Bolasterone is an oral anabolic steroid which is structurally related to methyltestosterone. It differs only by the addition of a methyl group, which is the reasoning for its chemical name. The addition of this methyl group makes the activity of this steroid far different than its cousin however, and makes any comparison between the two difficult. This drug was first developed in the late 1950's. It was closely evaluated for anabolic and androgenic effect around 3 years later. The drug was developed by the pharmaceutical company UpJohn, and was sold in the United States during the 1960s under the brand name of Myagen. It was mainly prescribed for the treatment of advanced breast cancer in women, but was also investigated for use on lean tissue sparing activity. The medical use of this drug didn't last long however, and it soon disappeared off the market not too long after it was released. By the 1980s, the drug had pretty much been forgotten by bodybuilders and athletes. Although bolasterone is no longer produced, the drug remains listed in the U.S Pharmacopeias, suggesting that it wouldn't be impossible to see the drug available once again as a prescription medication in the U.S, however this remains very unlikely.
Bolasterone is a fairly potent anabolic steroid, measured in human subjects to have approximately twice the anabolic effect of methandrostenolone. Despite being a derivative of testosterone, bolasterone is considerably more anabolic than it is androgenic in nature. Bodybuilders and athletes would often use this drug in bulking cycle, where adding extra weight wasn't a concern. Bolasterone is a very estrogenic steroid by nature, and one can expect to see all of the common estrogen related side effects when taking this drug, especially in higher doses. Estrogen related side effects can include such things as increased water and fat retention and gyno (the development of unattractive and sometimes painful female breast tissue under the nipples in males). To combat such issues, users often prefer to run some sort of anti estrogen compound such as arimidex or aromasin during cycle. This steroid can also be androgenic and can produce androgen related side effects as well. These side effects can include such things as oily skin, acne, and increased body and facial hair. In women, androgen can cause masculizing side effects such as deepening of the voice, the growth facial hair, and clitoral enlargement. Bolasterone is a C17aa compound, which means that it can be toxic to liver if taken in doses too large or for periods too long. Because of this, users are urged to try to keep cycles under 8 weeks and to run some sort of liver protection product such as liv-52. Like all anabolic steroids, bolasterone will shut down the body's natural testosterone production, making a post cycle therapy protocol necessary after the drug's use has been discontinued. Users often choose to run compounds such as clomid and HCG to get the body to start producing testosterone naturally again.
Users often choose run a dosage of 25-100mg per day for a period of 6-8 weeks. This level is sufficient for strong increases in muscle size and strength, although such gains will likely be accompanied by significant water retention due to estrogen. Bolasterone is generally not recommended for women due to its very strong nature and tendacy to produce virilizing side effects.
