Anabolic Steroids for Multiple Sclerosis
Discuss of you wish. I found this very useful.
"Readers' Letters -
Anabolic Steroids for Multiple Sclerosis
by Michael Mooney
from Issue No. 2 (This page updated August, 2003)
Dear Michael,
(Long, very real story, made short):
I have multiple sclerosis, an auto-immune disease, and have discovered that using anabolic steroids has totally changed my life. When I first started using steroids I could only bench press 40 lbs. Five years later, I bench 270, squat 275 for 5 reps, and deadlift 525 lbs. with wrist straps because the MS limits my grip strength. (Michael says WOW to 525 lbs!!!) I've used other anabolic steroids, but I currently use one Sustanon 250 (a testosterone blend) and 200 mg. of Deca Durabolin every 10 days. My doctor thinks I'm nuts, but when I go off the steroids I get weaker and weaker and the MS symptoms increase, so I know he's wrong and they're good for me. Your Muscle Media article on steroids and the immune system (Nov '95) tells me that you probably understand. The problem is that my supply is about to dry up and my doctor won't prescribe them, so I'm forced to be a felon. Do you have any tips on getting a doctor to help me? Thanks for publishing your work. Please keep spreading the word.
M. S.
Dear M.S.,
If your doctor won't work with you after you do your best to educate him, GET ANOTHER DOCTOR!! This is what I tell the HIV(+) people I work with all the time. For your doctor to not know enough about using anabolic steroids is one thing, and that's why you've got to work to educate them - they don't have time to know everything about every medicine, especially one as complex and misunderstood as anabolic steroids. It's also understandable that they may be afraid of the legal implications of prescribing steroids for an "off-label use"", and as this is very very, touchy. I wouldn't blame any doctor who was afraid for this reason, as he may feel that he has to be especially cautious because he knows that he's subject to the scrutiny of the "authorities" for some reason. I do know of several doctors who do prescribe anabolic steroids to patients "off-label", though. If they don't have any reason to be afraid, they do have a perfect legal right to prescribe any medicine off-label. And some doctors are just willing to go all the way to help a patient with a critical medical condition. However, if your doctor doesn't seem to care enough to want to help you, or if they try to act like the "God" who knows all the answers about a critical illness that modern medical science has no good answer for, hire a better, more compassionate doctor, and here's how to do it.
Call the prospective new doctor and tell them you have whatever your illness is, and you want to talk to the doctor to see if he's open to investigating your views on potential therapies. During the discussion tell the doctor everything you're considering about anabolic steroids or whatever, but get all your information together, especially medical journal references, before you meet with him, so you know what you're talking about. (Note: a number of medical journal references on anabolic steroids used therapeutically for diseases besides AIDS are available on this web page in the article called Anabolic Steroids - Literature References of their Potential Uses for Immune Therapy. If the doctor disagrees with what you say entirely, end the meeting and keep looking for a doctor who'll help you. (Note: be assertive that you shouldn't have to pay for this introductory meeting if there's no benefit to you. I'm telling you this because if you have to interview ten doctors to find one who'll work with you, you don't want to have paid a fee all ten times.)
The doctors who practice alternative medicine are more likely to be open to experimenting with this kind of approach.
Be aware, you may have to go through this with a number of doctors, but if you keep looking you will find a good doctor who understands that no one knows how to cure your disease, so every doctor should be open to researching and experimenting, just keep looking! And don't buy the status quo "there's no good answer for your disease" either. Where there's a (strong) will, there's a way. I see it all the time. And there are plenty of compassionate doctors out there, too.
Growth Hormone and MS
I know of a doctor in Mexico who is having success using growth hormone (GH) with multiple sclerosis patients. My research indicates that it may be, at least in part, because GH increases IGF-1 and IGF-1 is known to be involved in supporting the health and growth of nerve tissue.1, 2 MS is a degeneration of the nervous system, so this makes a certain amount of sense, so ask whatever doctor you end up working with to consider giving you the latitude to experiment with GH, perhaps in combination with anabolic steroids, like Deca Durabolin. The GH perhaps helping repair the nerve (and muscle) damage and the steroid improving the health and re-growth of the muscles, improving immune metabolism, and perhaps decreasing the progression of the MS, as it appears to do with some other auto-immune diseases.3, 4, 5 Good luck!
NOTE: As of July, 2001, I could no longer contact the doctor in Mexico. I do not know where he is. If you want to try to work with anabolic hormones for multiple sclerosis, I suggest you contact an alternative medical doctor and ask if they are willing to help you experiment. Go to: http://www.acam.org/dr_search/.
References:
1.
Ishii DN, "Role of insulin-like growth factors in peripheral nerve regeneration." Pharmacol Ther 1994 Apr-May 62:125-144.
2.
Hansson HA, "Insulin-like growth factors and nerve regeneration." Ann NY Acad Sci 1993 692:16-171.
3.
Ansar Ahmed S, Penhale WJ, Talal N, "Sex hormones, immune responses, and autoimmune diseases. Mechanisms of sex hormone action." Am J Pathol 1985, Dec; 121(3):531-551.
4.
Ahmed SA, et al, "Sex hormones and the immune system." Ballieres Clinical Rheumatology [1990 Apr, 4(1):13-31.
5.
Sthoeger, ZM, Chiorazzi, N., Labita, RG, "Regulation of the immune response by sex hormones." J of Immun. 1988; 141:91-98.
Disclaimer: This article is provided for educational purposes only, and is in no way a substitute for the advice of a qualified medical doctor or a recommendation to do other than your doctor determines is best for you. You should present this information to your doctor for his analysis because appropriate medical therapy and the use of pharmaceutical compounds like anabolic steroids should be tailored by a knowledgeable doctor for the individual as no two individuals are alike. I do not recommend self-medicating with any pharmaceutical drug as you should consult with a qualified medical doctor who can determine your individual situation. If you use the information I present without the approval of your doctor, you do so strictly at your own risk and no responsibility is implied or intended on my part."
