I don’t know if simply didn’t pay that much attention the past years but I am noticing an increasing trend this past year. It seems the steroid related infections are on the rise…
Sure, there were some posts on the forums like “I had a bad infection, my injecting spot is swelling like hell” but there were quite rare. It could be that pure text doesn’t draw that much attention and now that there are plenty pics out there it is more noticeable. However, Digital cameras out there for a decade now and I’m sure that some individuals would record infections if they had one. This past year things changed though. On basically every forum you can see treads of people making pics of nasty “side-effects” of using non-Human Grade gear. Yesterday I saw this hideous video on an Australian blog here
WARNING - if you have a bad stomach, don’t watch it!
Now this vid is hideous in more than one sense. Sure, it’s gross to look at for all but health care pros - I don’t faint at sight of blood but I could barely watch this. It’s more hideous if you start thinking of the cause of this. Now, it doesn’t say what the guy was using, but I really doubt it was your every day orig Schering Sust that caused this. If I would have to guess something more exotic was injected into that biceps (UG), and if it was a shoddy UG product with high bacteria levels, than someone is directly responsible. And that is the hideous part, somebody deliberately made an unhealthy product and sold it for profit knowing really well that an infection is not only possible but likely to occur.
If we get back to the trend of rising infections there are couple of possibilities why the trend is rising. Some bodybuilders believe in the conspiracy theory - As most forums are sponsored by some or another UG manufacturer they believe that the moderators on those forums deliberately banned people who would make any negative reports of the product that caused the infection, sepsis, etc… As people using one brand would manly visit and post on one forum and other forums would not allow posts on other brands anyway, it went unnoticed. This theory has one major flaw though, as boards are still sponsored the info would not be possible to publish just as before. Also, the competitor boards would happily post negative info on other brands.
Second possibility is user awareness. As a general rule whenever a newb would report a problem it would be accounted to that persons inexperience (Supposedly only newbs get infections). So these reports would be hammered down to the point when the newb would himself believe it was his own problem. As actual test reports started to circle in the past year these guys realized that the products are to be blamed for the problems and reports started to spread more openly.
Yet another theory is that the products themselves have degraded. In the time when there is one new Underground Lab every week and the competition is so intense the prices have to drop. In normal economy that would be really great, but as Underground Labs are not regulated a drop in price also means a significant drop in quality. To top it all, the raw materials are actually harder to get in china due to more control attributed to 2008 Olympics. As Chinese have huge demand but little materials they react as a drug dealer would - they dilute or simply swap the raw materials for something else. And as the quality worsens the infections rise.
I personally think that the truth lies somewhere in between the above. Sure, boards filter and suppress negative reports, but you could post them on other boards without any problems. User awareness has increased in the past years but If I had a hole in the size of a tennis ball in my butt nobody would be able to convince me it’s simply improper injection procedures - I’d scream it out with all the details. The last theory in my mind is the most credible, but I wouldn’t say it’s only that - as UGs didn’t use much in the way of advanced pharma equipment before, they cant really use less (unless they moved to a really dirty location, say trailer park…). So, all of these theories are somewhat correct but as all things in life it’s a mix of everything that lead to this. The simple solution to all of this is quite simple though, stay away from Underground products.
I still remember the first cycle I ever had like it was yesterday - 12 vials of organon deca, 10 amps of sust, some d-bol, 8 weeks, and I got HUGE! OK, I’m aware that some past experiences are idealized in memories but I still think it was the biggest gain I ever got in a single cycle since. Looking back it seems quite a small amount of juice as at peak I was doing 300 mg of Deca and 500 mg of test and couple of dbol tabs every day.
I’ve used larger doses since (who hasn’t) but I always tried to do two cycles per year and have ample clean time in between. I know Pros use a lot higher dosages, never ever go off cycle, etc. However, recently I’ve been noticing many newbs and obviously recreative builders tend to use higher and higher dosages. I can understand more is better mentality but enough is enough and when an acquaintance in the local gym told me the other day he was about to use 6-10 anavar tabs (100 mg per day) on his next cycle I was completely speechless. WTF?!
As said before I may be able to understand this if he was a pro (and even than I’d think he’s crazy) but the guy has been on two cycles so far and he’s rookie in all this. So after I regained my ability to speak I naturally asked what the hell. And he said he heard that anavar is really good etc but was told by his buddy that to be really effective he’d have to use the high doses. I tried and tried and in the end gave up on making him rethink the whole thing.
I did get me thinking though. Now, if you follow forums you will realize that this is indeed going on quite frequently and that many members (and admins) advocate such doses. 4 or 5 amps of Sust per week, 800+ mg of deca per week, 10 anavar tabs, all these amounts really seem crazy. I remember when I was using Oxandrolone I would use up to 12 tabs per day, but they were 2.5 mg per tab. So who in right state of mind would use 100 mg. hmmm
Of course, the whole deal can be explained quite easily (took me a while though…). Me, being a naive juicer who tends to believe the label, the doses seem extreme. However, many people have realized that they need to translate the label. I know, the labels are in English so why translate them?
