What is nandrolone decanoate
Nandrolone is an anabolic steroid with mild androgenic activity. It is mainly available as a long decanoate ester, although it is occasionally found in the form of a relatively short phenylpropionate. Nandrolone Decanoate is a fine crystalline powder of white or cream colour. It is odourless or may have a faint odour. The substance is readily soluble in chloroform, alcohol, acetone and vegetable oils. It is almost insoluble in water. The most common brands are Retabolil, Deca-Durabolin and Nandrolone Decanoate.
The drug is one of the few anabolic steroids actively used in medical practice. For example, nandrolone helps to support the condition of patients who have suffered severe burns or mechanical injuries causing severe tissue damage. In some cases, it is used for the treatment of cancer patients weakened by chemotherapy or the disease itself.
Due to its low androgenic activity, the product has practically no side effects associated with an excess of Dihydrotestosterone (DHT). In addition, there is almost no conversion to estrogens. Nandrolone mainly affects prolactin, which is why cabergoline is always required for the course.
Effects of use
The drug is popular among powerlifters, weightlifters and bodybuilders. As for other sports, nandrolone is not as popular as turenabol, sustanon, danabol, etc. As for other sports, nandrolone is not as popular as turenabol, sustanon, and danabol. This can be explained by the following properties of the pharmacological effects of nandrolone:
- Expressed growth of muscle mass. Nandrolone is one of those drugs which no competitor’s weightlifting course can do without. In particular, this aspect of it is shown on the example of combined courses, such as familiar to all “Testosterone-Methandienone-Nandrolone”, or in common parlance “Deca-Sust-Methane”.
- Significant strength gain. The product is quite often used by representatives of strength sports, mainly because nandrolone not only significantly increases the strength values but also has a preventive effect against injuries by retaining fluids.
- A healing and strengthening effect on the joint and ligament apparatus. Nandrolone has the upper hand in this respect over all other anabolic steroids with similar effects. Recently, combining nandrolone with peptides such as TB-500 has also been gaining popularity as a means of healing injuries.
Side effects
The side effects of nandrolone are almost completely equivalent to all other steroids. As a correction, it should only be noted that while the drug has almost no aromatization into estrogens, it can still cause gynecomastia and swelling, which in this case are of prolactinogenic origin. Therefore, while on this medication, prolactin levels should be closely monitored and kept stable with agents that reduce prolactin levels.
Because of the likelihood of aromatization occurring in rare cases, estrogen levels should also be monitored in addition to the prolactin test if possible.
In order to avoid impotence on a course, known in bodybuilding circles as Deca-Dick, the drug should always be combined with injectable testosterone, as ‘solo’ intake causes an inevitable drop in endogenous testosterone.
Course and dosage
Optimal dose is 200-400 mg once a week, and the course duration is 10-12 weeks. Using nandrolone for a shorter duration does not make sense, since the drug starts to work and reveal all its effects only after the fourth week.
It can be combined with short and long testosterone esters, but most often it is used in combination with enanthate or cipionate at doses of 250-500 mg per week. In addition, the course can be supplemented with oral steroids such as metandienone, stanozolol and boldenone.
Injections of chorionic gonadotropin, in doses of 500-1000 IU per week, are required during a course, especially when combining several drugs.
It is not recommended for use with trenbolone because it is a dangerous combination resulting in prohibitive values of prolactin and estradiol, which are difficult to correct with aromatase inhibitors and cabergoline.
