This section refers to the oral Primobolan® preparation, which contains the drug methenolone acetate. It is very similar in action to the injectable Primobolan® Depot (methenolone enanthate), but obviously here the drug is designed for oral administration. At one time Schering was in fact also manufacturing an injectable methenolone acetate (Primobolan® acetate, out of manufacture since 1993), which proved to be very useful for pre-contest cutting purposes. This steroid is now gravely missed, as it was once a favorite among European competitors. Although we still have the acetate in oral form, it is a close, but not equal substitute (injection is a much more efficient form of delivery for this steroid).
Methenolone regardless of the ester is a very mild anabolic steroid. The androgenic activity of this compound is considerably low,as are its anabolic properties.One should not expect to achieve great gains in muscle mass with this drug. Instead, Primobolan® is utilized when the athlete has a specific need for a mild anabolic agent, most notably in cutting phases of training. It is also a drug of choice when side effects are a concern. A welcome factor is that Primobolan® is not c17 alpha alkylated as most oral steroids are. Due to the absence of such an alteration, this compound is one of the few commercially produced oral steroids that are not notably stressful to the liver. While liver enzymes values have been affected by this drug in some rare instances, actual damage due to use of this substance is not a documented problem. Unfortunately the 1 alkylation and 17-beta esterification of Primobolan® do not protect the compound very well during first pass however, so much of your initial dose will not make circulation.This is obviously why we need such high daily dose with the oral version of Primobolan®.
Primobolan® will also not aromatize, so estrogen related side effects are of no concern. This is very useful when leading up to a bodybuilding contest, as subcutaneous water retention (due to estrogen) can seriously lessen the look of hardness and definition to the muscles. Nonaromatizing steroids are therefore indispensable to the competitor, helping to bring about a tight, solid build the weeks leading up to a show. And of course without excess estrogen there is little chance of the athlete developing gynecomastia. Likewise there should never be a need for anti-estrogen use with this steroid. Primobolan® is also said to have a low impact on endogenous testosterone production. Although this may well be true in small clinical doses, it will not hold true for the bodybuilder. For example, in one study more than half of the patients receiving only 30-45 mg noted a suppression of gonadotropin levels of 15% to 65%144. This is a dose far less than most bodybuilders would use, and no doubt increasing it would only lead to worse suppression. One would therefore still need a testosterone stimulating drug like HCG or Clomid®/Nolvadex® when concluding a low-dose Primobolan® cycle, unless a deliberately small dose were being used.
It is also important to note that although the androgenic component of Primobolan® is low, side effects are still possible. One may therefore notice oily skin, acne and facial/body hair growth during treatment. Men with a predisposition for hair loss may also find it exacerbates this condition, and wish to avoid this item (nandrolone injectables are a much better choice). While always possible, side effects rarely reach a point where they interfere with the progress of cycle. Primobolan® is clearly one of the milder and safer oral steroids in production. Female athletes, older or more sensitive individuals and steroid beginners will no doubt find this a comfortable steroid to experiment with.
The dosage for men is somewhere in the range of 75-150mg daily. A mild anabolic such as Primobolan® is often used in conjunction with other steroids for optimal effect, so some users find a slightly lower dose effective when stacking. During a dieting or cutting phase, thought to be its primary application, a non-aromatizing androgen like Halotestin® or trenbolone can be added for example. Such combinations would enhance the physique without water retention, and help bring out a harder and more defined look of muscularity. Non-aromatizing androgen/anabolic stacks like this are in fact very popular among competing bodybuilders, as they prove to be quite reliable for rapidly improving the contest form. This compound is also occasionally used with more potent androgens during bulking phases of training. The addition of testosterone, Dianabol or Anadrol 50® would prove effective for instance, although the gains are likely to be accompanied by some level of smoothness due to the added estrogenic component.
Among women, Primobolan® is one of the most popular steroids in use. At a dosage of 50-75mg daily, virilization symptoms are extremely uncommon. One would of course not expect a tremendous amount of muscle mass with this drug, and instead should expect a slow and steady (quality) increase. Some women choose to further add-in other anabolics such as Winstrol® or oxandrolone, in an effort to increase the muscle building effectiveness of a cycle. While both of these compounds are quite tolerable, one must be sure not to use too high an accumulated dosage. Troublesome androgenic side effects are always a possibility with steroid use, even with very mild substances. Taken at too high a dosage, these weak anabolics can become a formidable danger to femininity. It would, therefore, be the best advice not to use the normal dosage range of both, but instead start with a much lower dosage of each steroid to compensate for the other.
Over the past several years, oral Primobolan tablets have become increasingly more difficult to find on the black market. It seems that Schering, the first and almost only company to ever manufacture this drug, has been aggressively discontinuing production in most of the markets around the world. About a decade ago we could find Primobolan orals in nearly two-dozen different countries, and in three different dosage strengths (5mg, 25mg, and 50mg). Now, only two of Schering's oral Primobolan preparations remain, sold only in Japan (5mg) and South Africa (25mg). It seems likely that Schering is no longer finding the drug very profitable, or perhaps is finding few legitimate (medical) reasons to continue selling it. With the medical community largely steering away from anabolic steroids these days, it would seem likely that bodybuilders have been the main block of consumers of Primobolan for some time now. Perhaps the company simply doesn't feel the minimal profits are worth the potential long-term PR disaster if they continue to support this market of customers.
Thankfully there are a few other legitimate firms to come out with this steroid in recent years, making the loss of the Schering product not a fatal one. The most recent is the
British Dragon product Primobol, which carries a whopping 50mg per tablet dose. It is sold in foil-lined paper pouches of 30 tablets. Since the demise of the old French 50mg product more than 10 years ago, we had not seen such a high dose of this steroid for a long time.The Primobol product is, therefore, likely to catch the attention of counterfeiters very quickly (BD has had numerous issues with counterfeiters already), so make sure you inspect the product closely when shopping. First, the tablets are square and are imprinted with "BD" on one side and "50"on the other. Also, be sure you see the BD security hologram sticker on the pouch (see: Security Stickers), and also open it to find a printed silica gel packet.
Quality Vet manufactures Metenol QV in Mexico, which is another high dosed (50mg) tablet of methenolone acetate.The product comes in bottles of 50 tablets, each of which is packaged in its own box. Both the box and bottle will carry the company's security holog
ram sticker. Be sure to look for this when shopping.
The Mexican veterinary drug firm Ttokkyo Laboratories introduced an oral version of Primobolan at one time, named Primo-Plus.This product, as with the full Ttokkyo line, is no longer in production. Old stock will be long gone at this point, so avoid.
Overall,oral Primobolan is an extremely scarce item today. Since we do not find many steroids on the black market that originate from Japan or South Africa (likely due to tighter controls on these drugs), you can probably expect not to find the name brand Primobolan product ever again. At best, you can rely on the British Dragon and Quality Vet products for now, and hope that the next couple of years bring about new manufacturers willing to invest in this very expensive pharmaceutical.There is still a clear demand for it out there, as one of the few effective low-toxic orals to ever be produced commercially.