Triacana is sold in Europe as a prescription synthetic thyroid drug intended to restore natural metabolic rate. And of course it did not take long before bodybuilders began importing the drug with anabolic/androgenic steroids into Canada and the United States. This lead to custom agents adding Triacana to drug alert list and confiscation. Interesting since the chemical itself is not a controlled substance in most of the U.S. at this time. Have no fear though, the FDA and DEA are actively pursuing reclassifying Triacana /Tiratricol/Triiodothyroacetic acid as a controlled substance there.
Triacana reaches maximum effects at a daily dosage of about 1 MG per 50 LBS of bodyweight. (Daily, meaning "total") Since the chemical possesses a 6 hour half-life, this "daily dosage" was reported to be divided into 4 equal dosages. So a 200 pound athlete required 1 MG 4 times daily. Beyond this dosage no subsequent increase in metabolic rate occurs. What many, including the FDA, fail to realize is that Triacana administration will not induce a true replacement metabolic rate like other thyroid hormones. This means any polled athlete was able to increase their metabolic rate only equivalent to the upper range considered normal and acceptable through administration. So an individual whom employed this chemical realized a metabolic rate about equal to a so-called ectomorph only. Which is, in truth, a very significant increase and considered highly effective by all but a few users. This would make Triacana one of the safer thyroid drugs.
*I have not found post administration thyroid function suppression from Triacana as of yet. But it is possible if use were prolonged. Obviously someone, somewhere, will somehow find a way to be the one exception who sues and does T.V. talk shows decrying the evils of this drug. No doubt while smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. (Another case of a day without the lifeguard monitoring the gene pool)
Anabolic Steroid Guide
Triacana belongs to the group of thyroid hormone preparations. Its substance tiratricol is a precursor of the iodiferous thyroid hormone, L-triiodthyronine (L-T3). L-T3, together with another iodiferous thyroid hormone, LT4 (L-thyroxine), is produced in the thyroid and is the distinctly stronger and more effective of these two hormones.
School medicine use Triacana in the treat-ments of obesity and hyperthyroidism (e.g. Jod- Basedow phenom-enon-, goiter). Hyperthyroidism is an abnormal function of the thy-roid gland in which the amount of secretion by the thyroid hor-mone is above average. The thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) stimulates the thyroid gland to produce more L-T3 and L-T4. By the use of Triacana an excessive release of TSH can be avoided.
In the medical arsenal of bodybuilders Triacana has had a firm place
since the late 1970's. After all, its lipolytic (fatburning) ef-fect is
sufficiently known. This is due to the hypermetabolic state, increased
irritability, and especially higher body temperature (gen-eration of
heat) during the intake of Triacana. These are factors, which help the
competing bodybuilder break down fat more eas-ily. By a caloric intake
which is higher than usual it is still pos-sible to obtain a lower body
fat content together with good muscle hardness. Although Triacana enjoys
the reputation among ath-letes as a strong and especially effective
fatburning thyroid hormone preparation, this preparation is a rather
mild, well-toler-ated and relatively harmless compound. The often-made
com-parison with the two L-T3 thyroid gland hormone compounds, Cytomel
and Thybon, is a poor comparison since Triacana, mi-crogram for
microgram, has a considerably lower effect. Even the more moderate L-T4
thyroid hormone drugs such as Synthroid or L-thyroxine are stronger than the substance tiratricol.
In order to achieve a visible fat-reducing effect most athletes must
usually take 10-14 tablets/day. Generally, two 0.35 mg tablets are taken
on the first day of intake and with two tablets added each successive
day until 10-14 tablets/day are taken. The half-life time of tiratricol
is 5-7 hours, so Triacana is usually taken 3-4 times daily. This
guarantees a constant quantity of the sub-stance in the blood and thus a
continued effect. Many athletes, in the meantime, are combining
Triacana with Clenbuterol or Ephe-drine and report considerably better
fat breakdown than when Triacana alone is taken. Among competing female
bodybuilders and participants at the Miss Fitness pageant, in
particular, the simultaneous administration of 8-10 Triacana tablets/day
and 80-100 mcg Clenbuterol/day is a favorite. A series of bodybuild-ers
use Triacana in combination with growth hormones in order to meet the
body's increased thyroid hormone need during STH treatment (see chapter
"Growth Hormones"). The theoretical ap-proach seems to be correct but
Triacana is not an "ideal" thyroid hormone drug. The preparation
Thyreocomb from the German Berlin-Chemie Company taken with a
combination of the iodiferous L-T3 and L-T4 thyroid hormones would be
more suit-able.
As for the duration of application the opinions of athletes vary
greatly. Some use Triacana for only 4 weeks, mostly because they are
afraid of a thyroid dysfunction. Others take it over a period of months.
When looking at the physiological character-istics of the substance
tiratricol, it becomes easier to make more accurate indications as to a
possible duration of intake and the potential health risks that go along
with the use. When taken in a dosage of 0.6 mg/day the reduction in the
body's own TSH release can be obtained; with increased dosages it can
be completely suppressed. The fear that the TSH release will be
continu-ously disturbed or suppressed after using the medication is
with-out reason since this is a reversible, temporary process. 'Already
2-3 weeks after the intake is discontinued the TSH release is completely
normalized" (from Vidal 1994, page 1498). With this back-ground
knowledge and based on the experiences of several ath-letes we would
choose an intake interval of 10- 12 weeks.
Potential side effects such as palpitations, tremors, irregular
heartbeat, dizziness, restlessness, nervousness, and excessive
perspiration occur mostly during the first few days of intake. Those who
in-crease their dosages slowly and evenly over several days as
sug-gested usually have few problems with Triacana. Toward the end of
the intake period a step-by-step reduction in the daily tablet dosage is
better than abruptly discontinuing the substance. In summary one can
say that Triacana is a (mild) alternative to the strong L-T3 thyroid
hormone compounds such as Cytomel
or Thybon with their strong side effects. It has only a lower lipolytic
effect but can be taken over a prolonged period of time. Mistakes made
during the intake are forgiven with Triacana rather than with Cytomel. Ambi-tious bodybuilders and athletes who are able to responsibly use strong medication choose Cytomel; persons who, however, fear side effects, who do not know much, or believe that "more is better," should select Triacana.
One hundred tablets are packaged in a box containing four push-through strips of 25 tablets each. The tablets are white and have neither an imprint nor a break indentation. The price on the black market is usually $60 - 80 per box.
References
L. Rea (2002) - Chemical Muscle Enhancement Bodybuilders Desk Reference
Anabolic Steroid Guide
