For many, Hollywood actors and bodybuilders among them, anabolic steroids have become a regular part of life.
But with side-effects that range from excess body hair to liver damage, using them can result in serious health issues as well as bigger muscles - as the stars of a new documentary fronted by former reality TV star Jodie Marsh prove.
Among the performance-enhancing drug users to feature on Jodie Marsh On...Steroids, is former barmaid Candice Armstrong, 28, from Walthamstow in London, whose steroid abue has effectively turned her into a man.
Once a slender, pretty blonde, Candice is now a hulking brunette with muscles that wouldn't look out of place on Arnold Schwarzenegger and body hair that sprouts from her back, chest and upper lip.
Candice had no intention of becoming so masculine when she began taking the drug, but says that it's too late for her to stop.
'No, it wasn't my plan,' she tells Marsh in a scene from the documentary. 'You could argue that when I wanted big arms and broad shoulders, a bigger back and small hips, that that was a masculine look but I didn't consciously decide I want to change from a woman into a man.'
The side effects have been severe. Along with excess body hair and acne, her cli* has swelled so much, it has become a mini organ.
'That has gone significantly bigger, yes,' she reveals. 'About an inch [long] and it's shaped like a little organ. It looks like a little organ, you can roll back the foreskin...'
Her brasts have also suffered and now hang lifeless from her hugely overdeveloped pectoral muscles.
Surprisingly, Candice is sanguine. 'They've gone empty and they're not particularly nice but I'm cool with that - they were never my best feature anyway.'
What's more, she has no intention of putting an end to her steroid use. 'I think it would do more harm than good,' she explains.
'I'd lose all the muscles but I wouldn't lose all the masculine qualities like the facial hair and the deep voice... It doesn't really go back.
'If I was to try and reverse that, I'd need the same sort of procedures as a male becoming a woman.'
Despite her drastically altered appearance, Candice says the pros outweigh the cons and have allowed her to do something else she loves - a drag act.
'It's opened doors and enabled me to develop myself the way I want to,' she says.
'It's given the opportunity to live out one of my dreams. I've started doing a bit of drag and I love it. I've always wanted to do a bit of drag!'
She adds: 'If I get called a tranny and a fa*got when I walk out on the street anyway, I think why not make something of it!'
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