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Recently I've received some questions and read some comments by female trainees regarding water retention while using steroids. I think this should be addressed briefly as there seems to a general lack of understanding of how steroids affect women vs men.
Cardinal rule #1: DO NOT assume that everything your significant male other tells you about steroids is accurate. Even if he does know pretty much everything about how a particular drug affects him or all his bros, it's very unlikely he has any idea how it might affect a woman. This is exactly the reason it is particularly foolish to start a steroid just because your boyfriend advised it.
Steroids do not affect us the same as they affect men.
Cardinal rule #2: The "steroid profiles" you may find on various fitness forums are nearly all written with men in mind. The characterization of prevalence of different side effects are all written from the POV of men. A particular drug characterized as being a "slight" or a "moderate" risk of a certain side may in fact be a very high risk of an intolerable side effect in women.
Experienced female users are your best resource.
Now with respect to water retention, any steroid that converts to estrogen even a little, or can via some other mechanism increase the effect of estrogen in your body, is very likely to cause noticeable water retention in the female user. Case in point, both Boldenone ("EQ") and Deca/NPP/Nandrolone are characterized in internet "steroid profiles" as aromatizing far less than testosterone. These profiles tend to lead the reader to conclude that estrogenic sides are not a issue. BUT YOU AREN'T A MAN, ARE YOU? You already have far more estrogen than men, so even a slight increase can (and probably will) cause water retention. Even oxandrolone ("anavar") can cause water retention in women.
Please do your own personal research regarding steroids before starting them so you more fully aware of what to expect.
Cardinal rule #1: DO NOT assume that everything your significant male other tells you about steroids is accurate. Even if he does know pretty much everything about how a particular drug affects him or all his bros, it's very unlikely he has any idea how it might affect a woman. This is exactly the reason it is particularly foolish to start a steroid just because your boyfriend advised it.
Steroids do not affect us the same as they affect men.
Cardinal rule #2: The "steroid profiles" you may find on various fitness forums are nearly all written with men in mind. The characterization of prevalence of different side effects are all written from the POV of men. A particular drug characterized as being a "slight" or a "moderate" risk of a certain side may in fact be a very high risk of an intolerable side effect in women.
Experienced female users are your best resource.
Now with respect to water retention, any steroid that converts to estrogen even a little, or can via some other mechanism increase the effect of estrogen in your body, is very likely to cause noticeable water retention in the female user. Case in point, both Boldenone ("EQ") and Deca/NPP/Nandrolone are characterized in internet "steroid profiles" as aromatizing far less than testosterone. These profiles tend to lead the reader to conclude that estrogenic sides are not a issue. BUT YOU AREN'T A MAN, ARE YOU? You already have far more estrogen than men, so even a slight increase can (and probably will) cause water retention. Even oxandrolone ("anavar") can cause water retention in women.
Please do your own personal research regarding steroids before starting them so you more fully aware of what to expect.
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