What are the Effects of Drinking Alcohol while on Steroids?

Anabolic steroids are powerful drugs that need users to show a high level of responsibility before, during, and even after use. It all begins with deciding on which type of steroids would be ideal for your proposed training program.

What type of anabolic steroids pills or injectable steroids you should use would depend on your bodybuilding goal. Seeking the invaluable advice on what steroids to use from an experienced trainer would be the right way to go.

A trainer that is well vast in his/her understanding of anabolic steroids should provide you with a detailed training program that would suit your specific bodybuilding needs. This trainer should provide you with a safe steroid cycle or stack along with information on necessary precautions that you should take while using the steroids.

One of such precautions may include the use of liver supplements or liver protective medication especially if you are placed on anabolic steroids pills with moderate to high hepatotoxicity. Another precaution would be the need for post cycle therapy (PCT) after the conclusion of your cycle.

In addition to providing you with information on the need for liver protection and PCT, your trainer should also provide you with necessary health tips. One question that many impending steroid users tend to ask is – ‘what are the effects of alcohol on steroids bodybuilding?’.

In this post, you will get the answer to this very important question, but first, we have provided some basic information about steroids for the uninitiated including steroid use and misuse.

I. What are Steroids?

Whether you are talking about corticosteroids or anabolic steroids, steroids generally are chemically produced synthetic hormones designed to provide the body with large amounts of androgenic-anabolic hormones like testosterone.

Steroids were initially produced for medical purposes only and their anabolic effects of building both bone and muscle mass are especially useful in treating a loss of muscle mass due to wasting syndromes like HIV/AIDS.

Steroids are also used in treating delayed puberty in boys or persons with hormonal deficiencies. Testosterone replacement therapy (TRT) involves a medical process where people with testosterone deficiency or hypogonadism are treated over a period of time with synthetic testosterone.

However, today the androgenic-anabolic effects of steroids have now been fully exploited by athletes. Bodybuilders looking to enhance their muscle mass while also increasing their energy, strength, powers of recovery from injuries, and endurance levels now use steroids pills and injectable steroids to achieve their bodybuilding goals.

Many internationally recognised organisations like the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have listed anabolic steroids as one of the many substances that athletes are banned from using before and during international competitive events.

II. How are Steroids Misused?

As mentioned earlier, steroids for sale are available as anabolic steroids pills or injectables. These drugs should be taken in accordance with recommended safe cycles and doses.

For example, Anadrol or otherwise called Drol are steroids pills that are usually taken daily by bodybuilders over a 6 week cycle. The typical safe dosage is between 50 to 75 mg per day, although higher dosages of 100 mg is known to be used by advanced bodybuilders.

Drol has a high hepatotoxicity, so this anabolic steroids pills should be used along with liver protection medicine. If a bodybuilder uses more than 100 mg of Drol daily and takes the drug continuously and way beyond a safe cycle duration, then such a bodybuilder can be said to be misusing Drol.

This is one way that genuine steroids for sale are misused. Other ways by which steroids may be misused and abused include:

• Starting a new steroid cycle immediately without post cycle therapy,
• Running long continuous cycles,
• Indiscriminately stacking steroids without seeking advice from a seasoned trainer or medical practitioner,
• Using anabolic steroids pills known to have high hepatotoxicity without liver supplements or liver protective medicine,
• Taking steroids along with other medications like anticoagulants,
• Taking steroids along with narcotics like heroin,
• Smoking tobacco cigarettes while using anabolic steroids,
• Drinking lots of caffeine while taking steroids, and
• Drinking alcoholic beverages when using steroids.

III. Why Mix Steroid and Alcohol?

When using medicines of any kind, you are often told to avoid taking certain substances along with the drugs. This also applies to the use of steroids. Steroids used with alcohol are a bad mix and should be avoided at all cost.

While the effects of alcohol on steroids bodybuilding may vary from one person to another, as people generally have different tolerance levels. It is better to stay clear of alcohol while using steroids to avoid health complications.

The side effects of drinking alcohol while on steroids can depend on a number factors, namely:

• The type and form of steroid used (i.e. injections or anabolic steroids pills),
• the dosage of steroid used,
• the frequency of steroid use,
• the duration of steroid use,
• the amount of alcohol consumption, and
• the frequency of alcohol consumption.

Consuming alcoholic beverages while using anabolic steroids is capable of further complicating the side effects of steroids in bodybuilding. It is widely believed that one of the side effects of drinking alcohol while on steroids is the body weight gain.

IV. Health Dangers of Alcohol and Steroids – Side Effects of Drinking Alcohol while on Steroids

There are many side effects of steroids in bodybuilding. Many of these side effects occur even when recommended safe cycles and dosages are followed to the letter by bodybuilders. For example, synthetic testosterone can cause masculinization in female bodybuilders and because testosterone converts to estrogen, it may lead to feminization in male bodybuilders.

In this case, female bodybuilders may display breast atrophy, have a deep voice, huge muscle mass, acne, male pattern baldness, and increased facial and body hair while male bodybuilders may experience symptoms of gynecomastia.

However, when alcohol is added to the system while on steroids, a number of health issues may arise as added rise result. Some of the side sffects of drinking alcohol while on steroids include;

• The weakening of the immune system,
• the weakening of bone structure and osteoporosis,
• a rise in blood sugar,
• gastrointestinal health issues,
• dehydration,
• stomach ulcers,
• increased appetite and weight gain,
• chest pains,
• allergic reactions,
• bloating,
• heartburn,
• diabetes,
• Kidney and liver damage,
• depression and anxiety.

To avoid alcohol-induced health complications as well as increasing your propensity to typical steroid side effects, it is advisable NOT to consume any form of alcohol when running a steroid cycle or stack.

When consuming alcohol while using anabolic steroids pills that have a moderate to high level of hepatotoxicity, you will put a tremendous amount of strain on your liver, as it works extra hard to metabolise the steroids and alcohol.

Using these steroids over an extensive period of time can have an adverse effect on the brain resulting in steroid users experiencing a number of mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, mania and psychosis. Drinking alcohol can only worsen the mental health condition of steroid users causing them to become aggressive, violent and even suicidal.

V. Conclusion

The consumption of alcohol can have an adverse effect on bodybuilders using steroids. Alcohol can worsen the side effects of steroids in bodybuilding.

However, while casual drinking of alcohol may have little or no consequence on the side effects of steroids, it is better to avoid drinking alcoholic beverages of any kind while running a steroid cycle as it is unclear how your body may react to the steroids and alcohol in your system.

Also, alcohol normally puts a strain on your liver and using anabolic steroids pills will only add more pressure to both your kidneys and liver. To avoid kidney and liver health complications, it is better to consume alcohol only after running a steroid cycle.