Ok, I realize everybody typically does what they want to do but in case this helps someone. I have historically only used prescription androgens at “therapeutic” dosages (under cumulative 250 mg/week). I’ve been challenged with some issues that allows me to trial nandrolone and oxandrolone.
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Combining 100 mg/week of TRT with 100-150 mg/week of nandrolone was an overall positive experience wrt chronic joint pain. As others here and literature mentions, even at 150 mg/week I seemed to be affected mentally through the hypothesized serotonin/dopamine interaction with nandrolone over the 19 weeks I tried ND. Nothing alarming popped up on the extensive blood work I run every 6 weeks. My excellent lipid profile stayed really good and SHBG dropped slightly from upper 50s down to mid 40s.
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I recently decided to give oxandrolone a try using the troche option I discussed above. RX was for 50 mg/day (350 mg/week). I continued TRT at 100 mg/week. I started first week at 25 mg/day and then next 3.5 weeks I did the 50 mg/day (total androgen usage of 450 mg/week). I decided to run NMR lipoprofile after 4.5 weeks of oxandrolone and compare with same profile after 10 weeks of ND.
Here’s the lipoprofile after 10 weeks of ND+TRT:
As you can see I’ve got reasonable insulin sensitivity and maintain 8-10% bodyfat. Diet and exercise program are dialed in and I have the genetics to do well eating modified Keto (meat/vegetables/nuts).
Ok, here’s the NMR data after 4.5 weeks on TRT+ oxandrolone (1 week at 25 mg/day and 3.5 weeks at 50 mg/day):
Only difference is the oxandrolone vs the lower dosage ND. I can confirm my baseline lipids on TRT look very close to the TRT+ND results above.
I admit I’ve read every study I could and realized it was a possibility but can honestly say I wasn’t prepared when I saw these data (rationalizing is amazingly easy before the fact). LDL-P almost tripled, triglycerides actually went up (whoa), and HDL dropped like a rock. Oxandrolone potently upregulates hepatic lipase and I unfortunately didn’t measure my cRP which historically runs < 0.1. But in any case these results would suggest I am not doing myself any favors from a cardiovascular standpoint.
For those that may have a clinical need for AAS, stick to the injectables and please leave the 17-AA orals alone. Or at least confirm you have the genetics to use them. I unfortunately do not. I was thinking that perhaps my ketogenic diet may have exacerabated the oxandrolone effect on my lipids. A fun control experiment would be to cut my 50-70% of calories from fat way down and try again. Unfortunately, I do not have the heart.
PS, my SHBG dropped from 50 to 9 with the oxandrolone. Serum test went from 1000 to 494. On the bright side my provider was amazed at my bioavailable test. I’m not so psyched. Amazing swings in just 4.5 weeks. Take care of yourself and understand the implications long term from the data above. I immediately stopped the oxandrolone once I saw these data.
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