Part 2: Testosterone Recovery After Deca-Durabolin
Blog Entry #57
By Admin – Steroidal.com
A couple of days ago we wrote and article about testosterone recovery when bodybuilders have used Deca-Durabolin. What was shown was that Deca-Durabolin metabolites could stay in a steroid users system for up to 12 months and slow down recovery of natural testosterone production. Its pretty common knowledge Deca-Durabolin is one of the harshest compounds when its comines to recovery endogenous testosterone production post use, which was confirmed by one of our most recent articles.
Today we’re going to look at another piece of data on Nandrolone hexylphenylproprionate or more commonly known as Anadur. This is applicable to the widely used Deca-Durabolin as the parent hormone Nandrolone is the same. The hormone is the compound that will impact the body and its testosterone production, so regardless of it having hexylphenylproprionate or decanoate attached, the outcome will be the same.
An older study dated 1984 in Muenster, Germany, looked at five men given Nandrolone hexylphenylproprionate. The five men were given 100mg for three week and 200mg for a further ten weeks, a total of 13 weeks. This isn’t a large dosage but its duration is similar to that of Deca-Durabolin users due to its long ester decanoate.
The men took part in a weight training but it doesn’t state what this was or how often. The average weight of the men was 85kg and after the 13 weeks, they weighed 95kg. Sixteen weeks later the men dropped 3kg they had put on from the Nandrolone use. We now know that Deca-Durabolin will increase the amount of water retention the users holds due to increasing nitrogen retention; therefore this could have been what was mostly lost, not muscle. The study also reports no adverse side effects were reported, including acne, prostate problems or gynecomastia.
Importantly, the men’s testosterone levels were tested and the Nandrolone was seen to inhibit their natural testosterone level, this is shown in the figure below. Leutinizing hormone (LH), follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and total testosterone were all found to be dramatically suppressed, which is in accordance with other recent data on Deca. You’ll also see it took around six months for their testosterone to recover from even mild Nandrolone use.
Unsurprisingly, the men’s testes also atrophied (shrank) from the Nandrolone use. The average volume decreased from 39 to 21 millilitres. This is a common side effects associated with anabolic steroids use, and more so from the use of harsher compounds to the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis (HPTA). This occurs when both LH and FSH are suppressed and intra-testicular testosterone (ITT) is also decreased. To maintain testicular size and function when using anabolic steroids, we suggest using human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) at 250-500ius per week along with an aromatase inhibitor (AI).
There were also large differences in the men’s fertility recovery. Due to a loss of natural hormones, spermatogenesis will also take a hit and be negatively affected. One man was as fertile as he had been at the start after just eight weeks, but for one man it took thirty weeks for his sperm production to be restored to the pre-experiment level.
All in all, it took the men six months to recover their testosterone production to values similar to those prior to using Nandrolone. If the study had been done on Deca Durabolin, we expect identical results, as the parent hormone is the same.
Similarly to our other article, it doesn’t state if a post cycle therapy (PCT) was used. If a PCT was/is used it will accelerate the restoration of testosterone production post anabolic-androgenic steroid use. HCG use is also imperative during your steroid cycle. This will help avoid low testosterone related symptoms and help you maintain any muscular gains when made during the steroid course.
Source:
Lancet.R 1984 Feb 25;1(8374):R417-20.
