DHT derived compounds are typically notorious for causing severe androgenic side effects, which deters a lot of athletes from using them.
If you are prone to acne or genetically predisposed to male pattern baldness, then adding just about any DHT based steroid to your stack will trigger these sides.
Not pleasant at all, when you have acne on your back and shoulders, and your hairline is diffusing.
Proviron is one of the only DHT-based compounds that you can virtually run on a cruise year round with absolutely no side effects.
It is a very mild compound that’s available in both oral and injectable versions.
What’s more, it has all the classic traits of a DHT.
Have you ever stopped your Masteron cycle prematurely because you were afraid that it would torch your hair?
Proviron can give you the same results as Mast. For some users, the results are even more pronounced.
If you have never run a cycle of Proviron, then here’s a brief primer that will help you get things right.
Chemical Structure
Proviron or Mesterolone is a DHT hormone with the addition of a methyl group at the carbon one
position. (1)
This reduces the androgenicity of the hormone and increases the anabolic rating to 150.
To be honest, those numbers are not translatable to real life results.
Proviron is more of an add-on compound than a standalone mass builder.
As we mentioned earlier, it is available in both injectable and oral versions. The oral tablets are not C17-AA though, which means that they are not liver toxic.
The other oral steroid that’s not liver toxic is Primobolan.
There’s no notable difference in the results that you can get with oral Proviron vs. the injectable one.
It must be mentioned though that the orals are far more expensive. A lot of users just source raws and make their own pills instead, which might be a more cost-effective choice provided that you have the expertise for it.
Dosage and administration
Proviron is used in therapeutic settings in the 50-75mg/day range. If you are looking to add this to your TRT cruise, then 50mg/day might be a great dosage. It is practically a side-effect free dose, provided you follow some basic rules of steroid usage.
In a blast, most people will run it at 100mg/week. Some users will find that even 150mg/week is very easily tolerated and produces more pronounced results as compared to lower doses.
Blasts with Proviron last typically for 8-12-weeks. But it is not uncommon for people to run this for 6-months or even longer.
Since it is used as an androgen to treat androgen deficiencies, females should be wary of virilization symptoms at high doses. That said, they should be able to achieve great results at doses as low as 20-25/mg a day.
Brands
Proviron is used in Europe and many other countries as a fertility aid, which means that it’s pretty easy to find RX-quality gear online.
The drug is sold under the Proviron brand name by Bayer, Maha Pharma, Genesis and LA Pharma. Schering manufactures it under the Provironum brand.
You are likelier to find the oral tablets as opposed to the injectable version online.
Injections are more readily available in UG labs.
Effects
Proviron is a classic DHT-based compound that’s often called a ‘Milder’ Masteron.
Unlike masteron which is added purely for the cosmetic, muscle hardening effect during the last few weeks of the cycle, Proviron can be added from the start to end of both bulking and cutting cycles.
Here are some of the effects of the compound.
- Anti-estrogenic: Proviron’s anti-estrogenic effects are quite pronounced. So much so, that you can very well control your E2 levels with Proviron alone, unless you are running grams of compounds with high aromatase activity. Even then, you’ll need a smaller dose of an AI if you are running Proviron. On a TRT dose of testosterone, this will control most of the estrogen related side effects like water retention, mood swings and sensitive nipples.
- Muscle hardening: Proviron will harden your muscles and make them more vascular. The aesthetic effect is not as pronounced as what you can get with Masteron or Winstrol. But neither are the side effects. You can run this with just about any compound for a more defined, chiseled look to your muscles. Some users in fact, find Proviron to be more effective thanMast. But those are just outliers.
- Binding to SHBG: Mesterolone has a very strong affinity to bind to SHBG, which in turn increases the amount of free testosterone in your blood. The relative binding ability is almost 4-times that of DHT. This means that it can enhance the muscle building capability of the other steroids that you are using in your stack. Even a TRT dose of testosterone will become more effective with Proviron. (2)
- Boosting Satellite cells: Mesterolone shows a remarkable ability to amplify the production of Satellite cells, which are the most abundantly found cells in skeletal muscle. These cells help increase muscle mass, regenerate muscle tissue and also promote hypertrophy. While you may not gain a copious amount of muscle tissue on Proviron, you can make some quality gains that will be easier to retain in the long run. (3)
Safety and side effects
Proviron is considered to be a very well-tolerated anabolic steroid. Since it has no aromatase activity and is not liver toxic, some of the most serious side effects are ruled out.
Male athletes using the compound should be concerned about its effect on HDL and LDL levels.
Mesterolone is known to significantly lower HDL while increasing LDL. (4) However, as stated in this study, most of this effect can be blunted with exercise, particularly cardio. If you are following a cholesterol friendly lifestyle, there’s no reason why you cannot use this safely.
Androgenic side effects will be a concern, but only if you are predisposed to them. If you are not predisposed to balding, then Proviron will not make you lose hair or go bald.
Ref:
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Mesterolone
https://europepmc.org/article/med/6539197
https://anatomypubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ar.22439
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2613982/#:~:text=Treatment%20with%20mesterolone%20increased%20total,%2C%20VLDL%2Dc%20and%20triglycerides.