Hi,
This is my first post, so please be gentle (and if it’s in the wrong place please forgive me and move it to where it’s supposed to be), and please excuse the length of the post, but I want to get as much relevant information in as possible to help with your advice, so I’ve been very thorough and candid with some of my last health issues.
For a bit (actually a lot) of background I’m currently 43, 6"1 and ~103-105kg depending on the day. I used to be a garage (quite literally own a power rack in my garage) powerlifter. Whilst natural my PB (single rep max) for most of the major lifts were 190kg bench press (flat), 130kg seated shoulder press, 260kg back squat and 230kg deadlift. Mind you I would only train 3 days a week and would only do 4 movements per day, primarily compound movements, with some isolated movements when I would plateau (e.g. skull crushers if my bench would stall due to my triceps being the weakest link, etc.). My diet has always been so-so, good food, but I never watched my “macros”, but I’ve always leaned towards savoury, meats/vegetables, and fats over sweet, grains/fruits and carbs, so I’ve never been particularly lean or particularly overweight (although I would never be considered overweight, I’m sorry to say I never really was into measuring body fat percentages, but at a guess maybe 15-18% BF??), and at the time my weight would ordinarily hover around 115kg.
With respect to any previous cycles, I had done only three in my mid-30’s consisting of:
First Cycle:
50mg Test Prop ED
50mg Mast Prop ED
All your usual supplements for liver, cholesterol and blood pressure support. With a PCT comprising two vials of HCG starting the two weeks from the end of the cycle and ending two weeks into the Clomid run (split into roughly equal doses EOD, so roughly 1000iu every 3rd day), which itself comprised 20mg Clomid ED for 4 weeks. The reason for the lower Clomid doses is that at the time all the scientific literature was showing that 12.5mg daily was sufficient to restore testicular function for men with hypogonadism, so I went with the pharms I could grab with the closest dosages and went with that. Well I guessed that either worked, or I was lucky. As before I started the cycle I was ~100kg and finished the cycle (post-PCT) at ~108kg, and lost no strength whatsoever (although my reps on the heavier lifts did drop from like 5-6, to 3-4 depending on the lift) and only 2kg of body weight.
My bloodwork for free testosterone prior to the first cycle was ~1100pmol/L, and post cycle was ~900pmol/L. Although I don’t remember the figures exactly as it’s been a few years now, but I do recall that my total test wasn’t particularly great, but I have unusually low SHBG levels which gave me better than usual free testosterone levels. As far as E2 is concerned, my doctor’s have never tested for E2 (even now even though I have an endocrinologist, I’ll explain why below, must be an Australian thing???), maybe because I don’t hold water and wasn’t complaining about sex drive or erectile issues (which wasn’t a problem), in fact just using a little too high an amount of a DHT based compound is enough for my joints to get creaky, and for my energy levels to crash.
As for my second cycle it was almost exactly as the first, except I added another 50mg Trest Ace ED (all support supplements and PCT were the same). And the third cycle I just swapped out the 50mg Trest Ace ED for 50mg Tren Ace ED. All in all, I had similar bloodwork results throughout (not exactly, but very similar), with my lipids just taking a bit of a hit on the Tren cycle. As for side effects, I can genuinely say that apart from sweating profusely on the last two cycles, and a bit of insomnia and aerobic fitness taking a slight hit on the Tren cycle that it appears that I tolerate some of the hardest AAS’s quite well (like no acne, no hair loss, no explosive tempers, or emotional swings). All in all, I finished the two year run (obviously split up as three seperate cycles) at 115kg and perhaps ~12-15% BF. Needless to say all my lifts improved on average by about 20-40kg depending on the lift.
Fast forward to roughly 5 years later, a week before my 40th birthday I was diagnosed with pericarditis (this was several years after having not used any PED’s whatsoever), which became chronic and finally resulting in surgery where I now have a permanent “window” in my pericardium and pleural sacks (the fluid also spread into my lung sack collapsing both my lungs). However, about a year prior to this I also severely injured my back quite severely (not related to lifting, but a combination of wear-and-tear combined with a hefty compression incident) and I’m now permanently on pain relief medication for the rest of my life (primarily Oxycodone and OTC NSAIDs with flare-ups as I have two ruined discs and with deformed vertebrae which has caused sciatica and severe osteoarthritis in my lower back and neck) as surgery is not considered useful according to two seperate neuro-surgeons. And because of the 5 months of chronic pericarditis and the severe pain it can cause (it is not wholly seperate from the feeling of having a heart attack, except it’s almost constant), I’ve been told that phantom pains are also likely to continue for the rest of my life, so I may genuinely misinterpret a heart attack for my phantom pericarditis pain! Now, if that wasn’t bad enough, I was somehow diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes (never been overweight, never had a sweet tooth, and have no family history) about 2 months after my surgery, followed by being told that my testosterone levels practically no longer exists (cleary an exaggeration, but you get the point), even then, the way the system works here in Aus, I had to have 3 consecutive low results tested every 6 months before I could be approved for TRT (so I had to endure 1.5 years of extremely low testosterone levels before I started receiving my TRT), and let me tell you from someone who always had naturally high test levels, it was my own personal hell. My libido went from being on the higher end for most guys, to non-existent, my motivation cratered to the point where I ended up losing my job where I had built a successful 12 year career at, my house went to shambles (I’m not married so I live alone), and I pretty much stopped leaving my house and I would be considered a pretty outgoing person prior (even more so considering that prior to testosterone issues I was happily opiated most days which usually puts me in a very social mood). And about 9 months later I was hospitalised and put into the ICU after having two consecutive major strokes (which to this day they haven’t given me a cause for, and also initially diagnosed me with epilepsy which was later found to be postural hypotension as I had a string of fainting episodes and they put it down to seizures, and their medication made it worse!) and wasn’t found for several days after my father tried contacting me for a few days straight (when he found me I was apparently conscious, lights were on, but nobody was home kind of conscious, but I don’t recall anything between my last memory of Wednesday afternoon and waking up in the ICU on that Saturday morning). And to top it all off, in the middle of it all I lost my mother to COVID. And all of that within a 3 year period starting a week before my 40th birthday (happy birthday!!).
