Steroids! (they aren't what you think)

I’m guessing that when a lot of you read the title of this article, Olympic scandals will flash through your mind accompanied with pictures of pumped up, over the top, body builders. But for me, when I see the word ‘steroids’ it means something much more clinical and upsetting.
So first of all we have to break the basic stigma.
What is a steroid?
A steroid is defined as “any large class of organic compounds with a characteristic molecular structure containing four rings of carbon atoms (three six-membered and one five-membered).”
The steroids that you immediately think of, for muscle building purposes, are known as anabolic steroids, but that isn’t the only kind there are. There is another kind of steroids known as corticosteroids.
Anabolic steroids are usually used/prescribed to treat conditions that occur when the body doesn’t produce sufficient testosterone or conditions where the body struggles to build muscle mass. Anabolic steroids are used in this scenario because they speed up the muscle strengthening process. The way muscles are grown/strengthened is by tiny tears being made during exercise and when the tears are repaired the muscles grow larger and stronger. However this process takes time, and sometimes the body struggles with this process so to speed it up, anabolic steroids can be used.
Corticosteroids are used to supress the immune system. They are used to help reduce inflammation in the body commonly caused by autoimmune conditions. They have a long list of very unfortunate side effects and these side effects start to rear their head even when taking a dose as small as 5mg. These side effects include increased appetite, weight gain, ‘moon face’, acne, depression and brittle bones. I have personally been on doses as high as 1000mg so you can imagine I’ve been hit with a magnitude of side effects.
I first came across steroids at the age of 14 when I was diagnosed with Crohn’s Disease and have since been on them 3 times. I’m now 16 years old and am on my third round. I have to take corticosteroids and loathe going on them as I have also suffered some of the mental health side effects, which caused me to become depressed. Corticosteroids also make you gain weight and increase your appetite so contrary to belief, you don’t just pile on muscle mass, as you would with anabolic steroids. The particular steroid I have been on is called Prednisone, it is the most effective and commonly used steroid in treating acute inflammation. Taking them is unfortunately a necessary evil to fight against my 2 particular conditions, Crohns Disease and Tublo-Interstitial Nephritis (kind of kidney inflammation). It is always a sad day to wake up and have to take the drug that makes you not like what you see in the mirror, but it has to be done.
Fun fact: Examples of common things which are steroids include vitamin D, cholesterol and oestrogen.
I hope this article has helped to debunk some of the misconceptions anyone may have held about steroids. In some cases they can be life saving, even if the side affects can be heart breaking.
-anyarose

On the left is a picture of me before going on a high dose of steroids. On the right is a picture of me sporting an NG tube, this allowed me to reduce my steroid intake. These photos are about three months apart. In the second photo I also have a cold sore/ mouth ulcer due to my compromised immune system. These photos demonstrate some of the side effects of steroids, particularly ‘moon face’ and weight gain. However in the first photo I was underweight due to my Crohns flare at the time, I gained approximately 20kg in the space of two months when on steroids.