Anabolic Steroids and the Female Reproductive System

In the normal female body small amounts of testosterone are produced, and as in males,artificially increasing levels by administration of AS will affect the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis. An increase in circulating androgens will
inhibitthe production and release of LH and FSH, resulting in a declinein serum levels of LH, FSH, estrogens and progesterone. This may result in inhibition of follicle formation, ovulation, and irregularities of the menstrual cycle. The irregularities of the menstrual cycle are characterized by a prolongation of the follicular phase, shortening of the luteal phase or amenorrhea. Although these changes are generally more pronounced in younger women,large inter-individual responsiveness to anabolic steroids exists. The effects of AS dosages as generally used in sport, on the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in females are hardly studied.

Her Natural Body Functions & Steroids

Anabolic steroids affect a woman's natural body functions. With an increase in testosterone levels, her hormone levels are far from being in synch. Besides having
mean serum testosterone levels around 30 times greater than normal, a woman will
have a decrease in sex-hormone binding globulin (SHBG- a protein produced in the
liver) a decrease in follicle-stimulating hormones, a decrease in circulating HDL-cholesterol, and a decrease in thyroid binding proteins. With these ever changing levels of hormones a woman's immune system is at risk. She can become very vulnerable to infectious diseases and just might be hospitalized by the common cold. It is said, that it is possible that anabolic steroids might inhibit the immunomodulatory and antiviral activities of androgens like DHEA (acts on adrenal glands to induce the production of corticosteroids and dehydroepiandrosterone.)Also, this study further indicated that anabolic steroids significantly inhibited the production of corticotrophin in blood lymphocytes immediately following a viral infection. Simply stated, they can cause the prevention of antibodies when you get sick and lead to altered immune reactions.

Cardiovascular Risk Factors Associated With Steroid Usage

Cardiovascular risk factors include the alteration or diminishing of her glucose tolerance and hyperinsulinism (become resistant to insulin), a change in lipoproteins(carry cholesterol in blood) fraction which can cause cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis (deposition of fatty substances onto inner walls of arteries causing blockage), increased triglyceride levels, hypertension (abnormally high blood pressure), changes in her myocardium (middle muscular layer of heart wall), and increased concentration levels of several different clotting factors. Blood clots that form in blood vessel disrupt the flow of blood and can damage the heart muscle. Cardiomyopathy (typically chronic disorder of heart muscle that may involve hypertrophy and obstructive damage to the heart), myocardial infarction (localized death of the myocardium tissue usually leading to heart failure), heart attack,stroke, and cerebro- vascular accidents can occur. Anabolic steroids also affect the liver. They can cause cholestatic jaundice (failure of bile flow that causes
yellowish pigmentation of skin, tissues, and body fluids), peliosis hepatis(blood-filled cysts develop on liver), hepatocellular hyperplasia (unusual increase of an epithelial parenchymatous cell called hepatocytes in the liver), and cancer. A
woman can develop kidney disease and/ or cancer. A woman's musculoskeletal system is affected as well. She can have a very short stature and tendon rupture will occur frequently since muscle strength is increasing so rapidly that tendons and ligaments can't keep up. A woman's reproductive system is in the line of fire when steroids are in use because of diminished estrogen activity. Her hypothalamis- pituitary-gonadal axis is off balance. With the increase of testosterone circulating, a decline in estrogen and progesterone occurs. Steroid use can result in the inhibition of follicle formation, ovulation, and irregularities of menstrual cycle which can lead to amenorrhea (absence or suppression of the menstrual cycle). A woman also runs a very high risk of developing cervical and/ or endometrical cancer and uterine atrophy.

I have been doing alot of research as of lately trying to get my womens board going let me tell ya it is'nt easy . I wish there were lots more women in this sport or atleast that visit the boards.. Im not doing to bad though i have lots of friends and everyday im making new ones.

I will double check all my refs again to see if i mised anything else and ill post if so if not then on with my next paper. Which will have to do with cellulite, aging, and hgh for anti-aging... i have one other article done on why women use steroids and what happens with pregnancy & steroids ill post it here later....

I would still go back on another cycle (which I'm going to do within the next week or so) but I'm dreading that side effect if I get it again. I'm just thinking its gotta be from my body's hormone levels being so out of wack then going back to a more normal level and it was just sooo screwed up. And also, during my cycle I never got any acne either, but afterwards now I've been more prone to breakouts on my shoulders/arms.

So thats also gotta be part of the same reason.

Anyone else with similar experiences PLEASE share.

thanks

Its said that a level of 11% b/f as a "critical level" for the onset of mestruation. Give or take 4%bf in many active healthy women. There have been excess amounts of research showing that there is a high incidence of menstrual irregularites in athletic women in the past four years.

A lot of the evidence reveals that high intensity workouts stimulate differences in your menstrual cycle. An increase in testosterone in the blood occurs at the same time in women who perform strenuos exercise. Theoretically speaking the mass of bf% relative to lean body mass is a major factor in these irregular menstrual cycles.

some of the changes that occur in a women do to these irregularities are things like a decrease in ovarian fuction, metabolic and hormonal changes (the ratio of estrogen's to androgens in the body. these are just some short term things if it the occurence is long term there are many more dangers which you can read about in the article when its completed..

these are some of the things that bring about the changes in menstrual cycles.

1. intensity of training
2. diet, ( a high protein, low carb diet or ketosis diet can disrupt the cycle
3.decreased hypothalmic activity
4.anabolic steroid usage,the flowing of male hormones in the body whether synthetic such as anavar, deca, testosterone, all can cause great irregularites
5. heavy weight training or long distance running
6.low bf% below 12%
7. early pre pubertal athletic training
8. reproductive maturity
9. both physical and mental stress

Well ill stop now since i just gave you a peak at the next article im working on soon to be added to www.mesomorph.net in the womens documents section. I will make this section the most informative site on the net for the womens aspects of our sport! Please do stop by and visit us.

mr.huge

I read some of your articles on meso and I've gotta say you're going to scare the livin' shit ooutta some ladies. I hope that's not your aim, but HIV?? Losing breasts?? Come on. Bodybuilding will make you lose brast size with or without AAS (as will low bodyfat). I was nver chester to begin with, but if anything weights enhanced the shape. Deepening of voice, yeah slightly. So what?? I don't sing at the MET. This is not a flame, but where did you get your info from?? I've read an artilce in the pubmed that nandrolone will prevent osteoperosis, not speed it up.

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There have been a couple of studies showing AS stiffens tendons which ironically makes the tendon more likely to tear. And yes they are on Pubmed, I'll find them for you when I've got more time. And yes, Nandrolone was used for a while to treat osteoporosis in POST-MENOPAUSAL women without estrogen replacement. But in normal, ovulating women Deca behaves very similarly to many other AS in disrupting the HPTA which leads to reduced estrogen and therefore increased risk of Osteoporosis.

But I understand what you mean by scaring women off. I also would prefer it if mr huge would cite his references. As I mentioned above, you will find all sorts of bizarre side effects listed by the manufacturers of these drugs, even if there was only a 0.1% occurrence of that side effect. It would be nice if mr huge could sift through the possible versus likely side effects of specific drugs at different doses in females. Of course, this info is not always available on PubMed!