Erik Rhodes: Gone too soon.
Yesterday, news broke that gay adult film actor Erik Rhodes was found dead of an apparent heart attack. Rhodes, who openly discussed his own steroid use, was only 30 year old. My heart goes out to his family, friends and fans for the tragic of loss of a man who, by all accounts, was a very sweet guy.
As I’ve mentioned before, the relationship between gay men and steroids is a very troubled love story. How bad and how widespread is the problem? According to one study, 1 in 7 gay gym-goers admitted to steroid use – and it’s speculated that the real number is much higher.
It’s no secret that steroids are a shortcut to seemingly impossible gains in muscle mass. But the shortcut comes at a very, very high price. Steroids have a number of psychological and physiological side effects including aggression, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, enlargement of the heart, hardening of the arteries, shrunken testicles, balding, prostate cancer, liver failure, acne and gynecomastia (the development of breast tissue in men).
Some of the above side effects can be a precursor to coronary heart disease and an eventual heart attack. And though many of the details surrounding Rhodes’ death and apparent heart attacked are still unknown, his steroid use may have been a contributing factor.
At the very least, Rhodes’ untimely passing can be a reminder to all of us – gay and straight – about the very real risks inherent in steroid use. Don’t let the promise of quick rewards overshadow the long-term health consequences. It’s just not worth it.
If you (or someone you know) is using steroids, please reach out for professional help, assistance and support.
About Davey Wavey
Well said Davey. It’s very sad that people think that they need to use steroids. I’ve contemplated it and friends of mine have as well. I looked into all the side effects and decided that it was just too dangerous. It’s very sad that Erik had to die so young. Thank you for putting this out there. It’s an issue that seems to be ubiquitous in the gay community.
Noooo… Not Rhodes!!
Sad to see him go because of something like steroids.
I’m sure the large amounts of recreational drugs he was taking (and talks about openly) probably contributed to his heart attack as well. Not to mention, the quantity of steroids he was taking was 10 times the amount used by normal users. Anything in excess is not good, drugs, alcohol, even excercise.
Sad to hear.
There’s a book called “Body Shop” by Paul Solotaroff where he talks candidly about using steroids and how it affected his life and health. He also mentioned that to counter the effects of steroids, he ended up taking other drugs, which led to other drugs, which basically spiraled into his life getting wrecked. He was lucky enough to survive it, but the damage to his body is considerable. It’s an amazingly eye-opening book (at least to me who hasn’t an inkling about steroid use).
If you read Erik’s blog, I’m not convinced that steroids are the main or the only culprit. Erik was a self-admitted meth addict and he took all kinds of street drugs.
I’ve known a lot of bodybuilders who took vast quantities of steroids and they live well past their fifties and sixties.
All cases of bodybuilder’s deaths that I came across were caused by street drug abuse or excessive use of diuretics. Steroids didn’t cause their death.
I’m not saying that steroid abuse is not going to damage one’s health but I have not seen any cases of death by steroids alone.
Steroids + Street drugs = possible death in my opinion.
Finally, someone with a brain who can think and has done some research. Amazing how the common person including Wavey Davey buys into the mass media hysteria and total misinformation about steroids [along with most other topics]. Very Fox News.
Thanks as well for your smart comment, Qris. Erik was taking 8-10 times the amount of hormones/steroids of recommended use. Mix that with depression + street drugs & its truly lethal. I read his blog once about 2 years ago, I found it truly shocking. I used to watch his vids in my teens and thought I would never be as big as he or Matt Rush were…. but… I ended up even bigger than both LOL. I met Matt but never got a chance to meet Erik and had no idea the very, very dark place he was in. I hope he finds the peace in death that he was not able to find in life. I actually thought that blog was fake, really, and now reading about his death, it all makes more sense…RIP to a truly gifted performer. I also remember he was Kathy Griffins favorite porn star and he was even on My Life on the D-List…RIP…
Zyzz also died of a heart attack, in a sauna, in Thailand on a “steroids vacation”.
