I’m sure you considered low dose serm? What made you not go that route? I’m guessing the harm is in scale to the dose. Some seem to get pretty high lh and fsh while on like 12.5 mg of clomid per day.
Wanted to try simplest possible “pct” short of just time only. Hence i had the hcg on hand and plenty of time. If it had not worked i would try the AI or perhaps enclomiphene for short duration.
I wanted to try really simple as a first pass. I am still here and back to borderline 2nd hypo status or maybe normal for me. Change in muscle mass and BF distribution is dramatic.
More info on details if one wanted to really get complicated…
Curious your thoughts on why not?
I can see at least two potential benefits with the pyramid scheme while of course i am not condoning the cumulative dose.
@RT_Nomad may have even more benefits or thoughts here.
Why?
Thanks for all the info fellas. Getting blood work done in two days. Will upload both before starting and midway through this cycle.
What blood work are you pulling?
Definitely read the hpta restart thread i shared. You are welcome.
@tareload asked about my input.
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I would never do a testosterone cycle only. But that’s just me.
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I don’t hear much talk about loss of androgen receptor site sensitivity on the forum, but I always felt a slowing of gains about 8 weeks into a cycle. If it was a cycle that didn’t end with a contest, I would get off cycle to give to give my receptor sites a rest.
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The other option was when I had a contest. Then after 6 weeks I would rotate AAS and increase dosage. I felt that a greater concentration would allow the receptor site to be “bombarded” with more AAS, thereby overcoming the resistance of the binding sites.
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I never ramped up or tapered off AAS.
I’ll have to review. Last time just told the doc to test for everything they possibly could, pretty sure it included the markers listed above.
Side effects thus far:
Urine smells absolutely dreadful. Like a musky oatmeal. I take it that’s just my body excreting whatever test isn’t absorbed?
And PIP!! Self injection in the glute, I’ve had two shots that fuckin hurt for 4-5 days later, think I missed the proper angle on those two.
In addition to the above listed advice from everyone, what’d be your suggestion on ending my first cycle and limiting negatives seeing as im a little over the halfway mark and am only taking the test right now?
Go to the 2cc testosterone and stop at 8 weeks. Get off cycle for 6 to 8 weeks. Then back on with an additional 70 to 140 mg/wk of an anabolic for just 8 weeks.
That is what I would do if it were me.
I should add that I never took more than 200 mg/wk testosterone, but I liked to be between 400 and 500 mg/wk of AAS.
Disclaimer: I only took pharmaceutical grade AAS.
Well he said hes like 65… In here, we didnt know what is PCT until like 15 years ago and the guys who did this before that still dont PCT.
The biggest guy i know who has been doing this his whole life and now is like 50+ still cycles, pyramids and takes proviron when he is off. Yup. Exactly that dumb. Whats amazing is that he has a pro card(rare for my country) and actually wins Mr.Universes worldwide every year still as he gets older and older.
Because the best cycle is the one that produces results with minimal risk
It’s a steady stream of testosterone that is both high, and also not so high as to guarentee horrible sides. It allows user to see if they felt good at 500mg/wk whereas the pyramid doesn’t give you enough time to really ‘feel’ what your dose is like… by the time you’ve fully responded to the last two week’s doses, you’ve changed it again.
Also, how is your training and food intake changing thoughout the pyramid?
- Are you planning to peak during your proposed cycle peak?
- Are you eating progressively more up until you peak and then tapering down your intake (while still in surplus) on the way back down?
I think it is unlikely these things are happening, so why pyramid dose?
Also, 500mg/wk is standard beginner protocol that has worked for a majority of first cycle dudes… why mess with what has evidence of working?
Pyramiding for a beginner allows them to gauge some of the earlier sides. If they have a high side profile, they can choose not to increase their dose. Any time I try a new AAS, always start small and build up. After you know how you handle it, then by all means go right for it.
@ActionJackson1 , in regards to PIP. You’ve got fresh tissue since you’re a newb. That can go away over time. Quads I will say is where I started my journey, and I used to get awful PIPs. Now I can inject quads to almost 1mL with no PIP. Try rotating, I do each quad, glute, and lat. I have a hard time reaching across to do delts so I don’t do them.
Notice the title of the thread:
A different POV especially for someone getting in the pool for the first time. Jump in the deep end or start on the shallower side? I guess it depends on how well you think can swim without ever having been in a pool or other body of water…
“TRT” users moving through the gateway to the dark side is a special case
They have treaded at least some water.
Just parroting the advice laid out by droves of anecdotal experience
I think there is good reason that is recommended as a first cycle.
I think nuance does exist, and different circumstances sometimes make a different approach make sense.
I’d say especially with TRT or cruise guys that ramping and tapering makes sense. Length of shutdown of HPTA is irrelevant. Why risk gyno by jumping to too high of dose on the first blast? Acne happens from fast fluctuations too (mostly on the way down).
What I did. Second blast was 650 mg/wk (some of it was 600). First was 325, and I wasn’t worried about sides at that dose. I knew I handled 325, so I started the blast at 400 or 450 mg/wk. Ran it for 6 weeks IIRC. Was fine so upped to 600 mg/wk. Was fine. Was pinning M,W,F 200 mg each shot. I figured with the bigger gap between F and M, why not fill that syringe all the way up to 250. So I did that. When it was time to come down, I figured lets ramp down a bit slower. I did a week at 400, a week at 300, then back to TRT. I avoided an acne breakout, and felt just fine. A lot of cycle guys report in the time between the cycle and the PCT they get bad acne. Not sure if I would have gotten that, but I didn’t.
This approach IMO does make more sense for a guy not worried about shutdown. Is it really going to be that hard on the body having an extra couple of weeks at supra levels to smooth things out? I don’t think so, so I do it.