Hey @physioLojik , really appreciate what you’re doing here. Your knowledge helped me a lot so far. Simple question:
Can I split a tamoxifen tablet? I got 20mg tablets but I only take 10mg e2d. I read somewhere that you shouldnt split them apart.
Not a problem. If I believed everything I read on this forum I’d be in a whole lot of trouble. I agree with you whole heartedly. Arimidex should be used only if an absolute necessity and even then should not be the solution. Based on everything I’ve seen… nolvadex at low dosages seems to be a much safer alternative to arimidex. It’s a good article to read I just dont think it’s a cautionary tale of woe for bodybuilders. It seems to support our beliefs and usage. For me personally it verified my belief that there are E2 receptors in the eyes. I lived with crashed E2 for quite some time. Years in fact and had terrible tremors in my eye lids. As soon as I started injecting testosterone it stopped. I attributed it to low E2 and the relief coming from my E2 climbing into acceptable levels.
hey man, I’m gonna be in Ohio this weekend. That’s not really a question, but thought I’d let you know. Strongman World Championship is in Montpelier.
Ever been there? Is there anything to do there? lol.
I guess I’ll ask a drug question. I’m running 1.5g test, 600 Eq, 100dbol/day, 100anadrol/day, and I’ve been running superdrol at 10mg/day for like a week and a half. bumping that to 20mg for the rest of the week. So basically, a decent amount of gear. I’ve spent more time blasting than cruising this year as well. I’m curious what you think I should do for my time off over the next… I dunno, few months. I won’t be competing again until early next year, and I don’t really need to ‘peak’ again until next summer. How would you manage that time? I figure I’ll cruise at 250 or so… do you see any reason to go lower while cruising? Or could I go higher safely and effectively? and how many months do you think I should wait to blast again? Would you base it on bloodwork, or something else?
@flipcollar hey man!!! Good to hear from you. I’ve never been up there before but I know it’s close to Michigan which is gorgeous this time of year. Good luck in your meet man!
As far as cruising. I would take a solid at least three months down on lower doages. 250-300 is where I cruise. Your body is super used to high dosages so that’s the lowest I would go. I would back off a few months and let your body relax and refresh. If and when you get labs send them my way and we can check but I think you’re good to go as is.
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Bump for @physioLojik
Any thoughts on this brother?
Hey Physio @physioLojik
Thanks for all your input on this site. Very much appreciated.
Question - how do you go about treating a very high SHBG guy?
Is your objective to lower SHBG? If so, do you prescribe Low dose Anavar/Oxandrolone?
Many thanks
Hey @flipcollar, it’s none of my business but how is your lipid profile looking like with all the orals? I remember you saying that oral AAS don’t seem to significantly impact your lipid profile, however now that you’re using superdrol (an oral WELL known for fucking up cholesterol), I’m curious as to how it looks.
With all the AAS you’re currently taking, do you have to routinely donate blood to keep HCT down? How’s your BP? it seems as if you are a genetic anomaly if you can tolerate all that gear with no adverse effects, kind of like how Ozzy Ozbourne could tolerate truckloads of coke, heroin, booze, weed, LSD and whatnot, all individuals react differently to drugs, however you specifically seem like an impenetrable fortress with regards to AAS
SHBG can fluctuate wildly, I’ve had tests as high as 30 and as low as 13, however if you truly have high SHBG and it’s an issue (I’m not well versed on whether having high SHBG without an underlying issue like androgen insensitivity syndrome is truly an issue, as one could simply just take more test to compensate), there are a few options if treatment for said variable is required. I don’t know what physio does for these patients however I’m going to put in my unnessecary, possibly annoying and unrequired input because your username reminded me of this episode of that 70s show when Eric Foreman is all like “I wanna fight this guy” and Bob says “hit him with a Banjo”. Anyhoooooow most androgens lower SHBG, some have a higher binding affinity to SHBG and will therefore lower it more, some people can just use more test and the problem is solved, others if it’s an issue, I’m not well versed on whether it’s an issue, I mean high SHBG would mean lower free T, however you could just take more test, therefore having high total testosterone and normal free T, am I getting something wrong? Anyhow individuals seeking treatment for said variable could opt for a low dose of a DHT derivitave in conjunction with trt, as DHT has a much higher binding affinity for SHBG than test, however test converts to DHT and so on. Stanozolol, if you can tolerate it with regards to it’s side effects and altered lipid profiles, is probably the best bet for lowering SHBG, there’s actually a few papers on it, mesterolone is also an option but is unavailable in the US. Danazol also appears effective with regards to lowering SHBG despite it not being a DHT derivitave, I assume it also has a high binding affinity to SHBG
Is there a reason as to why you have high SHBG? Do you have or have had liver disease, overactive thyroid etc. How high is high?
