Anavar (oxandrolone) is not very toxic, not very androgenic, mildly anabolic, and pretty mild on the body´s HPTA (Hypothalamic-Testicular-Pituitary-Axis).

Anavar (Oxandrolone) Side Effects

Anavar (oxandrolone) is quite mild on your liver. It´s probably the mildest oral steroid available today. Dosages of up to 80mgs/day are easily tolerated by most men, and most side effects often found with other steroids are not common with ´var (1). For this reason, Anavar is frequently the steroid of choice for many top level female bodybuilders and other athletes.

Anavar Dosage

Due to its being a mild steroid in every sense of the word, high amounts of Anavar dosage are needed. It binds reasonably well to the AR, but pretty high doses are still needed and I would never suggest doing less than 20mgs/day. In fact, 20-80mgs are needed to start halting AIDS related wasting(1) and recovering weight for burn victims (2) so that´s the range I´d recommend keeping your dosages in concerning this compound. Personally, I´d use 100mgs/day if I were ever going to try this stuff. Any less than this amount (20-100mgs) would be a waste. For women, however, I think 2.5-10mgs/day would suffice. Virilation is not a concern with this compound, as it is only very mildly androgenic (3). Water retention is also virtually nil with it.

Although Anavar is an oral steroid, and has been alpha-alkylated to survive oral ingestion and the first pass through the liver, the unique chemical configuration of oxandrolone both confers a resistance to liver metabolism as well as noticable anabolic activity. It would also appear that Anavar appears not to exhibit the serious hepatotoxic effects (jaundice, cholestatic hepatitis, peliosis hepatis, hyperplasias and neoplasms) typically attributed to the C17alpha-alkylated AASs. (17) Anavar has even been used successfully in some studies to heal cutaneous wounds (7), or to improve respiratory function (18). Both of these novel properties could make it a good choice for in-season use for boxers, Mixed Martial Arts competitors, and other such athletes.

Anavar and Fat Loss

Anavar may be called a "fat-burning steroid". Abdominal and visceral fat were both reduced in one study when subjects in the low/normal natural testosterone range used anavar (4). In another study, appendicular, total, and trunk fat were all reduced with a relatively small dose of 20mgs/day (8), and no exercise. In addition, weight gained with Anavar may be nearly permanent too. In one study, subjects maintained their weight (re)gains from anavar for at least 6 months after cessation (2)! Concomitantly, in another study, Twelve weeks after discontinuing oxandrolone, 83% of the reductions in total, trunk, and extremity fat were also sustained (8)! If you´re regaining weight, Anavar will give you nearly permanent gains, and if you are trying to lose fat (and you keep your diet in check), the fat lost with Anavar is basically looks to be nearly permanent.

Anavar Cycles

Anavar is great for strength and cutting purposes, but not for bulking or a lot of weight gain. Anavar will not totally shut down your HPTA, especially at lower doses (unlike testosterone, which will eventually do this even at a 100mg dose, or deca which will do it with a single 100mg dose). This could be due to the fact that Anavar doesn´t aromatize (convert to estrogen).

Serum testosterone, SHBG (Sex Hormone Binding Globulin), and LH (Leutinizing Hormone) will be slightly suppressed with low doses of Anavar, but less than with other compounds. FSH (Follicle Stimulating Hormone) , IGF1 (Insulin Like Growth Factor 1) and GH (Growth Hormone) will not be suppressed with a low dose of Anavar, but will actually be raised significantly (12)(13)(14) as you may have guessed, and LH will even experience a "rebound" effect when you stop using anavar (3) If your endocrine system and HPTA are funtioning normally, you should be able to use anavar with minimal insult to it, and can even keep most of your values within the normal range (5).

Thus, Anavar may even be ideal for use in bridges between cycles, (at very low doses under 10mgs perhaps), or as previously mentioned, for cutting/strength cycles at 50-100mgs.

Anavar Profile

    [17b-hydroxy-17a-methyl-2-oxa-5a-androstane-3-one]
     Molecular Weight: 306.4442
     Formula: C19H30O3
     Melting Point: 235  238 Celcius
     Manufacturer: BTG, SPA, Originally Searle (1964)
     Effective dose: (Men)20-100mgs/day (or .125mg/kg~bdywt); (Women) 2.5-20mgs.day
     Active Life: 8-12 hours
     Detection Time: 3 weeks
     Anabolic/Androgenic Ratio (Range): 322-630:24

Source: steroid.com