Not sure if this will get seen, and hence replied to.
But, what is Protodrol....? Never heard if it, and I've been
at this for nearly, a combined 12-14 years, with a
modest break entirely from gear "and" training
altogether.
DHt derivative. Good for pre contest, and mood. Not too strong , Ive never went above 75 mgs. Some guys were going up to 150 etc. I tend to go lower on any anabolics , to avoid androgenic side effects.
Nomenclature: 17a-methyl-5a-androst-17b-ol, or 17a-methyl-17b-hydroxy-5a-androstane, or 17a-methyl-etioallocholane-17b-ol, or 17a-methylandrostan-17-ol
Synonyms: Protodrol, desoxymestanolone, desoxymethyldihydrotestosterone, proto-plex
Before being launched as "Protodrol" by iForce Nutrition, this compound was mentioned in Vida's book, as well as a couple of medical studies, and like lots of designer steroids was synthesized at one point by Patrick Arnold.
If you thought that the nomenclature looks a lot like methyl DHT, you'd be right. This compound is methyl DHT without the 3-ketone (so it could be described as 3-desoxy mestanolone).
A 3-ketone usually increases activity, so one could assume from this that methyl DHT would be stronger than its desoxy cousin Protodrol, however the Vida data would suggest otherwise (though it's worth remembering that the different sources Vida quotes often give wildly differing values for the same compounds, so they shouldn't be taken as gospel).
There also exists the possibility that the body is capable of introducing a 3-ketone to protodrol in vivo. This is well-documented with delta4 3-desoxy steroids such as ethylestrenol, but whether it's possible or not with protodrol is unknown.
However, the main marketing point of Protodrol wasn't its anabolic or androgenic potential, it was the promise of being the only 17a-methyl to be liver safe.
Despite the relatively small number of symptomatic cases of hepatic injury caused by methylated steroids, liver health is a genuine concern (not least because by the time you are symptomatic, you're already in a bad way). The primary method by which 17a-alkylated steroids induce injury on the liver is by causing a condition called cholestasis, where the liver is unable to excrete toxins into the intestine via the bile ducts. Instead, the liver gets "backed up" and waste products like bilirubin start leaking out into the blood stream (causing the yellow discolouration in the eyes and skin known as jaundice).
This condition is typically reversible, but the case studies make for a sobering read.
Bromosulfophthalein (BSP) is a relatively nontoxic organic anion used as an in vivo indicator of liver performance. Elimination of BSP via the biliary system following iv injection requires dissociation from albumin in plasma, translocation across the sinusoidal membrane, conjugation with glutathione within the hepatocyte, translocation across the bile canalicular membrane, and excretion in bile.
If doses of protodrol failed to impair biliary function in rabbits at such high doses, it bodes well for human use, however it doesn't rule out some degree of hepatic toxicity by other mechanisms.
But what does protodrol do?
Patrick Arnold knocked some up back in '05, and had this to say about it:
I had some people try it out, one guy in particular who was an old friend in town and was my guinea pig for stuff since back when I first was making 4-AD and its nor analog. Anyway, this guy comes back after six weeks or so and says, “What the hell WAS that stuff?” I asked him what he meant and he said it’s the best stuff he has ever taken. He had clean gains and felt great and his strength was through the roof.
Of course since then there's been a lot more people use this compound, and so for dosage instructions and cycle expectations it would be wise to defer to the user logs and feedback.
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