First Cycle Underway...

Pharma / TRT
1

So it’s last night (Mon) and it’s starting to get late because all evening long I’ve found other things to do. But eventually I gather everything together and lock myself in the bedroom.

I wipe the top of my vial and load up a syringe with .75cc of prop. The loading isn’t as easy as I expected, prob because I’m drawing with a 25g and I’m anxious. Once that’s done, I switch needles and sterilize my right glute. Standing in front of the mirror, I unsheathe the needle and finally reach that moment of truth: pin in hand, a drop of oil dangling from the needle’s end and it looks pretty damn sharp too, and I wonder if I’m actually going to jab that thing into myself. As I move the dart closer, my mind starts talking like, “Just hang on a second,” and “You know, you don’t have to do this,” but luckily my hand keeps moving.

As soon as the pin touched my skin, I knew I was cool. No way I was going to pull back now, resterilize the site, and consider a new needle. I just kept it moving. And like they all say, it was no big deal. Did I actually forget to aspirate this first ever self-injection? Yeah. But on the bright side, it was a practically painless experience.

Afterwards I feel a little queasy so I go to the kitchen and eat some strawberries. Then it’s back to the task at hand. This time I’m going to get .80cc of cyp into my left glute. Once again, I have a tougher time filling the syringe than emptying it and I even have to throw one out after it draws in a nice 50-50 oil-air combo. Finally the pin is loaded and I lie down (my left hand isn’t dexterous enough to handle that left glute on its own) and sterilize the site. I actually expected the same moment of truth, but there was none. The needle just made its way in, even easier this time because I couldn’t really see it. And I didn’t forget to aspirate this time.

All told, it took almost an hour to hit both those glutes. But I already knew the price of my impatience (choosing not to wait 2-3 weeks for cyp to kick in) would just be some extra needlework. No complaints so far. Here’s what I’m doing:

Weeks 1-2: Test Prop 300mg/wk
Weeks 1-11: Test Cyp 400mg/wk
Week 12-13: Test Cyp 250mg/wk
Week 14: OFF
Week 15-16: Test Prop 100mg/wk
Week 17-18: Test Prop 50mg/wk
Week 19-20: Test Prop 25mg/wk

In a few days, I’ll be adding in 25mg proviron ed thru week 15 or so and I’ll prob mix in some REZ-V as well. Nolva and adex are on standby. And I will be adding in some clomid therapy near the end of the taper.

Thanks to all the fellas who’ve helped out with their advice.

2

My respects for using injectables for your first cycle. Rarely do you hear of a first cycle being intra-muscular only, as opposed to oral only, or a combination of the two. My previous job in the military was as a combat medic, so I honestly can’t relate to people’s inexplicable and irrational fear of something so tiny and nearly painless.

Overall, looks like a very promising cycle. I expect you’ll see some awesome results within those first 4-6 weeks. My only question is, why is week 14 off? Schedule conflict?

3

chillain you ought to be a poet

5

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:

  1. Why did you not just mix the two in the same syringe and save some hassle/time/syringes/needles?
    Bushy[/quote]

I was thinking the same thing.

6

Well Contrl, I do have a few MAG-10 Legacy cycles under my belt so I actually did stick to orals at first. I still have plenty of that good stuff for later use, maybe to kickstart future cycles.

And my man sapasion, that’s all carryover from the undergrad days studying English Lit.

7

[quote]Contrl wrote:
Overall, looks like a very promising cycle. I expect you’ll see some awesome results within those first 4-6 weeks. My only question is, why is week 14 off? Schedule conflict?[/quote]

Well, one of the true vets here (juice20jd) helped me lay out the taper. The goal here is to “ensure a more gradual taper, and transition between the long ester clearing, and using the prop to finish off the taper period.”

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:

  1. Why did you not just mix the two in the same syringe and save some hassle/time/syringes/needles?

  2. Why did you throw 1 syringe away when you drew air into it? You could have just pushed the air out.

  3. Might I suggest that you inject 200mg prop in week 3 and 100mg in week 4. A kind of reverse taper as the cyp takes effect…
    Bushy[/quote]

  1. Well, the experimental part of my mind won that argument. As eager as I am to train and eat hard during this first cycle, I also wanted to learn about test and my body. So if I’ve got prop in one glute and cyp in the other, I can know exactly why my right glute is much sorer today, and it is. The other reason was simply wanting to man up and throw myself into the fire. (As an EMT, I expected pinning to be cake and I want to get to that point ASAP)

  2. By the time I had gotten most of the oil back into the vial, I had convinced myself that the syringe was defective and I needed a fresh start. Dumb I know.

