Bolasterone is an oral anabolic steroid which is structurally related
to
dimethyltestosterone. It differs only by the addition of a methyl
group, which is the reasoning for its chemical name. The addition of
this methyl group makes the activity of this steroid far different than
its cousin however, and makes any comparison between the two difficult.
This drug was first developed in the late 1950's. It was closely
evaluated for anabolic and androgenic effect around 3 years later. The
drug was developed by the pharmaceutical company UpJohn, and was sold
in the United States during the 1960s under the brand name of Myagen.
It was mainly prescribed for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in
women, but was also investigated for use on lean tissue sparing
activity. The medical use of this drug didn't last long however, and it
soon disappeared off the market not too long after it was released. By
the 1980s, the drug had pretty much been forgotten by bodybuilders and
athletes. Although bolasterone is no longer produced, the drug remains
listed in the U.S Pharmacopeias, suggesting that it wouldn't be
impossible to see the drug available once again as a prescription
medication in the U.S, however this remains very unlikely.
Bolasterone is a fairly potent anabolic steroid, measured in human
subjects to have approximately twice the anabolic effect of
methandrostenolone. Despite being a derivative of testosterone,
bolasterone is considerably more anabolic than it is androgenic in
nature. Bodybuilders and athletes would often use this drug in bulking
cycle, where adding extra weight wasn't a concern. Bolasterone is a
very estrogenic steroid by nature, and one can expect to see all of the
common estrogen related side effects when taking this drug, especially
in higher doses.
Estrogen related side effects can include such things
as increased water and fat retention and gyno (the development of
unattractive and sometimes painful female breast tissue under the
nipples in males). To combat such issues, users often prefer to run
some sort of anti estrogen compound such as
arimidex or
aromasin during
cycle. This steroid can also be androgenic and can produce androgen
related side effects as well. These side effects can include such
things as oily skin, acne, and increased body and facial hair. In
women, androgen can cause masculizing side effects such as deepening of
the voice, the growth facial hair, and clitoral enlargement.
Bolasterone is a C17aa compound, which means that it can be toxic to
liver if taken in doses too large or for periods too long. Because of
this, users are urged to try to keep cycles under 8 weeks and to run
some sort of liver protection product such as
liv-52. Like all anabolic
steroids, bolasterone will shut down the body's natural testosterone
production, making a post cycle therapy protocol necessary after the
drug's use has been discontinued. Users often choose to run compounds
such as
clomid and
HCG to get the body to start producing testosterone
naturally again.
Users often choose run a dosage of 25-100mg per day for a period of 6-8
weeks. This level is sufficient for strong increases in muscle size and
strength, although such gains will likely be accompanied by significant
water retention due to estrogen. Bolasterone is generally not
recommended for women due to its very strong nature and tendacy to
produce virilizing side effects.