Halodrol
Active ingredient: Chlorodehydromethylandrostenediol. Structurally Turinabol with a reduced keto group, i.e. its precursor, and thus the one preparation of this wave for which the sales name “prohormone” applies. There is not a single publication on the material itself.
Auch bekannt als: Halodrol, CDMA, Chlorodehydromethylandrostenediol, H-Drol, Chlordehydromethylandrostendiol
What it is
Halodrol is 4-chloro-17α-methyl-androsta-1,4-dien-3,17-diol, with the molecular formula C₂₀H₂₉ClO₂. It was sold as an over-the-counter drug in the same wave as Epistane and Methylstenbolone, and how this is referred to as a “prohormone”.
In the case of this substance, the term applies exceptionally. If you put the structures next to each other, Halodrol differs from Turinabol in exactly one place: Where Turinabol has a keto group at position 3, Halodrol has a hydroxy group there. Everything else, the chlorine atom at C4, the two double bonds in ring A and the methyl group at C17, is the same. Halodrol is literally a precursor to the GDR doping agent, which was developed around 1968.
Whether and how completely the human body converts this hydroxy group to the keto group has not been measured for Halodrol. The fact that such a conversion takes place has been proven for an identical pair: After taking the preparation “1-Androsterone”, which has a hydroxy group at position 3 and a keto group at position 17, 1-testosterone, i.e. the form with swapped groups, was found in the urine of a volunteer among the main breakdown products. The conclusion about Halodrol is an analogy and not a finding.
How it works
What can be deduced from the structure
The chlorine atom at position 4 blocks the aromatase access to ring A; no estradiol can be produced from the substance. The stub that was here before talked about “low estrogenic activity” and “mild flavoring”; Structurally, neither is possible. In practice this means: no estrogen-related water retention and a aromatase inhibitors without a point of attack.
The methyl group at C17 makes the substance swallowable by preventing the oxidation of the hydroxy group at this point. It is also the reason for the liver burden that all oral steroids share, and it is the same property from two sides.
A published binding measurement of Halodrol on Androgen receptor Couldn't be found, and none for Turinabol either. All information about the effectiveness of this substance comes from user reports.
What the studies show
There is nothing about Halodrol. Not a little, but nothing: no effectiveness study, no case series, no case report, no metabolic study. The search was carried out under the trade name, under the name Chlorodehydromethylandrostenediol, under the full chemical name and the relationship to Turinabol; none of these searches produce any work.
This means that this article stands on three legs, and none of them is the material itself: the structure, what was shown for the preliminary stage conversion on an identical pair, and what applies to the class of over-the-counter designer steroids as a whole.
Which applies to the material class
A review of these preparations notes that anabolic steroids have been sold legally for over a decade under misleading names such as "prohormone", "natural steroid" or "testosterone booster", and that serious side effects have been reported: liver toxicity, bile stasis, kidney failure, hypogonadism, gynecomastia and infertility. Steroid use is now considered the most common cause of hypogonadism in men of reproductive age.
The prospective series of the American DILIN network shows what liver damage in this class looks like: 44 men, on average 33 years old, developed liver damage on average 73 days after onset, all with jaundice, 84 percent with itching and 71 percent in the hospital. Nobody died, nobody needed a liver transplant. Several preparations contained anabolic steroids that were not on the label.
The last point is not an isolated case with these preparations. Even apparently hormone-free products such as vitamin, mineral and amino acid preparations contained undeclared anabolic steroids in studies, which, in addition to health consequences, can also lead to positive doping tests.
And what the relationship to Turinabol means
If the precursor assumption is correct, what is measured for Turinabol also applies to Halodrol, and this primarily concerns detectability. After a single dose of 5 mg of turinabol, a metabolite was still detectable in one in five volunteers 45 days later, and such long-term metabolites produced positive results in post-tests of the 2008 and 2012 Olympics.
The relationship cannot be used to determine the potency. There is also no controlled efficacy study on Turinabol itself, even though it was administered to thousands for two decades. A precursor to a substance without efficacy data has no better data than this.
Dosage
- There is no dose to rely on. There is not a single study on this substance. The information on the former labels are not study doses.
- As a precursor, the amount consumed is not the effective one. How much of this goes into the active form is not determined. A dose that looks moderate on paper can mean significantly more or significantly less in the body.
- An aromatase inhibitor is irrelevant. The chlorine atom at C4 prevents aromatization; an inhibitor just lowers estradiol from other sources in the stack.
- The substance is not an option for tested athletes. If conversion to Turinabol occurs, its detection period is: up to 45 days after a single 5 mg dose.
- Not next to a second oral steroid. Two 17-alpha-alkylated preparations attack the same place in the liver.
- Initial values before the first capsule. transaminases, Bilirubin, alkaline phosphatase, blood pressure and lipid profile. For a substance without any safety data, your own measurement is the only information available.
