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Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

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Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#81

Post by ttrmw »

throwaway5752 wrote: post #58
schnebbau wrote: post #38

Used responsibly, testosterone supplementation has multiple upsides with relatively little downside, even for men who do not have naturally low T. Unfortunately it looks like a few tik-tok kids are going to ruin it for everyone. Same as most good things in life I guess.

Health impacts on the individual users of trt are just one aspect, it impacts other people. I live in an area where use is common and I'm tired of running into obviously roiding men who act much more aggressive than normal people in public. My experiences are retail and and driving. I've assumed that the tacit approval for steroid usage among law enforcement in the US has at least partially responsible police brutali…

Testosterone supplementation is very unlikely to be causative for what you're running into. Test is incredibly mild in psychological effect (unless you're deficient). This kind of stereotype comes from trenbolone, but I think you shouldn't under-estimate the intersection of steroid users and cocaine users. It's bigger than you might intuitively guess.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#82

Post by pjc50 »

kkielhofner wrote: post #77
jiggywiggy wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Muscular actors are almost without exceptions on it. Take Chris Hemsworth, he went from skinny to bodybuilder level of muscle. It would be fine if doesn't use it to sell workout programs.

Exactly - I don't have a problem with it. It's just very, very dangerous (and sleazy) to give the public and society the impression these results are obtainable with some random diet, over the counter supplement, etc. Doubly sleazy for those that are selling something claiming it's how they achieved their results. Not unlike the Kardashians selling some juice, make up, or whatever and attributing their appearance to…

> It's just very, very dangerous (and sleazy) to give the public and society the impression these results are obtainable with some random diet, over the counter supplement, etc.

Unfortunately it's also risky for them to tell the truth ("I achieved this with some sketchy prescriptions of otherwise-illegal drugs")

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#83

Post by archsurface »

pjc50 wrote: post #72
archsurface wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you sure? This is the UK (not US), where eg the Tavistock clinic was closed down.

Seems to be nothing to do with Tavistock, and transmasc people are (perhaps surprisingly) never mentioned in the article. The OP was making the point that "making your body conform to your gender" is also something that cis people can and do do. (By the time it was closed down the queues at the Tavistock were on the order of years, so lots of UK trans people have had to go private at some point)

Edit: deleted. This topic is too muddled.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#84

Post by ttrmw »

h0h0h0h0111 wrote: post #65

Afaiu, in the UK many (most?) males over 55 get prescribed TRT. Male mortality tracks quite closely with muscle wastage, so it makes a lot of sense.

nah, this isn't correct. The NHS very very rarely prescribes TRT, certainly not as a matter of course.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#85

Post by elektrontamer »

Traubenfuchs wrote: post #64
elektrontamer wrote: post #54

I don't care much about young users but I've always wondered why the body stops producing adequate amounts of it as we age. Is it because you're too old to have viable offspring by then (with few exceptions) so there are no selective pressures to maintain testosterone levels? If so, do the benefits of TRT far out weigh the risks at old age?

> I've always wondered why the body stops producing adequate amounts of it as we age As our organs, tissues and glands age, they decrease their output including our testes. This paper goes a bit into detail: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8619877/

Oh I get the aging part but it just seems so much easier to fix/maintain compared to aging in other tissues. It's like evolution should have gotten that right.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#86

Post by pessimizer »

LanceH wrote: post #53
AbrahamParangi wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Gender affirming care actually can include gender-affirming procedures for cisgender people such as reconstructive or cosmetic surgeries. Under that frame I don't see how "I need higher T to feel like a real man" is much different.

Sure, if you want to deliberately conflate different issues.

Only if you think that comparing a trans man who wants to take testosterone to feel more like a man to a biological male who wants to take testosterone to feel more like a man is silly or deceptive.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#87

Post by jojobas »

ravenstine wrote: post #13
zoklet-enjoyer wrote: post #3

This is gender affirming care.

I'd be willing to bet a substantial number of these men wouldn't take steroids if society/women didn't reward them for having a chiseled (and often times unnatural) aesthetic, so considering it gender affirming care is a stretch in the general sense.

Same could be said about "real gender affirming care".

It's all this pesky society that won't take your word for anything.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#88

Post by oh_sigh »

EliRivers wrote: post #45
ravenstine wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be willing to bet a substantial number of these men wouldn't take steroids if society/women didn't reward them for having a chiseled (and often times unnatural) aesthetic, so considering it gender affirming care is a stretch in the general sense.

Only tangential to the theme, but continuing your thought, in my experience the rewards for having a chiselled aesthetic comes more from men than women. It's a status marker amongst (some groups of) men. The heavily muscled male look is more of a male fantasy than female.

In my adult life, I've been both a beanpole and a fairly muscled dude(495 lbs squat, 275 bench, 600 DL)

I had women attracted to me both times, but the type of woman was very different. I also got groped and felt up far more and other far more overt displays of interest by women when muscled.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#89

Post by pjc50 »

diath wrote: post #34
EatingWithForks wrote: post #7

Is there a similar thing for estrogen? What's the estrogen use in the UK and how is it used comparatively?

Birth control pills contain Progesterone and Estrogen (well, actually Estradiol), so the figure is probably really high.

Point of information: there exist both "combined" and progesterone-only contraceptives, which may be chosen depending on how the user experiences side effects.

Re: Are one million people in the UK using anabolic steroids? (2022)

#90

Post by daniel-cussen »

nkozyra wrote: post #4

TRT is now a fully embedded thing in the United States so this isn't totally surprising. I've talked to way too many 20 year olds who get cypionate from a doc in the box who manages to find "low T" It's just so easy now. And if you need it, great. But for a lot of people it's just a way to boost T for athletic/aesthetic reasons without a ton of attention to the health side of it. The risks are generally low, but boos…

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