Does nandrolone contribute to (or cause) depression?

[Pacman]

I added nandrolone officially to my regimen about one month ago (I have tried it in the past but never very long).

The purpose of adding it was to assist in resolving joint pain, and it works PERFECT!! 10 out 10, joint pain is nearly non-existent! I am doing physical therapy in addition, which I have been doing for a while, but I can see the major difference between before and after adding nandrolone to the TRT regimen. It almost feels like a miracle.

However, I seem to be experiencing some side effects from it that make me wonder if it's worth it and/or if maybe a slightly different protocol would be better etc.

Here are the sides that I am experiencing:

1) Suppressed inner drive - I first thought it was ONLY decreased sex drive, but then I realized that I feel less driven in general. And it feels like I am not as motivated as I was before. I am just like "mehh" towards everything. For example if I want to do stuff, but at the same time I am like "whatever, I can do it later (or not at all) etc".

2) Decreased pleasure from sex and from pleasure deriving activities in general. When I had sex the last few times, I was like "mehh this isn't that great", and once was enough for the evening. And that is not typical of me, at all.

3) I do believe also that my hunger increased a noticeable amount since I started.

Does anyone else share this type of experience with nandrolone?

This is my current regimen: 80mg T cyp + 60mg nandrolone every 3 days.

 

[tareload]

I added nandrolone officially to my regimen about one month ago (I have tried it in the past but never very long).

The purpose of adding it was to assist in resolving joint pain, and it works PERFECT!! 10 out 10, joint pain is nearly non-existent! I am doing physical therapy in addition, which I have been doing for a while, but I can see the major difference between before and after adding nandrolone to the TRT regimen. It almost feels like a miracle.

However, I seem to be experiencing some side effects from it that make me wonder if it's worth it and/or if maybe a slightly different protocol would be better etc.

Here are the sides that I am experiencing:

1) Suppressed inner drive - I first thought it was ONLY decreased sex drive, but then I realized that I feel less driven in general. And it feels like I am not as motivated as I was before. I am just like "mehh" towards everything. For example if I want to do stuff, but at the same time I am like "whatever, I can do it later (or not at all) etc".

2) Decreased pleasure from sex and from pleasure deriving activities in general. When I had sex the last few times, I was like "mehh this isn't that great", and once was enough for the evening. And that is not typical of me, at all.

3) I do believe also that my hunger increased a noticeable amount since I started.

Does anyone else share this type of experience with nandrolone?

This is my current regimen: 80mg T cyp + 60mg nandrolone every 3 days.

Yep nandrolone in the therapeutic levels you describe = anhedonia and potentially higher libido with less performance capability downstairs.


IMHO:

One day research will show all the analgesic benefit from nandrolone happens in the brain. It does nothing to rehab or repair joints.

 

[CKO]

Mental health concerns with nandrolone is a fairly common discussion here. It makes me generally more irritable and a slight increase in depression. Love it for my joints, but intolerable otherwise

 

[Fortunate]

I concur fully with the above two posts. I think there is a strong predilection for depression and/or anhedonia with nandrolone in my experience.

 

[madman]

I added nandrolone officially to my regimen about one month ago (I have tried it in the past but never very long).

The purpose of adding it was to assist in resolving joint pain, and it works PERFECT!! 10 out 10, joint pain is nearly non-existent! I am doing physical therapy in addition, which I have been doing for a while, but I can see the major difference between before and after adding nandrolone to the TRT regimen. It almost feels like a miracle.

However, I seem to be experiencing some side effects from it that make me wonder if it's worth it and/or if maybe a slightly different protocol would be better etc.

Here are the sides that I am experiencing:

1) Suppressed inner drive - I first thought it was ONLY decreased sex drive, but then I realized that I feel less driven in general. And it feels like I am not as motivated as I was before. I am just like "mehh" towards everything. For example if I want to do stuff, but at the same time I am like "whatever, I can do it later (or not at all) etc".

