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09/15/09
If you’re like many bodybuilders, you leapt into the world of anabolic steroids without doing much research. You know they are not all that safe, but you figure they’re not going to kill you, so you double up on dose of some over-the-counter pro-hormones or some actual oral AAS that you obtain from a friend or relative. After gaining some serious weight and using them for weeks or months at a time (perhaps until you begin to lose track), you know it’s time to quit. Maybe that tissue around your nipple is starting to become a big problem – that means Gynecomastia is arriving and halting AAS use and adding Letrozole is imperative. Maybe your insides have been hurting you, and despite the fact you know you should be seeing a doctor, you figure getting off the AAS will make the problem stop. Maybe you are just plain tired of wearing that ‘moon face’ everywhere, the result of endless steroid bloats and elevated blood pressure. The gains you have seen over the last few months have been tremendous. But for whatever reason, you know it’s time to stop.
In terms of actual effects upon the production of testosterone in your body, the differentiation between pro-hormone use and actual anabolic steroids just isn’t there. If you have been taking Dianabol, testosterone, or some new fancy pro-hormone, the effects have been the same. Your natural testosterone production levels have plummeted while your blood levels have been falsely elevated through the addition of synthetic hormones. You’ve disrupted your HPTA function. The change isn’t permanent, but it can last a long time without hormone recovery therapy in the form of PCT. Both AAS and pro-hormones have this effect, along with other potential negative effects, particularly on the organs of the body.
For potential users, or for those users looking to prevent such a testosterone roller coaster from occurring in the first place, you need to conduct a great deal of research on post-cycle therapy (PCT) practices. The moment your steroid of choice peaks in terms of active lifespan, after the final shot or oral administration to end a cycle, you should introduce a dose of Clomid or HCG (making the choice HCG whenever possible, and Clomid when reproductive function the top goal) into your system. You will continue this PCT for about four weeks, tapering off until your natural production returns to normal capacity.
In addition to the use of PCT, you need to make sure your cycles aren’t too long. Some users will run a moderate cycle for up to 6 months a time, or even longer! Doing so will require much longer periods of post-cycle therapy, and will place your internal organs under entirely too much unnecessary strain. In addition, the receptors in your muscle cells become far less responsive to steroids as the months pass. After 6 months on a cycle, you need the drugs just to maintain the muscle you have, and any new muscle is almost impossible, without massive spikes in amount of AAS used. This leads to a vicious cycle which can be prevented in the first place by taking breaks and utilizing proper PCT techniques.
