vbSometimes I'm really ok being alone....
"You're too ugly to be gay," a man in a Huddersfield gay bar told Jakeb Arturio Bradea.
It was the latest in a series of comments from men that Jakeb says made him feel worthless. Last summer, following the comments, he tried to kill himself.
Manchester-based charity the LGBT Foundation has warned that body image issues are becoming more widespread in gay communities. It says gay and bisexual men are "much more likely" than heterosexual men to struggle with them.
A number of gay men have told the BBC they are going to extreme lengths to change their bodies - including using steroids and having plastic surgery - just to become "accepted" by others in the LGBT community.
Several said pressure from social media platforms and dating apps was exacerbating their body issues.
"Guys with stunning bodies get the comments and the attention," says Jakeb. "I've not gone on dates because I'm scared of people seeing me in real life. I would honestly have plastic surgery if I could afford it."
Instead of surgery, a few years ago Jakeb turned to anabolic steroids - class C drugs that can be misused to increase muscle mass.
"I got to a certain weight from just working out and going to the gym, but I couldn't get any bigger, and I got into my head that I needed to be bigger," he says.
"My friend said he knew a steroid dealer, so I thought maybe I'll just do a low dose to see what happens."
But anabolic steroids can be addictive. Jakeb soon found himself unable to stop.
"I got to the size I wanted to be, but it didn't feel good enough," he says. "I kept wanting more. It was like there was a harsh voice telling me I'm skinny."
Jakeb had his second near-death experience in November last year when - after several years of heavy steroid use - he suffered heart failure.
"I couldn't breathe, I couldn't sleep, I was days away from dying," he says. "The cardiologist said if I had done one more injection or gone to the gym a few more times I would have dropped dead."
Months later, Jakeb has stopped taking steroids and has lost the extra muscle he gained, but he continues to have health problems for which he is receiving hospital support. "It just hasn't been worth it at all," he says.
And Jakeb is not alone in taking drastic measures to try to appeal to men.
James Brumpton - a software engineer from Lincoln - found himself "catapulted into this world of self-consciousness", after he hooked up with a man at a local gay bar.
When James went back to the man's house and took off his T-shirt, his date looked at him and made a disgusted noise. "Nice arms though," the man added.
ventually, the experience led to James deciding to have an abdominoplasty - otherwise known as a tummy tuck.
"I allowed another man to influence me to a point where I literally had part of me removed," he says.
According to the most recent figures released by the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (Baaps), 179 abdominoplasties were performed on men in 2018 - up 18% on the previous year.
Prof Afshin Mosahebi, of Baaps, says gay men are currently having more cosmetic procedures done than straight men, although he notes that women have more procedures than men overall.