@physioLojik I apologize for littering this thread full of my posts with regards to questions and/ or potentially unhelpful advice (however the thread is a hit, so yay… maybe not yay for you though since it requires extra work and stuff) however I have ANOTHER question ( I mentioned before this thread was posted that I have a lot of questions )
So theres some evidence that ingesting grapefruit can lower HCT and RBC count, I believe there’s an old paper on it, apparently naringin, a flavanoid found in grapefruit and other citrus fruits, may be able to lower RBC/HCT count via phagocytosis. There was a small study conducted showing clinically significant effects with regards to lowered HCT levels in subjects consuming grapefruit, as in P value was greater than 0.01! However the study failed to include a control group
So, do you reckon there could be anything too this or is it BS? I mean, it’s only one study, and the difference in results from small studies when compared to large cohort, double blind, more controlled studies can be tremendous, however cooooouuuulllldddd there be anything to it???
Great pic!!
My SHBG fluctuates - between 60 and 95!!
This has developed in the last 5 years (currently 43yrs old). All liver test normal.
Total test high free test low.
Have weight trained (natural) since 18 and cycled etc always very high libido. Problems started about 5 years ago - Migraines out of nowhere low sex drive and noticed loss of muscle mass, no longer competitive decreasing desire to lift etc.
My belief is this: I have massively overtrained, have had a bad gluten/wheat intolerance that i didn’t realise. This has led to leaky gut? This in turn has caused thyroid, adrenal and liver issues.
I think the liver has been left to cleanse the particles travelling through the gut wall and hence the ridiculously high SHBG and feeling totally different to 5 yrs ago.
Doctors/endos in the UK have looked at me like i have two heads.
I am below range on Free T and my own Doc advised me to ignore it!!
Current Protocol is 30mg Enanthate and 200iu HCG eod.
12 weeks in feel no diff!! (low libido not much energy and lowish free T)
SHBG 65 Total T 41.5
@banjoplayer I’m not an endocrinologist, nor do I play one on TV.
My SHBG is (or was) pretty high. It tended to fluctuate between 40 and 60.
TRT in Australia is delivered as Primoteston Depot (Testosterone Enanthate) in preloaded 250 mg syringes. I started off with a fortnightly dose, then tried splitting it to 125 mg per week. I’ve subsequently experimented 250 mg per ten days, 125 mg per five days, and 250 mg per week.
I feel better on a single, big shot, rather than splitting the dose, which goes against the received wisdom of the T replacement forum. So you might be better off doing fewer injections.
As for SHBG, 250 mg per 10 to 14 days got it down to 40. 250 per week dropped it to 20.
Thanks @Graemsay you using an ai with that?
@banjoplayer, I’m using Anastrozole. The dose has varied between one and two tablets per 250 mg of testosterone. I’m not sure if I’m 100% dialled in yet.
I don’t know. I’m only running superdrol for a little over 2 weeks in total. I basically added it in to help me maintain strength during my weight cut, and just give me a little strength boost leading up to comp. I haven’t gotten bloodwork, and don’t intend to while I’m on superdrol. I did cut out alcohol completely when I added it in.
my BP is higher than I’d like right now. running around 155/90. I take that as acceptable in the short term. It was lower before this last week.
