Hey guys, I’ve been reading a lot of these forums and I think I’ve jumped into a Test cycle with no education and for poor guidance from my friends.
I had no idea blood work was so important so unfortunately I don’t have any of those stats for you guys yet, I do plan to get it done I’m just struggling on how to go about that.
I’m a 6’ 4” male
244 lbs and I’m not sure my body fat percentage but I’m not very lean so I’d imagine it higher.
My cycle is 250mg of Test E once a week
I do a shot of 125/mg on Monday AM and one of Thursday PM
I’m 3 weeks into this and my nipples have become a bit sensitive, no lumps have started underneath but my chest does feel like something different is happening in it.
I’ve bought both Nolvadex and Arimidex, and just don’t know how to go about using them.
Also when would be the best time to get my blood work done?
I’m not sure how much 3 weeks of 250mg of test could shut down your natural production. I don’t want to guess it and there are far more educated members here that may have the time to offer their guidance, like @lordgains , @unreal24278@tareload and many others.
If I were flying blind like you, I would discontinue all aas use and take one 10mg Nolvadex to offset any possible gyno, although at that Test dosage it’s very unlikely there are any lumps forming. It’s normal for nipples to be sensitive during the first stages of test use. I’d wait two weeks after my last pin and then take 10mg/day Nolvadex for 3 weeks straight. This would sort of be a light version of the classic PCT. Get blood work done after a month of last Nolva tablet. Follow up with more bloods after another month.
As I said, this is what I would do if I were you in your current situation. I may be totally wrong however and someone will surely correct me soon if that’s the case.
What I actually did was before considering taking anything was consistently train for 15 years, got my bloodwork done where I saw my free T was hanging low, my SHBG was quite elevated, had various symptoms of low T, planned a (more or less classic) beginner protocol (500mg Test E/week) with AI and SERMs on standby, and got a green light from respected board members of this community. Later I switched to a TRT dose.
Considering that you’re taking Test E, we can safely assume that it’ll be in your system for a good two-three weeks, due to the half-life. That’s why you don’t start PCT right after your last injection. Instead you wait until it clears your system to a certain degree.
Again, I can only say what I would do which I wrote above. Others may have more insightful suggestions.
Stop the cycle, keep the juice and educate yourself first. I’ll tell you why this is what you should do:
I personally would not start a cycle above 15% BF, ideally I would start it at 10-13% so fairly lean. That allows the body to 1) build muscle during the cycle in which one must be on a surplus and 2) the side effects from the cycle are more likely decreased.
250 mg per week is a waste of a cycle. It’s not enough to get you what you want but enough to shut your balls down. If I would use 250 mg, I would not use it as a 12 week cycle but for way longer to see real progress. It’s good you did jump in rather carefully with the dose, but this cycle is not ideal. I would stop now.
This is likely due to higher body fat and the reason why you shouldn’t start a cycle at higher than 15%.
Perfect, you have one PCT drug on hand now.
Do the following:
Stop testosterone injections.
Wait for 2 weeks.
Take 10 mg of tamoxifen for 3 weeks to be safe. (Maybe not necessary, I’ve seen studies that say that after 3 weeks there’s no shutdown, only suppression)
Get bloodwork 4-6 weeks after stopping tamoxifen.
Then you should be back with your natural test production. The cycle ends with probably no harm done.
This gives you time to educate yourself on steroids. We can provide help. If you are then educated and leaner, you’ll have the tools to do it right.
I find it difficult to advise a person on AAS that I haven’t watched at the gym. Things I look to assess a person’s success potential in using AAS:
How old are you?
How long have you been lifting weights?
How strong are you?
How committed are you to put in the work.
Do you look like you have potential? (That would be my opinion based on 54 years lifting weight. I have seen plenty of people who fight a continued uphill battle seeing little results. Then the risk is not worth the reward in using AAS.)
About what percent body fat are you? (Too much fat is a bad combination for AAS in that there seems to be greater possibility of gyno)
I absolutely hate when a “zero” media person or politicians adds “on steroids” to emphasize a point. None of these morons know anything about steroids. And “everyone” listening sees steroids as the go-to medication to amplify results.
Perfect, thanks man @lordgains
I will be stopping and doing the PCT just like you said and I agree with you 100%. I did this whole thing ass backwards and just got so excited to get huge with my friend and one thing lead to another and I was injecting test.
He was explaining it to me as with a low dose there will be no side effects and your going to put on 20 lbs of muscle and fuck your wife 5 times a day lol. It sounded to good to be true.
I do have a question though, would 3 weeks of this have given me any strength gains or would it have been a placebo effect. My bench had gone from 225 to 285. I’ve felt better in the gym.
Back in the 1970’s when said you were taking steroids, anyone who knew anything at all about steroids thought you were talking about corticosteroids. I would just smile.
To add a little more humor, my ex-wife was a respiratory therapist at a teaching hospital. I would occasionally pick her up at work. On a few occasions as I was there at shift change, a med student would warn me that I would get Cushing Syndrome.
I’d say yeah, it’s possible. I saw strength gains come pretty quickly on cycle, the size, libido, drive, etc. all came on more slowly. Maybe that’s just me