Question: I have regular back pain and take Tylenol daily, usually three or four pills. I want to do a cycle of Anadrol. This would be the first time I try steroids and I am just a little worried about my liver. Will the Tylenol make Anadrol more toxic?
Answer: Tylenol does exhibit some toxicity to the liver, so its regular use should be a concern when contemplating oral steroid use, which can also place a strain on this organ. You mentioned that you took three to four pills per day, which going by the normal 500-milligram dose would equate to 1,500-2,000 milligrams of acetaminophen. While I believe 4,000 milligrams daily is considered the short-term limit for safe use, 2,000 milligrams is usually the upper limit of what a doctor will tell you to take for longer periods of time. Even this can place strain on the liver in sensitive individuals or when taken for too long, however. Taking a c-17 alpha alkylated steroid like Anadrol on top of this could potentially be worrisome. I have personally seen lab work in which liver enzymes dramatically exceeded normal ranges when this combination was presented, so take caution. If I were your doctor, which I an not (I am not a doctor at all), I would probably do some blood work on you right off the bat, to get a snapshot of where your baseline (with Tylenol) values are sitting. Even if they were fine, I would likely suggest not taking Tylenol and oral steroids concurrently. The risk of mixing two substances like this is really not warranted, so I’d think you shouldn’t do it if it can be avoided. You may want to try switching to ibuprofen if abstaining from over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication is not an acceptable option for you. This doesn’t place the same level of strain on the liver and would likely be okay. Keep in mind though that both pain medications, and aspirin as well, inhibit the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. Prostaglandins mediate the early physiological changes (post-training) that produce anabolism, such as increasing protein degradation and synthesis rates, intensifying androgen receptor levels and triggering vasodilation (nutrient availability). The use of these drugs may lower pain sensation, but they will also dampen the muscle-building response if taken too regularly. For this reason many bodybuilders are trying their best to stay away from OTC pain medications in general, for fear they will inadvertently be hindering their progress. Of course, you will need to determine on your own how necessary these medications are. Logic would also dictate that first and foremost you need to be able to train, so certainly don’t avoid ibuprofen if not having it is going to keep you out of the gym. Do try to avoid Tylenol though, at least while taking oral steroids.
Question: What do you know about L-Carnosine? My friend mentioned people are injecting this stuff for growth. Is this true? Isn’t this just an amino acid?
Answer: L-Carnosine is a natural neuropeptide made out of the amino acids alanine and histidine. It can be found in many body tissues and is especially concentrated in the brain, eyes and skeletal muscle. Carnosine is believed to offer a number of health benefits, and more recently has been shown to offer some tangible benefits to athletes and bodybuilders as well, at least when taken in the right protocols. Now, mind you, I have not had an opportunity to experiment with injectable carnosine myself, although I probably will at some point in the future when I feel I’m prepared to closely evaluate my progress. I have, however, spoken with Charles Poliquin about it in some detail and he has me very intrigued with this nutrient. In case you are unfamiliar, Charles is one of the world’s foremost strength trainers and is known to have worked with countless Olympic and professional athletes over the years. He’s using these injections with many of his athletes currently and reports significant improvements in muscle endurance with their use. As I understand it, a sterile carnosine solution is injected into the belly of a particular muscle before it’s to be trained that day. According to Charles, there is an immediate improvement in the amount of work volume the muscle seems to endure. He further suggests that as this continues over time, actual improvements in muscle size can be seen. Given the absolute fanaticism over anabolic steroids these days, I expect both drug testing and the search for alternative therapies will be heating up in the months and years to come. If carnosine delivers in the real world like Charles claims it does, we may indeed see this substance used more regularly by competitive athletes. It also makes me wonder how the sports organizations are going to respond to some of the new performance enhancing methods such as this. Its use seems logically very difficult to prohibit, and even more so, to test for in the urine. Time will tell.
Question: I am a patient of PowerMedica and they were all over the news last week. They were raided by the DEA and I believe closed down. I am freaking out. Does this mean my testosterone is illegal? Should I be getting a lawyer?
Answer: I’m not sure you need to panic right now. You should probably be able to find comfort in remembering that you entered into your relationship with them expecting that they’d provide you with medical supervision, not just a drug. Since this was allegedly still a real medical clinic with staffed physicians, PowerMedica was not acting quite the same as a drug dealer here. The raid, as I understand it, also had to do with drug labeling and importation violations, not patient prescribing. Since you are located in Southeast Florida, I’m assuming you were also visiting their Ft. Lauderdale offices in person, in which case you should have had direct interaction with your prescribing physician. It’s very difficult to argue that you were doing something wrong given such a scenario, even if that is what law enforcement was suspecting. Now, with that said, PowerMedica also accepted patients outside of the state and handled their prescribing and blood work remotely. Many other companies do this as well, and I know a lot of “mail-order” patients might be worried right now. Thankfully, to date, I have never heard of a patient of a longevity clinic like PowerMedica being targeted by law enforcement. Hopefully, they never will. The whole concept of telemedicine is very new though, and indeed controversial. However, I am not prepared to think this will be anything but an established and valid avenue of medicine in the years to come. The convenience is too obvious to be ignored; especially in today’s world of HMO insurance plans and packed physician waiting rooms, at least from my perspective. This is a very hot subject in general, and if you plan on looking more into testosterone replacement in the future, especially via telemedicine, you might want to look into some of the works of New York attorney Rick Collins. Rick is arguably the country’s leading expert on the legal issues surrounding anabolic steroids and can give you a lot better advice on this subject.
