Stupid People’s Guide to Post Cycle Therapy

Let’s also start by saying that you don’t need to do post cycle therapy…you also don’t need to wipe your butt after emptying – it’s a very, very good idea to do these things

The first thing we need to understand is what happens to our body when we take anabolic steroids:
Exogenous anabolic hormones (or derivatives of anabolic hormones) are introduced into your system. This causes the body to take a series of responsive actions. The first and most important (as you already know) is the increase in muscle mass. Unfortunately, other things are also happening that are not so good.

When an enzyme or hormone is introduced exogenously into the system, the chemical balances change to reach a certain equilibrium. This is a chemical concept known as Le Chatelier’s Principle of Chemical Equilibrium. Simply put, your body will increase the production of estrogen, cortisol, and other hormones in response to elevated testosterone levels, while slowing down (or stopping altogether) natural testosterone production. Biologists call this negative feedback… biology sucks, doesn’t it?

Le Chatelier’s Principle for the Scientifically Disabled:
Suppose A and B react to make C (it can’t get much simpler than that).

A+B——–>C

So we have a mixture containing A, B, and C. According to LeChatlier’s principle, if we add more C to the mixture, the amounts of A and B will increase. If we remove some C from the mix, A and B will decrease. And if we were to add A, B, or a combination of the two, C would increase. Are you still with me here? Good.

What happens when we break out of a cycle:

Well, while we’re on cycle, natural test production is decreasing to compensate for exogenous test intake, and our production of other steroid hormones (ie estrogen, cortisol, etc.) is increasing to compensate for the increase. test levels. When we come off a cycle, we stop taking exogenous testosterone. In other words, we have very low test levels and very high cortisol and estrogen levels – it’s the EXACT OPPOSITE of what we had when we started our cycle.

REMEMBER Le Chatelier’s Principle because this is where it becomes really important. When we have an excess of one hormone, the others will start to move, to achieve a certain balance. Ok, I’ll say it (and put it in bold) again because it’s that important. When we have an excess of one hormone, the others will start to move, to achieve a certain balance. It is a very common mistake to think that we want to eradicate estrogen. High levels of estrogen play an integral role in Post Cycle therapy. That’s right, you want to welcome high estrogen levels with bloody open arms, but there’s a trick to that. And that trick is the almighty SERM (Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulator).

SERM’s: the foundation of post cycle therapy:

Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators are (and should be) the foundation of any proper post-cycle therapy plan. A post cycle therapy plan without them is not a PCT plan: it’s a bunch of crap you decided to take after you cycled. The purpose of a SERM is to block the negative effects of estrogen while bringing your hormone levels back into balance.

SERMs are prescription drugs and are NOT SOLD IN SUPPLEMENT STORES. In fact, there are only 3 ways (I can think of) you can get a SERM:

1) Through Medical Prescription.

2) Through the Black Market (also known as illegally)

3) As research chemicals intended for use in laboratory rats.

The different SERMs:

Tamoxifen (Nolvadex):

Reputation: Most Popular SERM for Post Cycle Therapy
Advantages: Cheap. Effective for the prevention of gynecomastia.
Cons: Heptatoxicity. Studies have shown that it lowers IGF levels (I don’t feel like quoting, but it’s about a 20% decrease…no big deal in my opinion).
Popular Dose (for a 4-week cycle): 40/40/20/20
Note: Tamoxifen Citrate is less potent and should be dosed with an additional 30%.

Clomiphene citrate (clomid):

Reputation: Second most popular. It is usually taken for the first week or so to speed testosterone recovery, and tamoxifen is taken throughout therapy.
Pros: Better than tamoxifen for regeneration of HTPA. Less heptatoxicity. Does not lower IGF.
Cons: Less effective against gynecomastia. It can cause emotional problems. May cause blurred vision. Hot flushes.
Popular dose (for a 4 week cycle): 100-200mg/100mg/50mg/50mg

Toremifene:

Reputation: Very popular on this forum
Pros: Much less toxic.
Cons: $$$$$expensive$$$$$
Popular dosage (for a 4 week cycle): 120-240mg/120mg/60mg/30mg

Raloxifene:

Reputation: Very effective against gynecomastia
Pros: Strong protection against gynecomastia. Less toxic than tamoxifen.
Cons: Cost restriction. It can cause abnormal blood clotting in the eyes, lunges, and legs. It can also cause hot flashes, shortness of breath, and blurred vision.
Popular dosages: (for a 4 week cycle): 120-240mg/120mg/60mg/30mg

Moving Down the Hierarchy of Post Cycle Therapy: Cortisol Control

Excess cortisol can be detrimental to newfound muscle mass. That’s why it’s a good idea to use something to block or reduce excessive cortisol levels. Always start high and write low. This is what we have to work with:

B-Androstenetriol (b-triol): This is one of the best cortisol suppressants. It has terrible oral bioavailability and must be taken transdermally. Doses range from 25 to 50 mg every 12 hours.

Methyl B-Androstenetriol (mb-triol) – This is an improved version of b-triol designed for oral use. Found in the following products: Retain (by Anabolic Xtreme), Restore (by ALRI), Thyrogen-X (by ALRI)

7-Hydroxy-DHEA: Another powerful cortisol suppressant with high oral bioavailability. Found in the following products: Lean Xtreme (by Designer Supplements), Reduce XT (by SNS)

7-oxo-DHEA (7-keto-DHEA) – Still a decent competitor, terrible oral availability and even worse half-life (2 hours). This is best taken transdermally where such effects can be missed.

Cissus: Unlike the above, the components of Cissus do not suppress Cortisol, but instead block cortisol receptors (better than Nandrolone or Dianabol according to some studies). Dosages vary significantly (excerpts pending). USPLabs SuperCissus is a high-quality Cissus product.

Branched Chain Amino Acids – These should be a staple to start with, but they are a great anti-catabolic that mitigates the muscle wasting effects of cortisol.

At the bottom of the hierarchy of post cycle therapy, there are AI, Test Booster and other “natural” anabolics.
Too many different things are going on here to go into too much detail. Just a word of caution (and this is my personal opinion), but if your post-cycle plan starts to look like a constitutional amendment: you’re doing it too much. And the worst thing is that if something goes wrong, you will have no idea what caused it.

Honorable mentions from this part of the hierarchy:

Jungle Warfare (by ALRI)
MassFX (by Anabolic Xtreme)
Hyperdrol (by Anabolic Xtreme)
Ecdysterone/Turkesterone
Creatine Monohydrate

Can you tell I was bored after work today?