When a swimmer is injured and a doctor provides a round or so of steroids (cortisone, etc.), injections to provide pain relief and reduce inflammation, is this considered doping within the USMS? This question came up in an email a day or so ago from a top competitor who has been told it is considered doping. I'll fess up first, I am on a round of three injections prior to considering a shoulder surgery, with surgery being my last and desperate resort. Or is a small round of steriods for medical purposes only so slight that steroids would not show up in routine blood tests.
Is this legal within USMS guidelines?
Donna
I assume FINA has talked about testing for Masters athletes; I know the topic has come up within USMS. And as previously stated, USMS does not currently test athletes. And as far as I know there are no plans to start any time soon.
Masters Swimming is about a healthy lifestyle, which includes exercise (hopefully swimming is a big part of this), nutrition and paying attention to medical/health concerns. In my opinion, no Masters Swimmer should ever ignore proper medical treatment for fear of sanction form USMS. I agree with Ken “it would defeat USMS's mission to discourage these athletes…from following their MD's instructions.”
So, if they did test masters athletes, a note from the doctor explaining the shots and when they were done would be necessary. It would take more than a note from your doctor; you would need to get a Therapeutic Use Exemption (TUE) from the USADA.
For more information on anit-doping check out:
www.wada-ama.org
www.fina.org/antidoping/index.php
For the current prohibited list (interesting reading):
www.wada-ama.org/rtecontent/document/2007_List_En.pdf
I am the Steroid King. In college I used to get steroid shots to my right knee. I felt constant pain. Then a doctor at Howard Univ. stopped the shots & my knee rarely hurts. Before then it hurt constantly. the guy said that the problem was that the knee never healed. i was hit by a car running on a county highway while i was in college. I had to limp about a mile to a farmhouse. then while diving on the exotic cliffs of the strip mines around Victoria, Il I drove right into a strip lake wall and my knee cap moved to the side.
I take prednisone daily for my asthma. Along with a steroid inhaler. Have been for over 20 years. The absolute best high in the world is going to the ER for an asthma attack. Getting IV Solumedrol (sp) or Deca(something) & Benadryl. I've had nurses tell me that I look like what heroin addicts look like as the two drugs enter my body. Generally, the nurse puts the bed-rail up, covers me with a blanket and tucks it in very tightly, and gives me the shots. Within 3 minutes the attack is done. Otherwise it goes on for days.
I have never noticed on any of the info included with any of my steroids the warning that it might give a false positive for anabolic steroids. that's very interesting. They are very different chemically.
