Great post Dylan!
I might be a bit late to the party but I saw this video and decided to register and speak out. I went down this road myself as a teenager and started using when I was 18 years old. I was a competitive bodybuilder in my teens and early 20s and did several shows where I placed well and sculpted a physique that was envied by my peers. But it was all too easy to get caught up in the psychological dependency it creates, where I never wanted to come off and if I did, I wouldn't want to train during PCT as I felt like crap and my testosterone levels were zero. I figured that I couldn't build muscle without any hormones, and I couldn't lose any fat either, and this was justification enough for me to take a few months off and jump back on after PCT. That is the reason why you see people blow up and then disappear for months out of gyms, then return half the size and claim illness or injury.
There are people on forums telling us that if you eat big and lift heavy through PCT that you'll keep your gains, and that is 100% bullshit. Your body cannot physiologically sustain that musculature and the more muscle you have, the harder it is to face that reality. A lot of pros call 1000mg/week their 'off cycle', because cold turkey would be like deflating a balloon. The same people who blame poor diet and training during PCT are often the same ones who stay on 52 weeks a year and never drop below a TRT cruise dose.
With regard to the side effects at a young age, I started losing my hair after 3 years of use and from age 21 onwards I was battling hair loss with everything I could throw at it. Fortunately I ceased my usage 5 months ago and have not lost any more in some time. My main steroids of choice were initially prohormones, and then later test before adding tren and masteron pre-contest. As much as you try and avoid it, if you're genetically predisposed it will catch up with you and the best way to keep your hair as full and thick for as long as possible is to abstain from use entirely, use your shampoos and minoxidil and a 0.5mm microneedling pen once a week. Perhaps in the future a new drug will come out that preserves sexual function and works via a different pathway than systemically reducing DHT as Finasteride and Dutasteride do.
My cholesterol, blood pressure and kidney function were all impaired. At one point I had nosebleeds daily, particularly when using methylsten or superdrol which were the mass building orals of choice at the time. My GP discovered protein in my urine and sent me in for further tests including an ultrasound, where fortunately the result was normal and I immediately ceased all steroids and began a vigorous PCT. Since then all of these ailments have resolved. It is my opinion that high blood pressure is what kills kidneys in bodybuilders. High red blood cells and hematocrit is also something to watch out for. Left unchecked your blood will become thicker and the heart will have to work harder to pump, raising the risks of clots, heart attacks and strokes. I routinely gave blood and monitored my health status as much as possible, but unfortunately thought I could stay on top of everything and escape with no ill effects.
The most worrying effects are those on brain function/development, mood, sexual performance and suppression of natural testosterone production as you raised in your video. I've been battling some kind of neurological problem for years that may or may not be attributed to my AAS use, but it certainly did me no favors. Hopefully MRI technology will advance in the future and medical knowledge will be able to tell me more about what has happened/is happening. I can report that at present i've never felt healthier and my brain function, speech and memory have improved out of sight since getting off the drugs. You will hear people saying that everything will be fine if you do your PCT, take your HCG and pump in the nolva and clomid, but that is not always true.
When I came off I tried doing a 'Power PCT' of 2000iu EOD HCG for 21 days, with Nolva and Clomid and Aromasin (the AI is extremely important as high estrogen in men is very bad and highly suppressive if left unchecked), which did zilch for me despite using pharmaceutical grade everything. Soon after I enlisted the help of a specialist who has been working diligently to restore my sexual function/libido and sort my erectile dysfunction issues that have persisted for many months despite what i've thrown at it. Since then he has prescribed 1500IU EOD of HCG (may increase to 2000 if required), 25mg a day of Clomid and 0.5mg a day of Arimidex to be used for a minimum of 3 months before reviewing me again to see where i'm at. At present my libido is shot, I never get morning wood, and even with normal testosterone levels with a cruise dose before coming off I had no sex drive prior to this. Whatever is happening to me is originating independent of testosterone levels and is reminiscent of symptoms I see happening with patients that are on TRT for long periods of time. The same thing is also happening to guys suffering from post finasteride syndrome which has left doctors baffled. So far i've seen 3 doctors and a pharmacist speculate that a desensitization to testosterone may be at work, but this is heavily under-researched.
