With Dianabol, the risks are at the serious end, as they relate to your liver, cholesterol, and overall heart health. No steroid is considered safe to use for performance enhancement, and the risks to your health are well known. This is where a post-cycle therapy plan is critical, with SERM drugs like Nolvadex and Clomid being essential to have on hand, ready to go. This happens via the 5-AR (5-alpha-reductase) enzyme, which is responsible for converting testosterone into DHT. AIs have also been shown to be advantageous when combined with SERMs for restoring testosterone production. After using SERMs for 8 years, side effects are more likely to be experienced (or severe) from this point onward. Adverse effects are less common in men compared to women, with hot flashes being the most common drawback. SERMs can be used over the long term, being deemed "acceptable" in regard to side effects (22). This is a classic mass-gaining stack used by competitive bodybuilders. "Split dosing of oral anabolic steroids improves tolerability and reduces adverse events without reducing efficacy," notes Antonio et al., JISSN. Because Dbol has a relatively short half-life of 4 to 6 hours, how you split your daily dose can significantly impact side effects, blood levels, and overall results. Most users incorporate Dianabol into the first 4–6 weeks of a longer bulking cycle. For most athletes, 30–40 mg/day for 4–6 weeks is the sweet spot for maximizing gains while managing health risks. Dianabol and trenbolone are two contrasting compounds, yet both are used during bulking cycles thanks to their anabolism. However, there are considerable drawbacks, as it can amplify some of the side effects experienced with Dianabol. Thus, there is not much benefit in adding creatine to your Dianabol cycle. The anabolic effect of creatine is significantly less in comparison to Dianabol. This isn’t ideal, as more water will cause even more bloating and viscous blood, potentially exacerbating blood pressure. Many guys find that 10-20mg daily is enough to gain exceptional gains in strength and excellent results, while others will boost the dose to 50mg. I start PCT 2 weeks after the last testosterone injection (usually week 12) with 20mg/day Nolvadex for weeks 1-2, then 10mg/day Nolva for weeks 3-4. Even though Dianabol has relatively controlled and low androgenic effects compared with other steroids, androgenic side effects are still possible, and this includes hair loss on the head or male pattern baldness. Still, it is not sought after by human users, probably because the oral Dianabol is quick-acting, easy to take, and has a core purpose in a cycle thanks to how it works as an oral steroid. This is one of the very few anabolic steroids that is almost universally used orally. It is also, like all anabolic steroids, a banned substance by world sporting bodies. At the other end of the spectrum are labs that pay little to no attention to quality or hygiene, and it’s these steroid providers that can put your health at significant risk. Much of the raw material required to make steroids in these labs comes from sources in Eastern Europe and China. This can get very serious and is caused by a rise in LDL cholesterol, which impacts blood pressure and water retention. Not to be forgotten are the positive results revolving around strength gains. In our experience, how shut down a user’s testosterone levels will be is determined by the dose and duration of the cycle. If bloating or water retention becomes excessive, users should lower the dose or discontinue use. Due to Dianabol’s aromatization effects and being highly estrogenic, it’s a compound that causes significant amounts of water retention. Other steroids, such as trenbolone or Anavar, are superior in this regard because they don’t cause extracellular water retention. Most anabolic steroids are safe to use under medical doses, but few are approved for this purpose. If you use a low dose of Dbol for short cycles (6 weeks or less), these side effects will generally subside after your cycle. Gains will then slow down to a steadier pace as testosterone takes over, and you should be able to control water retention with a good diet by limiting the Dianabol dose to 25mg. Dianabol IS suppressive, but at a moderate dose and short cycles, it’s possible to run Dbol alone and not suffer from low testosterone.