes it illegal in that country to sell the following:

• Tim Muriello Spazmatic
• Sparta Nutrition Kraken
• OCD Nutrition OCD Extreme V2
• Body War Pre War V2
• All BPM products that contain Pouchong tea

Should drug tested athletes take a stimulant that contains DMHA?

The answer is NO, even though DMHA, under any of its names, does not currently appear on the WADA banned substances list.

So why shouldn’t drug tested athletes take it?

Because there is a very real possibility that DMHA in your system may cause a false positive result.

This is all the more likely because of the structural similarity between DMHA and some other stimulants that ARE on the WADA banned substances list.

Beyond this, WADA have a clause to include similar substances under their banned umbrella.

Given that DMAA is on their list, DMHA would be included here as a similar product to DMAA.

In addition, it is pretty likely that DMHA will actually be added to the banned list sometime soon.

The bottom line here is that if you're a drug tested athlete, you should stay away from stimulants that contain DMHA.

There is a lot of confusion surrounding the status of DMAA.

Let's take a moment to clarify things.

Between 2009 and 2012, DMAA was the key stimulant found in a number of powerful workout stimulants, including USP Jack3d and OxyELITE Pro.

Then, in 2012, the FDA sent warning letters to the majority of supplement manufacturers, alerting them to the fact that DMAA was not a dietary supplement ingredient.

Beyond this warning, however, the FDA did not state that DMAA was banned.

The letter was sent to many companies but it was not received by Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals, despite their having some of the best-selling DMAA containing products on the market.

The majority of supplement manufacturers responded to the FDA warning letter by removing DMAA from their products.

One company that did not do this was USP Labs, the manufacturers of Jack3d and OxyELITE Pro.

The company actually sent a response letter to the FDA, claiming that DMAA was actually a naturally occurring compound, and therefore, passed compliance requirement under DSHEA 1994.

In that letter, the USP Labs guy's cited three studies showing that DMAA was naturally occurring in the geranium plant and was, therefore, compliant with DSHEA 1994.

The FDA responded to USP’s letter with several refutations.

However, because their response is not publicly available, we do not know what these reasonings were.

Around this time, USP Labs announced that it was no longer going to produce DMAA containing products.

However, they cited business rather than legal reasons as the motivator for this decision.

In November, 2013, US Marshals, at the behest the FDA raided the factories of Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals.

The Marshals seized more than two million dollars’ worth of DMAA based products. No warning letter was issued of this intention of seizure.

In the wake of this action, Hi-Tech pharmaceuticals have taken the FDA to court.

Their lawsuit is founded on the following grounds:

They were not given any warning or opportunity to comply with any supposed regulations, leading to the loss of more than two million dollars’ worth of product.
The FDA has never actually banned DMAA. A warning letter does not constitute a law. Therefore, there was no legal basis for the seizure of their products.
DMAA is a legal, safe and natural product. For those reasons, it meets the compliance requirements of DSHEA 1994. Hi-Tech specifically claimed that DMAA is found in the geranium plant.
While waiting for the lawsuit to come up in court, Hi-Tech set about developing new DMAA based stimulants, including HydroxyElite and Jack’d Up.

In December, 2014, the FDA attempted to get Hi-Tech’s lawsuit thrown out of court.

Three months later, the court denied the FDA request.

At this point, we are still awaiting for the phase to come to court.

In the meantime, the actual legal status of DMAA sits in the balance.

It seems that, right now, Hi-Tech Pharmaceuticals is the only company selling DMAA containing products.

All of the other companies have seen the writing on the wall and gone down the DMHA route.

DMHA has been found to occur in nature.

It is, according to a 2014 study, found in the plant Kigelia Africana.

This is a tropical plant that grows in Northern and Southern Africa.

It grows a fruit that can get up to two feet in length and looks somewhat like a sausage.

The Kigelia Africana plant has well established anti-bacterial, anti-cancer and pain relieving properties.

It also has a long history as a euphoria inducer.

It therefore produces a natural stimulatory effect.

There are sources that also state that DMHA is a component of the aconitum species of plant.

This plant species, commonly known as aconite, comprises more than 250 different plants.

However, aconite is one of the most poisonous plants that are out there.

2-amino-5-methylheptane is one of the two versions of DMHA.

It differs from 2-amino-6-methylheptane in that it has one less methylheptane.

It is believed that 2-amino-5-methylheptane is the naturally occurring version of DMHA, whereas 2-amino-6-methylheptane is the synthetic version.

2-amino-5-methylheptane is claimed to be more potent that 2-amino-6-methylheptane.

As 2-amino-5-methylheptane is from a natural source, it is far more expensive to source than its synthetic version.

Therefore, products that contain 2-amino-5-methylheptane will be very expensive.

DMHA is a powerful stimulant, even though it is only about 80% as potent as DMAA.

You need to ensure, however, that you are not taking too much (or too little) of it.

For that reason, you should never purchase a product that contains DMHA as part of a proprietary blend.

Proprietary blends tell you what is in the product, but do not disclose the amount of each of those ingredients.

In fact, we believe that all proprietary blends should be made illegal.

Apart from the fact that proprietary blends force the consumer to guess at how much of each ingredient is in the product, they also attract the attention of the FDA.

They are bad news all round and should be done away with.

When you first start to use a stimulant that contains DMHA, we suggest that you take a half dose.

Then assess how your body responds.

Take your blood pressure and wear a heart rate monitor.

If you don’t have hyper reactions, then slowly build up to a full dose.