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By Bill Roberts
Q: “I’ve always been a blood donor. It’s something worth doing for others, but also I understand that men really have very little mechanism for eliminating excess iron from the blood, so it’s probably good for my health as well. I’ve always read that blood shouldn’t be donated while on a cycle. Truth or myth?”
A: Those who say that blood should not be donated while on an anabolic steroid cycle are undoubtedly trying to act in a responsible manner. No decent person would want to “dope” another person via receiving blood. So the question is, does this actually happen in a way that’s remotely significant?
With regards to possible practical effect on people, the answer is no. While technically of course some molecules of steroid will be transferred to the other person, the amount is at least an order of magnitude less than could have any significance.
To illustrate, let’s say that your testosterone level during the cycle is 10,000 ng/dL. That’s high. And you give 500 mL. That comes to 5 dL, so the total amount of testosterone present is 50,000 ng, which is 50 mcg, which is 0.05 mg.
Even for a woman, a single steroid injection of 0.05 mg is about as close to absolutely nothing as can be.
From the standpoint of your health, it could be of value to donate blood to reduce hematocrit, which can be elevated on a cycle.
However, there’s certainly the moral question of whether the recipient is expecting such a thing, which they aren’t. In the case of synthetic anabolic steroids, there might be more of a moral question here than with testosterone. With testosterone, they will already have far, far, far more in their bodies already than what they’ll receive from the blood, regardless of gender or age.
So it’s a decision for each person to make. Myself, I don’t do it during cycles, but if another person saw a value in doing so and themselves evaluated it as an appropriate decision, as a matter of fact I see absolutely zero possible harm coming to the recipient, within a safety factor of more than 10 times.
Q: “I’ve always been a blood donor. It’s something worth doing for others, but also I understand that men really have very little mechanism for eliminating excess iron from the blood, so it’s probably good for my health as well. I’ve always read that blood shouldn’t be donated while on a cycle. Truth or myth?”
A: Those who say that blood should not be donated while on an anabolic steroid cycle are undoubtedly trying to act in a responsible manner. No decent person would want to “dope” another person via receiving blood. So the question is, does this actually happen in a way that’s remotely significant?
With regards to possible practical effect on people, the answer is no. While technically of course some molecules of steroid will be transferred to the other person, the amount is at least an order of magnitude less than could have any significance.
To illustrate, let’s say that your testosterone level during the cycle is 10,000 ng/dL. That’s high. And you give 500 mL. That comes to 5 dL, so the total amount of testosterone present is 50,000 ng, which is 50 mcg, which is 0.05 mg.
Even for a woman, a single steroid injection of 0.05 mg is about as close to absolutely nothing as can be.
From the standpoint of your health, it could be of value to donate blood to reduce hematocrit, which can be elevated on a cycle.
However, there’s certainly the moral question of whether the recipient is expecting such a thing, which they aren’t. In the case of synthetic anabolic steroids, there might be more of a moral question here than with testosterone. With testosterone, they will already have far, far, far more in their bodies already than what they’ll receive from the blood, regardless of gender or age.
So it’s a decision for each person to make. Myself, I don’t do it during cycles, but if another person saw a value in doing so and themselves evaluated it as an appropriate decision, as a matter of fact I see absolutely zero possible harm coming to the recipient, within a safety factor of more than 10 times.
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