The Truth About Steroids
The Difference Between Use and Abuse
By: Wayne Mercer
All of my articles thus far have targeted newcomers to the arena of health and bodybuilding. This has been my aim for the simple reason that I can personally tell you that when I first began weight lifting I wasted months, if not a year listening to bad information about everything from supplementation, workout, diet, and also the focus of this article, steroids. There is a lot of information regarding steroids and their effects on the body. First of all I would like to state my personal stand on the issue of steroid use. I have done steroids in the past, the reason being that I was going to play college football. I did one cycle (8 weeks) of a fairly mild pharmaceutical and then stopped to ensure that I would pass a NCAA drug test if my name were drawn. It is my opinion that, unless you have a specific purpose in taking the drug, like a sports career or desire to be a competitive bodybuilder, then you probably don't really need to take those measures. Again this is my opinion, I'm sure that there are many dissenters and that's fine, funny enough I can see their point also and actually agree.
Before I ever started my cycle I did my own research to know everything that I could about the dangers and avoid misinformation. One of my main sources was Muscle Media 2000, the magazine is now simply Muscle Media and has all but abandoned supplying valuable information on steroids, and the great articles written by Dan Duchaine. If you ever come across anything done by Duchaine, read it, he is the GURU and one of the top authorities on steroids. The truth is that most of the education on steroids is passed along at the gym, and that's not always the best source, so I just wanted to pass along some of the information I've learned over the years, and give you a little advice on what to do before you start.
First of all, you should be careful of who you listen to about advice on steroids, you're probably wondering how to do this. The best way to sort through whom to listen to and who not to is, if the person is currently on a cycle, watch that persons behavior. If they are nuts in the head and it's that obvious, eliminate that person immediately, they either don't practice what they preach or don't have a clue anyway. Then you think, ah the internet, I can get some good info there, if you find it let me know. Personally, I've searched the web, and found that most of the information is either in German or some other language I can't read, or that it's some study performed by some professor at some university and all of the feedback is negative. I had my own incident with a classmate about steroids, he armed with articles written by doctors, and I armed with personal experience. Who would you believe?
When you read most articles written about steroids by doctors, you will see the same word over and over again. That word is abuse. They key is to understand the difference between the use and abuse of steroids. The truth is that steroids, like any other substance, in mass quantity is detrimental to the body. My classmate was dismayed when I gave the article back to him with the word "abuse" highlighted every single time it was used. He quickly gave up his point, and understood what I had been trying to tell him before. There is a not so fine line when defining what is use and abuse. Let's give us a quick measuring stick first. If you decide to do a cycle do it intelligently. First, go to the doctor, tell him you want a blood test done to see if everything is normal, especially your liver. After he gives you the results, not before, tell him of your plans to see if he has any additional advice. My reasoning in telling him afterwards is that if he knows prior to the test, he may fib a little on normal levels of components in the blood to sway you away from your plans. Then, after you're about four weeks into your cycle have more blood drawn to assure that there aren't any underlying problems. After all of this is done then decide on what you're going to do, for how long and so on. The best way to determine what is use or abuse is your health, and stability.
"Steroids, done responsibly can have very little consequence on your body and your mind."
The next thing that I want to talk about are some of the side effects you may encounter. The first side effect people usually associate with steroids is the aggressiveness or "roid rage". This is one side effect that will vary greatly from person to person. I personally experienced very little agitation from my cycle, and basically I think that it comes down to what you're like normally. If you are already an anger prone person it will make it worse and you should be very careful of the situations you put yourself in. You may even want to get rid of that girlfriend that's already making you crazy as it is before you do something really stupid and cause yourself a lot more trouble than she is worth. I'm extremely laid back, and can't say that I've truly been angry in about three years or so, but what steroids did do was shorten my fuse greatly, and when I got mad I stayed mad for hours (not like me). I had most of my problems while I was driving, and there was one time that my neighbor barely backed into my car, no damage done, only a little smudge of her paint on my bumper that easily came off, but I was irate for about six hours over it. The good news is that I can control myself and she never even knew I was that upset. So, do take your own personality into consideration when deciding to do a cycle, and don't become a steroid user cliché.
As far as the other side effects, I didn't experience any of them but I know people who have. Hair loss, shrinking of the balls, gynomastia, usually happen to people who have done a lot more cycles than I have, and in some cases can be prevented. Other than hair loss, I think the worst one is the fear of losing their nuts. This happens because your body senses that you have a high level of testosterone in your body, and so your body shuts off its own testosterone production, and a lot of times the person selling you the steroids won't offer or can't get you 
HCG, which you take toward the end of your cycle and kicks in your body's natural testosterone production again. I personally would have never done a cycle without HCG being available, but I think that Andro, DHEA, or tribulus would also help that even if you couldn't get HCG. Then there is one of the more annoying side effects, gyno or bitch tits. The best way to prevent this is with chrysin. Chrysin helps to prevent the aromatization of testosterone into estrogen and is very therapeudic in eliminating gynomastea.
Earlier I stated my opinion of steroid use, and even given that if you asked me if I would do them again I would say yes. The positive effects can definitely outweigh the negative one if you take care of yourself, and cycle intelegently. My motivation being primarily cosmetic now isn't a good enough reason for me to juice again, but I want to offer all of the information I know to those who are considering doing a cycle. I want to make your cycle as safe and responsible as mine was because I have seen it get ugly for some. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me, and I will get back to you ASAP.
Wayne Mercer
CMERCER@hot.rr.com
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