I go by Vincent Valentine. I'm a bodybuilder that's been using gear for a few years now.

I discovered eroids.com last year and joined because of the invaluable reviews being handed out by members (which ultimately led me to switch vendors, a decision I'm half-regretting at the moment) and because I think forums like this are vitally important in educating newbies and veterans alike. Since I joined I haven't been very active so I thought I'd post an introduction.

Call it blind optimism, but I feel that through collective knowledge, well-documented anecdotal user experiences, and safe gear use, the stigma surrounding AAS will one day be dismissed as ignorance.

Stigma is a tricky thing. Chronic AAS use in high doses definitely can't be considered safe and people shouldn't disillusion themselves by thinking it is. Without a doubt, the (sometimes irreversible) damage steroids can cause the human body is very real and warrants extreme caution - and even with meticulous and consistent health monitoring their use is only moderately safe at best. Knowing all of this, it would seem that AAS use should be burdened by a certain level of stigma.

Yet, when we look at how many people end up using steroids, it becomes obvious that the presence of danger doesn't deter people from using AAS. This is where the negative impacts of stigma begin to show. The physical benefits that steroids provide an athlete are undeniable, well-known, and will always create an allure that lead some people to try it. It's this allure paired with both the societal shame that accompanies steroid use and a concerning lack of current scientific studies documenting their effects that can cause trouble. Users are forced to pin gear they bought out of someone's car in dimly lit backrooms, basing critical components of their cycles (such as what compounds to run, dosages, duration, ancillaries to incorporate, how to inject safely, etc.) off the word of fellow gym rats. This naturally leads to the horror stories associated with steroids, which only serves to harm the health of the user and further solidify the stigma. Nobody wins.

This is why I think forums like this are so important. Surrounded by misinformation and a lack of easily accessible and modern scientific studies surrounding AAS, places like this become bastions of anecdotal experience and sage wisdom. Users here are free to debate the intricacies of steroid use shame-free and share bits of research they may find to support their arguments. If obvious misinformation pops up, it can be squashed and replaced with facts. I believe this paves the way for a better-educated steroid user.

Anyway, rant over. I look forward to contributing to this place.