My experience with HCT has been that 600 EQ does not have an impact. I haven’t donated blood once since I’ve been on it. Most of what I’ve read has led me to believe this is not unusal at this dose, and it’s why I don’t go above 600.
So 600mg is enough to have an impact, however this is largely dependant on the individuals sensitivity to the erythropoietic stimulating effect of the drugs, clinical data shows 600mgs of test/wk for 20 wks will increase HCT by about 5%, the trial in which 200mg of test E/wk was given for 18 months as a contraceptive noted a HCT increase of 7%, some people acquire (secondary) polycythemia on trt!!! Anecdotal evidence suggests boldenone is much stronger with regards to it’s stimulation of erythropoiesis, however some individuals for some reason don’t seem to be affected that much by this side effect.
As to your BP, for short term, just don’t let it get above 180/110, shows how different individuals are though, 25mg of Anavar daily spikes my bp from around 90/60 to 165/85!!!
Cutting alcohol on sdrol was a good choice, do you take any liver detox supps like NAC, tudca, Curcumin?
Also, good luck and the comp, what do you think you’ll place, surely with all the gear you’re using, plus the fact you’ve been training forever you must be very, very, very, veryveryvery strong (although you are cutting weight, hard to maintain strength when cutting)? When I was a young kid (say age 6 and up) every year I’d watch the world’s strongest man competitions on TV, it’s fucking awesome what you guys do, I wish I couldve done it, but with my joints and my… (Tear Falls from face) SHORT, short, short, shortshortshortshort, SHORT stature it’d be a problem @flipcollar
@physioLojik, shit another question, well here goes
About ten days ago I fell off my bike on the way to gym, the fact I didn’t get run over was great, however I hurt my hand on the fall down, originally I thought it was nothing although it was painful. Now, I’m known for having an abnormally high pain tolerance, when I broke my ankle I was moving on it, even attempting to run, and subsequently falling flat on my face, although originally when I broke my ankle I had to be carried away, not due to pain, but because my foot kept buckling while I was walking. Anyhow, the wrist injury doesn’t appear to be getting any better, and the pain is bad enough now that I’ve had to stop in the middle of my workouts and just go home, mainly with movements requiring ulnar flexion, so say barbell curls, CGBP, many gripping exercises etc. I’ll be honest and tell you I’m taking 100mg of NPP every 6 days as a few papers suggest (animal models) nandrolone may accelerate the healing process of soft tissue/ muscle injuries and bone fractures. I hope to god my wrist isn’t broken, I doubt it is, that’d just be so unfair if it was! Anyhow my question is, should I take an additional week off. I’m aware I’m being irresponsible by attempting to power through this injury, but I took nearly a week off already. I could take another week off, the chance of any notable muscle atrophy taking place over a week is negligible, I just really enjoy working out, I suppose I could go on hikes more often to conpensante
On the plus side my knees feel veeerrry good, and so do my shoulders, when I said I was attempting to bench the other day… That’s why I was bench pressing again. I wish I could take this stuff forever, but the potential cardiac issues just aren’t worth it 
. I intend to use nandrolone for states where I’m injured, in which I will use it until said injury recovers. Besides that it’s just test for me, Anavar jacks up my BP too much, despite the fact that I love the effect it has on me with regards to the vascularity and hardening it gives, test doesn’t seem to have any side effects, so test seems to be best. Currently using a total amount of 262mgs of total hormones weekly, so I guess this is my first cycle? I seem to be packing on muscle mass at a fast rate, actually I need to start my log up again once my wrist is healed that is, that could take a while
I don’t, and I know I should. I’ll likely invest in that next time I run heavy orals. I’ll freely admit that’s a mistake.
That’s about the marker for me where I would drop everything, drug wise. I have some concerns during my water cut tomorrow night of getting up to that range, hopefully that’s not the case. Do you have any thoughts on bp getting to that range for a very short period of time (as in just a few hours)? Does your threshold change there? I’m wondering what I ‘should’ be willing to tolerate during an 18 hour water cut. I know that’s a pretty dicey thing.
