Oxymetholone 347ease. Other unwanted effects have included nausea, vomiting, chills, acne, and
painful testicles. Case reports have noted severe changes in several persons’
ability to handle blood sugar levels. Another case report noted mental con-
fusion that developed in a patient receiving oxymetholone and that continued
for weeks after the therapy stopped.
Abuse factors.Some athletes use the compound with the hope it will im-
prove their sports performance. A case report attributed rupture of the triceps
tendon to a regimen of oxymetholone,nandrolone, and testosterone, although
analysts have noted that a nonanabolic steroid called cortisone may have pro-
moted the injury. Another case report told of a 20-year-old athlete developing
persistent balance problems after taking oxymetholone and two other steroids;
investigators of that case felt that steroids were a likely cause, given their
ability to promote brain damage (stroke) and mental difficulties (mood and
thinking). A case report notes manic activity in a person using oxymetholone.
Another case report notes an even-tempered person who became rageful and
violent after beginning a regimen of oxymetholone. Researchers tested one
group of athletes who were using that compound and other steroids, a second
group composed of former users, and a third group that had never used these
drugs. Compared to the other groups, current users perceived themselves as
more antagonistic, but investigators found only slight psychological differ-
ences among the groups. Chickenpox is a childhood disease that adults can
suffer, and a bodybuilder who used oxymetholone and other anabolic steroids
came down with a severe case requiring extended hospitalization; the case
report did not blame the steroids but considered his drug use important
enough to emphasize.
A case report speaks of oxymetholone “dependency” but in the context of
persons needing the drug to maintain good health, not dependency in the
traditional terminology of drug abuse. Another case report, however, does
describe dependence in a bodybuilder who was taking oxymetholone and
other anabolic steroids. A noteworthy aspect of this case was the person’s
sudden development of opiate withdrawal symptoms when he received a
drug that provokes opiate withdrawal.
Drug interactions.Not enough scientific information to report, although
anabolic steroids as a drug class tend to boost effects from medicines intended
to reduce blood clotting.
Cancer.Oxymetholone gives negative results in assorted laboratory tests
designed to detect cell mutations that may lead to cancer and gives mixed
results in tests involving animals dosed on the substance. Oxymetholone is
suspected of causing human cancer, with liver cancer a particular risk. Sci-
entists have been unsure about any connection between the substance and
human cancer, but the high level of suspicion is illustrated by numerous pub-
lished case reports noting development of cancer by patients using oxymeth-
olone.
Pregnancy.The drug may reduce fertility. In rat experiments the substance
masculinized female fetuses even more thanmethyltestosterone. Whether ox-
ymetholone passes into human milk is uncertain, but nursing mothers are
advised to avoid the substance.
Additional scientific information may be found in: