Confessions of a Steroid Junkie

Yes, I used to use steroids.

Remember I mentioned this the other day, that not all the weight showed up at once, although a lot did appear in a short period of time?

Well, steroids were the cause.

...

Back in college (boy, was I stupid in college, I gotta say that...) I lived in a 2 bedroom apartment with some friends (one of whom I still like and the other of whom I'd love to murder, still...) and we had terrible flooding problems. Every few weeks the toilet would start pumping cold water into our apartment... Nine times this happened. And the apartment complex would think about sending someone over to wet vac the floors... and sometimes we'd even get them in before the floor dried on its own.

We had mushrooms growing in the hallway. And blackmold EVERYwhere. And more bugs than you could shake a stick at. (And we did... shake sticks, that is. Honestly, we should have charged the damn bugs rent.)

When I was a child, I had asthma and I eventually outgrew it. Having this mold everywhere brought it right back. I spent a lot of time going in and out of emergency rooms for breathing treatments. And the common drug that the ER gives you for asthma problems are... steroids.

After my first ER trip, I went from the freshman fifteen weight of ... eh, maybe 135? to nearly 170 in less than 3 months. I literally got stretch marks from gaining weight so fast. No one bothered to tell me that weight gain was a side effect from the steroids. Nor did they tell me that long term use of steroids would make my bones brittle and completely fuck up my immune system. And over three years, while my asthma was bad, I was generally on 10 day runs of steroids every 8 weeks.

By my senior year in college, I was weighing in at about 185.

My boyfriend at the time, Chris, started making comments about his boss, who'd made a prenup with her husband that if either of them gained more than 35 pounds, the marriage was void. I took the hint for what it was and went on a diet. I lost... maybe 30 pounds. And then he totally dumped me for my best friend, who, I might add, topped me out in weight by about 40 pounds.

It didn't take long for me to gain back what I'd lost.