Oxandrolone Profile
It is one of the mildest anabolic androgenic steroids on the market, and while mild in nature this by no means takes away from its tremendous effectiveness. This mild nature is what allows so many to supplement safely, as the Oxandrolone hormone best known by its most popular trade name Anavar is the most side-effect friendly steroid we have, and this applies to men and women. Used by numerous performance enhancing athletes, as well as holding immense importance in therapeutic treatment plans, Oxandrolone has been around since the 1960’s. Developed by Searle Laboratories in 1963 and absorbed by Pfizer in 2003, this is the same pharmaceutical company who brought us Ambien, Celebrex, Dramamine and even NutraSweet. When it comes to potency, in some ways we can call this milligram for milligram one of the least potent steroids of all, and that’s part of what makes it so safe, but while a little weak on a per milligram basis what it does hold will prove to be nothing short of amazing. So amazingly beneficial, for decades this steroid has often been called “The Girl Steroid” due to its female friendly nature in-regards to benefits and side-effects, but it can be used effectively by men too; let’s take a look and see what we can find.
Oxandrolone 101:
Oxandrolone best known as Anavar is a Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) derived anabolic steroid; highly anabolic with an extremely mild androgenic nature. Carry an anabolic rating of 630 and an androgenic rating of 24 Oxandrolone is an oral steroid belonging to the C17-alpha alkylated (C17-aa) class. As many of you know, C17-aa steroids are toxic to the liver; the C17-aa nature refers to a structural change of the hormone at the 17th carbon position that allows it to survive the first pass through the liver. Without this change, most of the hormone would be destroyed by the liver; however, this structural alteration causes the steroid to hold a hepatotoxic nature. This is not something unique to oral anabolic steroids, many non-steroidal medications carry a strong hepatotoxic nature, even many over the counter medications, and often more hepatotoxic than many anabolic steroids. In the case of Oxandrolone, while it most certainly carries a hepatotoxic nature, it is extremely mild, and the odds of any liver damage are extremely low with responsible use. Those who supplement with Anavar will rarely see their liver enzyme values increase at any rate that would be deemed alarming should they follow proper protocol; more on this in the side-effects section.
As an oral steroid with a very short half-life, Oxandrolone carries an active half-life of approximately 9 hours, this is a rapidly fast acting steroidal compound, and that means fast benefits. Daily administration will prove to be necessary in-order to maintain stable blood levels, and if you do you will find some tremendous benefits. Holding the ability to increase protein synthesis and nitrogen retention, Insulin-Like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1) production will also increase, but it only gets better. Oxandrolone is one of the best fat-loss steroids on the market with tremendous metabolic increasing abilities; so powerful it can directly burn fat. As an interesting note, studies have shown the fat-loss effects of Oxandrolone are often permanent, meaning it’s easier to keep the fat off after use has been discontinued. This isn’t to say you won’t be able to gain the fat back, if you eat like trash of course you’ll gain it back, but you should have a fairly easy time controlling your fat gain post use with this steroid if you follow sound eating principles. If that’s not enough, this is one of the friendliest steroids to your HPTA, and that means testosterone suppression will not occur at an extreme rate as with most other anabolic steroids; you bet, it is possible to supplement with this steroid alone, and we’ll go over this a little more in the side-effects section.
The Benefits of Oxandrolone:
The benefits of the Anavar steroid are truly vast, and the primary benefit is its high level of toleration; yes, we’ve already mentioned this several times, but it’s so important it’s worth repeating. As there are many benefits and both men and women can supplement, and as there are therapeutic benefits we need to discuss the benefits in three separate categories. In-regards to therapeutic use, Oxandrolone is one of the best anabolic steroids for treating muscle wasting diseases; a non-aromatizing steroid, every last ounce of weight gained will be pure, lean muscle tissue. No, it’s not going to pack on a substantial amount of muscle mass, not what we would consider substantial in a performance sense, but it will be solid and very easy to maintain post use. This makes this steroid very beneficial to aids and cancer patients and of course burn victims, but they’re not the only ones who can benefit. Anavar has been shown to be tremendously beneficial to those who suffer from osteoporosis and it is steroids like Oxandrolone and Nandrolone that have seen severe osteoporosis problems remedied. There is also a use in the sense of what is often referred to as therapeutic rejuvenation or performance medicine; simply a rejuvenation of the individual’s total well-being.
Then we have performance enhancement, and as this is such a female friendly anabolic steroid and the primary steroid for females it only makes sense to start with women. Without question, cutting cycles are the best time to supplement with Oxandrolone; after all, it holds amazing fat-loss abilities. Those who do supplement for this purpose will greatly preserve lean tissue that is often lost under a necessary caloric restriction when dieting as well as strength, but it only gets better. Anavar holds tremendous conditioning effects that can lead to a harder, dryer and more defined physique; you will need to be somewhat lean to see these effects, they won’t shine through a layer of body-fat, but they are there for the taking. Then we have athletic performance, and this can be a great strength increasing steroid for women; more physical power and speed, more endurance and energy and simply a better athlete. Then we have off-season use, the period of supplementation when we’re trying to add new lean tissue and Anavar is perfect for this purpose. Women are extremely sensitive to this hormone in this regard and a little will go a long way. While it’s not going to put piles of muscle on your frame, it will be quality tissue; besides, most women do not want 20lbs of new lean tissue, but a few pounds on a female frame can be transforming in a very positive way.
