Posted by Optimist on December 21, 2004, at 9:04:03
In reply to Anabolic Steroids, posted by ed_uk on December 21, 2004, at 7:37:53
> Has anyone on babble ever taken an anabolic steroid? If so, did it have any psychological effects? eg. increased aggression, anxiety, depression, euphoria, irritability, mania, increased energy etc.
>
> Examples of anabolic steroids include nandrolone, stanozolol and oxymetholone.
>
> Ed.
Hi Ed. I'm not very experienced with taking steroids although I have researched them extensively. I'm very active in working out and sports so the topic has always been a hobby of mine.Depending on the steroid it will give you different psychological effects. Methandrostenolone (Dianabol), tends to be a rather powerful mood brightener. It has some robust pro-dopamine qualities which tends to make the user feel more euphoric, prosocial, confident, energetic but may cause insomnia, and hypertension.
Testosterone tends to have the most applicable use for depression. It tends to have similar qualities to increased dopamine as testosterone indirectly increases it (increased sexual interest, confidence, energy, etc...). Testosterone therapy isn't really a great long term solution though as it down regulates your own production, but some men use it regardless as their own natural production is impaired.
Many of the other steroids you listed will impair mood, as they tend to decrease your own natural production over prolonged use. Nandrolone usually tends to cause sexual disfunction (also called Deca dick) after it's trade name Deca Durabolin. Stanozolol(Winstrol) and Oxymetholone(Anadrol) aren't very useful either as mood brighteners either. They are also hepatoxic over time which limits it's duration. Some of them are known for exacerbating depression as well.
So basically testosterone, and dianabol are the only useful moodbrighteners. Dianabol being an oral drug is also considered hepatoxic over time so it rather limits it's use as well. Usually only 6 weeks at a time, in order to provide recovery of the liver.
The mechanism in which these androgenic steroids increase mood is mainly through increased dopamine function. Increasing dopamine through prodopaminergic drugs, like wellbutrin, selegiline, amineptine, etc... will indirectly increase testosterone levels as their production is correlated. Serotonin in constrast as you know generally lowers dopamine function and thus also tends to lower testosterone as well. People on SSRI's tend to have blunted testosterone levels usually due to this effect. The solution is not always to add endogenous testostone to the mix first as an end organ hormone can have more widespread side effects, like cancer, etc... as they tend to promote tissue growth. The same with estrogen and breast cancer as you have probably heard before. So if one wants to increase their testosterone production it is usually best to check dopamine function first and start from there.
Are you interested in possibly using yourself to improve your mood Ed, or are you just curious?
Brian
poster:Optimist
thread:432382
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041217/msgs/432403.html