Man, I have no idea how I’ll place. It’s tough to gauge how I’ll do on certain events because of limited data on other athletes. Like, I know how my log press stacks up internationally, because that’s a fairly standardized event. And I know I’m within 10 lbs of where the current world record is in my class. So I should place well in that. I don’t think I’ll win, but top 3 is reasonable to be eyeing. I believe my deadlift will place in the middle of the field. I expect to come in last in the farmers walk, but there’s a chance that an athlete or 2 won’t be able to pick up the implements, and I can at least take a few steps. The sandbag throws are something of a crap shoot. I THINK I could win that one if everything goes perfectly, but with throws, there is a large range of how I can perform. I could nail all 4 throws, or I could fuck one up and cost myself time. Who knows what will happen on comp day. The final event, power stairs, is strong for me. I bought the contest implement to practice with, so that helps. And I know I’m capable of completing the event, something I doubt everyone can do. I have a very strong upper back, so that helps a ton in that event. It’s essentially a brute force event, and that’s a strength for me, lol.
My strength has never suffered from a weight cut. I always perform well on contest day, I do my refeed well. Hopefully that remains the case for this show.
I don’t know how short you are, but there are internationally competitive lightweight guys in like the 5’5, 5’6 range. I’m 5’10ish, and I’m tall for the weight class. Being a short Heavyweight is tough, but not such an issue as a lightweight. As for your joints, I’m right there with you. My joints are much better suited to bodybuilding. Very small wrists and ankles. I think that’s why I end up with a lot of joint pain.
The best LW competitor in the world lives in your country, btw. His name is Patrick Castelli.
Doesn’t your BP skyrocket during a heavy squat, carries or deadlifts anyway? So if you workout 4+ times per week with heavy loads you’re probably spending >2 hours per week with BP that high… every single week.
Not really, a BP over 180/120 is generally grounds for hospitalization, it can acutely cause permenantly organ damage, there are a LOT of complications that can quickly arise from such a high BP, so many that Im not even going to list them all because it would take too long. There’s a reason a BP over 180/120 is called a “hypertensive crisis” although if it’s accompanied by symptoms of organ failure it’s called a “hypertensive emergency”. Seriously man, having a BP that high is very dangerous, if you must (and I feel really, really uncomfortable recommending medication, however I don’t want a potential death/ injury on my hands) take a BP lowering agent if your BP is gonna get that high. Seriously being dehydrated with a BP that high puts you at a legitimate risk of stroke! If either systolic BP gets over 180 or diastolic gets over 120 it’s a serious problem.
Man that’s awesome, maybe you’ll break a world record (although sorry to be a pessimistic asshole but probably not, cutting water will likely make you weaker, you gonna take halotestin on the comp day?)
If you refeed on comp day won’t you come in over the weight limit?
That’s my height
I have screws in one of my ankles, took adex from an endo 1mg/day to prevent premature ephysial plate closure, wasn’t aware of the drug profile at the time, to think I couldve been prescribed pharm grade var instead, however I’d already had precocious puberty therefore it would’ve probs been a bad idea… Years in I fell and fractured my ankle in two places, bone separated by 5+mm, I ended up walking on it for a few days, even going on a plane (high risk of blood clots) because a doctor told me it was just a sprain. Ended up getting surgery, now the ankle still gives me shit sometimes. As a matter of fact, a lot of my health issues started developing after I started taking adex… Coincidence??? Probably…
BP increase from the Valsalva manoeuver lasts about 10 secs right, and over time even this contributes towards the development of concentric left ventricular hypertrophy. However BP increase from a 10 second hold isn’t exactly the same as having prolonged BP increase for hours or days on end. Lifting weights also has numerous health benefits that outweigh the short spikes in BP, having uncontrolled high BP doesn’t exactly have any health benefits lol.
Also I run liver detox supps year round, it’s hard to deny the antioxidant benefits of these supplements, there’s even some medical literature/ papers posted on it.