2) Decreased pleasure from sex and from pleasure deriving activities in general. When I had sex the last few times, I was like "mehh this isn't that great", and once was enough for the evening. And that is not typical of me, at all.

3) I do believe also that my hunger increased a noticeable amount since I started.

Does anyone else share this type of experience with nandrolone?

This is my current regimen: 80mg T cyp + 60mg nandrolone every 3 days.

Only 4 weeks in and you have not even reached steady-state due to the half-life of the decanoate ester.

You are already injecting a higher-end dose of 186mg T/week and just threw in 140 mg ND which is a fair amount of androgens.

Not sure why you feel the need to use 140 mg ND/week.

The therapeutic dose for relief/improvement of bone/joint pain is 50-100 mg/week.

You easily have room to lower your weekly dose.

If anything I would have started out on a much lower dose.

Everyone will react differently to various AAS compounds.

Some may feel great overall on certain compounds whereas others may struggle with sides.

Too many are still caught up on that more is better mentality BULLSHIT!

 

[tareload]

Too many are still caught up on that more is better mentality BULLSHIT!

I'd like to see you over at T-Nation. That would be entertaining.

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

There was another recent thread here where the poster did well for joint pain on 30-40mg per week, and IME I strongly believe in starting low and not increasing the dosage beyond what you need. You might also drop your T dose down a bit. That said, Nandrolone, especially the long-ester version, is clearly like DHT-like compound where some people thrive and other people have issues.

 

[Pacman]

Only 4 weeks in and you have not even reached steady-state due to the half-life of the decanoate ester.

You are already injecting a higher-end dose of 186mg T/week and just threw in 140 mg ND which is a fair amount of androgens.

Not sure why you feel the need to use 140 mg ND/week.

The therapeutic dose for relief/improvement of bone/joint pain is 50-100 mg/week.

You easily have room to lower your weekly dose.

If anything I would have started out on a much lower dose.

Everyone will react differently to various AAS compounds.

Some may feel great overall on certain compounds whereas others may struggle with sides.

Too many are still caught up on that more is better mentality BULLSHIT!

I will definitely lower my dose. Hopefully I get the therapeutic benefit from a lower dose.

@madman do you think it should be alongside every other T shot (T shot = every 3 days), or should be split up?

Mental health concerns with nandrolone is a fairly common discussion here. It makes me generally more irritable and a slight increase in depression. Love it for my joints, but intolerable otherwise

Yes, this is precisely my issue. It's like "yay no more joint pain, but I don't feel like doing anything now!", it feels like a catch-22. Hopefully lowering my weekly dose of nandrolone will balance things out.

Yep nandrolone in the therapeutic levels you describe = anhedonia and potentially higher libido with less performance capability downstairs.


IMHO:

One day research will show all the analgesic benefit from nandrolone happens in the brain. It does nothing to rehab or repair joints.

Anhedonia all the way!! I have bouts of motivating moments, but in general it is decreased. And regarding libido, it completely dropped. Function luckily did not, but libido is weird now. I see a hot lady on the street, I am drawn to how hot she is, but it is just my mind that reacts, my body does not.

I really wish there would be more research on the mechanism by which nandrolone is an analgesic. As far as I know there has only been a handful of studies, and only one recent within the last 3-4 years.

 

[madman]

I will definitely lower my dose. Hopefully I get the therapeutic benefit from a lower dose.

@madman do you think it should be alongside every other T shot (T shot = every 3 days), or should be split up?


Yes, this is precisely my issue. It's like "yay no more joint pain, but I don't feel like doing anything now!", it feels like a catch-22. Hopefully lowering my weekly dose of nandrolone will balance things out.


Anhedonia all the way!! I have bouts of motivating moments, but in general it is decreased. And regarding libido, it completely dropped. Function luckily did not, but libido is weird now. I see a hot lady on the street, I am drawn to how hot she is, but it is just my mind that reacts, my body does not.

I really wish there would be more research on the mechanism by which nandrolone is an analgesic. As far as I know there has only been a handful of studies, and only one recent within the last 3-4 years.

