Liver protection

This makes many mainstream bodybuilders avoid them and opt for the injectable steroids to be the base of their steroid cycle as they are much easier on the liver. Injectable steroids are not methylated, which makes them break down slowly after some days, thereby putting less stress on the liver. The liver is a very resilient organ and will recover or regenerate if it’s damaged or cut. Nonetheless, you need to take significant care to protect you liver when using oral steroids, if you choose to use them. Some of the most common alkylated anabolic steroids that are toxic to your liver are Dianabol, Anavar, Anadrol, and Winstrol. The non-alkylated steroids are the injectable steroids such as Masteron, Testosterone, Deca Durabolin, Equipoise, Primobolan, and others. If you want to keep your liver free of toxins, choose any of these non-alkylated steroids. This is especially important for those who are prone to liver disorders. If you have to use oral steroids, you need to take measures and supplements to protect the liver from significant damage. Continue reading this post to know the main liver protection measures and supplements that you can use

How Important Is Your Liver?

The liver is such a vital organ of the body that one can only survive for a few days if it stops working- if the liver fails, your body will cease to function due to the accumulation of toxins. Fortunately, the liver can still function well, even when 75% of it is damaged or sick. This is because it has a regenerative ability and can grow again from the healthy liver cells that exist.

The liver has the role of eliminating toxins from the body. Steroids are toxic, hence, when they enter the body, the liver begins to filter them so that they don’t get into the bloodstream. To avoid being broken down in the liver cells, oral steroids are modified in a way that makes them resistant to the excretory function of the liver. This makes it almost impossible for the liver to eliminate them from the body; hence, they accumulate in the body and might lead to serious health consequences. Steroids can stay in the bloodstream for a long time after you finish the cycle. If you use them intravenously, you can even find traces of them months after stopping their usage. This is why most people prefer oral steroids because they normally take a few weeks to leave the body. This, according to health experts, is still a long period, but it’s better as compared to intravenously taken steroids. However, you need to take precaution and protection too when taking them orally since the liver needs to be at its best for most of the time so that it can effectively deal with the body’s toxins.

Warning Signs of Serious Liver Issues

There are several common signs to indicate that your liver might be affected or damaged significantly. If you start the steroid cycle, and start seeing or feeling the following symptoms, you need to take protective measures.

• Decreased appetite
• Yellow eyes or jaundiced skin
• Nausea as well as feeling signs of fever
• Excessive itchiness
• Blood in the stool
• Dark amber color in your urine (quite darker urine)

Recommended Liver Protection Measures and Supplements

The intent of this section is to show how one can break the steroids cycle to keep their liver fully functional while keeping the steroids active in the body without negative side effects. Some of the measures you can take to ensure liver protection with oral steroids include:

1. Using Non-Alkylated Steroids As a Base

The use of oral steroids is contraindicated, especially when used alone. It puts a lot of pressure on your liver, and it may damage it beyond repair. Even if the oral steroids don’t have any negative effect on your body, it’s good to couple them with an injectable to keep your liver healthy and toxic free. Such a mix has a great synergistic effect on your stamina as it enables you to achieve two things at once–you protect your liver and get greater results in your bulking or cutting journey.

However, the dosage should not exceed 350-750 mg per week of the stack as a higher dosage will inhibit the excretory function of the liver. Even if the gains exceed your expectations, you might bulk more or get slimmer at the expense of your liver.

Steroids cycle durations should not exceed six weeks. Many steroids users take oral anabolic steroids for more than six weeks and don’t notice any damage to their liver, but this might be a costly mistake. They may feel healthy and toxic-free, but what they don’t know is that every week, steroids scar the liver tissue, which is undetected. Over time, the situation will worsen as the steroids don’t allow the liver cells to heal and regenerate. The end result is not only bigger muscles, but also a big scar on your liver which might put you at risk of developing cancer or liver failure.

Six weeks is an ideal time frame of a steroid cycle, so as to give time for the liver cells to regenerate and heal. If you want to use steroids for a longer cycle, then replacing oral with the injectable is a must. Replace a gram of Anadrol or Winstrol with Testosterone, while Anavar can be substituted with Trenbolone in a ratio of 2:3. Look for the injectable that has the same effects as the oral you’re currently using and make the substitution at the start of the 7th week of the cycle.

2. Take Supplements To Protect Your Liver

In spite of the caution taken with steroid use, it’s important to include liver supplements in your daily diet; Lecithin, Samarin, and Milk Thistle are some of the products you can consider, but you aren’t limited to them. Purchase them from a reliable source to make sure that you don’t ingest counterfeit products. This applies for anabolics too.

3. Avoid Liver Toxic Medications And Alcohol

When on steroids, avoid drinking alcohol and be cautious of the drugs that have liver toxicity properties. The liver excretory ability is already perturbed, don’t make the situation worse.

CLOSING THOUGHT

Before getting beginning an oral steroid cycle, make sure that your liver is functioning normally. The same applies when you have finished a cycle, and you’re ready for the next one. If you have liver issues, don’t even attempt to be undertake an oral cycle. Keep in mind that all these recommended liver protections with oral steroids and measures will reduce the degree of the damage to your liver to keep you healthy. However, they don’t offer a 100% protection guarantee to your liver.