Cost not withstanding, lets see what kind of Andriol side effects we can expect (besides the catabolic effect it will have on your wallet). Although it has a reputation for being very mild, you´ll still see some results from Andriol. One study using a very low dose on adolescent boys still showed a reasonable gain in Fat Free Mass(3) even though the boys were not training. And in another study focusing on the elderly, it improved their quality of life considerably (as androgens often do) (6), and also had beneficial effects on erectile dysfunction (7) (again, this is typical of androgens). This is certainly promising, but in a world where first time-ste In fact, it may even be a useful adjunct with Viagra for this purpose (8). However, in a world where first time steroid users expect upwards of 20lbs per cycle, I would suspect many will be disappointed with the 5lbs or so a cycle of Andriol will produce. Granted, that´s a conservative estimate, but I can´t really be confident predicting much more muscle is to be expected from Andriol. Taking a large amount of Andriol is actually pretty safe (except for your bank account), and there was even a 3 month study done in Korea, where a pretty small dose of Andriol ( 160 mg daily for 3 weeks then half that dose for the remainder of the study) resulted in a very nice rise in testosterone. Serum total testosterone increased from 2.13 +/- 1.20 ng/ml at baseline to 6.04 +/- 3.08 ng/ml (p = 0.005) after 12 weeks. In addition, free testosterone was (barely) significantly changed from 8.60 +/- 2.25 pg/ml to 11.40 +/- 3.81 pg/ml (p = 0.13) (10). However, there were no significant changes in liver function tests, red blood cell count or lipid profiles, nor were there any significant adverse reactions that would have led to the cessation of the administration of oral testosterone. So the scientists at Organon have succeeded in making a nice, safe, moderately effective orally available treatment for low androgen levels. But can we (athletes and bodybuilders) use it also?
Truthfully, I can´t be confident predicting more than a 5lbs gain with the use of Andriol, because this product has a very odd property, and that is the widely varying effects it has on test subjects. In one study I read, four test subjects were each given Andriol, and one had a huge surge in testosterone levels going up to 60.1nmol/L and the other only had a 11.5nmol/L level(5)! The remaining 2 test subjects fell in between those levels. I am speculating that the differences experienced by the test subjects were primarily due to the variances inherent in the lymphatic system. But to make matters even more inconsistent, there is no evidence that those variances wouldn´t occur within the same person taking Andriol (i.e. you get a huge surge in testosterone one day, and a very minor one the next day). This may be due to variability associated with whether this stuff is taken with food or not. Since it operates via association with your small intestine and lymphatic pathways, taking it with food greatly enhances it´s bioavailability (9), and this may be a case of "problem solved" but I´m hesitant to close the books on andriol´s absorption problems so quickly, for now, we´ll just say you are spending your money much more wisely if you take your andriol with meals.
Despite all of it´s problems, if I had the money to run 10-15 caps of Andriol/day, and if I were looking for a stand-alone oral compound to safely run for a full cycle (of perhaps 12 weeks), then I have to admit, Andriol would be my #1 choice.