I would just inject both on the same day.

Do whatever you feel is best for you.

 

[Pacman]

I would just inject both on the same day.

Do whatever you feel is best for you.

Wow, you were beyond correct regarding the protocol being too much!! I just received the results of the blood test, and my T levels were way too high! And this was on an injection day that was a day late (I injected after the blood test)! No wonder I was experiencing really bad side effects.

So what makes sense to do? I am thinking of doing one of the following to start (every 3 days being the frequency):
a) 80mg cypionate + 20mg nandrolone
b) 60mg cypionate + 20mg nandrolone
c) 60mg cypionate + 40mg nandrolone

For comparison, I was doing 80mg cypionate + 60mg nandrolone every 3 days. I just injected this morning 80mg cypionate (no nandrolone).

Should I also wait a week before my next injection so my levels become normal again?

 

[Guided_by_Voices]

In similar situations, I have always had the best results doing some form of washout and then restarting slowly. It is easier to assess symptoms adjusting up rather than down, especially with long esters. So for you that would look something like..inject nothing for two or three weeks at least (which is still not a complete washout). Then inject T at the lowest dose that has been reported to work, which IIRC is around 60mg per week. Then the next week add 30-40mg of N per week. Then assess your symptoms and performance and adjust from there. This is only an example based on what I have done but your scenarios are still fairly high on the T side and people have seen results for joint pain with N at much less than 80 per week. I also think it is more productive to talk in terms of total per week since there are many different injection scenarios varying from daily to once per week or less.

 

[bixt]

"Does nandrolone contribute to (or cause) depression?"

Yes

You are describing what 10000000 have already described before you. Typical for nandrolone.

NO other AAS is anecdotally known for any of these things except nandrolone.

The ONLY time I see predisposed people not getting deca dick\depression again is when winstrol\masteron\proviron (DHT) is run alongside the nandrolone. Also in addition for double insurance, you can run finasteride along with nandrolone to stop the bad metabolites forming. Making sure to add back one of the above DHTs (to prevent another similar problem, PFS).

Pick your poison, and decide which of your hair \ mental well being libido \ joints is more valuable to you. Pick any two.

 

[Gman86]

"Does nandrolone contribute to (or cause) depression?"

Yes

You are describing what 10000000 have already described before you. Typical for nandrolone.

NO other AAS is anecdotally known for any of these things except nandrolone.

The ONLY time I see predisposed people not getting deca dick\depression again is when winstrol\masteron\proviron (DHT) is run alongside the nandrolone. Also in addition for double insurance, you can run finasteride along with nandrolone to stop the bad metabolites forming. Making sure to add back one of the above DHTs (to prevent another similar problem, PFS).

Pick your poison, and decide which of your hair \ mental well being libido \ joints is more valuable to you. Pick any two.

It’s actually the opposite with finasteride and nandrolone. Nandrolone 5-alpha reduces to DHN which is pretty hair safe. If you take finasteride you block this 5-alpha reduction leaving the more damaging chemical to attack your hair

 

[bixt]

It’s actually the opposite with finasteride and nandrolone. Nandrolone 5-alpha reduces to DHN which is pretty hair safe. if you take finasteride you block this 5-alpha reduction leaving the more damaging chemical to attack your hair

I stick by my post, which needs to be read and understood in the context of its entirety. You cannot have your joint relief, libido AND hair in an individual predisposed to bad mental effects of deca.

 

[madman]

Wow, you were beyond correct regarding the protocol being too much!! I just received the results of the blood test, and my T levels were way too high! And this was on an injection day that was a day late (I injected after the blood test)! No wonder I was experiencing really bad side effects.

So what makes sense to do? I am thinking of doing one of the following to start (every 3 days being the frequency):
a) 80mg cypionate + 20mg nandrolone
b) 60mg cypionate + 20mg nandrolone
c) 60mg cypionate + 40mg nandrolone

For comparison, I was doing 80mg cypionate + 60mg nandrolone every 3 days. I just injected this morning 80mg cypionate (no nandrolone).