  3. Heh, a “reverse taper” huh? I’ll def keep your advice in mind as Week 3 approaches.

8

Two and a half weeks in, so I’ll provide an update of my experiences so far:

-Week 1 was pretty rough while my immune system adjusted to the foreign oils… I didn’t exactly feel sick, more like really run-down. And in the gym, I had the classic symptoms (for me) of overtraining. Which was impossible since I had backed down my intensity and volume for two weeks prior to starting. I ended up cutting two sessions short and took two unplanned days off.

-By the start of week 2, I was already noticing the test effects in the gym. An extra set here, some extra reps there, and I have to force myself to ramp back up slowly. For the training effects alone, I love this stuff.

-Outside of the gym though, can’t say I’ve felt a distinctive “kick” yet. Don’t get me wrong, so many women are looking so good at the outdoor mall, grocery store, gym, etc. But I can’t say that isn’t just spring fever here in sunny Southern CA, which always hits hard. :smiley:

-No estrogen sides so far, just some water retention. I’m pretty positive about this one, because I didn’t jack up my kcals in week 1 (since I wasn’t training hard) and still noticed a difference by Week 2.

-A perfect injection is painless. Nicking a vein is distinctive but no big deal. Stubbornly pushing all the way through (after you recognize that a vein is in the way) is just dumb.

-Prop in virgin quads teaches a lesson.

-By week 3, I’ve learned that cutting my prop with cyp (.5cc of each, four times a week) makes it completely painless.

-After more reading (about cycle length and recovery), I’m switching to the standard recommendation of 500mg/wk cyp instead of the planned 400mg/wk. Something like this:

Week 1: 400mg/cyp, 225mg prop
Week 2: 500mg/cyp, 225mg prop
Week 3: 500mg/cyp, 200mg prop <— currently
Week 4: 500mg/cyp, 100mg prop
Week 5-9: 500mg/cyp
Week 10: 250mg/cyp and so on…
(same process of clearing the cyp ester and reintroducing prop to ensure an accurate taper)

9

Well this cycle is winding down now so I’ll share my experiences so far. I ended up extending the prop kickstart (complete with that “reverse taper”) for a more few weeks by just deciding to finish up the vial.

And along the way, I learned that ~700mg/wk was where estrogen sides started to show up for me. It was around week 5 or so that I noticed the puffy nipples. Nothing that 4-5 days of nolvadex didn’t solve. It actually reminded me of the same puffy and sore nipples I got during puberty, so maybe that’s an indicator of being prone to gyno.

That actually ended up being a nice wake-up call for me since it was then that I noticed my bp had gotten higher than I’d like. I had just assumed that less bodyfat would mean less water retention but apparently there was still enough to raise my bp.

So a few days after dropping the nolva, I went ahead and introduced some adex (0.25mg ed) and watched the water disappear. And as that brought down my bp, I realized that my bodyfat actually hadnt’ increased. So chalk up another vote for getting lean before a cycle, if that’s something that’s important to you.

The most obvious obvious effects for me have been the steady strength gains (still ongoing) and the ability to eat anything without getting any fatter. And not just the good carbs and fats, I’m talking pizza, burgers, chicken corn dogs, etc.

All of this is stuff I normally can’t get away with everyday since I’ve gotten older, but the test has certainly turned back the clock in that respect.

Now as far as gains go, I was expecting at least 20 lbs by cycle’s end and I’m up “only” 10-12 lbs at this point (Well 14 lbs as of this moment, but I’ve just had a sweet postworkout feast). Now I’ll point out that my bodyfat hasn’t increased but I’ll also be the first to say that is also a dead giveaway that I haven’t maximized my gains from this cycle.

In this case, I’ll blame it mostly on irregular sleep (from irregular EMT shifts) but the lesson learned is to have everything dialed in. Still, I can’t say I’m disappointed at all.

I am wondering if it was foolish to not include HCG during this cycle. Since I still plan on having a bunch of kids (with a bunch of different women), I just don’t like the idea of allowing the testes to be turned “off” at all, let alone for 12 weeks or so. I don’t plan on leaving it out of any future cycles.

