Anastrozole (aka Arimidex) Dosage
Arimidex and its special uses and properties have been described previously.
Arimidex is used in a variety of ways in medical institutions to treat a wide range of conditions, with breast cancer in postmenopausal women being an established primary indication for Arimidex treatment.
However, the situation is slightly different when anabolic steroids are used by athletes or bodybuilders, and the main questions that every anabolic steroid user has are the proper Arimidex dosage for estrogen control, how to utilize Arimidex dosage, and the various manners in which Arimidex dosage can be used.
First, it's important to understand that Arimidex is an aromatase inhibitor and has a wide range of applications in terms of estrogen control.
As an aromatase inhibitor, it has the ability to literally control all of the potential estrogenic side effects that anabolic steroid users seek to avoid or eliminate.
The standard protocol (or general rule) for the use of all aromatase inhibitors should be the following
Avoid the use of aromatase inhibitors unless absolutely necessary.
If you must use an aromatase inhibitor, use it only when absolutely necessary and use the lowest dose possible, with the goal of controlling estrogen, not eliminating it.
This is very important and should be kept in mind by all readers considering the use of aromatase inhibitors.
The bottom line is that aromatase inhibitors, whether they are the three main AIs (Arimidex, Aromasin, Letrozole) or any other, will have negative effects on the body if they are used at unnecessary times or if the dose of Arimidex is too high.
Remember, the reason for using aromatase inhibitors is that they should always be used to control estrogen, not eliminate it, as completely reducing all estrogen levels in the body can and does have harmful effects on the body.
This is discussed in more detail in the side effects section of this profile, but in general, these compounds (aromatase inhibitors) deprive the body of a very important hormone (estrogen) that is important for a variety of essential bodily functions at normal physiological levels.
Medical Arimidex Dosage
In medical settings, Arimidex is primarily utilized as an adjunctive medication for the treatment of breast cancer in postmenopausal women, where estrogen is the main culprit and aggravating factor.
The Arimidex dosage prescribed in these cases is 1 mg daily, taken indefinitely until the progression of the breast cancer stops.
Arimidex dosage during anabolic steroid use
Notably, Arimidex cannot be categorized into three user tiers (beginner, intermediate, and advanced) as is commonly described and listed in general profiles for other compounds and drugs.
This is due to the fact that Arimidex is not used specifically for performance enhancement purposes, but rather as an ancillary drug used to prevent or mitigate various estrogen-related side effects when using aromatizing anabolic steroids.
In some cases, Arimidex may also be used to increase endogenous testosterone secretion in men, and the compound may be used as an ancillary drug during the post cycle therapy (PCT) phase after the end of an anabolic steroid cycle, but its use alone for this purpose is uncommon and is unlikely to produce any noticeable performance enhancing effects.
For the purpose of estrogen control during a cycle: Arimidex can be effectively used to lower circulating estrogen levels in the body during cycles using aromatizable androgens (anabolic steroids that have an affinity to bind to the aromatase enzyme and aromatize into estrogen).
The dosage of Arimidex for this purpose is very broad, and how much Arimidex is needed and how often depends largely on the individual's sensitivity to the aromatase inhibitor used, as well as the rate of aromatization of the anabolic steroid used.
Therefore, the typical dosage of Arimidex is 0.5 to 1 mg daily.
There is a lot of leeway in this regard, as each individual should slowly adjust their dosage based on how their body responds.
For many anabolic steroid users, even 0.5mg daily is too much, and in fact, the recommended dosage is often 0.5mg of Arimidex every other day.
These Arimidex doses can be easily adjusted if the user feels they are not effective enough or if estrogen levels are decreasing too much.
Always remember that the purpose of using an aromatase inhibitor is not to completely reduce or eliminate estrogen levels and cause problems in the body, but to control estrogen levels and return them to normal physiological levels.
Arimidex Dosage for Women
Female anabolic steroid users rarely have to worry about elevated estrogen levels, but competitive bodybuilders who need to eliminate estrogen-related water retention that causes unwanted bloating may need to use an aromatase inhibitor such as Arimidex.