Also recently found out due to glucose tolerance test that my body can’t handle high GI carbohydrates, other fasting glucose (but not oral GTT) tests and insulin sensitivity tests have come up normal, boarder line and occasionally impaired. I was advised from an endocrinologist to cut out high GI foods, which will be difficult. What also sucks is I couldn’t get a script for anything to control by glucose tolerance because it was like 7.7 on a scale of 5-7.7 (I don’t remember the numbers, what I do remember is it was literally 0.1 point off being impaired also this was taken one hour post glucose drink therefore the numbers for normal were a bit higher). Whether Metformin would help, I’m not sure, doesn’t really matter at this point. It seems after glucose administration I get a very sharp insulin spike (confirmed by bloods) followed by prolonged hypoglycemia, which explains my bouts of dizziness and tachycardia. So that’s… Fucking wonderful I guess, now I can’t drink beer! And while someone my age shouldn’t drink beer, I’ve always enjoyed my weekly beer or two, it’s literally my favorite drink aside from carbonated water #aussie, so that really sucks. (I never get drunk, it’s just a drink or two as I don’t drink to get intoxicated)
@flipcollar what’s your current resting heart rate, like upon waking up while resting in bed, HBP can cause tachycardia, while tachycardia usually isn’t dangerous in the abcense of an irregular heart beat I’m just curious
so the way weigh ins work, is that I can weigh in as early as 24 hours in advance of competing (I’ll weigh in at 10am tomorrow.) I have to step on a scale at 181.5 or lower at that point. From there, I do not have to step on a scale again for the competition. So I can weigh anything on the actual day of competing. 24 hours is plenty of time for me to rehyrdate. For many people, there is even a strength rebound effect, when the water cut isn’t too huge. I’ll likely weigh over 200 lbs by the time I’m competing on Saturday. I start rehydrating as soon as I step off the scale tomorrow. I’ll have a couple pedialytes ready to go, lol. Then a lot of salt, a lot of carbs throughout the day, nothing that will upset my stomach. The key is not too eat/drink TOO much right away. You have to spread the calories and hydration out through the 24 hours.
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Nice, good luck man, tell us the results when the comp is over, I’m rooting for you, although you’re the only person I know in this competition, still, gunning for you to win! You could be the next Eddie hall or Brian Shaw, just need to have a sudden growth spurt and grow nearly a foot then put on like 300lbs, but I’m sure that’s achievable! Seriously though good luck, I’m sure you’ve been training like an absolute beast for this comp, world championships are a big deal!
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What made you decide you wanted to be a bodybuilder, with your height and stature you could’ve probably been a good athlete, so what made you choose bodybuilding? most bodybuilders in the top leagues aren’t tall, they’re closer to my height.
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Was endocrinology/Medicine always your career path, as in was medicine always your goal or did you originally go to university with other ideas in mind
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What’s your opinion on mesterolone, It isn’t a prescription drug in the USA, however it’s approved where I live to treat androgen deficiency. It doesn’t appear to have any anabolic properties in muscle tissue as it is rapidly broken down into inactive metabolites via the 3b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase enzyme (in muscle tissue), yet it also appears far more androgenic than its so called “rating” suggests, many report an increased sense of well-being and libido on it. (Note I’m not taking proviron nor do I have a reason to, just want to hear your opinion on the drug). Personally I don’t think it’s a suitable candidate for hypogonadism, it’s devoid of anabolic properties, has a paltry oral bioavailability of around 3%, it’s much harsher on the lipids than test (despite it not being c17AA, however it’s non aromatising nature probably plays into its effect on cholesterol), it may be useful for delayed puberty in kids though, if it’s that androgenic (despite paper rating) then it should be able to stimulate masculinizing side effects in underdeveloped children… Althoouughh fluoxymesteorne can do that better, but it’s far more toxic and isn’t approved for use in AUS. It’d also probably be a good cutting/ precontest agent, would probably give a harder/denser appearance. Also doesn’t appear to be effective with regards to treating aplastic anaemia, which might indicate the increase in erythropoiesis caused by AAS might be related to the anabolic properties of anabolic steroids???