Anyway, I’ll post some more in the next few weeks while I taper down.

10

Good stuff Chill.

I love the taper. You doing anything else besides it after your cycle?

11

You said you thought 700 mg is where you thought “estrogen sides” started to appear. You know that injecting what you did doesn’t = 700mg in your blood right? If you want to see what you really had built up in your bloodstream, run your injection numbers through this:

bulkmuscle.com/pct/

Use this to plan your next cycle, and yes- there will be another cycle. There always is. You’ll find out the reasons why eventually. Welcome to steroids.

12

Great update, it’s always great to hear about how people are doing, especially for those considering their first cycle. Thanks for the log, well written and insightful.

13

Sounds pretty good Chillian. 14lbs is decent for no bodyfat gain. After your PCT we can discuss the next cycle for ya :wink:

14

[quote]InTheZone wrote:
Hey how high did the bp get, if you don’t mind me asking?
How are the nips now also? I guess if you hit it w/the nolva right away before the tissue has a chance to form, it pretty much eradicates it eh?
ToneBone[/quote]

I was marking a diastolic around 90 and 95 mmHg (several readings over two days). And I wasn’t going to wait for any lumps with the nolva, I just made sure the puffiness wasn’t imaginary. Sort of that ‘ounce of prevention’ logic in both cases.

[quote]RoidEnthusiast wrote:
You said you thought 700 mg is where you thought “estrogen sides” started to appear. You know that injecting what you did doesn’t = 700mg in your blood right? If you want to see what you really had built up in your bloodstream, run your injection numbers through this:

bulkmuscle.com/pct

Use this to plan your next cycle, and yes- there will be another cycle. There always is. You’ll find out the reasons why eventually. Welcome to steroids. [/quote]

Yeah, that 700mg mark was a rough estimate. An important goal of this cycle was to learn as much as I could about test and my body. And I’ve found that 500mg really is plenty, for instance.

And oh yeah, that next cycle was already mapped out weeks ago of course. The only thing left to decide is if I’ll stay off for long enough or just get started again early.

15

Nice thread. It reminds me of my first self-injection. I fainted 30 seconds afterwards. I still hate doing them.

16

Thanks a lot for posting your log!

18

[quote]bushidobadboy wrote:
Diana Bolann wrote:
Nice thread. It reminds me of my first self-injection. I fainted 30 seconds afterwards. I still hate doing them.

LOL! I hope you managed to get the pin out before fainting…?

bushy[/quote]

Yea, luckily. I once fainted getting blood drawn too. I don’t know what it is cause I’ve cut open and dug embedded things out my body before rather than paying for the doc. It’s just needles.

19

[quote]chillain wrote:
InTheZone wrote:
Hey how high did the bp get, if you don’t mind me asking?
How are the nips now also? I guess if you hit it w/the nolva right away before the tissue has a chance to form, it pretty much eradicates it eh?
ToneBone

I was marking a diastolic around 90 and 95 mmHg (several readings over two days). And I wasn’t going to wait for any lumps with the nolva, I just made sure the puffiness wasn’t imaginary. Sort of that ‘ounce of prevention’ logic in both cases.

RoidEnthusiast wrote:
You said you thought 700 mg is where you thought “estrogen sides” started to appear. You know that injecting what you did doesn’t = 700mg in your blood right? If you want to see what you really had built up in your bloodstream, run your injection numbers through this:

bulkmuscle.com/pct

[/quote]^^thanks for this RE^[1]

Use this to plan your next cycle, and yes- there will be another cycle. There always is. You’ll find out the reasons why eventually. Welcome to steroids.

Yeah, that 700mg mark was a rough estimate. An important goal of this cycle was to learn as much as I could about test and my body. And I’ve found that 500mg really is plenty, for instance.

And oh yeah, that next cycle was already mapped out weeks ago of course. The only thing left to decide is if I’ll stay off for long enough or just get started again early.

[/quote]

Very nice log, well done. Well, I’m sure you figured it out by now but I noticed you had some struggles months ago filling your syringe; try injecting a couple cc’s of air into your vial prior to withdrawing and you will find it is much easier…your an EMT so this is probably a foolish reminder but maybe someone else will read it and it will help them.

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