I have had greater side effects with PH's then with real gear. I think it has to do with the amount of PH's you have to take in order to see results. Anybody under the age of 25 does not need to take any real gear. The correct training and a very good diet will yield great results in someone younger than 25.
phs do work, but not that well.. i have some injectibles laying around...dunno if i'm going to use them or not..lol..but i have had good success with them in the past (before my aas days..)
With prohormones you'll get half the gains with the same side effects. That means, to have similar gains to aas, you need a higher dose. And with that higher dose, just imagine how sides would be. At least twice of aas.
I didn't take them while still in my teens so can't say for sure but my research before ever using them indicated that they should be as much avoided by teens as real gear.
The idea behind prohormones is that once they are inside the body the molecule is converted into a real hormone; thus the name 'prohormone'. A lot is lost in the process and the liver takes a big hit from the processing but to pretty much all intents and purposes these things are real gear with all attendent side effects.