Beauty is in what we accomplish with what and who we are, not with what we look like. Few are models, few are perfect, but we can each be the best us we can be, in body and mind.
To pay such a price for a few brief years of perfection seems to me to be a deal with the devil.
Remember to love yourself for yourself. Improve what nature and life gave you, by all means, but do so sensibly and naturally, and don’t ever let the momentary gift overshadow the ultimate payment.
Go look up his Tumblr… It’s sad.
It scary if anything. What’s scary about it is that you actually feel the sadness in his life as you’re reading it.
Hes only 30? Why does he look so much older? One of the comments made was the belief bb use diuretics to look more lean and cut… Only an autopsy can determine the real culprit to someone so young to have a heart attack in his sleep…
i don’t want to see juicing viewed as a ‘gay’ problem, just as hiv was (and in some sectors still is). while some gays may be more predisposed to it — an attempt to hide the homo behind a wall of muscle — anabolic steroid and hgh abuse are guy problems. i’m sure the incidence of steroid abuse would be almost as high among straight male gym-goers, and far higher among guys playing sports like football or MMA. it’s gotten so out-of-hand that they’ve started doing random urine tests on athletes at the high school from which i graduated.
Juicing? I am always juicing myself. andwho are we kidding beauty IS only skin dee;p
Sad to see anyone that age die and its quite obvious it’s a problem in the community as I’ve seen some guys even promoting drug use on social web sites. But I think the bigger problem is that we don’t accept who were are and that there is variation in body size/shapes and this trend to all look like muscle men is adding to the problem. Yes it good to be fit but being ripped gym bunnies isn’t a path to happiness. We need to stop judging people on their looks/body shape and except we are all unique in our own way.
Steroid use may have contributed to his death, but it’s far more likely that his rapidly escalating meth use was the cause
for Erik it wouldve been much better to go the natural route-and skip street drugs-he would still be alive today.the supplement industry needs to be tested and regulated big time.why isnt this happening?and the gay thing?i know two guys that are str8-they are obsessed gym regulars-its hardly a gay thing-in my observation.obsessed at the gym-hardly a gay thing-its just a guy thing.
I think a contributing factor to his death was his severe depression and self loathing. Steroid use was a symptom of a greater problem, possibly heightened by the fact that he worked in an industry that places value on physical appearance, and nothing else. If he was already insecure about his body image to begin with, his choice of occupation probably didn’t help.
I feel sad to hear that he died. He is one of my face porn actor.
I think gay people better find new heroes.
About five years ago, Rhodes and his boyfriend at the time, a super silly B&T diuche who wore a baseball cap tipped to one side (yes, you know the type….) joined my gym briefly, only to be laughed out of the place. I had no idea who Rhodes was , and he wasn’t my type, so I ignored him, assuming he was some juiced out closet case…..he did not like being ignored. In fact, every time I walked past him, he would mumble something, or act like a douche, or throw me some smug smart ass expression….I had no idea the jerk off was gay until all the trainers , several of whom he had picked fights with for no good reeason, informed me of his “career” and persuasion……anyway, I just continued to ignore him, which really pissed him off, and made me laugh…..he just would get angrier and angrier.
He reaked of self loathing, shame, steroids, and self indulgence. This was no hero, this was no tragedy…..
Someone this self absorbed might have even glamorized his own death to the point of self fulfillment , and when I first read he had passed, it dawned on me that it might be a fools joke, played for attention ……that’s how ludicrous this guy was….
Pray for children starving….give money to st Jude’s. This guy isn’t worth your time.
What is “B&T”?
The short term benefits you get from using steroids do not equal the long term problems they cause…everything from psychological problems, liver failure to death.
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What a truly sad story. Just goes to show no matter how beautiful, how much money you have, how many people around you. You can still feel unfulfilled and can die before the average joe or even the ugly school kid geek. It really is who you are and where you are. Poor Erik, he cried out for help and no one noticed. RIP James. xx
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