Should I also wait a week before my next injection so my levels become normal again?

Would have a better idea if you posted your labs!

Want to see where your trough TT/FT level sits on 80 mg T every 3 days (186 mg/week) in order for such you would need to have used the most accurate assays, TT (LC/MS-MS) and Free Testosterone (Equilibrium Dialysis or Ultrafiltration), especially when using ND as part of a protocol otherwise your results will be skewed.

These are the assays needed when testing TT/FT.

Both assays are critical and need to be used when adding nandrolone to a T-only protocol.

When testing your FT either one will suffice!

Most would use Labcorps TT (LC/MS-MS)/FT (Equilibrium Ultrafiltration) or Quest Diagnostics TT (LC/MS-MS)/FT (Equilibrium Dialysis).


Labcorp

1. 500726: Testosterone, Free, Mass Spectrometry/Equilibrium Dialysis (Endocrine Sciences) | Labcorp

2. 070038: Testosterone, Free, Equilibrium Ultrafiltration With Total Testosterone, LC/MS-MS | Labcorp


Quest Diagnostics

1. Testosterone, Total, LC/MS, and Free (Equilibrium Dialysis)


Betting your FT level is really high.

Even then judging by your first post it seems as though you felt great overall on your T-only protocol before adding in the ND.

Again you were already on a higher-end weekly dose of T and unfortunately ended up throwing in a fair dose of ND 60 mg every 3.5 days (140 mg/week) which makes your overall weekly dose of androgens fairly high.

You most likely have room to lower your T dose of 80mg every 3.5 days (186 mg/week) or leave it as is for the time being and just lower your weekly dose of ND.

Again do what you feel is best for you!

Always better to start off on the lower end within reason before turning things up if need be.

 

[Pacman]

Betting your FT level is really high.

The crazy thing is that it actually wasn't! It usually is, when I do T alone. But for some reason my free T was within range while my total T was not! First time that ever happened to me.

Again do what you feel is best for you!

Always better to start off on the lower end within reason before turning things up if need be.

So after skipping more than a week of Nandrolone, mentally I definitely feel better, but my shoulder started driving me crazy again. I know that technically speaking I am not supposed to feel the benefits (or lack thereof) until I either take or cease Nandrolone consistently. But for some reason, I feel the benefits within just one week (my subjective experience).

Right now I am starting with 0.3mg Cyp and 0.1mg Nan every 3 days. I am starting to feel better, and mentally I feel better than I did before. We'll see how this goes.

But one thing is for sure, Nandrolone works for joint pain!!! There is no doubt about that. I am hoping I can continue to take the minimal therapeutic dose without too severe side effects.

Things are (symptomatically) good for now.

Will report back if things change.

 

[Gman86]

The crazy thing is that it actually wasn't! It usually is, when I do T alone. But for some reason my free T was within range while my total T was not! First time that ever happened to me.


So after skipping more than a week of Nandrolone, mentally I definitely feel better, but my shoulder started driving me crazy again. I know that technically speaking I am not supposed to feel the benefits (or lack thereof) until I either take or cease Nandrolone consistently. But for some reason, I feel the benefits within just one week (my subjective experience).

Right now I am starting with 0.3mg Cyp and 0.1mg Nan every 3 days. I am starting to feel better, and mentally I feel better than I did before. We'll see how this goes.

But one thing is for sure, Nandrolone works for joint pain!!! There is no doubt about that. I am hoping I can continue to take the minimal therapeutic dose without too severe side effects.

Things are (symptomatically) good for now.

Will report back if things change.

Just to clarify, ur basically taking around 93mg of test per week and 47mg of nandrolone per week?

And when did u skip/ stop taking nandrolone?

And when did u start taking it again?

 

[Pacman]

Just to clarify, ur basically taking around 93mg of test per week and 47mg of nandrolone per week?

And when did u skip/ stop taking nandrolone?

