SUSTANON

Sustanon: Profile, General Information, Injection Info, Stacking and Use



Pharmaceutical Name: Testosterone (as 30 mg propionate, 60 mg isocaproate, 60 mg as phenylpropionate, 100 mg decanoate)
Chemical structure: 4-androstene-3-one,17beta-ol
Molecular weight of base: 288.429
Molecular weight of ester: 74.0792 (propionic acid, 3 carbons)
Molecular weight of ester: 116.1596 (isocaproic acid, 6 carbons)
Molecular weight of ester: 150.1768 (Propionic acid phenyl ester, 9 carbons)
Molecular weight of ester: 172.2668

Breakdown of Testosterone Esters:

30 mg Propionate
60 mg Isocaproate
60 mg as Phenylpropionate
100 mg Decanoate

Characteristics:

Sustanon is a blend of four different testosterone esters. Esters are attached to steroids for the main purpose of making it more lipophilic. This way, the steroid remains in the adipose tissue longer when injected and is released slowly in the bloodstream over time. Longer esters are more lipophilic while shorter esters are less lipophilic. Sustanon, in it's most common form - sustanon 250 - is a unique blend of one long ester, one short ester and two medium length esters. The purpose for this blend is to provide the user with a quick release of the steroid, but also a long lasting one.

Sustanon acts as a time released steroid which is high in both anabolic and androgenic value. The fastest acting ester of the blend - testosterone propionate - becomes active in the first day. The other esters become active over the several weeks to follow where they reach a peak with the actions of all four esters which remain for the remainder of the cycle.

The athlete using sustanon can expect rapid increases in strength and fat free mass. Sustanon does aromatize, but slightly less than some other single ester testosterones which leads to less water retention when compared to other steroids.

INJECTION INFORMATION
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If a steroid user uses a long acting testosterone (such as testosterone enanthate), they will inject it once or twice each week. At the end of each week, the long acting ester has tapered down to its original levels and threatens to drop below that level if a new injection is not made. With sustanon, this is not the case due to it's blend of four esters, including the two short ones - propionate and phenylpropionate. As a result of these two shorter esters, more frequent injections are necessary to keep stable blood levels are make full use of all esters in the blend. If a user injections sustanon only once per week for example, full use is not as easily made of the propionate and phenylpropionate esters which release quickly and taper off at a faster rate due to their shorter half lives. The issue of sustanon injections remains heatly debated online. Many users claim that injection only twice a week or even once a week is sufficient for sustanon. However, from my experience, many of these same users are running high quantities of sustanon (as much as 750mg and more each week). The logical conclusion here is that sustanon can be injected only once a week, but as stipulated above, this is done only at the loss of the shorter acting propionate and phenylpropionate esters. Injection one gram of sustanon weekly will still take full advantage of the shorter acting isocaproate and decanoate esters which combined account for 64% of the total blend. 64% of 1000mg weekly is equal to 640mg of active steroid which, in my opinion, can be achieved through more frequent injections at a lower dose to optimize the effect of the short acting esters, accounting for a total use of 100% of the blend. Every other day, or daily injections is the best way to insure the maximum effects of all four esters in the blend.

For use as a long acting testosterone, sustanon is a poor choice over enanthate of cypionate. For the purpose of front loading, sustanon may be an excellent choice to kick start a mass building cycle with other testesterons in the mix at a later date within the same cycle.

SIDE EFFECTS
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Sustanon, like all other testosterones, is highly anabolic and as a result, the side effects of quite high compared to its androgenic counterparts. Androgenic side effects such as hair loss, prostate hypertrophy, deepening of the voice are possible with the use of sustanon, as well as related estrogenic side effects such as gynecomastia and water retention. However, sustanon does not convert to estrogen at quite the same rate as it's slower acting counterparts testosterone enanthate and cypionate, and gyno is usually not seen as frequently. It still is a side effect and should be accounted for. As a result of these potential side effects, ancillary drugs such as anti estrogens like nolvadex or clomid as well as HCG may be required and are always a smart idea to keep on hand in case symptoms of gynecomastia or extreme testicular atrophy arise. As a general rule of thumb, you will want to keep two grams of nolvadex on hand and at least a few amps of HCG for possible prevention. Testosterone is not toxic in any way and should not give you any problems other than the normal testosterone related side effects. The hypothalamic pituitary testicular axis (HPTA) should be restored back to normal after standard post cycle therapy consisting of either clomid or nolvadex takes place. However, there is no guarantee as with anything in life, but in all likeliness, testicular atrophy (shrinkage) should be restored fairly quickly post cycle as your body's natural testosterone production is restored.

As mentioned, HCG may also be something the sustanon using athlete would like to keep on hand during cycle, but this is normally not required if doses are low. Natural testosterone should restore itself over time.

A major concern for many steroid users is liver toxicity. In the case of sustanon, liver toxicity is low except in doses above and beyond the minimum dose required for abuse. The liver is used to metabolizing testosterone since it occurs naturally in the body and so it isn't really a problem for the liver to metabolize it, even at the greatly increased levels used by most bodybuilders. Sustanon improves muscle pumps, speeds up recovery time and increases training motivation / aggresiveness. All in all, it is a pretty effective steroid.

STACKING AND USE
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Because of the long acting esters contained in sustanon (isocaproate and decanoate), sustanon is most commonly used as a long acting testosterone. Other similar long acting testosterones include testoviron, testosterone enanthate, and testosterone cypionate.

Due to the combination of small, medium and long acting esters, the compound is not easily controllable if injection frequency is kept minimal (as mentioned above). As a result, if problems occur while using sustanon, discontinuing the product is not an option. The proper use of anti estrogenic compounds is necessary for anyone planning on using sustanon either alone or stacked with other anabolic / androgenic compounds.

Good results can be seen with 250-500mg over sustanon every 7-10 days.

Although bodybuilders can hope that a testosterone product they are using will not aromatize, it sometimes does, and as a result, the use of anti-estrogens or an aromatase blocker should be included. Unfortunately, an aromatase blocker will compromise your gains since it literally stops estrogen from being made. Androgenic related problems can be reduced somewhat by the use of finasteride, which will stop the conversion of testosterone to its more androgenic component DHT.

Sustanon stacks well with any other steroid. Testosterones are normally stronger compounds when stacked. Sustanon can be stacked with deca-durabolin, equipose, primobolan or dianabol for example. Testosterone naturally stacks well with just about anything.