Been reading every thread I can find on the subject, but there doesn’t seem to be any real consensus. I’m half way into week 5 of my first cycle, Test E 250 mgs twice a week for a total of 500 mgs a week.
At around week two or three, I definitely noticed the increased libido. I still feel like it’s higher than usual but since the end of week three, I don’t think it’s been as strong as it was during that brief period.
I held off on the AI as long as I could, trying to see if I’d be one of the people who could handle 500 mgs a week without needing it. Ended up bloated and retaining a ton of water though, so I took one 12.5 mg Aromasin last week on each pin day, which immediately helped immensely. Probably going to keep that schedule up for the time being, since it seems to be getting rid of the noticeable sides without crashing my E2.
This week, I suspect I’m finally starting to feel something but I’m still not sure if it’s placebo or not. There’s zero chance the test is fake, I’m just wondering when people really started to feel like they were in full swing on their first cycle. I plan on getting bloods done either this weekend or the week after to see where I’m at (I always see people recommend waiting until after week 5 or 6 to get bloodwork), but for right now the waiting and not really feeling like I’m ‘on’ is killing me.
I just thought I would’ve been seeing a lot more by this point. From what I’ve read though, a lot of people say it feels like ‘a switch gets flipped’ somewhere in week 5 or 6 and that’s when all the real gains come, so I’m fully aware that I’m being impatient. Just looking to hear some others’ experiences in the meantime.
Ok my first cycle I felt something like within a couple of days, now I waited until almost my mid thirties to start so the amount it took to be above natural levels is lower for me vs a 25yo. Every cycle since then I have never had that early feeling in fact I really don’t notice anything except that my gym hours get longer and I am I don’t feel like I did an extra hour. So enjoy the first cycle buzz because you might never get it again. FYI don’t try to chase it with ever increasing dosages that just makes your sides go crazy.
Now as far as gains. There is that early within the first two weeks that all of a sudden your blood glycogen goes up (not sure if it is glycogen but something goes up so basically blood is denser) and you get anywhere from 2-5 pounds like overnight. After that I would say anywhere after week four you can start seeing the gains but they won’t sing and really go crazy until week six and later. One thing to keep in mind and I myself ran into this in my early cycles, you are loosing fat while gaining muscle so the scale might not move a bunch but you are progressing and gaining. I had to start tape measuring body parts to be able to judge my progress. Go look in the mirror I bet you have some definition lines that are new with this cycle.
Now if you are flat out getting no results by week 7-8 then you need to have an honest look at your diet and then what your workout looks like. I myself cannot gain without focused isolation where I do 5 plus exercises per muscle group with 4 sets each with a rep count of 15, 12, 10 and pushing for 10 on the fourth set.
That’s why everyone says don’t run gear if you can’t gain naturally, you have to play with everything to find where you can gain then the gear just makes the recovery faster so you can do more and get more return.
Even though steroids are drugs and they do alter your state it’s nothing like beer or weed or cocaine. Really you just get more energy and really just get more intense so if you are thinking that a noticable difference is supposed to happen, really it doesn’t.
I don’t know if any of this helps or if it just confused you. If something isn’t clear or you are interested in more detail just say so. I am known for writing dissertations for a one sentence question.
I really appreciate that breakdown/timeline. I definitely got the early immediate weight gain, and within the last week I’ve felt a slight boost when lifting. These past two days are the first time I can say for sure that I’ve felt better recovery and energy for sure. And yeah, my traps and shoulders are definitely bigger than they were a few weeks ago. I was just wondering what everyone’s first cycle experience was on Test E and when they really felt like they were noticeably ‘on’ though.
I’m jealous of your early boost, because my experience was a lot rougher. I got really bad PIP my first round of pinning delts then glutes, and that came with some pretty gnarly test flu symptoms at a few points. I actually had a real rough go of it in the first few weeks, immediately followed by that bloating and water retention. All in all, it made for a miserable month. It’s only in this last week that I’ve come out the other side and am starting to feel anything even remotely beneficial, other than the increased libido.
All I’ve been reading in other threads are more loose answers, saying you’ll feel it in week 2 or week 4 or week 6, etc. Your post was a lot more helpful, thanks!
Personally I can felt test e kicked in two weeks, within moderate dose of test e or test c only, it basically increased my working out capacity, not really got strength gains until four or five weeks later.
Also libido and appetite increased in first few days. Perhaps the stamina increasing caused by my training plan as well, since I’d like to start with high volume training and bunch of cardio, separately in the first few weeks when I start with t shots, then I cut down cardio gradually
You’re wasting your entire cycle worrying about this. Just get to work and eat as much as possible man trust me. You don’t “feel” steroids like you do recreational drugs, you only really feel hormones if you were deficient in testosterone to begin with, and having normal levels restored can be euphoric, but other than that you don’t feel steroids brotha. Your cycles gonna be over before you know it and you’ll feel like you wasted it worrying