Real Stories

Read the stories.

No one can say that the threat of APEDs (appearance and performance enhancing drugs) is overstated.

Many experts agree that about one million students – as many as 6% of all U.S. high school students-have admitted to knowingly using anabolic steroids. And the usage rate is on the rise.

  • In 1993, one in 45 high school students used anabolic steroids.
  • By 1999, the number was one in 27.
  • Today, one in 16 high school students admits to using anabolic steroids. (How many more continue to hide?)

These numbers do NOT include those people who are unknowingly using anabolic steroids by virtue of the supplements that they are taking that are spiked with anabolic steroids.  Multiple studies have shown that as many as 20%-25%  of the bodybuilding products sold over-the-counter in health food stores may be loaded (spiked) with anabolic steroids and other substances banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

This is not just a “guy’s” problem.

More than 1 in 20 high school girls has already used anabolic steroids and the number of female users is increasing. In fact, the fastest growing user group is young high school girls.

It’s not an older kids’ problem, either. The median age of a student at first usage is 15.

And, it’s not just an athletic problem.

It is estimated that about half of the users of anabolic steroids are not athletes at all. They have no interest in competing – at least not on the athletic field. However, they are interested in competing for the attention of members of the opposite sex, and they are using anabolic steroids to look better. There is even a name for these users. These kids are nick-named “mirror athletes” because they want to look in the mirror and see an athletic-looking image, but they have absolutely no interest in trying out for any of the athletic teams.

Unfortunately, Taylor’s story is just one of many similar stories from high schools across America.

Take a look at a few real stories of people who have made an uneducated choice to use appearance and performance enhancing drugs. They tell you honestly how APEDs use has affected their lives and how they wished they had not begun to use at all.

These drugs are very dangerous with many side-effects that result in life-long medical issues to even death. Please watch the videos and consider what these testimonials show: consequences of an uninformed and uneducated choice of using anabolic steroids and appearance and performance enhancing drugs.

Don’t become an APEDs statistic!!

Wes Gould

FORMER doorman Wes Gould used steroids for four years to bulk up for his job.

Then he suffered a series of health problems which convinced him to ditch the drugs.

Wes, 43, who now owns a shop-lets firm in Norwich, says: “I left the Army in 1994 and started as a doorman at clubs and pubs around Stoke-on-Trent.… Continue Reading…

Tina Plakinger

“Kicking steroids was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life”

By Tina Plakinger, Former Female Bodybuilder,
Muscle & Fitness, magazine article.

Kicking steroids was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life. You go through terrible withdrawal. It takes six months to a year to completely get them out of your system.… Continue Reading…

Stephen Pratt

YOUNGSTERS are being warned of the dangers of anabolic steroids by a former fitness fanatic who developed heart problems.

Stephen Pratt was just 18 when he started taking the drugs to improve his physique, and his weight soon leapt from 10 st 7lbs to 13st 7lbs.

He stopped taking steroids in January, but was rushed to hospital in May because his resting heart rate was 150 beats per minute – when it should be 60 to 80.… Continue Reading…

Patrick Hall

Patrick hall was a good looking kid, extermely popular, and a very talented athlete. But that was not enough. In 2004, Patrick started using Anabolic steroids. That use led to abuse and eventually a full blown addicton that nearly cost him everything. Steroids, and the need to always be bigger and more ripped consumed his every waking thought.… Continue Reading…

Matthew Swordy

A POPULAR student with a “hidden” heart condition collapsed and died after taking anabolic steroids in a bid to “bulk-up”, an inquest heard.

Matthew Swordy, from Oaky Balks in Alnwick, Northumberland, was unaware that he was living with the rare heart problem Wolff-Parkinson-White (WPW) when he began injecting steroids to supplement his bodybuilding regime.… Continue Reading…

Matthew Dear

Matthew was born in 1991 at Rochford hospital. Matthew attended St Helens R. C Primary School and then went on to St Thomas More High School For Boys. He finished off his education at the South East Essex College. Matthew worked part time for Royal Mail. Matthew’s interests were keeping fit and with passing his driving test after four months his new hobby of restoring an old Mercedes car he had bought, taxed, MOT, and insured all by himself.… Continue Reading…

Eddie “the Bull” Gantner

Ed “The Bull” Gantner, 30

As a young teenager, Ed Gantner was a bit on the small side. But that would all change once he discovered weightlifting and anabolic steroids. By the time he graduated high school and moved on to professional football, he had built his 6’4” frame into a 300-pound hulk.… Continue Reading…

Dale Burns

A HULKING bodybuilder addicted to steroids has died after police shot him with a 50,000-volt Taser.

Muscleman Dale Burns, 27, was zapped with the stun gun as he rampaged around his flat smashing it up.

Pals claimed he was Tasered 3 times as eight officers struggled to subdue him.

Police called in by terrified neighbours also used pepper spray before finally handcuffing the raging bouncer.… Continue Reading…

Chris Benoit

Chris Benoit Had Steroids, Other Drugs In His System At Time Of Murder-Suicide

Toxicology reports in the Chris Benoit murder-suicide case indicate that the former WWE champion had steroids and other drugs in his body at the time of the incident, according to the chief medical investigator at the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.… Continue Reading…

Bob Hazelton

negative effects of steroidsFresh start for former boxer moving to Howard Lake
By Andrea Vargo

Surgery on his legs happened again last week for Bob Hazelton of Eden Prairie. He lost both legs above the knees, one in 1986 and the other in 1987. This didn’t happen because of an accident. Bob did this to himself.… Continue Reading…