Tom Prince very skinny.

[redback]

.......... Last picture is how he used to look.

[THE BOUNCER]

I would say that is the result of kidney failure. Very sad but it doesn't look like he has many years left. This is what happens when you abuse steroids and pain killers for years and years and don't get blood work. He killed his kidneys with drugs and didn't find out until they were already fried. He is lucky that he has lived this long.

[THE BOUNCER]

These 2 articles tell the story of what happened to him and how he got there. Very good reads.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...1/ai_111506233

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...22/ai_n6108163

[THE BOUNCER]

Interesting side note, I saw Tom in the audience at the 03 Arnold Classic. Big as a fucken house. I was just thinking, according to the article above, he was diagnosed with Kidney Failure like 2 months later. When I saw him his kidneys were in the process of failing. Kinda scary.

[THE BOUNCER]

From the first article. He was taking up to 24 advil a day for joint pain. 4800mgs!

CAUSES: When Prince heard the horrifying news of his kidney failure, he immediately thought it was from the bodybuilding drugs he had been ingesting and injecting for years.

A doctor in the emergency ward asked if he was taking any recreational drugs.

"Well, I don't smoke or drink, but there are a few steroids and things I take," Prince answered.

"Tell me every steroid you've ever taken," the doctor said, her pen poised over a form.

"Ever? You're gonna need another pen."

When Prince recalled his every bodybuilding drug, the length of the list shocked even him. Despite his quip about pen ink, he hadn't truly realized how great the quantities had become. Still, it wasn't the anabolic steroids, growth hormone and similar substances that alarmed the doctors. Those, they said, were predominantly filtered out via his liver and shouldn't be affecting his kidneys so drastically. It was the eight Advil tablets he swallowed two or three times per day to cope with his joint pain that truly made alarm bells ring. Doctors explained that he could go into kidney failure simply from megadosing painkillers. (Advil recommends using no more than six tablets over 24 hours, to see a doctor if using other drugs and to discontinue use of the analgesic after 10 days.)

Prince was stunned. How could he, a 300-pound bodybuilder who regularly self-injected steroids, be felled by over-the-counter ibuprofen? In addition to the excessive amounts of painkillers, the doctors blamed his kidney troubles on his off-the-chart blood pressure, and they theorized that his high-protein diet might also have contributed--although, if his kidneys were otherwise normal, protein would rarely cause complications on its own. Prince believes the steroids and similar drugs contributed to his high blood pressure. "It wasn't one thing. It was everything together," he says.

[redback]

Yeah i had heard about it but had no idea it was that serious.

[redback]

crazy amounts of orals

[THE BOUNCER]

Prince's biggest regret now is that he didn't have a blood test performed sooner. "If I had to do it over, I would've gone to a doctor a couple of times per year," he states. "They could have caught it much, much earlier. I can think back to when I used to have headaches a couple times per week, and that was as early as '99. I think that's when I first started having high blood pressure and didn't do anything about it. My first blood test on April 10 cost only $80, and it took an hour to do. That seems like a paltry sum of money and time for your health. One of the biggest messages I want to get across to all bodybuilders doing drugs is to get regular blood tests. I'm afraid most guys won't do it, because, like I didn't want to know, they don't want to know. But maybe my story will scare them enough. Maybe my story will save someone's life."

For those who fear medical professionals will condemn them or fail to comprehend the unique aspects of a bodybuilding lifestyle, Prince says that all the doctors and nurses always treated him with the utmost respect and concern. In addition to the need for semiannual blood tests, he also wants to caution bodybuilders against abusing any drug, from over-the-counter painkillers to steroids. He knows all too well the fallacy of the bodybuilding mentality that if two is good, four must be twice as good.

[THE BOUNCER]

Prince was 23 when he did his first steroid cycle. His dosages were low at first, but through the years, he gradually raised the quantities when he felt his body had become accustomed to the previous amount. By 2002, he was spending more than $4,000 on a range of 13 drugs (not all anabolic steroids) for a 16-week contest cycle. He now knows it was overkill, and it almost killed him. What's worse, he knows of bodybuilders at the local novice level who are using and spending twice as much.

"It's crazy," he says. "There's no advantage. It's fear that kept me doing it, and fear that keeps a lot of guys doing even more--fear that you'll lose and you could've done more. The thing is you can fill up a cup only so much. Once it's full, that's it. It's like eating 3,000 grams of protein a day or training legs 10 hours straight. It doesn't do any more good, so it can only be bad."

[trip]

i saw him in nov 04 at dallas npc show, he looked like average lifter who had zero diet concerns, bigger than most, yet, not all that big, and sporting 15-20% bodyfat, i knew what his situation was back then, he was on dialysis, i guess still is, and could travel for a few days after a treatment

he's trimmed up alot now

imho, it's good he's open about everything, i wish him luck, always liked him

[redback]

Originally Posted by trip

i saw him in nov 04 at dallas npc show, he looked like average lifter who had zero diet concerns, bigger than most, yet, not all that big, and sporting 15-20% bodyfat, i knew what his situation was back then, he was on dialysis, i guess still is, and could travel for a few days after a treatment

he's trimmed up alot now

imho, it's good he's open about everything, i wish him luck, always liked him

trimmed up alot??? Did you look at the first pic?

[curtus e flush]

Originally Posted by redback

trimmed up alot??? Did you look at the first pic?

i know....he doesnt even look like he has any muscle mass

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by trip

he's trimmed up alot now

understatement of the year. lol. he is sickly. i have a feeling he wont be around for many more years.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by curtus e flush

i know....he doesnt even look like he has any muscle mass

when the filters of your body dont work, everything else fails. muscle mass is not a concern for him right now. staying alive is.

[curtus e flush]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

when the filters of your body dont work, everything else fails. muscle mass is not a concern for him right now. staying alive is.

true

[NYCmitch25]

Originally Posted by THE BOUNCER

These 2 articles tell the story of what happened to him and how he got there. Very good reads.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...1/ai_111506233

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...22/ai_n6108163

i found it depressing, but def. a good read.

[THE BOUNCER]

Originally Posted by NYCmitch25

i found it depressing, but def. a good read.

so did I. almost like you know whats going to happen before they get to the point and you want to tell him, "go get your fucken blood work done."

[gymratin]

holy shit!!! thats unreal

[Mr incredible]

presumably he will be looking for a transplant now

[FitnessBrat]

WOW! I knew he was ill but had never seen a recent picture of him. That is so damn sad