Steroids and Interactions With Other Drugs (Antibiotics, Adderall, Aspirin, etc.)
One of the most common questions received both in person as well as in the anabolic steroid using community in general is whether or not X, Y, or Z drug will negatively interact with anabolic steroids if that person happens to be on a cycle at the time. anabolic steroid use without a doctor's prescription in the United States is considered illegal, and it is for this reason that many individuals keep their anabolic steroid use a secret and never mention it to their doctor. Although anabolic steroid use in other Western countries like Canada and the UK is legal, most users in those countries also will not divulge their anabolic steroid use to their physicians. This causes an issue, because if your doctor does not know what you are administering to yourself on a regular basis, it might very well cause potential problems when/if you are prescribed a medication for the treatment of something, whatever it might be. Drug interactions can be serious, and although to some of us who understand pharmacology might find questions like "will antibiotics be a problem during my cycle?" might sound laughably stupid,for many others who are lay persons in this area of knowledge it isn't so easy to understand and it is a valid concern. I am going to provide a list of some common drugs that are asked about concerning their use during a cycle.
Adderall (Dextroamphetamine):
No direct negative interactions with anabolic steroids. Adderall has been granted its own separate entry here because of my findings have unveiled to me an important correlation between Estrogen and amphetamines. Yes, that's right, Estrogen levels actually influence the effect of Adderall's (amphetamine's) dopaminergic effects. It has been discovered that increased Estrogen levels lead to an increased response intensity to the dopaminergic activity from amphetamines, which would explain why when women take Adderall, they experience an intensity of effect that is far greater than what men who use Adderall experience. One study on rats discovered that 30 minutes after a single treatment with a physiological dose of Estrogen, there is enhanced amphetamine-induced behavior and increased amphetamine-induced striatal dopamine detected during microdialysis. The same study discovered that both the peak response and the duration of the response from amphetamines are greater in Estrogen-primed animals treated with Estrogen or progesterone 30 minutes prior to the administration of amphetamine, than in all other groups. Another study, this time on human females, involved 2 groups women: one being pre-treated with Estradiol patches before 10mg amphetamine administration, and one group that received placebo Estrogen patches pre-treatment. The study determined that Estradiol pre-treatment increased the magnitude of the effects of amphetamines on the test subjects' subjective ratings of 'pleasant stimulation' and decreased ratings of 'want more'. Lastly, one more study on human females administered 15mg amphetamines during the follicular phase of their menstrual cycle (typically a period when Estrogen levels rise while Progesterone remains low) and then during the luteal phase (when Estrogen and Progesterone are both high) determined that the responses to amphetamines were related to levels of Estrogen, where higher levels of Estrogen were associated with greater amphetamine-induced increases in "Euphoria" and "Energy and Intellectual Efficiency". SO, what does this mean for the anabolic steroid user? Simple: it means that if you are using aromatizable AAS without an aromatase inhibitor, expect your Adderall to be a heck of a lot more intense/effective due to high Estrogen levels. On the flipside, if you are using an AI during cycle or during PCT, and you find that your Adderall for some reason isn't working as well as it normally does, well, now you know why!! Excessively low Estrogen levels will diminish the effects of amphetamines on the CNS.
Antibiotics:
No direct negative interactions with anabolic steroids. Very safe combination. However, there exist many different types of antibiotics and although the vast majority are known to have no interaction at all with anabolicsteroids, some might interfere superficially (for example, some antibiotics are known to cause excessively dry skin and this may or may not conflict with the increased oily skin commonly caused by the androgenic effects of anabolicsteroids).
Aspirin:
No direct negative interactions with anabolic steroids. Very safe. Many anabolic steroid using bodybuilders and athletes resort to Aspirin to alleviate some of the cardiovascular effects of anabolic steroids due to the blood thinning effect in order to reduce heightened blood pressure or to alleviate significantly increased hematocrit levels. This is not advice, however, to go ahead and start doing that. That is simply an example used to describe the safety of this drug combination.