Steroids

[Booshay]

Has anyone used steroids on their thru hike? I'm coming off 4 major surgeries and think I'm gonna need all the help I can get this year. I don't see how it could hurt.

[OCDave]

... I don't see how it could hurt...

Talk with your medical professional. You will certainly learn exactly how it could hurt.

[runt13]

As in prednisone? long term use not good! I remember when I was on it there was all kinds of warnings...no direct sunlight, drink plenty of water, may cause dizziness, may cause difficulty sleeping, may cause weight gain, may raise blood pressure, etc, etc, etc. please check with your doctor.

RUNT ''13''

[Booshay]

Geez, maybe I'll try yoga instead, lo

[Rolls Kanardly]

Ahh prednisone. I know it well. Asthma and prednisone are buddies.
Weight gain, yes Sit down to dinner, eat everything on the table, get up from table and then start looking for something else to eat.
Shaky hands, yes
Sleep issues, yes
High blood pressure, yes
Screws with other meds, yes, can mess with thyroid meds or so the Doc says.
Attitude change, zero to bit... in 3 seconds flat.
Body ticks and twitches, the ones where you jerk a body part in an unnatural way.

Did I forget anything?
Except for keeping the asthma under control, I am not sure what else I would use it for on a hike

Rolls

[squeezebox]

Steroids are great at anti inflamation, but at a steep price. So if you REALLY REALLY REALLY trash your knees you might consider. Must be taken very carefully. Really serious side effects. Talk to your Doc.

[MuddyWaters]

You didnt specify what type of steroid.

All cortico-steroids are catabolic, and suppress the immune system. Catabolic, meaning they break down muscle tissue. Not exactly what anyone needs.

Anabolic on the otherhand, wont do anything for you without resistance training and copious amounts of food. If you are over 40 and dont mind losing your hair faster, many drs will put you on testorone replacement therapy today, but its either androgel or shots in their office.

There is no such thing as a completely safe drug of any kind. There are drugs with minor side effects, drugs with major side effects, and drugs with side effects yet to be determined.

Too many people , and Drs, are quick to use drugs as an answer for their problems, when they are usually only a bandaid that obscures them while creating others. Funny how people lived for thousands of years without any and now everyone in the population seems to need them, or so the quack medical community would have you believe.

I hate to be insensitive about things, but truly anyone that willfully substitutes prescription drugs for eating decent food and excercising and maintaining low body weight, cant complain about any long term damage they might cause.

[lemon b]

See what your Doctor says. My understanding is that medical professionals use them to enhance healing. Playing Doctor is just foolishness.

[bobp]

Funny how people lived for thousands of years without any and now everyone in the population seems to need them, or so the quack medical community would have you believe.

To be fair, people had also been dying for thousands of years from things that wouldn't stop us for more than 10 minutes, thanks to modern medicine. People have been using botanical medicines for thousands of years, as well. Chewing coca leaves to permit working at altitude isn't that much different in principle than blood doping to become more competitive in cycling races, and the coca chewers have bern doing that for a very long time. The behavior seems to be a long-standing component of human nature.

[OCDave]

To be fair, people had also been dying for thousands of years from things that wouldn't stop us for more than 10 minutes, thanks to modern medicine. People have been using botanical medicines for thousands of years, as well. Chewing coca leaves to permit working at altitude isn't that much different in principle than blood doping to become more competitive in cycling races, and the coca chewers have bern doing that for a very long time. The behavior seems to be a long-standing component of human nature.

bobp,

This is either purposefully confusing or poorly argued.

You seem to be supporting the use of performance enhancing drugs, which in a myriad of ways will detract from one's long term health, with evidence that modern medicine, primarily antibiotics and vaccinations, have given us longer healthier lives.

I believe your intended points were 1) Advances in understanding of human aging and disease have allowed us to intervene in these processes resulting in longer healthier lives. And 2) Some individuals will compromise their long term health to enhance their immediate satisfaction.

[Connie]

Those tough people in "The Old West" long life may have been as much as about 40-years old.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, for example, had laudanum for their daily exertion.

I think we live past 40 because we have better food, and, better rest.

