Steroid abuse turns female bodybuilder into "a man"

Female bodybuilder Candice Armstrong's abuse of Anabolic Steroids has changed the appearance of everything from her back to her private parts
Due to her steroid use over the past two years, Candice has developed hair on her back, chest and upper lip. She has also developed acne on her face and has developed a tiny penis as a result of an extremely swelled clitoris. Similarly, her breasts now hang limp due to her overdeveloped pectoral muscles. Bodybuilders have been using anabolic steroids to bulk up for years but rarely do they cause such drastic changes as seen in Candice.

Of this dramatic change in her physique, Candice said "It happened gradually, people began to assume that I was a man dressed in drag." She now dresses primarily in male clothing and says she often gets called "tranny" on the street.

Candice has been diagnosed with body dysmorphia, which means that she has a distorted view of her body. Despite the extreme change Candice said that she didn't consciously decide to be a man: her initial goal was only to bulk up her upper body and reduce the size of her hips.

While the once slender blonde concedes that the changes to her voice and organs are irreversible, she has no intention of stopping her steroid use. She says that her changes have allowed her to do a drag act, something that she has "always wanted to do".

Candice is not alone in her abuse of steroids and the long term can effects include liver damage, changes in mood and lactation from the nipples in males. These changes in mood, according to bodybuilder Ed Gheur, are the worst of the side-effects as it continues the idea of improving your body in people who already have body issues.

CJC-1295 Peptide Hormone

CJC-1295 is a derivative of human GH-releasing factor1-29(HGRF1-29). HGRF1-29 is a naturally occurring peptide that is actually a truncated form of a larger peptide that binds to the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R) and causes the release of growth hormone. CJC-1295 has four amino acids substituted in its chain that result in strong binding to serum albumin and prolong its half-life in the body. A single subcutaneous (sc) injection results in measurable quantities of CJC-1295 in the blood for up to 13 days. Additionally, a single dose of 60 ug/kg of CJC-1295 results in elevated levels of growth hormone (125%) while the pulsatile secretion of GH is maintained. Furthermore, 60 ug/kg of CJC-1295 elevated IGF-1 levels to the upper limit of normal. A dose of 30 ug/kg of CJC-1295 given weekly maintained its response with no evidence of desensitization.

CJC-1295 is available on the black market and is currently being utilized by bodybuilders. A dose of 30 ug/kg equates to 3 mg per week for a 100 kg (220 lb) man and of course this would be doubled for a dose of 60 ug/kg. At these doses it may be cost prohibitive. Some are injecting CJC-1295 daily or even multiple times per day. There may be a danger of desensitization with frequent dosing. Many report seeing little gain with CJC-1295. This may be due to the fact that increasing plasma IGF-1 does not necessarily correlate with increased muscle mass due to changes in IGF binding proteins that may reduce the muscle-building activity of IGF-1. The “lack” of gains may also be due to users expecting AAS-like gains. Since CJC-1295 does not load water but results in lean gains as well as fat loss, large increases in scale weight should not be expected.

The Real Girl Power of Female Bodybuilding

Beyond the blinged-out bikinis and lucite heels, a female bodybuilder (and girly girl) has a message for the mainstream media: The frail and starved are being replaced by the fit and powerful.




I’m sure plenty of people were shocked when they first saw the Serbian bodybuilder, Jelena Abbou, flexing fiercely in M.A.C.’s Strength ad campaign. I wasn’t one of them. Bulging biceps under a ball gown? Welcome to my world. I’m a professional bodybuilder—and a girly girl.

As my colleagues in the International Federation of BodyBuilding & Fitness pro league sometimes say, "I don’t sweat; I sparkle." I love manicures and makeup, but there’s a decent chance I’d be able to beat your boyfriend in an arm wrestling match.

Girls who look like Jelena and me have a message for the mainstream media: The frail and starved are being replaced by the fit and powerful, even if strides like the M.A.C. ad are happening little by little. I’m tired of skinny (probably hungry) girls being used to define femininity. Our culture wants to beat obesity and anorexia? So, believe, like I do, that strong is beautiful.

I started lifting heavy-ass weights four years ago, in part so I could carry all of my groceries up the stairs of my walk-up apartment in New York. But the real reason I’m a bodybuilder today is frustration. l was your standard cardio-crazed calorie counter—torturing myself on the elliptical and eating a rocky diet of bagels for breakfast, pizza for lunch, and carrots for dinner. I would get thinner, but the overall pear shape of my body never really changed. I never felt truly toned.

I decided I was going to permanently transform my physique. I found a trainer whose body I wanted: She was shaped just like an “x”, with sexy, curvy legs, a tiny waist, strong shoulders, and defined arms. She taught me to drop the five-pound dumbbells and pick up heavier ones. I focused on training four times a week, isolating one muscle group at a time.

I completely changed my diet, eating more frequently and with more protein, choosing steak over pizza, cutting out sugar completely, and scaling down on alcohol dramatically (and sometimes, totally.) So you understand why endorphins are my everything...

Training led me to the competition circuit, which means 5 a.m. cardio sessions before my 9 to 5 job in pharmaceutical sales, and post-work lifting, more cardio, and practicing my poses, including the Model Turn. I went pro in my third year of competing, and it felt like proof that I can do anything I believe to be true in the world.

Beyond the blinged-out bikinis, lucite stripper heels, and self-tanner, female bodybuilders are an example of the power of the human body—and real girl power. My competitors and I are very supportive of each other, because we know what kind of sacrifices we've all made and to be there. Sure, we’re all tired and ready to rip our fake eyelashes off and finally eat a cupcake, but there is a sense of pride that unites us all.

Still, it isn't all glamorous. I try my best to maintain a social life, but let’s be honest: Who wants to go out with someone who swears off alcohol and brings her own Ziplock bags of steamed tilapia wherever she goes? I was fortunate enough to maintain a supportive relationship for my first four years of competing, and my ex-boyfriend was very patient with the “hangry” (hungry and angry), super-ripped maniac blocking him from eating pizza in the kitchen. But eventually the lack of wine-and-fun filled date nights wore on our relationship. As the saying goes for competitors, I am married to the iron, at least for now.

I know a lot of guys are turned off by the possibility of me being able to squat more than them, but the truth is I’m turned off by them, too. My strength is empowering to me and not at all "mannish." I wouldn't trade in my muscles for anything, because they represent who I am—determined, proud, and female. Real men find that very attractive.

If you were jarred by your first glance at Jelena Abbou, look again. Consider that, as women, we’re continually trying to break out of the molds we’ve been taught to accept as beautiful.