It is estimated that a great majority of bodybuilders (as far as 95%) willingly or unwillingly use UG, counterfeit, or fake gear. Whatever the reason, people take into account. So, consciously or unconsciously, they compensate. It is no secret that counterfeit and UG products are grossly under-dosed, in some cases as much to only contain only 25% of the advertised dose. They often also contain a completely different active ingredient but that is another story. As these products are often the only items available this is ignored as under-dosed crap is better than nothing.
This is where things get complicated. Some UG’s actually contain more than is advertised. It doesn’t happen to often really, but some times it does. Late Mark at one time was boasting (in 2005) that the latest batch of BD had 110% of active ingredient as they were unsure of what quality the raw material was. Axxio also was recently boasting that his latest batch also contained 10% extra. Now this maybe just a marketing trick but what will happen if (or when) they actually do make such a batch? Guys used to inject triple doses will suddenly be using 330%?!
Now, I do hope that even UGs will sooner or later be dosed as advertised doses but on the other hand I’m quite afraid of the consequences if they do. Sure, most people will again adjust and will be fine, but some poor individuals will have real problems. In a way all this is wishful thinking as I really doubt that the chinese dealers will start selling 100% raws and UGs on the other hand will not invest in a lab to verify the quality of raw materials. So, in a way, we will remain safe
There’s many news articles, speculations, internet posts on the subject of Steroids in Baseball these days. Most writers are disgusted with players using anabolic steroids, some are actually defending them. The other day I wrote about an article on ESPN that defended entry of juicers to baseball HOF, now a similar article is published on New York Times, this one even more positively oriented towards juicers. The author is the same, but the author actually suggests acceptance of Steroids in Baseball:
Baseball, led by the Hall of Fame, needs to accept this and replace mythology and spin with realism and honesty. If everyone has access to the same drugs and training methods, and the fans are told what these are, then the field is level and fans will be able to interpret what they are seeing on the diamond and in the box scores.
There was yet another bust in Texas yesterday as DEA was notified of suspicious packages addressed to a home in San Antonio. More info and Video on Ksat.
First of all, I’m glad these guys were arrested. Don’t get me wrong, I’m for legalization or at least decriminalization of anabolics in the states as much as any other juicing bodybuilder. However, I really feel sorry for any poor sucker who would buy “High Quality Gear” from these guys. If you watch the whole video (not really long though) you will notice these guys were actually manufacturing their products in the trailer. Having entered couple of trailers parks in my past they were seldom clean and I would think of this as quite a bacteria friendly environment. You will note that the raw materials they were using weren’t really protected and somebody simply wrote the contents on the zip-lock baggies. What if the person who labeled these baggies made a mistake? You will note that on one it said Anabar. Hmmm, the news didn’t say nothing about any drugs or painkillers (Anabar is a trade name for a mild pain-killer, see more here). Or was it supposed to be Anavar? Now if they can’t get the spelling right, how can they ensure the content is right?
I really wonder who of us would willingly want to inject an unknown substance mixed with frying oil, made in a Trailer park!? I see no real loss with this arrest…
There is another more troubling thought though. With all the recent arrests in the past weeks it seems the DEA is on the move so we should all be real careful. Texans especially. Unless the news report is false and DEA lying this arrest happened because they found “A series of suspicious packages” and “The source varies. East coast, west coast.” This would suggest that DEA is checking domestic packages, most probably putting postal workers on alert for any suspicious packages.
I really doubt that DEA is looking for end customers but in the past it has happened that some postal worker would freak, local sheriff would freak thinking “DRUGS” and in the end police could brake down your doors cause you ordered some winny on the net. So if you expect a delivery soon you might want to be somewhat careful. I doubt DEA would bother with a small package but better to be safe than sorry.
I’ll refrain from even commenting the fact that Baseball league considers hCG as a sort of Enhancing drug (after all if cops find aspirin in my car I must ave been drinking and have a hangover…) but to be banned from Baseball Hall of Fame on assumption that “if one is using hCG he must have been using Steroids” is ridiculous.
Anyways, it is interesting to note that ESPN actually advocated Steroids in this case (well, kind of), read full article.
In the course of doing research for my book, Cooperstown Confidential, I found that the Hall, like any shrine, is full of secrets. Here’s the worst-kept one: Not every immortal is a gentleman.
Some surely were. But Tris Speaker and Rogers Hornsby, both of whom belonged to the Klan? Probably not. How about Hank Greenberg and Joe DiMaggio, with their serious mob connections? Ty Cobb bragged of committing a murder and was suspected of fixing at least one game. Grover Cleveland Alexander pitched drunk when alcohol was a federally banned substance. The list goes on.
And those are just the off-hours transgressions. Between the lines, old-timers were happy to use any substance they thought would give them an edge. In 1889, pitcher Pud Galvin drank monkey testosterone. Mickey Mantle was forced out of part of the ‘61 pennant race by an infection he got from the needle of a quack doctor who shot him up with a concoction of steroids and amphetamine. Sandy Koufax took so many nonanabolic steroids for his sore arm that he was sometimes “half high” on the field. Even Hank Aaron admitted to taking amphetamines once during a game. All of them are in Cooperstown — and the walls haven’t crumbled.
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