Hey guys,
I’m suffering from prolonged shutdown right now and trying to come up with the tightest recovery plan possible. I have not just had “bad luck” I probably put myself at greater risk of lasting shutdown through my own foolishness when I was younger, using AAS carelessly and without proper knowledge. Unfortunately, after learning more about proper cycling and PCT, etc. and deciding to try and squeeze in one last cycle before moving to a new city w/ my gf, I did hit some bad luck and the last leg of my cycle plus Nolva were stolen from my friends place where I was stashing all my stuff.
I was running: Anavar @ 80mg ED + Dbol @ 50mg ED for 4 wks then just Anavar for additional 3 wks, if I recall correctly I got to around week 6. (I know oral only cycles are considered dumb by many, I did this cycle for the wrong reasons - I just don’t want to pay for it for the rest of my life).
This was all just about 18 months ago, shutdown seemed to be only minor initially and then became really bad more than 6 months after going off cycle (weird no? although may have been exacerbated by stress at that point).
Symptoms have generally improved very slightly from what they were at the worst but still feel like shit. Oddly, over the last 10 months or so I’ve been experiencing transient improvements lasting from 1-4 days and occurring usually about once or twice a month. During these periods I have better energy/strength, sex drive, nuts hanging instead of trying to climb back inside me and slight size improvement on them as well.
^^This suggests to me that decent pulses of LH are occasionally still being sent to my nuts which are then responding somewhat > ie. hypogonadism is secondary and may be reversible if I’m extremely fucking lucky
*PERSONAL INFO
-age > 27
-height > 5’10
-waist > 30"
-weight > 188 lbs
I’ll try to keep the rest short and just stick to some concepts and questions, I have some more info over in a thread I started in the TRT forum, if it’ll help:
MOST RECENT BLOODS:
FEB 24/2012, (940 AM)
(hope conversions are accurate please alert me if anything looks off, chem 101 was a long time ago
DHEAS 9.0 umol/L [<17.5], or 33.16 ng/mL [<64.48] … not sure, prob less than ideal?
B12 422 pmol/L [>150], or 521.857 pg/mL [>203.2520]
Cortisol, AM 324 nmol/L [120-620], or 11.743 ug/dL [4.349-22.472]… no idea, seems mid range
Estradiol 59 pmol/L [<200], or 16.072 pg/mL [<54.481] … seems slightly low from what I’ve read? (ideal 20-24?)
Ferritin 134 ug/L [12-300] (equivalent in pg/mL), or 134,000 ng/mL [12,000-300,000]
FSH 2.1 U/L [<7.0] … lower than previous
LH 2.2 U/L [<12.0] … lower than previous - these 2 concern me and suggest the prob is at hypothalamus or pituitary
Prolactin 7.0 ug/L [<21.0]
Progesterone 1.3 nmol/L [<3.0], or 408.8 ng/dL [<943.38]
Test (total) 12.1 nmol/L [10.3-29.5], or 349.00 ng/dL [297.08-850.86] … up about 30 pts from 320, prob just a fluctuation
TSH 2.94 mU/L … highish, elevated from last test
PROPOSED RESTART PROTOCOL:
Begin w/ low dose HCG to resensitize the testes to higher levels of LH that are still w/in the physiological range. Follow up w/ SERM for LH & FSH release stimulating effects, preferably Tamoxifen along w/ an appropriate AI to inhibit any additional receptor down-regulation from increased E levels. Taper slowly off SERM and adjust AI accordingly. Continue AI for 4 additional weeks after SERM ends
This would entail:
WK 1-3(?)*HCG @ 250iu EOD (frontload?), run 3 weeks or until testes have recovered size and firmness
*Arimidex @ .25mg EOD
WK 4-8(?)*Nolva @ 10mg ED or 20 mg EOD (FL?)
*Arimidex @ .25mg EOD
WK 9 *Nolva @ 10mg EOD
*Arimidex @ .125mg EOD
WK 10-14 *Arimidex @ .125mg EOD
EDIT - forgot to mention I was considering using aromasin rather than adex concurrently w/ the nolva to avoid the negative interaction between adex & nolva
^^ ?'s regarding the above -
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Should I expect to run the HCG for a longer period since I’ve been at low production for awhile, and it may take longer to resensitize the testes to LH? Would it serve my recovery better to do this for a minimum period of time or should I switch to SERM as soon as the testes have responded significantly?
-
Should I frontload the HCG or the Nolva?
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Should I be starting the A’dex right out of the gate with the HCG or just have on hand? And is 5 weeks on Nolva long enough?
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I think the doses and timelines here stick to pretty modest doses that should avoid any extra suppression as much as possible, but please let me know if I’m under or overdosing something or running anything too long
Thanks for any help guys, I appreciate any insights you can offer