Side effects
Liver
What happens: In oral steroids, the methyl group at C17 interferes with the removal of bile salts from the liver cell; A build-up of bile occurs with jaundice and itching with little cell death. Liver toxicity and bile stasis are specifically reported for the class of over-the-counter designer steroids.
What it depends on: On alkylation, dose, duration and predisposition in bile salt transport; In the DILIN series, up to 20 percent of those affected carried a variant in the bile salt pump gene. What follows from this is: There is no case report on Halodrol itself, and that is not a meaningful sign for a product that was only on the market for a few years. Is measured Bilirubin and alkaline phosphatase, not just the transaminases: the bile blockage can exist with almost normal transaminases. What you can do: If yellow discoloration, dark urine or itching occurs, stop using immediately and seek medical advice. For TUDCA there is no controlled study on this clinical picture; the only measure with a proven effect is discontinuation.
Your own axis
What happens: An supplied androgen drives the HPTA axis down, LH and FSH fall. Since no estradiol is produced from Halodrol, androgen and estrogen are released at the same time, see Estrogen. Hypogonadism is explicitly described as a consequence for this substance class, and steroid use is considered the most common cause of hypogonadism in men of reproductive age.
What it depends on: Of dose and duration, and in recovery from age. There is no measurement of LH, FSH and testosterone under Halodrol. What follows from this is: Listlessness, loss of libido and low mood after discontinuation are the expected course and last weeks to months. What you can do: Keep the application short and plan the exit. For the restart HCG and Clomiphene the established remedies, both requiring a prescription.
Blood lipids, blood pressure and kidneys
What happens: Oral 17-alpha-alkylated steroids increase the breakdown of HDL particles in the liver; that HDL falls, LDL rises. For this class of substances, a review lists increased blood pressure and reduced HDL and its subfractions as the significant risk changes, and for the designer steroids, additional kidney failure.
What it depends on: From the oral route, from the dose and from the duration. There are no figures specifically for Halodrol. What follows from this is: Since no estradiol is produced, the proportion that has a beneficial effect on blood lipids in men is missing. What you can do: Lipid profile, blood pressure and creatinine before the start and after four weeks, see Cardiovascular risks associated with AAS.
What was actually in the can
What happens: These preparations were manufactured without medical control. The DILIN range contained several anabolic steroids that were not on the label, and research found undeclared steroids even in apparently hormone-free vitamin and amino acid supplements.
What it depends on: From the manufacturer and the batch. For a substance that hasn't been on the market for years, there's also the fact that today all sorts of things are sold under the same name. What follows from this is: The uncertainty about the content of this substance is greater than the uncertainty about its effect, and that is saying something. What you can do: Keep the package so that in the event of damage you can analyze what was inside later. A test before consumption is not available to the buyer.
Classification
Halodrol is the substance in this category with the thinnest data available: not a single publication exists on it. What can be said follows from its structure and from what applies to its neighbors.
The structure says two things, and both are verifiable. First, the substance cannot be aromatized because of the chlorine atom at position 4; the description as “mildly flavored” was incorrect. Secondly, it is Turinabol with a reduced keto group, i.e. its precursor. With this one preparation of the prohormone wave, the sales name applies, while it is at Epistane and Methylstenbolone was a circumvention of pharmaceutical law.
For the user, this is bad news in two directions. The amount absorbed is not the effective amount because an unknown proportion is first converted. And the substance that is converted into does not have a controlled effectiveness study itself, but does have a detection period of up to 45 days after a single tablet.
What would decide the matter is the simplest test imaginable for this substance, and it has never taken place: a single dose to a volunteer followed by a urine analysis, as was done for 1-androsterone. It would answer whether and to what extent Halodrol actually becomes Turinabol. Until then, the entire article is a derivation of two structural formulas.
Sources
- Parr MK et al. Seized designer supplement named 1-Androsterone: identification as 3beta-hydroxy-5alpha-androst-1-en-17-one and its urinary elimination. Steroids. 2011. PubMed
- Parr MK et al. Analytical strategies for the detection of non-labelled anabolic androgenic steroids in nutritional supplements. Food Addit Contam. 2004. PubMed
- Stolz A et al. Severe and protracted cholestasis in 44 young men taking bodybuilding supplements: assessment of genetic, clinical and chemical risk factors. Aliment Pharmacol Ther. 2019. PubMed
- Rahnema CD et al. Designer steroids: over-the-counter supplements and their androgenic component: review of an increasing problem. Andrology. 2015. PubMed
- Loke S et al. Controlled administration of dehydrochloromethyltestosterone in humans: Urinary excretion and long-term detection of metabolites for anti-doping purpose. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol. 2021. PubMed
- Hartgens F, Kuipers H. Effects of androgenic-anabolic steroids in athletes. Sports Med. 2004. PubMed
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