Q: How long can I stay on a low dose (25mg) of Anavar? I cannot find a correct legitimate answer anywhere! 6-8-10-12 weeks?? I know Anavar is used in treating AIDS patients from muscle wasting…so what is the max for “healthy” males and females?
A: In the context of this discussion, “maximum” and “risk” are going to be relative terms. It is really an individual decision as to what is acceptable and what is not. In the case of an HIV+ patient, preventing body wasting can be a life-saving treatment. The risks are, likewise, easy to weigh in light of the potential for death if treatment is not given. For a healthy individual, however, technically “no Anavar” would be the answer, as any substantial use will present some risks to the user. What you need to do is put these risks in perspective, and decide for yourself what is OK for you and what is not.
With Anavar, you are talking about a slightly to moderately liver toxic oral steroid with a pronounced effect on cholesterol balance (as all oral c-17 alkylated orals do). While liver toxicity is admittedly not as pronounced with this steroid as with many other orals, the risk for hepatic injury cannot be excluded, especially with long-term use. So in this regard, one should keep an eye on liver enzymes during use, especially during longer durations. The cholesterol issue is also a measurable one. For almost the entire time you are going to take the drug, you are likely to endure some fairly unfavorable lipid profiles. Your good (HDL) cholesterol levels will decline, and your bad (LDL) levels will likely increase. On the short term, this is highly unlikely to put you at serious cardiovascular risk, unless of course you have underlying cardiovascular disease. The longer you take the drug (total cumulative on-time), however, the longer the imbalanced cholesterol levels will be left to deposit plaque on your arteries. This doesn’t just instantly vanish once your levels return to normal (post cycle). As the months become years and the years become decades, the risks to your health are going to be greatly amplified. If you do one-day die early from heart disease, your death will be deemed just that too, “heard disease”. Steroids will never be blamed, even though they were a root-contributing factor.
OK, so I am jumping ahead here I know. Your question was much more narrow. You asked what was best, 6,8,10, or 12 week cycles. This is something I can’t really answer, as in all cases the acute (short-term) risks of use are going to be very low. I seriously doubt you would run into much trouble between weeks 6 or 12. The real issue, again, is the total cumulative time (in your life) you plan on using oral steroids like this. If this is something you are going to do 12 weeks every 6 months, or 24 weeks out of every year, you better take care! It is also important to remember that these risks are not isolated to orals. Increased cardiovascular disease risk is noted with esterified injectable steroids as well. It is just that these risks are significantly greater with the orals. With injectable drugs such as testosterone, nandrolone, boldenone, and methenolone, the impact the steroid will have on HDL/LDL is lighter. Also, there is often a “comfortable” range (usually 400mg per week give or take) where the cholesterol ratio is not excessively shifted, in many cases remaining in the boundaries of what is considered “normal”. Using injectable anabolic steroids like these (in reasonable doses) exclusively, and avoiding all orals, might pay dividends long-term with reducing the harm associated with these drugs.
About the author
William Llewellyn is a research scientist and writer in the field of human performance enhancement. He is the author of several books including Underground Anabolics and Anabolics 10th Edition, one of the most widely read titles on the subject of performance enhancing substances.
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