Control of estrogen levels is often necessary in anabolic steroids, due to aromatization of steroids such as testosterone, Dianabol, nandrolone (Deca), or boldenone (Equipoise.) In the aromatization process, the aromatase enzyme converts these androgens to estrogen. If this conversion is excessive, bloat, depression, loss of libido, impaired fat loss, or even gynecomastia can occur. An aromatase inhibitor (AI) is an effective way to solve this problem.
In contrast to Arimidex and letrozole which work by reversibly blocking access to the aromatase enzyme, Aromasin actually inactives individual enzyme molecules when it binds to them.
There is really neither advantage nor disadvantage to this different mode of action. As with all aromatase inhibitors, Aromasin should be dosed to achieve optimal estradiol levels, not the lowest possible levels. When dosed correctly and achieving the same estradiol levels, it doesn’t make a difference what inhibition mechanism was used.
How then to choose between aromatase inhibitors?
The relevant factors really are only previous experience if any, availability, cost, convenience, and side effect profile.
Not much distinguishes the aromatase inhibitors from each other in terms of side effect profile. I disfavor Aromasin slightly on this account as there’s some evidence of hepatotoxicity, but this is a rare enough side effect that as a matter of personal choice, factors such as personal experience may outweigh it.
Aromasin is usually supplied in 25 mg tablets. Dosing of Aromasin in anabolic steroid cycles is most commonly 12.5 mg every other day, 12.5 mg daily, or at most 25 mg daily.
Excessive dosing will be recognized by estradiol level falling below 20 pg/mL, or by depression, reduction of libido, muscle flatness, and/or joint pain. Experienced users frequently are able to identify a need for dose reduction purely from symptoms. However, blood testing is the gold standard for determining correct dosing level, and for verifying that symptoms actually are caused by low estrogen.
As with other aromatase inhibitors, there’s a relation between the amount of aromatizable steroids used and the dose of inhibitor needed, but it’s not a purely proportional matter. For example, let’s say that a previous cycle a lifter used 250 mg/week of testosterone, along with 750 mg/week of non-aromatizable steroids. And let’s say he found 12.5 mg/day Aromasin to be suitable for that cycle. If he now wishes to use 1000 mg/week of testosterone, which is four times more, most likely he should not multiply his Aromasin dosage by four times. That would be 50 mg/day which is outside of the normal dosage range. I would recommend 25 mg/day as an estimated dose in this instance.
I have never derived exact formulas for adjustment of dose according to change in amount of aromatizable steroids. Most likely there really is no universal formula. As general advice however, make a reasonable estimate which provides some increase to account for increased amount of aromatizable steroids, but without exceeding the recommended range unless blood testing proves that necessary.
Some use Aromasin during PCT, but I’d do this only if blood testing shows elevated estradiol levels. If that’s the case, then Aromasin is to a small extent actually the preferred aromatase inhibitor over Arimidex or letrozole in this instance, because the other two may have some interaction with the metabolism of SERMs, while Aromasin does not.
If used in PCT, dosing should be markedly less than during a cycle, as amount of aromatizable steroid in the blood will be much less. Generally no more than 12.5 mg every other day will be needed, or even only every third or fourth day.
Although mentioned already above, as a closing point I’d like to re-iterate that there really is no issue of the relative strength of differing aromatase inhibitors, and no reason to chose one over another on account of claimed strength differences. Let’s say that a dosing of one aromatase inibitor is stronger – reduces estrogen more – than a dosing of another. If the first one reduced estrogen too much, then the dosing was too many milligrams. It’s not the product was “too strong.” Or, if the second one didn’t reduce estradiol enough, then the dosing was too few milligrams, rather than the product not being strong enough.
All of the aromatase inhibitors will overshoot estrogen reduction if overdosed, or undershoot if underdosed. There is no reason to choose one over another because of what any may say about strength.
Arimidex, letrozole, and Aromasin all are capable of working well and predictably for estrogen control. If already experienced with a given aromatase inhibitor, I recommend continuing with it, as personal dosing is already understood. If you have not yet tried any, then any of them can be effective. I hope the above explanation will assist you in your choice.
About the author
Bill Roberts is an internationally-recognized expert on anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). He received a bachelor degree in Microbiology and Cell Science and completed the educational and research requirements for a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry at a major American university.
Bill entered the nutritional supplement industry prior to completing his doctoral thesis but his education was invaluable so far as being able to design/improve nutritional supplement compounds, since it was in the field of designing drug molecules and secondarily some work in transdermal delivery.
His education was not specifically "geared" toward anabolic steroids other than expertise with pharmacological principles having broad applications. This has allowed Bill to provide unique insight into the field of anabolic pharmacology with knowledge of points which he would not have known otherwise.