Trade Names: Dianabol, Danabol, Anabol

Chemical Names: Methandienone

Routes: Oral

Half-life: 4.5-6 hours

 Dianabol (Methandienone) was originally developed by John Ziegler and released in the early 1960s by Ciba. This steroid is one of the most common drugs used across the bodybuilding world and very readily available. Dianabol is primarily found in its oral form however it’s also available in oilbased injectable solutions. The injectable is primarily used in veterinary applications. Unlike popular believe, the injectable doesn’t have any advantage over the oral form as the bio availability remains similar. Side-effects are also the same in both the injectable and oral, including the liver toxicity. For this reason it’s far more practical to take Dianabol orally instead of daily injections. Estrogenic and androgenic side-effects are common and include water-retention, gynocomastia, oily skin, acne, hair loss and bodily/facial hair growth. Dianabol is also hepatotoxic due to its 17-alpha alkylation. Estrogenic side-effects are easily controlled using aromatase inhibitors like anastrozole or letrozole. The use of a liver detoxification supplement such Milk Thistle or Essentiale Forte is advised.

Due to Dianabiol’s estrogenic effects its better suited to bulking cycles as the water-retention will reduce muscular definition and make muscles appear smoother. Dianabol is often used to kickstart a cycle, but it’s also sometimes used in oral only cycles. The later is not as effective as it would have been combined with other injectable steroids though. Dianabol stacks very well with a variety of steroids and particularly those with mild anabolic effects like Deca. Good mass and strength increases can be expected relatively quickly. For shear mass a long acting testosterone like Testen or Testocyp can be added.

 Dosages for dianabol vary greatly, but it’s advisable to start between 30 and 50mg per day. Dosages of over 100mg per day have been reported, but this practice usually leads to a more profound incidence of side effects, and is generally discouraged. Being moderately androgenic, Dianabol is really only a popular steroid with men. When used by women, strong virilization symptoms are possible. The half-life for dianabol is only 3 to 5 hours so to achieve a uniform blood concentration one has to split the daily dose so that it can be taken every few hours. However taking all in one dose will produce a higher peak in blood concentrations albeit for only a short period of time. Both methods work fine, but it has been suggested that the later method will produce better results in the long run. Should you decide to take the entire dose at once the best time will be in the early morning. This would allow a considerable number of daytime hours for an androgen-rich metabolism to heighten the uptake of nutrients, especially the critical hours following training. Taking oral steroids with food may diminish its bioavailability especially fatty foods should be avoided 1 hour prior or after dianabol ingestion.