[slbirdnerd]

I think you're treading on dangerous ground. I've seen steroids do very bad things to friends of mine. Prednisone eventually killed my dog. Consider that the AT is more mental than it is physical--that might be a good place to start.

[bobp]

bobp,
This is either purposefully confusing or poorly argued.

I suppose an Ipad keyboard and screen aren't the best tools for a comprehensive argument. So, let me give one more shot to the 3 points I apparently failed to make clear.
1. Modern medicine is not the villain here, in that it permits us to live longer, more productive lives in the face of afflictions that had once been fatal.
2. Humans have been medicating themselves to the best of their abilities for thousands of years.
3. Humans have been medicating themselves to adapt to their environment (which is, in a broad sense, increasing performance) for thousands of years.

So, without offering an opinion (probably unwanted, certainly unnecessary) as to the advisability of the poster's possible plan, I do contend that the desire and motivation are nothing new. The "pill-popping" culture is as probably as old as man, if one counts chewing willow bark, chewing coca, and drinking fermented fruit and grain beverages as "pill-popping.". Again, I'm not condoning the behavior, but I am saying that there is nothing uniquely modern in it.

[Unitic]

Steroids seriously suppress your immune system...by design.

[Wise Old Owl]

I suppose an Ipad keyboard and screen aren't the best tools for a comprehensive argument. So, let me give one more shot to the 3 points I apparently failed to make clear.
1. Modern medicine is not the villain here, in that it permits us to live longer, more productive lives in the face of afflictions that had once been fatal.
2. Humans have been medicating themselves to the best of their abilities for thousands of years.
3. Humans have been medicating themselves to adapt to their environment (which is, in a broad sense, increasing performance) for thousands of years.

So, without offering an opinion (probably unwanted, certainly unnecessary) as to the advisability of the poster's possible plan, I do contend that the desire and motivation are nothing new. The "pill-popping" culture is as probably as old as man, if one counts chewing willow bark, chewing coca, and drinking fermented fruit and grain beverages as "pill-popping.". Again, I'm not condoning the behavior, but I am saying that there is nothing uniquely modern in it.

Uh it wasn't the keyboard I read that first post twice and found it confusing... now you are clear. And what is wrong with a little fermented fruit?

[Connie]

I am using my iPod Touch, at least until I replace the RAM for the PC.

I have to "edit" often because my fingertips are too big for the iPod Touch "keyboard".

My point: self-medicating is a "mask" for not being healthy. Be healthy. Be strong.

Let's see how that works: 1. Be healthy. 2. Be strong.

At any time, if I need a "little something" even coffee, I need to get healthy. Do I need to be more active? Do I need to get better rest? Have I been eating well, or not? That said, I like coffee. But did I feel I need coffee?

I live in Montana.

For the most part, health and quality of life is robust, here.

Even so, there are frequent references how good life must have been in The Old West. People were strong, then. People were healthy, then.

I don't think so.

I think we "throw away" our health on silly notions.

I think people were just surviving, and, most were dead before 40-years old, because that was the life-expectancy in the 1880's, and, before then.

However, in our own time, we can have good food and rest, and, live a active healthy life.

That is how we have got it better.

[MuddyWaters]

75% of all visits to doctor result in prescribed drugs. This isnt necessarilly because patients need them, Drs know if they send a patient away empty handed they get mad and feel as if they wasted their time and money going to Dr.

The most prescribed drugs are pain relievers, antidepressants, anti diabetes, and anti-hyperlipids. Mostof which, should not be necessary.

As a PT i know tells her patients, "no one ever said life was supposed to be pain free". Somehow everyone today mistakenly thinks it should be.

20+% of the population take 3 or more, 50% of the population takes at least 1, 10% of the population takes 5 or more drugs routinely.

Yup, no problem here. LOL. And it is still escalating every year. Drug companies market their drugs directly to people now on TV " ...ask your Dr. If its right for you...".

35% of adults are obese, which is the leading risk factor for ...just about everything.

[OCDave]

Wow! 85% of those were really impressive statistics.

[OCDave]

Wow! 85% of those were really impressive statistics.

Typed that with a smirk. Just teasin' ya.

[Booshay]

I had my spleen removed recently, I def won't be taking steroids. Didn't know about the immune sys thing.