Teen son interested in steroids

I was going to stay off this topic, but oh well. Testicular atrophy is a real issue so if he loves his boys he will not consider it until he's exhausted natural methods described earlier.

That said, if he's doing it for women's attention, he might be disappointed. I LOVE really big guys (last boyfriend was 6'4" 280 pounds of solid muscle). At first I worried that other women would approach him. Everyone loves big muscles right? He said a lot of women were intimidated or turned off by that level of muscularity. Many women prefer fit or even cut, but not to the steroid level.

Good luck! You're lucky he's open to discussing this with you!

My teenage son has mentioned steroids to me several times. Says his friends know about "safe" ways to use them short-term and get long-term results, that lots of kids use them, etc etc.

My son is at a healthy weight and active and has a somewhat healthy diet (for a teenager).

Obviously I do not want him to use steroids for any reason.

But, rather than just wagging my finger at him and forbidding it (very tempting!), I'd like to offer him some resources about health and fitness in general.

So, can anyone recommend health and fitness sites appropriate for teenage boys?

There are no short term methods that give good results nor provide safe results for a teen.

Tell him to make a post on a steroid message board (professionalmuscle, muscular development, etc). I'm serious. Ask for advice there. A hundred vets will tell him why it's a terrible idea under 20, what the LONG TERM impact is, how in order to get lasting results he has to COMMIT FOR LIFE.

They will give him a dose of reality. It's the only way.

You don't hop on a few steroid cycles and stop. The progress will all be lost. You either lose it all or commit for life. A teenager can not and should not make that decision. He needs to wait a few years and really decide for himself.

A teenager experimenting with a few steroid cycles stands a very good chance of ruining natural test production. Then he has to take steroids for the rest of his life, either administered by a doctor or self administered. that means twice weekly injections. Plus monitoring blood pressure, hormonal balances, etc. It's a huge decision for a teenager to make.

If he decides lifting is a waste of time 5 years from now...guess what, he still gets to inject twice weekly for another 60 years.

I for one am shocked and astounded that so many on this list seem to take such cavalier attitude on this subject. Anabolic androgenic steroids are prescription only medications, and therefore it IS illegal to be using them in the fashion being discussed. No responsible physician in their right mind would ever prescribe these steroids for the scenario you have proposed. There obviously is a reason why they are a banned substance in this country. All pharmaceuticals are going to have side effects and risk vs. reward should always be considered in all circumstances with any medication. It seems to me that wanting to be able to have a shortcut in order to be attractive to high school girls is not a very good reason.
Consider for example if your son develops liver injury (very common), acne requiring other medications, hair loss, testicular atrophy, or a personality change whereby he starts punching holes in the walls of your home. By then it may be too late for him to go back once he is addicted to the other so called positive effects.
I think education is the key, and incidentally the girls that would be attracted to this is probably not the kind of girls he wants to be involved with for the long term.

Amen! These are all the things I WANTED to rattle off to him (while I wagged my finger in his face) when he started mentioning it. I'm glad I didn't do the 'freaking-out-mom-nag' thing, but inside I was definitely coming up with my speech.

I certainly do NOT want him on these things -- but my hope is that HE won't want them either. So I need some info in my mom arsenal.

I, too, am surprised that people on this board use steroids. I had no idea they were mainstream.

He'll be at the doctor next week, and he has a good rapport with the doc, so I hope that will give him so good info.

Have him listen to vets on some steroid message boards and get valid side effects

As soon as you mention the things mentioned in the post you quoted, you'll lose all credibility with your son. A few minutes of googling and he'll have enough info to combat those claims.

What do you think a boy cares more about? Balls shrinking for 4 weeks and returning to normal or 20 lbs more mass?

Instead, tell him he'll diminish future muscle gains by using early, ruin future natural hormone production, possibly sperm health, have to inject forever unless he's lucky. And the monetary cost. Possible heart health issues when hes 50. Those are the things that matter to young men