Answer: Tylenol does exhibit some toxicity to the liver, so its regular use should be a concern when contemplating oral steroid use, which can also place a strain on this organ. You mentioned that you took three to four pills per day, which going by the normal 500-milligram dose would equate to 1,500-2,000 milligrams of acetaminophen. While I believe 4,000 milligrams daily is considered the short-term limit for safe use, 2,000 milligrams is usually the upper limit of what a doctor will tell you to take for longer periods of time. Even this can place strain on the liver in sensitive individuals or when taken for too long, however. Taking a c-17 alpha alkylated steroid like Anadrol on top of this could potentially be worrisome. I have personally seen lab work in which liver enzymes dramatically exceeded normal ranges when this combination was presented, so take caution. If I were your doctor, which I an not (I am not a doctor at all), I would probably do some blood work on you right off the bat, to get a snapshot of where your baseline (with Tylenol) values are sitting. Even if they were fine, I would likely suggest not taking Tylenol and oral steroids concurrently. The risk of mixing two substances like this is really not warranted, so I’d think you shouldn’t do it if it can be avoided. You may want to try switching to ibuprofen if abstaining from over-the-counter (OTC) pain medication is not an acceptable option for you. This doesn’t place the same level of strain on the liver and would likely be okay. Keep in mind though that both pain medications, and aspirin as well, inhibit the conversion of arachidonic acid to prostaglandins. Prostaglandins mediate the early physiological changes (post-training) that produce anabolism, such as increasing protein degradation and synthesis rates, intensifying androgen receptor levels and triggering vasodilation (nutrient availability). The use of these drugs may lower pain sensation, but they will also dampen the muscle-building response if taken too regularly. For this reason many bodybuilders are trying their best to stay away from OTC pain medications in general, for fear they will inadvertently be hindering their progress. Of course, you will need to determine on your own how necessary these medications are. Logic would also dictate that first and foremost you need to be able to train, so certainly don’t avoid ibuprofen if not having it is going to keep you out of the gym. Do try to avoid Tylenol though, at least while taking oral steroids.
Question: What do you know about L-Carnosine? My friend mentioned people are injecting this stuff for growth. Is this true? Isn’t this just an amino acid?
Answer: L-Carnosine is a natural neuropeptide made out of the amino acids alanine and histidine. It can be found in many body tissues and is especially concentrated in the brain, eyes and skeletal muscle. Carnosine is believed to offer a number of health benefits, and more recently has been shown to offer some tangible benefits to athletes and bodybuilders as well, at least when taken in the right protocols. Now, mind you, I have not had an opportunity to experiment with injectable carnosine myself, although I probably will at some point in the future when I feel I’m prepared to closely evaluate my progress. I have, however, spoken with Charles Poliquin about it in some detail and he has me very intrigued with this nutrient. In case you are unfamiliar, Charles is one of the world’s foremost strength trainers and is known to have worked with countless Olympic and professional athletes over the years. He’s using these injections with many of his athletes currently and reports significant improvements in muscle endurance with their use. As I understand it, a sterile carnosine solution is injected into the belly of a particular muscle before it’s to be trained that day. According to Charles, there is an immediate improvement in the amount of work volume the muscle seems to endure. He further suggests that as this continues over time, actual improvements in muscle size can be seen. Given the absolute fanaticism over anabolic steroids these days, I expect both drug testing and the search for alternative therapies will be heating up in the months and years to come. If carnosine delivers in the real world like Charles claims it does, we may indeed see this substance used more regularly by competitive athletes. It also makes me wonder how the sports organizations are going to respond to some of the new performance enhancing methods such as this. Its use seems logically very difficult to prohibit, and even more so, to test for in the urine. Time will tell.
Question: I am a patient of PowerMedica and they were all over the news last week. They were raided by the DEA and I believe closed down. I am freaking out. Does this mean my testosterone is illegal? Should I be getting a lawyer?
Answer: I’m not sure you need to panic right now. You should probably be able to find comfort in remembering that you entered into your relationship with them expecting that they’d provide you with medical supervision, not just a drug. Since this was allegedly still a real medical clinic with staffed physicians, PowerMedica was not acting quite the same as a drug dealer here. The raid, as I understand it, also had to do with drug labeling and importation violations, not patient prescribing. Since you are located in Southeast Florida, I’m assuming you were also visiting their Ft. Lauderdale offices in person, in which case you should have had direct interaction with your prescribing physician. It’s very difficult to argue that you were doing something wrong given such a scenario, even if that is what law enforcement was suspecting. Now, with that said, PowerMedica also accepted patients outside of the state and handled their prescribing and blood work remotely. Many other companies do this as well, and I know a lot of “mail-order” patients might be worried right now. Thankfully, to date, I have never heard of a patient of a longevity clinic like PowerMedica being targeted by law enforcement. Hopefully, they never will. The whole concept of telemedicine is very new though, and indeed controversial. However, I am not prepared to think this will be anything but an established and valid avenue of medicine in the years to come. The convenience is too obvious to be ignored; especially in today’s world of HMO insurance plans and packed physician waiting rooms, at least from my perspective. This is a very hot subject in general, and if you plan on looking more into testosterone replacement in the future, especially via telemedicine, you might want to look into some of the works of New York attorney Rick Collins. Rick is arguably the country’s leading expert on the legal issues surrounding anabolic steroids and can give you a lot better advice on this subject.