Oxymetholone Profile
Anadrol 50 Profile
Oxymetholone is one of the oldest oral anabolic steroids on the market as well as one of the most popular. Developed by Syntex Pharmaceuticals in the 1960’s and commonly sold under the name Anadrol or Anadrol 50, Oxymetholone is one of the premier combatants of muscle wasting diseases and anemia. Of course, it wouldn’t take too long for Anadrol 50 to find a more than welcomed home in the world of performance enhancement, and this is where we’ll find Oxymetholone use more often than anywhere else. One of the best anabolic steroids on earth for promoting muscle tissue growth, muscular endurance and strength, in many ways this steroid is synonymous with performance. Further, this is one of the fastest acting anabolic steroids to have ever existed; however, it’s not the friendliest when it comes to adverse side-effects. When it comes to the possible side-effects of Anadrol 50, we’ll find they are largely combatable when supplementation is undertaken by healthy adult men, but you will need to exercise extreme caution for a few reasons. Further, this is an anabolic steroid that should only be used by healthy adult men; this is not an anabolic steroid for women or adolescents; however, there are rare cases where it can serve a therapeutic purpose in adolescent boys, but performance supplementation will dramatically damage their developing androgen system, and often in an irreversible manner.
Oxymetholone 101:
Oxymetholone (Anadrol 50) is a potent Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) anabolic steroid carrying a massive anabolic rating of 320 and an androgenic rating of 45. While this is a non-aromatizing steroid like all DHT compounds, its androgenic rating is one of the most deceiving of all. On a structural basis, its androgenic rating is perfect, but it will display strong androgenic traits; much stronger than its rating implies, and this is precisely why women cannot use it, and why it will display side-effects similar to pure testosterone compounds.
An oral anabolic steroid, like most oral anabolic steroids Anadrol 50 belongs to the C17-alpha alkylated (C17-aa) family, and as such carries a hepatotoxic nature. The C17-aa nature refers to a structural change at the hormones 17th carbon position that allows it to survive ingestion; otherwise the majority of the compound would be destroyed by the liver; unfortunately, this structural change makes it toxic to the liver. All C17-aa anabolic steroids are toxic to the liver, but the hepatotoxic nature will vary from one steroid to the next; in the case of Anadrol, we have one of the most liver toxic steroids of all.
Carrying an active half-life of approximately 8.5 hours, daily supplementation is necessary, and such supplementation will simply produce an overall enhanced anabolic atmosphere within the body at a high rate. While true, there is something rather interesting about Oxymetholone you need to be aware of regarding the dose. Most anabolic steroids possess a strong risk to reward ratio; the more you take the greater the benefits, but the more you take the greater the risk. As it pertains to Anadrol, we have something of a unique nature; the average Oxymetholone dose is normally around 25mg to 50mg per day; some hardcore performance enhancers will increase it to 100mg per day if they’ve enjoyed a positive response with a lower dose. Of course, 100mg will increase the risks, and it may increase the total benefits a fair amount, but doses above 100mg are another story. For example, a dosing of 150mg per day will not yield results greater than 100mg per day; every study has shown this to be true, and if you think you’re receiving a greater benefit it’s probably your mind playing tricks on you; you’re imagining it. No, we’re not talking about some mind altering effect, Anadrol doesn’t hold any mind altering effects; you’re just being stupid, there’s no nice way to put it. Of course, what will increase with doses above 100mg are side-effects; this is guaranteed.
The Benefits of Oxymetholone:
The benefits of Anadrol 50 can largely be broken down into two categories, performance and therapeutic, but it is the hormones natural mode of action in both cases, the same traits that promote either end. In the case of therapeutic treatment, this is without question one of the best steroids on earth for promoting weight gain; not just any weight gain but lean muscle mass. Of course, despite it lacking an aromatizing nature, some of the weight gain will more than likely be water weight, but when you’re fighting an muscle wasting disease like cancer or aids this isn’t too concerning; the same can be said of burn victims. Of course, as eluded to, Oxymetholone is a fantastic steroid for treating anemia, and this is due to its ability to dramatically increase the body’s red blood cell count; after all, anemia is a red blood cell deficiency, and there’s no better remedy than increasing what you’re lacking.
