Let’s touch on the most unpleasant problem facing bodybuilding lovers today. I mean the use of steroid side effects. Anabolics are man-made artificial hormones, which are used very rarely in medicine because they are extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, very many guys sincerely believe in the myth of the impossibility of building muscle mass without the use of anabolic drugs. This myth is also supported by some coaches who are financially interested in selling “chemistry” (as steroids are called on bodybuilding slang) to the greatest possible number of athletes. Beginners who come to register in my room, necessarily begin with the question: “And what steroids to take?” And when I answer that anabolics do not need to be used at all, they are very surprised. Unfortunately, in our country, “chemists” dealers do not bear criminal responsibility, as in the whole world (in the United Arab Emirates, for example, the sale of steroids is chopped off). Therefore, the only way out, in my opinion, is to publicize all those steroid side effects that await children who have decided to take anabolics.
Consider the most steroid side effects of athletes from the use of steroids.
Cancer
In 1994, the tragic news spread around the world of bodybuilding. “Mr. America” Dennis Newman, a blossoming 25-year-old athlete, became ill with leukemia (blood cancer). He admitted to doctors that he took growth hormone – one of the strongest anabolic drugs, which was the cause of the disease. As a consequence of taking steroids, there are changes in the liver, suspected of cancer. After all, the liver and kidneys are subjected to a heavy load when using “chemistry”. As a result of US studies, it was found that the average age of users of steroids that died from liver cancer was only 18 years!
Pain in the stomach
Anabolic oral steroids (tablets) cause discomfort in the stomach. Their use is accompanied by negative phenomena – loss of appetite, vomiting, nausea, stomach upset and heartburn. In addition, the balance of the intestinal flora is disturbed, and the person is exposed to various gastrointestinal infections.
Headache
Many users of steroids suffer severe headaches. Doctors believe that the pains that have a migraine character, are the basis of the hormonal balance disorder that occurs when taking steroids.
Sodium retention
Young children (taking steroids) are weighed daily on the floor scales. When they find that their weight has increased, they start to erroneously think that it started to grow muscles. In fact, the increase in body volume can be explained by the water retention in the body. As a consequence, it can lead to acute attacks of increasing blood pressure. Sometimes such a water retention is a sign of a hidden heart disease or kidney. Often, this phenomenon is observed thinning, stretching and discoloration of the skin.
Impotence
Bodybuilders who use anabolics suffer from transient changes in libido. At the beginning of the steroid cycle, there is a slight increase in sexual desire, accompanied by an increase in the duration and duration of erections. But this is only the beginning. With prolonged use of steroids, the ability to achieve and maintain an erection falls. The physiological basis of impotence when using synthetic hormones (which are contained in anabolic) is a decrease in the production of endogenous testosterone. Often impotence can progress after the abolition of the steroid cycle, when there is no testosterone from outside, and its own reproductive system has not yet restored the desired level of androgens in the system.
Bleeding
Another side effect observed with the use of anabolic steroids is an increase in blood clotting time. The guys who use “chemistry”, this time is increased by 2-4 times. Also, nosebleeds become more frequent, which are further aggravated by high blood pressure. In March 1996, the finalist of the Arnold Classic Andreas Münzer died from internal bleeding. He was just over 30. Andreas died a few days after a successful performance in the next contest.
Muscle ruptures, other muscle and bone injuries
Among athletes using steroids, there is an increased incidence of ruptures, tears and other muscle damage. This is mainly the result of the resulting imbalance between the contractile ability of the muscles and the insufficient strength of the ligaments and tendons. This at best leads to inflammation, and at worst – to traumatic injuries. There may be muscle cramps and spasm, a decrease in the elasticity of muscle tissue. An increased frequency of bone fractures and cracks is registered exactly among users of steroids.
Aggressiveness
In the US, psychiatrists have long discovered serious mental disorders in athletes using anabolic steroids: depressive episodes, visual and auditory hallucinations, uncontrollable outbursts of irritability, manic episodes. With the use of anabolic drugs, the effect of emotional instability is classically manifested, a certain type of psychological dependence on them develops. I myself heard from some mountain-bodybuilders that they “are not interested in training without” chemistry “, as the results grow very slowly.” In the West, the term “steroid rage” has already been widely used in connection with the fact that the manifestations of this side effect are becoming more frequent and fixed. Last year, the professional of the International Bodybuilding Federation Ray McNeil was shot by his wife (also a well-known bodybuilder). Their blood tests showed the presence of a large amount of anabolic. Mrs. McNeil’s attorneys brought to the investigation the experts on steroids and made sure that the behavior of their client is a direct consequence of taking “chemistry”. Bodybuilding is very popular among California state police (one of them – Ronnie Coleman – even was the world champion among amateurs). So, each of them several times a year gives analysis. This is done in order to prevent the police from using anabolic drugs and, naturally, to avoid outbreaks of “steroid rage” in the guards of the order (such cases have occurred).
Jaundice
This is a serious liver disease, characterized by yellowing of the eyes and skin proteins. Usually jaundice is recorded in athletes who used very high doses of steroids for extended periods. Inhibition of the activity of the immune system After a cycle of steroids, many users have noted an increased tendency to viral diseases, colds and even pneumonia. It has been proven that anabolic drugs greatly weaken the immune system. This negative effect is more pronounced in those whose chemotherapy cycle was more than 10 weeks. Several years ago, the first European bodybuilding champion (from the former Soviet republics), 26-year-old Nikolai Shilo, died in Minsk. Newspapers wrote that the cause of his death was almost an ordinary scratch.