Oxandrolone lipid crash, how bad did your HDL actually drop?

Posted by sleep_coastal in Safety & Side Effects - 7 points, 7 comments.

Been reading up on oxandrolone lately and the lipid profile thing keeps coming up. Anecdotally I have seen people mention their HDL just tanking on even modest doses, like 15 to 20 mg a day, within a few weeks. That matches what the profile here says about HDL decrease being a known side effect.

What I am curious about is how fast it recovers after stopping. Does it bounce back in a couple weeks or are people seeing months before their HDL climbs back to baseline? I have not run it myself but I am considering a short cycle and the lipid thing is really the only part that gives me pause.

The liver stress seems overblown at therapeutic doses from what I can tell but the HDL crash seems consistent and real. Also wondering if anyone found anything that actually blunts the HDL drop while running it. Fish oil, niacin, cardio, anything that seemed to help?

Or is it just one of those things you accept and monitor with bloodwork before and after? Talk to your doctor if you are actually considering this stuff, especially if you already have sketchy lipids. Just trying to get a sense of how concerned to be here.

Comments

• leah_m: I ran a low‑dose oxandrolone cycle a while back – 10 mg daily for six weeks. 9 mmol/L by week 4. 1 mmol/L at 4 weeks post‑cycle and only reached baseline after roughly 8‑10 weeks. I did regular cardio and took fish oil, but I couldn’t tell if they made a real difference – it might just have been my body’s normal rebound. Monitoring lipids before, during and after is definitely worth it, especially if your starting numbers aren’t great. Talk to a clinician if you’re unsure.
• student748: For what it is worth that recovery timeline is pretty consistent with what i have seen mentioned elsewhere, the 8 to 10 week range seems to be the norm rather than the exception even at low doses. The fish oil and cardio question is a hard one to untangle though, like you say it could just be natural rebound. Have you seen any data on whether higher baseline HDL makes the drop less dramatic or is it just a flat percentage hit regardless of where you start?
• humbleomar: To be fair that recovery timeline matches what id expect, oxandrolone is rough on lipids and the rebound isnt quick. 8 to 10 weeks sounds about right from what ive seen mates go through too. The cardio and fish oil thing is hard to judge, could just be your body doing its thing like you said. Reckon the only real way to know if they helped would be running the same cycle without them, which nobody in their right mind would do on purpose just to test it lol. Good on ya for getting bloods done t
• sleep_coastal: Ha, appreciate the reply but I actually haven't run it yet, that's why I'm asking. Haven't gotten bloods on it because I haven't started. The 8 to 10 week recovery timeline is exactly the kind of real-world info I was looking for though, so thanks for that. Makes me think a short 4 to 6 week cycle might be the move if recovery really does take that long. Better to limit the damage window. Did your mates see the HDL crash pretty much right away in the first couple weeks, or did it take longer to
• sleep_coastal: The 8 to 10 week range is kinda what I expected honestly, not great but at least it is not a permanent thing. The baseline HDL question is a good one and I honestly do not know. Anecdotally I have seen people with naturally high HDL say it still crashed hard, which would suggest maybe a flat percentage hit, but that could just be cherry-picked reports. Have not seen any actual data comparing drop magnitude against starting HDL. That would be a really useful thing to track if someone here has be
• sleep_coastal: That 10 mg dose is pretty low so seeing it take 8 to 10 weeks to get back to baseline is pretty wild. Anecdotally I thought it would bounce back much faster if the dose was that small. It makes me wonder if the fish oil and cardio actually did anything for you or if they were just noise in the data. Did you notice any other changes in your energy or recovery during that slow climb back up?
• student748: Yeah nah i havent run it either so i cant speak from personal experience on the timing. For what it is worth, from what i have read the HDL drop seems to show up pretty fast, like within 2 to 3 weeks on labs, not a slow creep. Something about oxandrolone hitting hepatic lipase pretty hard and quick. But thats just from reading other peoples reports, not my own bloods. Would be keen to hear from someone who actually did pre, mid, and post-cycle panels to confirm that timeline.

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.