Winstrol Depot
Winstrol was developed in 1959 and was first manufactured by Winthrop Laboratories in the United Kingdom and introduced to the prescription drug market.
However, in 1961, Sterling of the United States patented the manufacture and sale of Winstrol and began manufacturing and selling it in the U.S. prescription drug market in 1962.
Although Winstrol is more widely known as an oral anabolic steroid, the injectable formulation is commonly referred to as Winstrol Depot.
It is so named because it is designed to be injected deep into muscle tissue to form a site known as a depot, where the hormone is slowly released from that area.
Since the term 'depot' is a medical term, all injectable anabolic steroids are actually called depots (it doesn't matter if they are oil or water based).
Winstrol depots can be solid, oil or water based.
So when you see the word “depot” after an anabolic steroid or drug, it actually means that it is an injectable variant of the drug.
While Winstrol's main popularity lies in its oral form, the injectable form is also quite popular.
The reason many people choose oral Winstrol over Winstrol Depot is that there is no difference between the two chemically, structurally, or pharmacologically.
Therefore, many people believe that if there is no difference between the two, it is better to choose the more convenient route of administration, which tends to be oral.
However, Winstrol Depot offers a few small advantages that the oral route doesn't.
For starters, when Winstrol is taken orally, it must first pass through the liver (something that must happen with any substance ingested or taken via the oral route).
Because of this, oral Winstrol is more hepatotoxic than Winstrol Depot.
Winstrol Depot does not need to pass through the liver first, which greatly reduces (but does not eliminate) the potential effects of liver toxicity.
In addition, Winstrol Depot has a longer half-life of 24 hours compared to the oral formulation, which has a half-life of 9 hours.
This results in less frequent dosing of Winstrol Depot (more on this shortly).
Of course, since Winstrol is chemically the same whether it's oral or not, Winstrol Depot can actually be ingested orally (what you drink) with the same effect as taking an oral Winstrol tablet.
Winstrol Depot is different in that it is an aqueous injectable suspension.
A suspension is a heterogeneous mixture containing solid particles within a liquid, which must be shaken well to properly and evenly disperse before administration.
Suspensions can be injectable or oral products that are typically aqueous (but can also be based on other types of liquids), and the active ingredient is in the form of solid microcrystals.
In the case of Winstrol Depot, Winstrol itself is contained in microcrystals that must be shaken before injection.
Winstrol Depot is generally considered a very painful injectable product for many athletes and bodybuilders because it is water-based and the hormone is contained in microcrystals, requiring a larger needle gauge to inject effectively.
Not only is the injection itself painful, but it is also known to cause severe post-injection pain (PIP) at the injection site for hours to days after the injection.
Winstrol Depot can be found in both pharmaceutical grade and under-the-label (UGL) products, typically in a 50mg/ml formulation.
Formulations containing concentrations higher than 50mg/ml are rarely seen, as 50mg/ml is considered quite painful and uncomfortable on its own.
However, while oil-based depot solutions are becoming increasingly popular, it's important to note that these are all underwrapped products, and an oil-based winstrol depot of true pharmaceutical origin has yet to be identified.
Winstrol itself is known to be chemically very difficult to suspend in oily solutions, so it started out as an aqueous suspension product, and this is still the most common form of Winstrol depot used.
However, in our underlab, we discovered different recipes for solvents and co-solvents that allowed us to successfully manufacture Winstrol Depot in an oily solution.
This has led to higher dosage Winstrol Depot products, such as 100mg/ml instead of the traditional 50mg/ml.
Again, these products utilize (for now) exclusively UGL raw materials.
What is Winstrol Depot and why is it popular?
As mentioned earlier, the popularity of Winstrol Depot tends to fall short of its oral counterpart for the reasons outlined earlier.
Winstrol is a substance known as a dihydrotestosterone derivative (DHT derivative) and belongs to the DHT derivative family.
Other anabolic steroids in this family include Anadrol (oxymetholone), Anavar (oxandrolone), and Masteron (drostanolone).
Anabolic steroids derived from DHT, such as Winstrol, have similar properties and characteristics to their parent hormone (in this case, the parent hormone is dihydrotestosterone).
As such, Winstrol cannot convert to estrogen (aromatize) at any dose.
It is also endowed with very strong anabolic strength due to its chemical modification.
Compared to testosterone, Winstrol exhibits 3.2 times the anabolic strength (testosterone has an anabolic rating of 100, while Winstrol has an anabolic rating of 320).
While the anabolic strength is much greater than testosterone, the androgenic strength is significantly reduced to a rating of 30.
(Testosterone has an androgenic rating of 100)
For a more in-depth and detailed explanation of why Winstrol has these properties and the chemical modifications, please see our general Winstrol profile post.
Because Winstrol does not provide water retention or estrogen related fat retention/gain, it has become a very popular anabolic steroid for athletes looking to maintain weight and speed without unwanted and unnecessary water weight.
It is therefore a very popular anabolic steroid among athletes in sports such as sprinting, track and field, boxing and other similar sports, who do not want to gain pure mass and large weight gain.
Winstrol Depot Side Effects
The side effects of Winstrol Depot are related to the uncomfortable and highly irritating injections (caused almost exclusively by the suspension form).
It is not uncommon for the injection site to be very sore for hours to days after the injection, and for the range of motion in that muscle to be greatly reduced due to the pain.
Bodybuilders have even been known to alter their workout schedules to accommodate Winstrol Depot injections because the injected muscle is too sore and tender to train immediately.
Winstrol has serious side effects of its own, most notably, it can have a serious adverse effect on the body's cholesterol levels.
Winstrol is notorious for lowering HDL (good cholesterol) levels and raising LDL (bad cholesterol) levels in the body, which can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease if the negative changes are left unchecked for long periods of time.
For this reason, it's a good idea to properly supplement with nutrients and compounds that support the cardiovascular system.
Winstrol Depot has also been modified to C17AA, which means it can exhibit potential liver toxicity, although to a lesser extent than the oral product.
Nevertheless, it is highly recommended that you take a proven liver support compound (e.g., TUDCA and/or N-acetyl cysteine) while taking Winstrol Depot.
