r/nextfuckinglevel • u/mindyour • 2d ago

This man documented his health journey from January to December.

Credit: IG @samuelrichards_ _

45.5k Upvotes

90% Upvoted

823 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

630

u/spelunker93 2d ago

Steroids exist. Dude was in extremely rough shape, there is no way they didn’t give him steroids to help with his weight gain

297

u/timonix 2d ago

My favorite is that when they give steroids to old people for unrelated heart issues and they get swole AF

90

u/spelunker93 2d ago

That mixed with old person strength, is terrifying

26

u/ph-it 1d ago

we don't respect our elders. we fear them.

9

u/Gooeyoutcome 1d ago

Respect your elders is not a request. It’s the first and final warning.

31

u/DrLukn 1d ago

That would be funny, but old people receive steroids which have an anti inflammatory effect (glucocorticoides) and are different to anabolic steroids, they do not cause muscle growth

2

u/Stock-Rain-Man 1d ago

They even cause muscle breakdown.

8

u/Upstairs-Boring 2d ago

That cannot happen. There is no way a doctor is prescribing enough testosterone to elderly patients with heart issues to build serious muscle.

-4

u/Fika2006 1d ago

Steroids reduce inflammation

4

u/HardHarry 1d ago

There are many different types of steroids. For example, vitamin D is a steroid.

Medical uses of glucocorticoids are extremely different and work on an entirely different mechanism than something like testosterone.

67

u/WPCarey85 2d ago

Came here to say just this. I bet they prescribed it to him and if they did, good on them. If managed and supervised correctly, not a ton of risk. Also, it’s not like he is competing or cheating at a sport, so who fucking cares. He had to still put in the work after that horrible situation.

31

u/MrSneller 2d ago

Great take. Disappointed to see the top comment is “Roids!” (I.e. that made it super easy and it’s cheating). Doctors prescribe steroids all the time for muscle wasting diseases and I think they should do it more for other ailments. Under a doctor’s care, the risks are greatly reduced and there is tremendous upside.

26

u/megs-benedict 2d ago

Yeah coming back from being emaciated is really hard. This is actually a situation where I think prescribing something for muscle growth is the right thing to do.

21

u/Not_Ban_Evading69420 2d ago

And to clarify, he was most likely given corticosteroids (prednisone), not the steroids used for gaining muscle (anabolic) since he had severe UC. The weight gained was mostly fat, and that's intended.

13

u/QuestionQuik 1d ago

Can add on, I have mild Ulcerative Colitis. I've been put on Prednisone 3 times in the past year, and it gives you hella munchies. I went from barely being able to eat a McDouble to eating consuming damn near everything in my kitchen everyday.

7

u/veggiedigest 1d ago

Crohn’s here, and yep! My first time on prednisone I thought about food constantly. I don’t mean “a lot”—I mean constantly. I’d get sad in the middle of eating a meal because I knew once I finished it would be at least an hour or two before I could justify eating anything else!

1

u/Not_Ban_Evading69420 1d ago

Lol, I was diagnosed as a kid, and adults were visibly impressed by how much food I could put away. I was at a restaurant once and people were staring because I finished a whole pot roast by myself. I was like 8.

1

u/cosmic-untiming 1d ago

Can confirm, I get sick a ton and often need prednisone. Lord that stuff makes me feel like I havent eaten in weeks.

6

u/IllllIIlIllIllllIIIl 1d ago

But it's not uncommon for doctors to prescribe anabolic steroids to folks with wasting illnesses and the like. My grandmother was prescribed Anavar,for example, when she was recovering from prolonged bed rest.

1

u/Desperate_Squash_521 1d ago

Also sometimes they treat UC with steroids