And there is this thread in the pharma section too -
Thanks for sharing, brother. IMO, the risks donāt seem to outweigh the rewards. I am intrigued, but Iāve gathered that if youāre talking about prolonged use, there are legitimate reasons for concern with regard to lipids, as anavar wrecks HDL.
Iām not looking to run something for a cycle, because Iām not an AAS juicehead (at least at this point in life, lol).
Iām looking to find a sustainable long-term protocol that optimizes my well-being while keeping health in mind. I think, given what Iāve gathered, anavar is not consistent with that mission ā it probably should only be used in āsprintsā rather than āmarathons.ā Testosterone on its own might not deliver the same body comp effects, but it does seem much safer.
Iāve heard Mike Israetel talk about anavar cycles. He said its a good starter cycle for a novice user, if you run it for 4 weeks and then stop. It has a very short half life so its out of your system within a few days of running it.
Buuuut. It will destroy your liver if you are not careful, so you have to live completely clean. And it will destroy your HDL count. But if you do 4 weeks on and 12-16 weeks off then it shouldnāt cause any long-term issues. Iām guessing that is assuming you were already healthy and you donāt run it forever, maybe a few years max. The gains on it are supposed to be insane if you eat a properly, or it can be used to cut and you will still gain. Iāve also heard it can cause BP issues as well.
Iām getting great mass and strength progress on my 200mg test-c a week, so I have no interest in trying it right now. I was thinking about it before I got on TRT though. If I had to try something new, iād do a blast of test at 500mg a week for a few months before trying an oral.
1 Like
Interesting, thanks for sharing! Anyone in particular you can think of who has documented their gains? Iād love to read their account.
Also, out of curiosity, why would you choose a heavy test cycle instead of more moderate test + anavar? Because of the effects on liver/lipids?
In the below video, he makes a (seemingly) reasonable case for adding anavar to more moderate test over only using heavy test. Guy seems to really know his stuff.
Deca dick scares the f out of me too, especially after having all these issues after using finasteride and reading so much about PFS. It does seem to work really well for joint pain though for people that need it
Thatās exactly how Iām looking at it, man: potential support for down the road when things get creaky. People always talk about how your body starts āfeeling differentā in your 30s/40s.
I feel that Iāve already gotten a glimpse of that with my low-T run in my mid-20s. Everything felt different. But if I do encounter the dreaded aches and pains later on, I will definitely consider Deca, especially if I have libido dialed in by that point.
Liver mostly, but this video has me rethinking that.
For anyone curious about the subject, check out the 10:00 mark, where he starts really diving into heavy t only vs. moderate t + anavar.
I was just having this discussion with my wife at dinner tonight. For me, 43 seems to be that year. Subtle things,
like strange pains or digestive issues from food once well tolerated, but definitely different than my 20s.
43 seems later than the age for most guys, so you can take some solace in that at least! My brother-in-law is always saying, āIām telling you, things just feel totally different in your 30s.ā But heās also very out of shape, never exercises, eats poorly, drinks alcohol, etcā¦so I donāt think his example is totally applicable.
The thyroid meds have arrived! The Cytomel pills are 25 mg, so my plan is to start with 1/4 pill upon waking (~7), then another 1/4 early-afternoon (~2). This timing sound good to you, @enackers? Iāll titrate up the dose as needed.
Iām also uncertain about what to do with the āgrindsā of each pill. Iāll be crushing them up, so havenāt figured out how Iāll store it from day to day.
1 Like
Just put them in a piece of paper or something and put on tongue. Aluminum foil should work fine.
As long as you start thatās good enough 
Itās not a long term solution unfortunately. Itās a great 6 week solution though.
3 Likes
@iron_yuppie ran Anavar for like a year while on TRT. Iām sure he can chime in on that and using it on cycle.
Any plans to try it out yourself?
I havenāt seen anything online about avoiding water ā could you elaborate on that? Iāve actually seen some people say they feel bad if they donāt have water with Cytomel. If Iām taking it first thing in the morning, Iām not sure I should be holding off on drinking water, as that seems like the most important time to rehydrate. Or how long would you wait, if you do think thatās necessary?
Does that ā2 hours before or 1 hour afterā apply to food in addition to coffee? Itās gonna be difficult to time this medication up (especially the afternoon dose) with the realities of life, lol.
It really is difficult to time, but just do the best you can. I take my first dose first thing in the morning. I wait 1 hour before coffee. I take my second dose 1 hour after my afternoon coffeeā¦ And I wait at least 1 hour after that dose before eating.
I think itās important to take the meds on as empty a stomach as you can, but I personally donāt think you need to change your lifestyle to be that precise with dose timing.
1 Like
I have never heard of avoiding water for thyroid meds either. Iām pretty sure when reading up on t4 when I started taking it, I read to take with plenty of water.
I took my first dose at 7:30 this AM, then had coffee at 8:30. Havenāt eaten yet but will soon. I expect Iāll take my next dose around 12:30.
Would you recommend taking it 3X per day, or just 2? Thinking Iāll probably stick with 2 for now, for simplicity. Iāve read the half-life is anywhere from 4-8 hours. If 8, taking it twice would definitely be sufficient.
Also: it was damn near impossible to figure out how much of the powder to take after grinding up the tiny pill. It was just this pile of dust. I felt like a cokehead, lol. My wife goes, āyou gonna snort it?ā
So I just ordered a pill splitter ā hopefully that will help. Iāll have to split the 25 mg pills ā maybe Iāll do quarters, maybe halves, depending on how things feel.
Thatās exactly what Iām thinking. This is way more complicated than injecting yourself one time a day.
Iāll do my best to make sure the thyroid meds are on point, but there are some times (like when youāre with friends) that itās just going to be impossible. You canāt say, āOK guys, weāre going to go to lunch at exactly 1:30, then wait to get coffee,ā etc. I mean, I guess you can, but who wants to hang out with that guy?