And when did u start taking it again?

I just realized that I put mg instead of mL in my last response. I can't seem to edit my response above, but I'll clarify below.

My regimen WAS 0.4mL cyp (80mg) and 0.3mL (60mg) Deca every 3 days. My joints felt great, but I was feeling very depressed and nothing was enjoyable, including sex. I am apparently very sensitive to Nandrolone. I was doing this regimen from 7/18 to 8/19.

I dropped the Nandrolone completely from my regimen after my last injection of it on 8/19, on that day (8/19) I only injected 40mg (0.2mL) of it alongside 80mg (0.4mL) of cyp.

Around 8/25 (a week after my last Deca injection) my left shoulder started aching again randomly, along with my neck and right arm. At the same time though, I was mentally feeling much better and feeling frequently horny again (sex drive dropped like 70% during the 7/18-8/19 period). I waited a few days to see if it would go away, and it would not.

So something had to give. I am not willing to live with joint pain if I can help it. So on 8/30 I injected 40mg cyp (0.2mL) and 20mg Deca (0.1mL), repeated that 2 days later on 9/1. I feel GREAT!

I wanted to put it back in my body ASAP to help get rid of the shoulder pain which drives me up the wall.

I do feel great but I really want to find the minimum effective dose for me, so I am hoping I can get away with 40mg of Deca a week, but we will see.

My plan is to start the following regimen in a few days: 60mg Cyp (0.3mL) and 20mg Deca (0.1mL) every 3 days. We will see how that goes. If that does not work, I may revert back to a smaller dosage every 2 days, because currently I feel great, but I would prefer not to pin every 2 days, which is why I am planning to do the aforementioned protocol.

 

[Gman86]

So u were doing about 187mg test and 140mg of deca per week before. Sorry, it’s a pet peeve of mine when people don’t just put their weekly total dosages lol. It’s just easier to understand when we put our total weekly dosages and then just say how many injections we break that up into each week, imo.

So now ur currently gonna try 140mg test and about 47mg of deca per week. I think that’s a good starting dose of deca to see what the minimum effective dose that relieves ur joint pain is.

140mg of deca might have just been a bit too much with the 187mg of test before. I personally am using 125mg of deca along with my test dose. I also use 100mg of primo to keep E2 in check, and use 1.25mg of selegiline sublingually EOD to try and keep prolactin down. Not sure if it’s actually keeping prolactin down or not at this dosage, but it has other benefits to it, so even if it isn’t, it’s probably still worth taking. Prolactin was around 6 on my last set of labs, so think the primo and selegiline combo are doing what I want them to do. Primo is definitely keeping E2 down, I know that much.

But hopefully u continue to feel great on ur current protocol, and u end up finding the minimum effective dose of deca soon that alleviates ur joint pain like the higher dose did. Primo and selegiline might be a few things to look into if u end up feeling depressed and libido drops tho, before giving up on deca completely. Unfortunately u have to get primo UGL, but luckily selegiline can be prescribed, or u can just get it off of research chemical sites like alldaychemist

 

[madman]

The crazy thing is that it actually wasn't! It usually is, when I do T alone. But for some reason my free T was within range while my total T was not! First time that ever happened to me.


So after skipping more than a week of Nandrolone, mentally I definitely feel better, but my shoulder started driving me crazy again. I know that technically speaking I am not supposed to feel the benefits (or lack thereof) until I either take or cease Nandrolone consistently. But for some reason, I feel the benefits within just one week (my subjective experience).

Right now I am starting with 0.3mg Cyp and 0.1mg Nan every 3 days. I am starting to feel better, and mentally I feel better than I did before. We'll see how this goes.

But one thing is for sure, Nandrolone works for joint pain!!! There is no doubt about that. I am hoping I can continue to take the minimal therapeutic dose without too severe side effects.

Things are (symptomatically) good for now.

Will report back if things change.

Again post blood work (lab/assay used)!

What was your trough TT/FT level on 80 mg T every 3 days (186 mg/week)?