Ok, all that out of the way, I’m now prescribed 50mg per day of testogel (transdermal testosterone), and although my initial misgivings on the dose, my bloodwork is actually quite good, with my free testosterone sitting somewhere between ~950-1200pmol/L. Again my total testosterone is nothing to write home about, but because of my consistently lower than normal SHBG levels, my free test tends to soar! And free test (usable testosterone) is what it’s all about I guess?? And no, my Endocrinologist still doesn’t test for my E2 (although I insisted on it for my next biannual follow-up). And as I have no issues with needles, my diabetes has been controlled with 12iu (30% instant release and 70% slow release formula) immediately before dinner, and 0.5mg of ozempic.
Now through all that, I did not much lifting (in fact none at all at times) and, as such, my weight dropped back down to 98kg. I started lifting again about 2 months ago and my current strength levels are (I have not tested my single rep max as I’m quite literally 2 months back into lifting) 130kg bench press (flat) for 4 reps, 100kg seated shoulder press for 4 reps, 160kg back squat for 6-8 reps (this is highly dependent on how well my pain meds are working on the particular day of lifting), and 180kg deadlift 4-6 reps (pain status as above). As for my current bodyweight, I’m sitting at about 103-105kg.
Now, I was thinking about doing a blast on my TRT, and I have access to almost all chems of decent quality (including cheque drops for crying out loud), some of which are less dubious than others, but I was thinking considering I’m on 350mg of transdermal testosterone a week (which I think usually gives you about 30% equivalent IM dose due to the method of application), so roughly 100mg of testosterone a week. So for the blast, I would procure some injectable test, boost it up to 200mg/week and add either 200mg/week of primobolan, and 50mg Anavar ED (total of 750mg of AAS per week, which given my past tolerance I think should be fine). Alternatively, I could swap out the primobolan for trestolone also at 200mg/week (as I loved the way I felt on the previous trestolone cycle, I was almost euphoric). I don’t compete in any way, and would just like to increase my strength primarily (size is not a goal of mine, but with the insulin for my diabetes, it’s probably likely, and honestly I wouldn’t shirk from it either), but would also like to shed some BF as well (I’m currently back around 15-18%, and see-saw a bit), but I’m guessing my ozempic should cover that side of things, especially once I start lifting a bit more seriously (the last 2 months have been an easing back in kinda lifting). I’d also be reusing my cycle supplement regime and PCT from previous cycles as it seemed to work perfectly last time.
Now, I also need to clarify my current health situation at this point. I see a Cardiologist twice a year, as well as an Endocrinologist and a pain specialist also twice a year, not to mention my monthly GP visits for my pain and other medications. And apart from my diabetes (which thankfully was caught early and is under control with no associated heart, kidney, etc. issues) and testosterone (which may be coming back ok as I ran out of my testogel a month early prior to my last visit, and somehow my free testosterone levels were still great when tested after a month of no TRT, make of that what you will??). So all in all I’m back in relatively good health. My heart is fine and in fact having smoked for the best part of 20 years, it’s in far better shape than it should be, as my cardiologist put it, it’s in no worse shape than an ordinary 40 something year old (I no longer smoke), as well as my lungs. My cholesterol is on the higher side, but within normal parameters (it’s controlled simply with diet), one of my liver enzymes is slightly high (can’t remember exactly which one), but my doctors are not concerned and have put it down to my medications, and kidneys have very slight damage (due to me initially being a bit careless with my insulin and going into ketoacidosis a few times, but I check for that too now, not just glucose), but there’s been no change since the first 6 months of my diagnosis. I should also make it clear, that none of my doctor’s believe that my previous AAS use had anything to do with my health issues, as I was honest with all of them all of the time (including discussing using illicit/party drugs all throughout my 20’s, which they also suggested had nothing to do with my strong of health issues) especially when you’re about to have emergency surgery so that I would avoid cardiac arrest due to the severity of my pericarditis!
So, would any of you suggest a different protocol for my blast? Would you prefer primobolan over trestolone (I really like the way trestolone makes me feel, and I think I may as well enjoy the cycle to it’s fullest, and with no bodybuilding goals in mind, I’m leaning towards it)? Would anyone suggest dosage changes? Or changes to my PCT? Or should I just be greatful I’m still alive and leave well enough alone.
NOT THE SAFEST THOUGH LMAOOO. I been on like a 150mg for over 2 years though alongside 150mg eq, bloods good.
