Turinabol

Tbol / chlorodehydromethyltestosterone · Anabolic steroid (oral)

Research reference only. Pepdex does not sell, supply or track this compound, and nothing here is guidance to use it — this page exists so the evidence and the risks are visible.

What it is

The East German state-doping steroid — an oral chlorinated testosterone derivative administered systematically to athletes in the 1970s-80s, chosen partly because it evaded the era's drug testing.

How it works

Turinabol is chlorodehydromethyltestosterone — structurally a modified methandrostenolone with a chlorine atom added that prevents aromatisation entirely. So it combines oral 17-alpha alkylation with no oestrogen conversion, and users report steady gains without water retention — an unverified user account, not a controlled finding. 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. That modification is what makes them orally active and is strongly associated with the highest cholestatic risk in this class, though the exact injury mechanism is not settled.

What human evidence shows

The East German program's archives document widespread administration, performance effect, and systematic harm — but that was state doping, not controlled clinical research. No legitimate clinical development exists since.

The studies, one by one

NONE SHOWN for physique use in a controlled trial. Its human record is unusual and grim: it is the compound at the centre of the East German state doping programme, administered to thousands of athletes, many of them minors, often without their knowledge.
That programme produced the closest thing to a long-term human dataset for any anabolic steroid — follow-up of former athletes documented persistent endocrine dysfunction, gynaecological problems, and psychiatric and physical harm decades later.
It is a record of harm from involuntary administration, not a study of benefit. It cannot establish efficacy, but it is the most substantial long-term human harm evidence in this entire catalogue.
It is prohibited in tested sport, and long-term metabolite detection was a major driver of retrospective sample retesting.

Half-life and how long it lasts

Orally active and 17-alpha-alkylated, so it carries the hepatic risk of that class. It cannot aromatise. Adding drugs to manage steroid side effects is unapproved and is a decision for a clinician rather than a self-directed one. It has low androgenic activity relative to its anabolic activity, which is why it was chosen for the athletes it was given to. No FDA-approved human product exists.

Risks

17-alpha-alkylated liver load, lipid damage that community bloodwork consistently suggests is worse than its mild reputation implies, HPG-axis suppression, and — per the East German records — long-term harms including liver disease and, in women, virilization that did not reverse. Modern long-term metabolite testing detects it months after exposure.

Who should never touch it

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 or unexplained enzyme elevation
Anyone with unfavourable lipids or cardiovascular disease
Children and adolescents, where androgens can close growth plates prematurely and cause precocious puberty
Women, given virilisation risk documented at scale in the East German follow-up
Anyone who wants children in the foreseeable future

Interactions worth knowing

Alcohol, paracetamol and any hepatotoxic drug or supplement.
Anticoagulants, which anabolic steroids can potentiate.
Other oral 17-alpha-alkylated compounds, where liver burden is additive.
Tested sport, where it is prohibited.

Stacking interactions

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.

CautionWinstrol