Winstrol

A DHT-derived steroid, infamous from the 1988 Ben Johnson doping scandal. Available as oral tablets or an injectable suspension; both forms are 17-alpha-alkylated. Non-medical physique and performance use is reported; no controlled trials establish those outcomes.

Stanozolol binds the androgen receptor and, unusually for this class, does not aromatise to oestrogen at all — which is why it produces a dry, hard look rather than water retention. It also lowers sex hormone binding globulin substantially, raising the free fraction of other androgens present. Oral 17-alpha-alkylated steroids share one design feature: a methyl group added at the 17 position so the molecule survives first-pass liver metabolism instead of being destroyed. That modification is what makes them orally active and it is strongly associated with the highest cholestatic risk in this class, though the exact injury mechanism is not settled. Liver strain is not an unlucky accident with these compounds; it travels with the chemistry that makes them oral. Stanozolol exists in both oral and injectable form, and the injectable is the same 17-alpha-alkylated molecule, so it carries the liver risk too — which is the single most misunderstood fact about it.

Old prescription history (hereditary angioedema) proves biological activity, not safety for physique use. No controlled trial has measured the cosmetic or strength outcomes it is used for.

• Has genuine clinical history, including in hereditary angioedema, so its human pharmacology is better characterised than most compounds here.
• Notorious in anti-doping history, which is why its detection characteristics are unusually well studied.
• Case reports and series document cholestatic liver injury and peliosis hepatis.
• Widely reported as one of the harsher compounds in this class for lipids, though the same attribution caveat applies — most users take more than one thing.
• Joint and tendon complaints are commonly reported by users and appear in postmarketing reports, but their frequency and mechanism are both unestablished. The altered-collagen explanation is a proposal, not a finding.

The injectable aqueous suspension is the same 17-alpha-alkylated molecule as the oral, with a different release profile — not a liver-safe alternative. It is prohibited in tested sport and produces violations. It does not convert to oestrogen. Adding drugs to manage steroid side effects is unapproved and belongs with a clinician.

17-alpha-alkylated liver load in BOTH forms (injectable included — unusual and widely misunderstood), severe lipid disruption (HDL falls fast), frequently-reported joint dryness and tendon complaints, strong hair-loss pressure, and marked HPG-axis suppression. Case reports of drug-induced liver injury and hepatic tumors exist.

• Class-level severe outcomes reported with anabolic steroids, which no compound here is exempt from: cardiac arrest, heart attack, thickened heart muscle, heart failure and stroke; serious liver injury; and mania, paranoia, psychosis, hostility, aggression, dependence and depression on withdrawal.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: androgens can cause fetal harm including virilisation of a female fetus. Avoid in both.
• Anyone with any liver condition
• Anyone with unfavourable lipids or cardiovascular disease
• Anyone on anticoagulants
• Anyone with existing tendon or joint problems
• Women, given irreversible virilisation risk
• Anyone in tested sport, where it is prohibited

• Anticoagulants — stanozolol has a well-documented potentiating effect on warfarin.
• Any hepatotoxic drug or supplement.
• Other steroids, whose free fraction rises because stanozolol lowers the binding globulin.
• Any lipid problem this causes is a matter for the clinician who manages your lipids. Nothing here is a reason to start, stop or change a prescribed medicine.

Documented interactions with other things people research. A compound not listed here does not mean the combination is safe — only that no specific interaction is on file.

• Liver enzymes and bilirubin — including on the injectable, which is the point people miss.
• Lipids, where HDL suppression is typically severe.
• Blood pressure.
• Joint and tendon symptoms, the most commonly reported functional complaint — though how often they occur, and why, is not established.
• Haematocrit.

The dry look reverses as water balance normalises. Suppression of natural testosterone recovers over weeks to months. Lipids generally recover after stopping, though repeated exposure is the pattern associated with lasting cardiovascular change. Joint discomfort typically resolves. Any jaundice or abdominal pain warrants immediate assessment.

US: Schedule III anabolic steroid under the CSA. Historically FDA-approved; current marketing status should be verified against the FDA Orange Book.

Papers about this compound, not proof of the claims above. A title says what was studied, which is sometimes a negative result or a different question entirely.

• Fibrinolytic enhancement by stanozolol: a double-blind trial
  J Clin Pathol, 1972
• Chromosome damage and cytotoxicity in oral mucosa cells after 2 months of exposure to anabolic steroids (decadurabolin and winstrol) in weight lifting
  Steroids, 2010
• Stanozolol in chronic urticaria: a double blind, placebo controlled trial
  J Dermatol, 2001

• Stanozolol as a novel therapeutic agent in dermatologyJ Am Acad Dermatol · 1995
• Stanozolol-induced bland cholestasisGastroenterol Hepatol · 2014
• Effect of Stanozolol combined with Cyclosporine A on aplastic anemiaAm J Transl Res · 2023
• Stanozolol-induced Liver Injury: A Distinctive Cholestatic Clinical and Biochemical Phenotype at PresentationJ Clin Exp Hepatol · 2025
• Stanozolol-N-glucuronide metabolites in human urine samples as suitable targets in terms of routine anti-doping analysisDrug Test Anal · 2021
• GnRHa/Stanozolol Combined Therapy Maintains Normal Bone Growth in Central Precocious PubertyFront Endocrinol (Lausanne) · 2021
• [STANOZOLOL IN PEDIATRICS]Sem Med · 1963
• Hereditary angioedemaInt J Dermatol · 1983
• The effect of stanozolol on 15nitrogen retention in the dogCan J Vet Res · 2000
• Stanozolol and Danazol Have Different Effects on Hematopoiesis in the Murine Model of Immune-Mediated Bone Marrow FailureFront Med (Lausanne) · 2021
• Hepatotoxicity of stanozolol in catsJ Am Vet Med Assoc · 2000
• Neurotoxic Effects of Stanozolol on Male Rats' Hippocampi: Does Stanozolol cause apoptosis?Biomol Concepts · 2019