Common symptoms associated with usage and cessation of anabolic androgenic steroids in men.
File(s)1-s2.0-S1521690X22000781-main.pdf (1.04 MB)
Published version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Anabolic-androgenic steroid (AAS) have widespread and growing illicit use as image and performance enhancing drugs (IPED), predominantly in young men. Users trying to stop AAS are prone to distressing withdrawal symptoms which may trigger relapse in use. It is important to develop therapies to support AAS withdrawal. The illicit nature of AAS use has impeded the robust characterisation of its clinical withdrawal syndrome within any single study. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review summarising the available clinical studies describing symptoms associated with non-medically indicated AAS use, and AAS withdrawal. Reported clinical features of AAS withdrawal include headache, fatigue, myalgia, restlessness, insomnia, low mood and libido, anorexia, suicidal ideation, body image dissatisfaction, and steroid cravings; novel therapies for AAS withdrawal would need evaluation against these symptoms.
Date Issued
2022-09
Date Acceptance
2022-08-01
Citation
Best Practice and Research: Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 2022, 36 (5), pp.1-10
ISSN
1521-690X
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
1
End Page
10
Journal / Book Title
Best Practice and Research: Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
Volume
36
Issue
5
Copyright Statement
© 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35999138
PII: S1521-690X(22)00078-1
Subjects
androgenic anabolic steroids
androgens
dependency
men
substance misuse
withdrawal
Publication Status
Published
Coverage Spatial
Netherlands
Date Publish Online
2022-08-12