Long since removed from the commercial drug market, mestanolone is a synthetic oral derivative of dihydrotestosterone.This steroid is a 17-alpha methylated form of this potent endogenous androgen, being essentially (in structure) to DHT what methyltestosterone is to testosterone. Overall this new oral androgen has an activity profile not very dissimilar to the natural steroid used to make it. For starters, since no further structural modification was added to protect the 3-ketone group, this steroid will be rapidly broken down in skeletal muscle tissue by the 3-alpha hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme. This means that just like DHT, mestanolone will offer minimal direct anabolic activity. Its effect is almost purely androgenic instead. Both DHT and mestanolone are also devoid of estrogenic activity, which eliminates the chance for estrogenic side effects like water retention, fat deposition and gynecomastia. In fact, both should be measurably anti-estrogenic in effect, inhibiting the aromatase enzyme in a competitive and dose-dependant manner.
Mestanolone is one of the oldest secret drugs of the East German doping machine, the infamous State sponsored doping program of the 1960's and 1970's that developed advanced systematic techniques designed to assist drug-tested athletes avoid detection.This program allowed East German athletes to evade countless urine tests and become a dominant force in Olympic sports throughout much of the Cold War era. Mestanolone, itself, was valued not for its potency as a muscle builder, but for its ability as a pure and powerful androgen. Its effect was thought to be largely focused on the central nervous system and neuromuscular interaction. Athletes would routinely comment that while the drug would not make you huge, it was very capable of improving speed, strength, aggression, endurance, and resistance to stress. Drug tested or not, mestanolone remains intrinsically valuable today as a fast acting oral capable of providing tangible benefits unique from other anabolic agents. While it might not make an ideal agent to base an entire steroid cycle on, it seems that it would make an exceptional compound to stack with other anabolics.
An effective oral daily dosage for most males would be in the range of 10-15mg. At this level mestanolone should impart considerable strength gains, and may also aid in the speed performance of competitive athletes. Provided diet is adequate, this androgen should also promote fat loss, and will increase muscular definition by reducing the level of water retention. This steroid is, likewise, a very effective option for pre-contest use. In such a role, it would make a good, albeit not perfect, substitute for Masteron. Being such a potent androgen, mestanolone should never be recommended to women. The chance for virilizing side effects is too great to risk using it, even in low dosages. General side effects for males would be in line with what you would expect from injectable dihydrotestosterone, including oily skin, acne, potential hair loss, and increased aggression. Since mestanolone is a methylated steroid, it may impart some level of liver toxicity. This would be amplified if combined with other oral steroids, or if unnecessarily high doses or drug duration were used. As with all liver-toxic orals, it is best to limit intake to no longer than 6-8 weeks, after which point an equally long break at a minimum should be taken.
Being that mestanolone is no longer in commercial production, finding a trustworthy human prescription version of this drug is not going to be a possibility. Five years ago that would have meant that you were likely to never see this steroid again; however, that does not appear to be the case today.The thriving steroid business this past decade has given a lot of financial incentive for the overseas bulk materials manufacturers to start producing old steroids that were popular thirty years ago. In what has become a very competitive market, a variety of underground and legitimate manufacturers (in less regulated markets) are buying these obscure compounds up, so they can release "new" (previously unavailable) steroids, gaining market share and attention in the process. Several underground laboratories have already released Mestanolone, and it should not take long for some of the popular veterinary manufacturers to follow suit. So far as this agent is able to regain its cult status it had in the 1960's and 1970's, it may very well become a pre-contest androgen of interest in the months and years to come. Shortly before the expanded 2005 steroid ban, a good number of bottles of mestanolone were actually leaked into the sports supplement market under the guide of being "prohormones" Perhaps a revival of this product on the black market is not far off.