How are they taken?
Steroids come in two forms; oral tablets and injectables which are either water or oil-based and injected into muscles (see section on Advice on Injecting).
An average course (or cycle) lasts for 4-8 weeks. It ‘s important to give your body a break from steroids, something known as an off-cycle, which should last for at least four weeks and preferably for the same length of time as the cycle itself. If you don’t, you run a greater risk of nasty side effects (see section on The Truth About Side Effects). Also, you will develop a tolerance, which means you’ll need more to get the same effect. The only way to avoid this is to allow your body to get unused to them.
Some take a course of two steroids in combination (called stacking) aimed at getting better results faster. Less common is pyramiding where, as its name suggest you start with a smaller dose which increases towards the mid point of the cycle, then reduces towards the end.
With either of these practices, the chances of side effects get greater, and the consequences more serious.
Orals Vs injectables
Not all steroids are created equal! Some orals have been chemically prepared so that they take longer for your body to break them down. This is good for body building but bad for your body. They have been C17 alpha-alkalated which makes them relatively toxic for your liver. Damage which may be permanent.
These steroids are Anadrol/Anapolon (oxymethalone), Anavar (oxandrolone), Dianabol (methandrostenolone). Less commonly found names include Teston/Testovis/Android (methyltestosterone), Halotestin (fluoxymesterone), Drive (methandriol) and others which usually come in generic form: calusterone, danazol and ethyloestrenol.
If you’re concerned about your liver and particularly if you had liver problems in the past (such as hepatitis) you should avoid these altogether.
Instead, it may be safer to use other orals. Andriol (testosterone undeconate) or Winstrol/Stromba (stanozolol). Both have the advantage of not being C17 alpha-alkalated and are therefore, less likely to cause as many side effects at sensible doses.
Though injectables are not C17 alpha-alkalated they are not free from side effects (far from it).