Full recovery may be possible among men who use steroids for muscle growth

There may be hope for full recovery among men who wish to stop using anabolic-androgenic steroids for muscle growth, according to data being presented on Saturday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

Anabolic steroids are used as performance-enhancing drugs by professional and amateur athletes, and by other men to improve appearance. Past abuse of anabolic steroids can suppress the body’s ability to produce testosterone for months. Bonnie Grant, M.D., of Imperial College London in London, U.K., and colleagues found that those who used post-cycle therapy have an improved chance at such a recovery. Study participants used post-cycle therapy drugs including human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), selective estrogen receptor modulators and aromatase inhibitors to help the body resume producing testosterone.

“It is important to recognize that self-medicating post-cycle therapy is not recommended and may be hazardous if illicitly obtained. However, we were surprised to observe post-cycle therapy use was associated with an improved chance of having fully recovered reproductive hormones in men wishing to stop anabolic steroid use,” Grant said.

The research team conducted an audit of 613 men who went to one addiction center for stopping anabolic steroid use in Scotland between 2015-2022. Random blood tests completed within a year of quitting anabolic steroids, with or without post-cycle therapy, were utilized for the study. Grant and colleagues sought to collect the combination of reference range levels of the reproductive hormones serum LH, serum FSH, and total testosterone as surrogate markers of biochemical recovery from hypogonadism.

“Currently, there is no treatment recommended to help men wishing to stop anabolic-androgenic steroid use,” said Channa Jayasena M.D., Ph.D., the senior study author. “Our data suggest that self-administered post-cycle therapy drugs may be associated with improved reproductive hormone levels in men stopping anabolic steroid use. We also showed other factors which are associated with improved recovery. This information may help improve therapeutic options in the future treatment of men wishing to stop using anabolic steroids.”

Seventy-six percent of the men reported post-cycle therapy use. Among them, the researchers noted significantly higher serum total testosterone following anabolic steroid cessation compared to men who did not report post-cycle therapy use.

Post-cycle therapy use was linked to a greater chance of normalized reproductive hormones and a shorter time span between stopping anabolic steroid use and the normalized hormone levels. The chances improved significantly when post-cycle therapy was used, fewer anabolic steroids were used, there was a shorter duration of anabolic steroid use, and when anabolic steroids were stopped for a longer amount of time. These improvements were statistically significant, according to the researchers.

“We need further studies to help doctors and other health care professionals advise men about the risks of anabolic steroid use and support those who are motivated to stop,” Jayasena said.

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About Endocrine Society

Endocrinologists are at the core of solving the most pressing health problems of our time, from diabetes and obesity to infertility, bone health, and hormone-related cancers. The Endocrine Society is the world’s oldest and largest organization of scientists devoted to hormone research and physicians who care for people with hormone-related conditions.

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