Tetrahydrogestrinone (THG)

Tetrahydrogestrinone is an oral anabolic steroid derived from the hormone nandrolone. This compound is a designer steroid, meaning that it was never sold commercially , but was instead developed specifically for use by bodybuilders and athletes due to the fact that it was once unknown to drug screening test. THG was first developed in 2004. It was brought to everyone’s attention in what was called, “the biggest steroid use bust in the history of competitive sports.” The accompanying press release spoke of an anonymous Olympic coach, who turned over a syringe containing the designer steroid and implicated Victor Conte of BALCO Labs in California, then credited with coaching many of the world’s top athletes, as the source of the compound. For a short period of time, THG was an ideal steroid for athletes in drug tested sports, being both extremely effective and undetectable on a urine screen. It was also technically legal to own in the United States being that it was unknown to lawmakers at the time that the Anabolic Steroid Control Act was written. The steroid was eventually added to the list of banned substances in January 2005.

This drug is a modified form of nandrolone with a close structural relationship to trenbolone. Not much is known about the exact results of its use because the athletes who used are keeping their mouths shut. From the evidence we have about the drug and it’s properties, it seems that the results seen would be similar to those either seen from taking a nandrolone agent or possibly even more closely resembling those that would be seen from using a variation of trenbolone. THG doesn’t aromatize in the body and therefore isn’t converted to estrogen. It is important to note however that the drug can cause progesterone related activity in the body which can lead to progesterone related side effects. Progesterone side effects can be similar to those seen from excess estrogen causing things such as water and fat retention and possibly even gyno (the development of unattractive sometimes painful female breast tissue under the nipples in males). THG is also androgenic and can cause all of the usual androgen related side effects which can include oily skin, acne, and increased facial hair. In women androgen increases can cause deepening of the voice and the growth of facial hair. THG is a c17aa oral which means that it can be stressful on the liver. Users of this substance would thus be advised to run some sort of liver protection such as milk thistle or Liv-52 and to try to limit cycles to 6-8 weeks. Like all other anabolic steroids, THG will shut down the body’s natural testosterone production. Users would want to run a post cycle therapy protocol after the discontinuing of this substance to get their natural testosterone function back running smoothly.

While it isn’t known for sure what the normal dosing guidelines were for THG, it is suspected that the doses need to produce desirable results would be small, perhaps in the range of 2-5mg a day. Women would probably want to stay away from THG due to the high possibility of androgen related side effects.