Results
The doctors had a more negative opinion of both Eating Disorder Mark and Steroids Mark than of No Problem Mark. Interestingly, the doctors' view of Cocaine Mark was only a little different from their opinion of No Problem Mark.
Doctors stigmatise steroids users
Conclusion
"The existence and persistence of negative perceptions of individuals who use and abuse AAS have several implications", wrote the psychologists. "Stigma by health care professionals may further delay and/or reduce individuals' health care seeking, which may in turn exacerbate the physical and psychological problems AAS users experience."
"Delay in health care seeking may also mean that other risky behavior associated with AAS use, such as other drug use goes undetected and untreated, leading to additional physical and psychological problems."
I've been on TRT for 17 years now, and I have come up against this problem myself. I had been truthful with one doctor who then actually got angry with me as if I was some junkie. I was stunned and amazed because he was demonizing the very thing that was being prescribed to me over many years. Needless to say I will never go back to him, and I will aggressively tell others not to see him either!
I've had the same experience as Iron Game. Including heated discussions. I will add that most doctors don't know SHIT about hormones, including the endocrinologist I saw about HRT. I have learned more about hormones and how to manage mine properly on this site and through trial and error!
This endocrinologist came highly recommended. She then proceeded ti make several completely false statements. One of which was what happens to serum blood levels of testosterone with weekly injections (her contention was that 2 week injections is the only appropriate regimen). According to her, serum levels of test would continuer to climb higher and higher with weekly injections. I told her that simply isn't true. Well. How dare I question the all knowing doctor? "What makes you think that?" She said in a condescending tone.
Says I, "Two years worth of bloodwork in that folder right there."
That ended that conversation...
Endocrinologists seem to be the worst with this. In general, I have found that endos try NOT to prescribe testosterone if they can help it, and if they do, they will make it the lowest dose possible. It seems that endos are taught in med school that testosterone supplementation is bad, and they maintain this in the face of new research that shows the complete opposite. They also ignore their own bloodwork quite often. I've had blood tests that were taken the _day after_ a shot which understandably would test very high, yes? Didn't matter. The test results were high so the dosage must be reduced or you'll be taken off of it. My current doc that handles my TRT now is a urologist, very different kind of doc, but at least he understands the timing of shots and peaks and troughs in bloodwork.
I have the best doc.....he is our family doc and is very pro testosterone and HGH. Even had him write T3 and lasic for me when needed. He said dont waste your money on online drug store, you never know the quality, let me write you a Rx for that...and for that i mean, clomid, hcg, t3, lasic, armidex, test etc......very open and he knows everything I am on and all he says is come in for blood work every other month to make sure your levels are all ok.....going on 8 years now with him and couldnt be happier...there are some cool doctors out there but more than not there are some bad ones or uneducated ones about gear....
Damn, I should see your doc. I have documented low HGH from recent tests, but the docs here where I am will not prescribe it, too scared of it, which in my mind equals they don't know a thing about it.
We think of Doctors with perhaps a little more reverence than they deserve. Like anything there are good and bad Doctors. Remember that Med School teaches you to diagnose and treat. We are in a different camp altogether. As bodybuilders we want to thrive. This isn't the application of Medicine that they were taught. I'm sure along the way many develop a God complex and many do save lives. We are really blazing a new path. It's not reasonable to expect Doctors to be familiar with the information we have attained through self experimentation in our rather limited sub culture. If you're going to play this game you need to be knowledgeable. Don't count on a Dr to accurately diagnose your issues at all times given the extra variables we introduce.
And of course the Dr's don't judge the cocaine user harshly... before Adderall that was the grail of getting through Med School!
I agree with that! Way too many people give too much reverence to docs, even my wife. It has only been through the last year being diagnosed with hemochromatosis that my wife has seen that docs don't know everything and many docs are too lazy to actually treat people and do their job. I had complained of symptoms I had been experiencing for 7 years to many docs, and they simply did not do their due diligence to find out what was wrong. (For those may not know, hemochromatosis is a genetic disorder that results in the body hanging on to too much iron which begins to make organs fail resulting in hypothyroidism, hypogonadism, hypoglycemia, and a number of other problems.) At one point after some research, I suggested that I might have this disorder to my family practice doc. He said he would test... What he did was do a single test for iron which he said came out normal (he never did tell me what those results were) and that it must be all in my head. And so I continued to suffer the symptoms. Other docs I saw wouldn't even do the tests. The new doc I went to this past year is one that my sister went to and she referred me to him because he had helped her. After listening to me describe my symptoms, he suspected the disorder himself and ordered the tests--ALL the tests including a genetic test. They all came back positive, high iron, high ferritin, and I have the gene for the disorder. Out of all the docs I have seen over the years for this only ONE--
ONE--actually did his job. And that is painfully unacceptable. No, doctors don't deserve any more reverence than any of us. I'll give them my respect if they earn it, but I'll be damned if they think I should bow to them just because they are a doctor.
(Stepping down from soapbox...)
