Drostanolone
Also known as: masteron
The 'masteron' steroid: a DHT-derived androgen used cosmetically at low body fat, with an effect that is largely visual.
Legal status: UK: Class C controlled drug and prescription-only medicine. Supplying it (including to friends) and importing it by post are criminal offences; personal possession for your own use generally is not. Checked 2026-07-26.
Prohibited in sport: Yes — on the WADA Prohibited List.
Approved medical use: Was used historically as a treatment for advanced breast cancer; long superseded and no longer in medical use.
What it is
Drostanolone is derived from dihydrotestosterone. Because it cannot aromatise to oestrogen and has mild anti-oestrogenic activity, it does not produce fluid retention, which is the origin of its reputation for a 'hard, dry' look. It has essentially no current medical use.
Its historical licence was as an adjunct in advanced breast cancer, exploiting its anti-oestrogenic action: a use long replaced by better-tolerated drugs.
What’s claimed
- A hard, dry, defined appearance
- Increased strength without weight gain
- Reduced oestrogenic side effects from other compounds
What the evidence shows
The cosmetic effect is real but narrower than the reputation suggests: it does not add muscle so much as remove the fluid that obscures it, and it is only visible at already-low body fat. Its anabolic effect is modest compared with testosterone. There is little modern controlled human evidence: the clinical literature is decades old and concerns cancer treatment, not physique (Bronze).
The risks
- Androgenic: acne, male-pattern hair loss in those predisposed, and in women virilising effects, deepening of the voice, facial hair growth and clitoral enlargement, some of which do not reverse.
- Androgenic: as a DHT derivative it is strongly associated with accelerated male-pattern hair loss and with prostate effects.
- Endocrine: suppression of the body's own testosterone production, with testicular atrophy and impaired fertility. Recovery is not guaranteed and can be slow or incomplete.
- Lipids: marked lowering of HDL ('good') cholesterol and raising of LDL, an adverse cardiovascular shift that is more pronounced with oral compounds.
What needs monitoring
- Full blood count, including haematocrit and haemoglobin
- Lipid profile
- Blood pressure
- Liver and kidney markers
- Testosterone and the wider hormonal axis: a doctor is the right person to arrange these tests and to interpret what they show.
Sources
- NHS. Anabolic steroid misuse — health risks and the law.
- GOV.UK. Controlled drugs: Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 drug classes.
- World Anti-Doping Agency. The Prohibited List.
- Pope HG, et al. Adverse health consequences of performance-enhancing drugs: an Endocrine Society scientific statement. Endocr Rev. 2014;35(3):341-375.