Anabolic steroids are one picky category of drugs. With drugs like cocaine, you can almost predict to a tee how most people will react. We all have the same “cocaine receptors”, whatever they may be, and the effects upon the body of a single use of cocaine can be accurately predicted. Users of anabolic steroids, for some reason, don’t encounter the same benefits that cocaine users enjoy!

First off, it should be noted that there are some effects of anabolic steroids which are fairly universal. You will gain muscle mass – this is a given. You will become stronger, and you will shed some body fat. You’ll become more aggressive and you will certainly be an animal in the weight room. These side effects are almost universal and you can count on them. The negative side effects, however, are harder to predict. Different people see different side effects, despite running the exact same doses and being at about the same bodyweight. Some steroid users immediately break out in bad acne on their neck, back, shoulders and face. Some develop gyno within 3 weeks, while some never see it. The one side effect which you wear perhaps most predominantly is the acceleration of male pattern baldness. You can have two men, age 22 at 205 pounds, run an identical testosterone + Dianabol cycle. After 4 months, they’ll both have put on size. However, one of the men will be as bald as a cue ball, while the other will still have a full head of hair. Anabolic steroids accelerate balding in males who possess a genetic predisposition to going bald at an earlier age. If the men on your mother’s side of the family are bald in their later years, there is a good chance you will go bald in your early years if you use AAS.

The effects of accelerated male pattern baldness can be lessened through modern technology. Drugs like Rogaine are useful for attacking small bald spots at the vertex of the hairline in the back. Compounds like Propecia work to address the causes at the chemical level, keeping DHT levels regulated. Nioxin is a scalp treatment shampoo which cleans the scalp to a degree not seen with other products. Many bodybuilders find a combination of specialized products to work best. Most AAS users will benefit from an immediate addition of an oral 5-alpha reductase inhibitor. Then, after a week or two, add topical minoxidil to spurn the hair re-growth process. There are no guarantees – for many men, once the hair is lost, it does not return. However, there are small victories which can occur for every man in terms of restoring some of his previous hair and getting him back on track to a fuller head of hair.

Lifestyle changes can also contribute to male pattern baldness. If you use poor nutritional practices, don’t sleep enough, smoke cigarettes, or suffer from high stress, you also run the risk of making the baldness arrive faster. Keep in mind that most of what you will face in terms of male pattern baldness is genetic – and while you can affect it in minimal ways, the forces that created you still have the final say!

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