Oral-Turinabol (dehydrochloromethyltestosterone) is an oral anabolic steroid which is interesting principally for reasons other than its unexceptional performance. It can however meet some specific needs.
What Is Oral-Turinabol?
Oral Turinabol is, to some extent, enigmatic and prone to misunderstanding.
It is not simply a tablet version of injectable Turinabol, or an alkylated version of it. Nor, despite claims, is it an anabolic steroid developed specifically for doping. That claim results from confusion with mestanolone.
Structurally, it is Dianabol with an added chlorine at the -4 position, which has the predictable advantage of preventing aromatization.
Caution must be taken however when trying to arrive at conclusions about anabolic steroids from structure. Substituting an atom or chemical bond makes large changes to the entire shape rather than affecting only a single point. This can result in changes in properties beyond the predictable. An example would be if one tried to predict the properties of Dianabol from its structural relation to boldenone (they are the same except for the 19-methylation of Dianabol.) While the methylation does provide the predictable oral bioavailability, in actuality Dianabol’s other properties are such that one can’t reasonably call “oral boldenone.”
In the case of Oral Turinabol, due to the above structural relation to Dianabol it’s commonly called a dry version of it. Now if this were true though, one could tell no difference between using OT alone and using Dianabol plus aromatase inhibitor. There is considerable difference in practice however.
OT must be considered its own compound rather than simply as a dry Dianabol. That said, this popular description is not a bad first approximation. Simply be aware of its limitations.
History Of Oral Turinabol
Ordinarily in anabolic steroid profiles I don’t discuss history of the drugs, but here it’s worth making an exception.
OT received an East German patent in 1961 and was soon approved as a prescription drug. At the time, there was wide medical belief that anabolic steroids were useful for recovery from surgery, burns, or nearly any condition that caused substantial loss of bodyweight. Newly developed anabolic steroids were considered suitable even for women and children, as it was thought that synthetic modifications dissociated androgenic from anabolic effects.
In 1966, use of OT for athletic doping began. This drug became the principal cause of the obvious virilization of East German female athletes of the era, despite the theoretical belief in separation of effects. Women did not respond as the theories from rat testing had predicted.
Why did the East Germans choose this specific compound for athletic doping? The reason does not seem to be from superior performance to Western anabolic steroids, or from drug testing concerns. That did not become an issue until much later. And a particularly favorable side-effect profile seems unlikely as the reason, as no other anabolic steroid has such a thoroughly documented track record for adverse effect on health.
A key doping advantage of OT for the East Germans was that it was locally produced. This provided easy availability, economy, and secrecy. And it was effective enough, especially for female athletes (but then again, every anabolic steroid is.)
The fact that its bad side effect profile made it quite harmful to the athletes was irrelevant to the East German Communist regime. Many lives were destroyed, at least in the judgment of the unknowing female doping victims.
Why mention all this? First, this history has created a mystique, whether warranted or not. And second, it has provided us with a great deal of toxicological information. Last, one should be sure that if choosing the drug, the decision is not simply from the mystique. Being the old East German doping drug of choice should be irrelevant to whether an athlete or bodybuilder should choose it today. Instead it should be considered in terms of its positive and negative effects. Among available anabolic steroids, OT offers nothing outstanding here, though it’s certainly usable.
Dosing Of Oral Turinabol For Men
When Oral Turinabol is used in an anabolic steroid cycle, less than 20 mg per day will be an almost unnoticeable addition to a stack, or will be a very weak cycle if used alone. There is little point in exceeding 50 or 60 mg/day, as added anabolic effect will be small if any. And adverse side effects of excessive muscle pumps and/or blood pressure elevation are often at a tolerance limit at this point, while becoming excessive past it.
I don’t recommend combining OT with other oral anabolic steroids. Instead, when using OT and wishing to increase anabolism, one or more injectables should be added rather than another oral. A sufficient reason for this is that results are much better from combining an injectable rather than any other oral (with possible exception of oxandrolone.) Another reason is that at effective doses of OT, hepatotoxicity is already as high as can be considered reasonable. Another alkylated steroid should not be added.
Still another reason to not combine OT with other oral anabolic steroids in a stack with injectables is this: If Dianabol or Anadrol are included in the stack, then there’s no reason to also include OT. It will do nothing anabolically that they will not.
Oral Turinabol can be used alone with significant results for novice steroid users or for experienced users who have experienced losses and are regaining. However in general I don’t recommend oral only cycles, and this is no exception.
When using OT, dosing is preferably divided to twice per day, although once per day is acceptable.
Oral Turinabol For Women?
East German female athletes took OT at 5-15 mg per day for two to six weeks at a time. Aside from obvious virilization, many of these female athletes also suffered liver disease, heart disease, infertility, psychiatric issues, and even death. Oral Turinabol is proven not to be a safe anabolic steroid for women. I am not saying these consequences are inevitable, but rather that it’s a proven fact that the incidence rate of such consequences is very substantial.
Risk will exist for some women at doses less than 5 mg/day as well.
Nearly any anabolic steroid is better choice for women than OT.
Summary
Oral Turinabol is of interest mostly for its history, not its performance. When chosen, dosing range should be 20-60 mg/day, taken either once per day or preferably twice. It is usable by men, although there are better choices. OT is a very poor choice for women.
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.