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) enter your system. This causes the body to take a series of response actions. The first and most important (as you already know) is the increase in muscle mass. Unfortunately, there are other things going on that aren’t so great, too.

When an enzyme or hormone is exogenously introduced 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 production of estrogen, cortisol, and other hormones in response to elevated testosterone levels, while also slowing down (or completely stopping) 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 here with me? Good.

What happens when we exit a cycle:

Well, while we’re on the cycle, natural test production is decreasing to make up for exogenous test intake, and our production of other steroid hormones (ie estrogen, cortisol, etc.) is increasing to make up for the increase. test levels. When we come out of 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 at the start of 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 make it 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 estrogen levels play an integral role in Post Cycle Therapy. That’s right, you want to welcome high estrogen levels with open fucking arms, but there’s a trick to that. And that gimmick is the almighty SERM (selective estrogen receptor modulator).

SERM’s: the basis 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 isn’t 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) that you can get a SERM:

1) Through a 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
Pros: Cheap. Effective for the prevention of gynecomastia.
Cons: Heptatoxicity. Studies have shown it to reduce IGF levels (I don’t feel like quoting, but that’s about a 20% decrease…not a big deal in my opinion).
Popular Dosage (for a 4-week cycle): 40/40/20/20
Note: Tamoxifen Citrate is less potent and must be dosed with an additional 30%.

Clomiphene citrate (clomid):

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

Toremifene:

Reputation: Very popular on this forum
Pros: Much less toxic.
Cons: $$$$$expensive$$$$$
Popular dosages (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 Post-Cycle Therapy Hierarchy: Cortisol Control

Excess cortisol can be detrimental to your newfound muscle mass. So it’s a good idea to use something to block or reduce excessive cortisol levels. Always start high and write down. 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 potent cortisol suppressant with great 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 contender, has terrible oral availability, and an even worse half-life (2 hours). This is best taken transdermally, where such effects can be missed.

Cissus: Unlike the above, Cissus components do not suppress Cortisol, but block cortisol receptors (better than Nandrolone or Dianabol according to some studies). Doses vary significantly (extracts 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 effects of cortisol on muscle wasting.

At the bottom of the post-cycle therapy hierarchy, 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 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 (for Anabolic Xtreme)
Hyperdrol (for Anabolic Xtreme)
Ecdysterone/Turkesterone
Creatine Monohydrate

Can you tell that I was bored after work today?