It is important to remember that medically, Arimidex is only approved for use in postmenopausal women, whose hormone levels are very different from premenopausal women.
Because medical data shows that Arimidex is much more effective in women than in men (average estrogen reduction of 80% vs. 50%), a daily dose of 0.5 mg is sufficient and in fact is often too high, in which case individuals may feel the need to adjust to 0.5 mg every other day or 0.5 mg every other day.
Arimidex Dosage for Increased Endogenous Testosterone Secretion and Post Cycle Therapy (PCT)
The use of Arimidex has been shown to increase endogenous testosterone levels in men.
This is accomplished through a negative feedback loop in the hypothalamic-pituitary-testicular axis (HPTA), where excess estrogen in men can and has been found to suppress the production of endogenous testosterone, leading to hypogonadism[1].
Specifically, in a number of studies, Arimidex has been shown to increase testosterone levels through estrogen reduction.
One study administered 0.5 mg and 1 mg of Arimidex to 12 men for 10 weeks and concluded that among the various hormonal changes caused by Arimidex administration, serum testosterone levels increased by 58% [2].
The study also found increases in LH (luteinizing hormone) and FSH (follicle stimulating hormone), two important gonadotropins that signal the testes to start producing testosterone.
Based on the data provided, it is easy to conclude that Arimidex should be an effective addition to the testosterone boost needed in the weeks following discontinuation of anabolic steroid use.
There is one problem with adding Arimidex to a PCT program that includes the use of SERMs such as Nolvadex and Clomid, which are known to be absolutely essential components of a PCT program.
The problem is that Arimidex and Nolvadex directly cancel each other out.
One study showed that when Arimidex and Nolvadex are used together, Nolvadex decreases the plasma concentration of Arimidex (and another commonly used aromatase inhibitor, letrozole) [3].
The bottom line is that it is a very bad idea to use Arimidex and Nolvadex together.
Therefore, if Arimidex is used with Nolvadex, its use as a PCT ingredient is very limited.
Instead, it may be more beneficial to stack it with HCG, but it suffers from the lack of an essential ingredient in a SERM aimed at stimulating endogenous testosterone.
Therefore, a better aromatase inhibitor for PCT instead of Arimidex would be Aromasin (Exemestane), as unlike Arimidex, Aromasin has been proven in studies to not have its effects eliminated by Nolvadex[4].
Proper dosage of Arimidex and when to take it
There are no special considerations when dosing Arimidex, and it can be taken at any time of the day (morning, evening, before, during, or after meals).
The half-life of Arimidex is approximately 48 hours[5], but it is important to note that it takes a week (7 days) for the plasma concentration of Arimidex to reach its optimal peak level.
Expected effects and results from taking Arimidex
Arimidex significantly reduces an individual's estrogen levels, and Arimidex users should be careful to ensure that their estrogen levels do not drop too rapidly to be considered healthy.
As estrogen levels decrease, the physique may appear harder and more 'ripped' due to the loss of water retention provided by estrogen.
This results in little to no subcutaneous water, making muscles appear more prominent.
One exception to the problem of completely eliminating estrogen is in the case of competitive bodybuilders who need to almost completely eliminate water retention on competition days.
In these situations, aromatase inhibitors such as Arimidex can only be used in high doses a few days before a competition for the aforementioned physique changes.
The almost total reduction of estrogen should not be maintained for more than 48 hours for health reasons.
Medical references
[1] “The dangers of excess estrogen in aging men”. Faloon, William. Life Extension Magazine, November 2008.
[2] Estrogen Suppression in Men: Metabolic Effects. Mauras N; O'Brien CO; Klein CO; Hayes V. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2000 Jul;85(7):2370-7 (ISSN: 0021-972X)
[3] Comparative clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetic interactions of aromatase inhibitors. Boeddinghaus IM, Dowsett M. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 2001 Dec;79(1-5):85-91.
[4] Inhibitory effects of combined treatment with the aromatase inhibitors exemestane and tamoxifen on DMBA-induced mammary tumors in rats.
[5] Pharmacology and pharmacokinetics of the new generation of aromatase inhibitors. Buzdar AU. 2003 Jan;9(1 Pt 2):468S-72S.
