My First PCT, Some Questions and Need Feedback

[mat98]

I’ve taken my last shot of 250mg Test E 16 days back.

My 14 week cycle:

Week 1 to 6:
-250mg Test E every 5 days (350mg/week), 25mg Proviron/day

Week 6 to 12:
-250mg Test E every 6 days (290mg/week), 8-12mg Winstrol oral/day

Week 12 to 14:
-250mg Test E/week, 25mg Proviron/day

Result: 67.5 to 76.5 kg, mostly lean muscle, lost fat with visible abs and slight striations, very less sub-cute water, no bloating, increased bacne (probably getting a breakout now)

PCT goal: Keeping as much strenght and muscle, restoring pre-cycle hormone levels

Current weight: 75.5kg, no fat increase (so maybe I’ve already lost a kg of lean muscle, not sure)

Current mood: Depressed and fatigued already, increased anxiety, it sucks man

PCT template:
-HCG 18 days after last shot, every alternate day, 750iu first 4 times, 500iu next 3 times, 250iu next 2 times
-Nolvadex 25 days after last shot(a week after starting HCG), dosage everyday, 40mg/day 18 days, 20mg/day 14 days

Training and diet plan post cycle and during PCT:
-Powerlifting program, started Layne Norton’s PH3 2 days back(13 week program)
-Huge caloric surplus
-Started taking creatine 2 weeks back
-Omega 3 as always
-Ordered L carnitine, will be here in a few days

Questions:
-Changes to current plan?
-Bloodwork markers before PCT? Will get it done tomorrow
-Should I use AI?
-Supplementation?
-Additional drugs?

Please don’t hold back from sharing any info or experience, it’ll help a lot.

[iron_yuppie]

@mat98

Bloodwork markers before PCT? Will get it done tomorrow

Waste of time. And blood. It’s going to show you what you already know, which is low testosterone, very very low LH, FSH. Better to get blood work done after PCT is complete to gauge recovery vs pre-cycle levels.

@mat98

HCG 18 days after last shot, every alternate day, 750iu first 4 times, 500iu next 3 times, 250iu next 2 times
-Nolvadex 25 days after last shot(a week after starting HCG), dosage everyday, 40mg/day 18 days, 20mg/day 14 days

You should have been using HCG already. Start it between your last test shot and your first day of Nolva. Starting it now means you’re pushing back PCT even further.

Just use 20mg Nolva daily for six weeks. No need to go higher than that. Risk of side effects increases with corresponding dose increases and 20mg is very effective.

@mat98

Ordered L carnitine, will be here in a few days

Unless it’s injectable go ahead and cancel the order. The amount you need orally to make any difference is prohibitively high vs the injectable version.

@mat98

Huge caloric surplus

Unnecessary. The calorie surplus is good when you’re bulking, especially enhanced. Once in PCT the goal is to maintain what you added. So eating at new maintenance is better than continuing a big surplus. You’ll be in a low test state here for a few weeks. A calorie surplus may lead to unwanted fat gain since building muscle will be considerably harder in your present physiological condition.

[mat98]

Thanks, I’ve started HCG and feel much better. I should’ve started it earlier. Couldn’t find injectable pharma L-carnitine anywhere here, so I’m sticking with oral, atleast better than nothing.

Also, I got bloodwork done (before starting PCT) out of curiosity, 18 days after last pin, just for Total Test and Estradiol,

Total Test- 190 ng/dl (precycle 589 ng/dl)
Estradiol- less than 11 pg/ml (precycle 91 pg/ml (out of range)), reference range is 10-40pg/ml

I’m worried about my Test level, is it too low or normal for post cycle? I was expecting something around 300 tbh. Now I feel I’ll probably reach 400 after PCT that too if everything goes well.

Also, I weighed at 74.5kg this morning (down from 76.5kg on last test shot day), can this be water weight because of crashed estrogen or am I losing lean muscle this fast (considering I used almost no AI on cycle)?
2 kg in just 18 days seems a lot, at this rate I’ll lose everything in a few months. What’s your experience? I haven’t lost any strength yet tho. Need some assurance.

[iron_yuppie]

That test level is pretty typical for where you are post cycle. And dropping weight that fast means water and glycogen are being shed. That’s also very typical. If strength is still good that means you’re holding onto muscle. Most guys will lose 50% of the total weight put on during a cycle. That’s water, glycogen, and some muscle mass. But it’s mostly the first two. The scale lies to you by the end of a cycle. Keep eating well and training hard and you’ll keep a good bit of actual lean tissue.