Dianabol (Methandrostenolone): Facts, Legal Status and Risks

Dianabol is the best-known brand name for methandrostenolone, also called methandienone. It is a steroid pill that is popular with bodybuilders who want to gain size. This page covers what it is, its medical and legal status, and what research says about its risks.

Key facts: Methandrostenolone is a steroid pill. No methandrostenolone product is listed in the FDA's or the NIH's drug databases today. It is a Schedule III controlled substance, and like other steroid pills, it can damage the liver.

What methandrostenolone is

Methandrostenolone is a lab-made steroid based on testosterone. Its chemical name in the federal drug schedule is 17α-methyl-17β-hydroxyandrost-1,4-dien-3-one. The "17α-methyl" part matters.

Most steroids are broken down by the liver when swallowed. To make a steroid that works as a pill, chemists add a small methyl group at position 17. This is called 17α-alkylation. The Endocrine Connections review explains that it became clear decades ago that 17-alkylated steroids are toxic to the liver, and doctors largely stopped using them. The review names methandienone (Dianabol) as one of the oral steroids that is still widely misused.

Medical status

Methandrostenolone is not a medicine you can be prescribed in the United States. We found no methandrostenolone product in the FDA's Drugs@FDA database or in the NIH's DailyMed label database.

How it is misused

Doctors who study steroid users call methandienone a typical "bulking" steroid. Bulking is a phase of eating extra calories to gain muscle. In a Dutch study of 100 steroid users, 25% reported using it during a cycle. The review notes that oral steroids are often added to injected ones, for example in the first weeks of a cycle.

Health risks

The liver is the main concern with steroid pills. The Endocrine Society states that almost all steroid-related liver damage is linked to oral 17α-alkylated steroids. These effects include peliosis hepatis, a condition where blood-filled cysts form in the liver, and liver tumors. The NIH's LiverTox database adds that long-term use of androgens is linked to liver cancer and benign liver tumors.

The FDA label for testosterone enanthate lists the serious problems reported in people who misuse steroids. They include heart attack, heart failure, stroke, liver damage and serious mental health problems such as major depression, mania, paranoia and aggression. Men can get shrunken testicles and become infertile. Women can get a deeper voice, more facial and body hair, male-pattern baldness and changes to their periods. In teens, bones can stop growing too early.

Large studies back this up. In a Danish study, men who tested positive for steroids had three times the death rate of similar men. A heart study found weaker heart muscle and more plaque in the arteries of long-term users.

In one forensic case report, a 34-year-old man collapsed and died after a gym workout. Tests found methandienone, stanozolol, clenbuterol and several other steroids in his body. The authors concluded that long-term steroid use had caused changes in his heart, which, together with a narrow heart artery, led to fatal heart failure.

Illicit products carry another risk. When Dutch researchers tested steroids used by 100 people, only about half held the drug named on the label, according to a review in Endocrine Connections. Some held no active drug at all.

Legal status

In the United States, methandrostenolone is a Schedule III controlled substance. It is named in the federal list of anabolic steroids, 21 CFR 1308.13. It is a federal crime to have or sell it without a valid prescription.

In sport, it is banned at all times, in and out of competition, by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Frequently asked questions

Is Dianabol legal?

No, not in the United States. Methandrostenolone is a Schedule III controlled substance, and no approved product exists that a doctor could prescribe.

Is Dianabol the same as methandienone?

Yes. Dianabol is a brand name. Methandrostenolone, methandienone and metandienone are all names for the same compound.

Why is Dianabol hard on the liver?

It is a 17α-alkylated steroid, a change made so it survives as a pill. That same change makes it toxic to the liver.

What is Dianabol used for?

It has no current medical use in the United States. Among people who misuse steroids, it is mainly used for bulking.

Sources

• Pope HG Jr, et al. Adverse health consequences of performance-enhancing drugs: an Endocrine Society scientific statement. Endocr Rev. 2014
• National Institutes of Health, LiverTox: Androgenic steroids
• Lehmann S, et al. Death after misuse of anabolic substances (clenbuterol, stanozolol and metandienone). Forensic Sci Int. 2019
• FDA-approved label: testosterone enanthate injection (Drug Abuse and Dependence)
• de Ronde W, Smit DL. Anabolic androgenic steroid abuse in young males. Endocr Connect. 2020
• Horwitz H, et al. Health consequences of androgenic anabolic steroid use. J Intern Med. 2019
• Baggish AL, et al. Cardiovascular toxicity of illicit anabolic-androgenic steroid use. Circulation. 2017
• U.S. Code of Federal Regulations: 21 CFR 1308.13, Schedule III
• World Anti-Doping Agency: Prohibited List