Then we have performance enhancement, and this is where you’ll see Oxymetholone more commonly used than anywhere else; for the male performance enhancing athlete, Anadrol 50 is a longtime favorite. For off-season use, this is a fantastic steroid to use to kick start a new cycle off with; say the first four to six weeks of a new plan. Such use will yield fast and powerful results in mass and strength while the slower anabolic steroids are building in your system; in-fact, a gain of 20lbs in four weeks is not uncommon. Sure, some will be water weight, and no one likes water weight, but as we’ll see in the side-effect section this is very easily controlled with proper use. While kick starting is the most common point of use, mid-cycle plateau busting is another fantastic time for supplementation. In this case, you have hit a wall; you’re results and progress is found lacking and the introduction of Anadrol 50 at this point will help you break through such a sticking point with force and authority. It must be noted; plateau busting is only for the experienced and hardcore; those who run very long cycles and know how their body responds to the Oxymetholone hormone. If you use Anadrol 50 as a kick start the first four to six weeks, you will need at least six weeks of no Oxymetholone use before you use it again due to the extreme hepatotoxic nature. As most will only run cycles that are around 12 total weeks in duration, supplementing with Anadrol for both off-season purposes is not going to happen.
Beyond these benefits, there is one more we need to discuss, and it revolves around cutting use. Very few people think of Anadrol 50 when talking about cutting cycles, but this is actually a very common anabolic steroid in competitive bodybuilding circles for contest prep. In this case, the bodybuilder will supplement with the steroid at the very end of his contest diet, say for two to three weeks, but he will only do so if he’s in shape and on schedule. Due to the massive volumizing effect of this steroid on the muscles, he will have a fuller look on stage, and if you’re well-conditioned and full this is going to result in an excellent placing. It must be noted; if you’ve never supplemented with Anadrol before, the last thing you want to do is to do so for the first time before a show. You have no way of knowing how you’re going to respond, and it’s possible you could have horrible water retention issues. You must know how your body responds to this hormone and you must know how to control water weight at the end of a contest cycle; if you do, Anadrol 50 can be useful.
The Side-Effects of Oxymetholone:
All anabolic androgenic steroids carry possible side-effects, and in most cases, each and every one is avoidable when supplementation is undertaken by the healthy adult male. Unfortunately, Anadrol 50 carries with it more possible side-effects than just about any anabolic steroid you can think of, and this means you’re going to need to exercise a lot of caution. This steroid will carry all the primary DHT related side-effects; after all, it’s a DHT based steroid. Further, while it doesn’t aromatize at all, DHT steroids do not aromatize it does carry estrogenic properties and can lead to the same side-effects as aromatizing steroids; when it comes to adverse side-effects there is no other steroid on earth quite like Oxymetholone. Then of course there is the issue of hepatotoxicity and testosterone suppression; as you can see, this list of possible adverse effects is going to be extensive. With this in mind, we have listed all the possible adverse side-effects of Anadrol 50 use, and of course, what you can do about them in-order to achieve safe and successful supplementation.
- Acne – due to the DHT nature of this steroid – generally only a problem for
those who are genetically sensitive to acne – keeping your skin dry and
extremely clean will offer protection – always change into a clean, dry shirt
after becoming sweaty and always shower as soon as you can – if you are
sensitive to acne you may need an extra shower or two a day – if this does not
take care of the problem, it may mean Oxymetholone is not for you; it may very
well mean DHT compounds are not for you
- Gynecomastia – in most cases, gynecomastia or male-breast enlargement is
caused by steroids that aromatize; aromatization referring to the conversion of
testosterone into estrogen, and as estrogen levels rise they attach to the
receptors and lead to this problem – progesterone buildups can also cause a
problem, especially in men who are sensitive – Anadrol 50 does not aromatize at
all, and it’s not a progestin; however, for reasons that are still not fully
understood it tends to promote significant estrogenic activity – using an
Aromatase Inhibitor (AI) will protect you – AI’s are designed to inhibit
aromatase, and although aromatase is not a problem here AI’s also reduce the
body’s estrogen levels significantly – the best AI’s for this purpose will be
Anastrozole (Arimidex) or Letrozole (Femara)
- Hair-Loss – of all the possible side-effects due to Anadrol 50
supplementation, hair-loss is the one that is 100% genetically dependent – only
men who are predisposed to male-pattern baldness risk losing any hair – if you
are not predisposed, you will not lose the first hair on your head – men who are
predisposed to male-pattern baldness will find that DHT deteriorates the
hair-follicles at a faster rate; you were going to lose the hair any way, but
this DHT compound may speed it up – if you are concerned about your hair-line,
you may want to avoid all DHT compounds, or you can try using the
5-alpha-reductase inhibitor Finasteride as it can offer protection
- High Blood Pressure – partially due to the excess estrogen buildup that may
occur, as such the AI you’ll use as mentioned in the gynecomastia section will
offer some protection – total dosing and your genetic predisposition will play
the biggest role – keep your doses responsible, and live a healthy lifestyle,
and if you supplement for short periods of time you should be fine in most cases
– you will need to keep a close eye on your blood pressure – if you already have
high blood pressure you should not supplement with Anadrol 50 or any anabolic
steroid
- High Cholesterol – partially due to the excess estrogen buildup that may
occur, as such the AI you’ll use as mentioned in the gynecomastia section will
offer some protection – total dosing and your genetic predisposition will play
the biggest role – keep your doses responsible, and live a healthy lifestyle,
and if you supplement for short periods of time you should be fine in most cases
– you will need to keep a close eye on your cholesterol levels – if you already
have high cholesterol you should not supplement with Anadrol 50 or any anabolic
steroid
- Liver Toxicity – due to the C17-aa nature of this anabolic steroid, and its
hepatotoxic nature is quite strong – when you supplement, your liver enzyme
values are going to increase, and more than likely significantly – in-order to
afford protection, you must limit your total use to no more than six weeks with
four weeks often being enough – you should avoid all alcohol consumption,
especially excess alcohol consumption as it is far more stressful to the liver;
further, alcohol does nothing to promote performance – you should avoid all over
the counter medications where possible; many over the counter medications carry
a hepatotoxic nature, many just as strong if not stronger than many anabolic
steroids and their use will only burden the liver with more stress – if you do
these things, while your enzyme values will increase with use, once use is
discontinued your values should return to normal rather quickly – this is all
assuming you supplemented responsibly, you did not suffer from any liver issues
prior to supplementation, and if you do suffer from liver issues you should not
supplement
- Prostate Enlargement – caused by a DHT buildup – it normally takes a fairly
large buildup of DHT to cause the enlargement of a healthy prostate – with
responsible use by a man who has a healthy prostate the odds of such a condition
are rare, but it is a possibility you need to be aware of – if you already have
prostate issues, you should not supplement – for those who fall prey, this is
where you’ll find the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor Finasteride to be extremely
useful; Finasteride is an androgen suppressor, and in this case the androgen
Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is the problem – six months of Finasteride therapy has
been shown to have a significant impact on prostate enlargement; in some cases,
bringing it back to a proper range completely
- Testosterone Suppression – the use of Anadrol 50 will suppress your natural
testosterone production; it’s not as suppressive as many anabolic steroids and
will actually reduce SHBG thereby providing more free testosterone to the body
to a degree; however, the total suppression is great enough to warrant a remedy
– as natural production is suppressed, your testicles will atrophy – it is
extremely important you supplement with some form of exogenous testosterone; the
form does not matter; simply ensure you’re providing your body with the
testosterone it needs – once all use is discontinued and all exogenous steroidal
hormones have cleared your system, your natural testosterone production will
begin again, and your testicles will return to their normal size – testosterone
recovery is assuming you did not suffer from a low testosterone condition prior
to supplementation, and that you did not severely damage your HPTA with improper
supplementation practices
- Water Retention – caused by buildups of excess estrogen – the same AI used to
combat gynecomastia will combat water retention – if you use an AI and still
hold water, your AI dose may be too low, but more than likely the problem is
your inability to control your diet – if you overeat, especially carbohydrates,
you’re going to hold water – use an AI and control your diet and water retention
will not be an issue