I don't know where best to post this, but think this is really important information about a relatively new drug. Please move it as appropriate.
A very close friend of mine recently fell back onto the stimulant train and has tried a whole host of compounds that offer dopamine fun. This friend actually hates stimulants, and is a big fan of psychedelics, but due to a history of cocaine addiction, sometimes falls off the wagon.
He recently discovered ethylphenidate and thoroughly enjoyed the effects of the drug, as long as he was really drunk first. Sober, this drug just makes his chest hurt. With a bit of alcohol, he says he finds it remarkably similar to cocaine (which he also doesn't enjoy, but still managed to get addicted to.)
But the last few times he has done ethylphenidate, as the compound is wearing off, he has noticed a pain in his testicles, ranging from a dull throb, to excruciating stabs. Leaning towards addiction, he has always readily dismissed the pain as unrelated, despite never before EVER having randomly painful testicles.
But it has become blatantly obvious lately that only ethylphenidate causes this severe testicular pain. He googled "ethylphenidate" and "testicle" and found that he is not the first to experience such things.
One such example is here: <removed link>
I do not know if my friend is causing damage to his testicles, but pain usually serves to inform us of the damage being done to our bodies.
Upon learning he was not the first to experience such things, he immediately flushed his stash and came to report... with aching balls.
No drug is worth ruining your source of testosterone and ability to transmit genes.
Be very careful with this one. The testicle pain is DEFINITELY caused specifically by this compound.
The compound used was a racemic blend of shard-like chunks, verified as ethylphenidate by NMR. My friend is a chemist with access to decent equipment and the know-how to use it.
Be ridiculously careful about deciding to use this. If you think it can't happen, look into nefiracetam. This compound is an analogue of the seemingly incredibly safe piracetam, but causes severe and apparently permanent testicular toxicity. We have no reason to believe that simply because it is an analogue of methylphenidate that it is safe.