We’ve taken care of therapeutic and female performance benefits, and now it’s time to take care of the men. As it pertains to male supplementation in a performance sense, as a mild steroid men are going to need quite a bit of the Oxandrolone hormone to reap a reward, but there are rewards to be had indeed. For the most part, everything that was said of athletic performance and cutting cycles as it pertains to women can be said for men; however, there are notes. Most men will find this steroid to be an additional item added to a cutting plan, and that means it’s typically not a steroid they’ll want to use alone; it’s just not going to provide truly significant results. While it may sound like an oversimplification, the best way to view male Oxandrolone cutting supplementation is as a supplement to your supplemental steroid use. While true, athletic performance is another story; men will still need a larger dose than women, but alone this steroid could give them the benefit they need. Then we have off-season use, and it is here we’ll normally find male Oxandrolone supplementation to be useless. This is not an anabolic steroid that’s going to pack a lot of mass on your frame, and while it can pack some it’s normally going to take quite a large dose; as one of the most expensive anabolic steroids on the market this simply isn’t an efficient off-season choice for most men.
The Side-Effects of Oxandrolone:
If it’s an anabolic steroid, it’s going to carry possible side-effects, but this is a truth that holds true to all things we put into our body steroidal or not. Of course, that’s hard for many people to accept, we tend to believe anything sold over the counter is side-effect free when nothing could be further from the truth. Even things like NSAID painkillers carry some serious possible side-effects; so much so NSAID’s claim the lives of more than 16,000 in the U.S. alone each and every year. If you’re unfamiliar with NSAID’s, we’re talking about things like Aspirin and Ibuprofen. As for the Oxandrolone hormone, no one in history has ever died from the use of Oxandrolone; after all, while it may be classified as a drug it’s actually a hormone; a synthetic hormone based on the hormones we already naturally produce whereas things like NSAID’s are foreign substances to the body.
With the above in mind, most of the side-effects of Oxandrolone will surround other common DHT side-effects; the most notable being acne and hair-loss. DHT compounds are notorious for causing acne in those who are already sensitive to breakouts; those who aren’t sensitive usually won’t have a problem. In either case, keeping your skin dry and clean at all times is very important, and this means always changing your shirt after it becomes sweaty as most breakouts will occur on the back, shoulders and chest. This may also mean you need to take an extra shower every day, depending on how much you sweat you may need a few showers; you’ll have to play that by ear. Of course, if you still cannot control the acne due to your sensitivity, this may mean Oxandrolone or more specifically DHT compounds are not for you.
Then we have hair-loss, another DHT derived side-effect, but it is one that is only possible in men who are predisposed to male-pattern baldness. This means if you are not predisposed, you will not lose the first hair on your head, but if you are predisposed and concerned about your hair-line this may not be the steroid for you. DHT can deteriorate the hair follicles; you were going to lose your hair any way, but the Oxandrolone supplementation may speed it up. As this is the case, some may find the 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor Finasteride to be useful as it will protect your hair-line; you know Finasteride best by its most common trade names Proscar and Propecia. This 5-alpha-reductase inhibitor can also be useful in-regards to one more possible effect, and that is prostate enlargement. Massive buildups in DHT can enlarge the prostate, but we do mean massive, and the odds of this occurring in a healthy adult male are extremely low with responsible use. Even so, if prostate enlargement does occur for any reason, six months of Finasteride therapy has been shown to significantly reduce enlargement; in some cases completely. This shouldn’t be surprising, Finasteride is an androgen suppressor and the buildup of the androgen DHT is the problem. It must be noted; if you already suffer from prostate issues you should not supplement with anabolic steroids.
Beyond these effects, Oxandrolone can possibly have a negative impact on blood pressure and cholesterol, but it is highly unlikely. Even so, your lifestyle will be the biggest factor, and if your levels are proper prior to supplementation you should continue to live in a manner that promotes the continuation of such levels; a true healthy lifestyle is best. Speaking of a healthy lifestyle, if you recall from the 101 section while mild Oxandrolone does carry a hepatotoxic nature; a mild one, but it is there. For this reason, avoiding excess alcohol consumption is advised; this shouldn’t be too hard to begin with as alcohol is about as anti-performance as you can get. Further, avoiding all over the counter medications where possible is advised; remember, many over the counter medications are just as if not more hepatotoxic than many anabolic steroids, and there’s no point in overstressing the liver. If you do these things, live a healthy and responsible lifestyle, assuming you are not genetically predisposed to high blood pressure or cholesterol and your liver was healthy prior to supplementation, most all healthy adults will be fine.
Then there’s testosterone suppression, and this is always a concern for male steroid use. Most all anabolic steroids suppress natural testosterone production; the rate of suppression will be dependent on the steroid being used. In the case of Oxandrolone, once again we have a mild effect as it will not affect your HPTA to a great degree; there will be some suppression, and a little exogenous testosterone isn’t a bad idea, but you could supplement for short periods of time without exogenous testosterone and be fine; with therapeutic doses, you could supplement even longer.
The above represents the possible side-effects of Oxandrolone supplementation, but there is one more thing we must discuss; virilization. Virilization refers to the promotion of male characteristics in females, and while Anavar carries the lowest virilization rating of all anabolic steroids, virilization is still possible. For most women, if they supplement with low doses, say in the 10mg per day range they will not have a problem, but if you go above the 20mg mark some virilization is almost guaranteed. Further, while very few women will have a problem with responsible doses, there will be the unlucky few who fall prey to virilization symptoms even with responsible doses. For this reason, if virilization occurs for any reason you are strongly encouraged to discontinue use immediately at the onset of symptoms; if you do they will fade away rapidly. Conversely, if you fall prey to virilization symptoms and ignore them, they may set in permanently and irreversibly, and there’s hardly a woman on earth who wants that.
