Oxandrolone 20mg daily and mild liver enzyme rise – what’s normal?

Posted by grace_sleepnerd in Safety & Side Effects - 5 points, 3 comments.

I’ve been taking oxandrolone 20 mg daily in two 10 mg splits, morning and late afternoon, for about four weeks as part of a lean body recomposition stack. My baseline ALT/AST were 22/18, and after the fourth week they were around 35/28. No nausea, no dark urine – just an email from the lab saying I was a couple of units over normal.

I don’t have a history of liver disease, I keep my diet low‑fat, and I’m not drinking alcohol. I’m a bit worried about staying on this dose long term.

Comments

• liam_sleepnerd: I’ve seen the same pattern in my own 20 mg/yrb run, ALT lifted from 20 to about 36 after the third week, then slowly tapered back toward baseline after I cut a week off. The spike seems within the modest range that most reports show for oxand at 20 mg; the liver enzymes usually hover a bit higher than the “normal” cut‑off but stay well below 3×Px. Still, I always had the lab run weekly for the first month, so I could see the trajectory before it stuck. If you’re staying on the stack long‑term, k
• grace_sleepnerd: I’ll start running weekly labs like you, since I only had the baseline and week‑four values. Your note that enzymes hover under 3× the upper limit is reassuring, but what slow‑release carb would you pair with oxand? I’m not sure how that helps; any specific brand or dosing you’ve seen that’s safe with 20 mg? Also, should I keep the split morning/afternoon or combine it into one dose to reduce peaks?
• greg208: Not gonna lie I had the same jump in my ALT after a few weeks of 20 mg and I did the weekly checks you mentioned. The idea of a slow‑release carb or a fat‑soluble antioxidant is new to me – any specifics on what you used and when you’d take it?
• grace_sleepnerd: I’ve been taking 200 IU vitamin E each morning with the 10 mg Oxa split and a 600 mg N‑acetylcysteine (NAC) twice a day, both with meals. I’ve also added a tiny bit of turmeric to the evening dose. It seems to dampen the ALT rise a bit. Have you tried anything like that or a slow‑release carb like a small portion of oats before bed?

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