Preliminary Considerations for Female Anabolic Steroid Use

Preliminary Considerations for Female Anabolic Steroid Use
Using steroids is a big deal for a female. After all, this involves taking unnaturally large quantities of male hormones into the body – hormones that the female body has not evolved to function with. Anabolic and androgenic steroids are synthetic forms and variations of the male hormone testosterone.

While females have a tiny amount of testosterone normally, any more of this male sexual hormone does just what it does in male: causes the development of male characteristics as a result of heightened androgenic and anabolic activity.

It’s the anabolic traits that are appealing to athletes, but as a female you’ll also be dealing with the unwanted androgenic effects. All of this leads to some serious considerations when you’re thinking of making use of steroids for performance and body enhancement purposes.

These include:

Understanding that taking anabolic steroids means putting male hormones into the female body.
Being aware that side effects are almost certain to develop, and in some cases can be serious and debilitating.
Knowing which steroids are most suitable for females and which ones should be avoided altogether.
Know about the half life of each steroid being considered and how long it takes to clear the system. This is important both for drug testing purposes as well as side effect control.
Having a solid knowledge of dosages and cycles and how to best use the right steroids for the results you want, while balancing the side effect risks.
Differences Between Male and Female Steroid Cycles
The harsh and drastic effects that steroids have on all female users makes it absolutely necessary to tailor a steroid cycle specifically for female needs. A woman using any anabolic steroid can not simply take the same dose and use the same cycle length as a male user.

Female steroid users will mostly be limited to only certain steroid compounds, will use them at much lower doses, and will limit the length of cycles to minimize the development of virilizing effects. There are some advantages that women have as well. Here are the main differences between male and female steroid cycles:

Short cycle lengths are required so you can manage the effects of virilization. The longer these symptoms are able to develop, the more severe they will get and even the most mild steroids come with these side effects. Therefore limiting cycle lengths is the only control option women have to reduce severity of virilization. 4 weeks is a common female steroid cycle length, but some will extend this to 6 or even 8 weeks. Male cycle length often start at the 8 week mark and can extend well beyond 12 or 16 weeks.
Some steroids should be totally avoided by female simply due to their powerful androgenic rating. Such steroids will with certainty cause such extreme virilization that they hold no benefit for female users. Males on the other hand will not have to worry about these limitations.
Men can usually stack multiple steroids together with success, but if women stack steroids it will multiply the virilization side effects as the androgenic properties compound together. Certainly, beginner users should not even consider taking more than one steroid at a time. Advanced female users can and do stack compounds but one must be even more vigilant in recognizing and mitigating side effects.
Male users will see testosterone suppression ranging from mild to severe, so usually have to include a testosterone steroid in the cycle to maintain normal function. This is obviously not an issue for females so an additional steroid compound not related to performance outcomes is not necessary. Additionally, women won’t need to worry about post cycle therapy.