Penis is broken!

[jbone30]

Hey I posted about this hours ago but no one answered?...my bro has impotence from the AS and lack of proper PCT..should he use like HCG Nolv CLOMiD or what?

[Darkness]

Yep, clo and hcg will get his testes milkin again!

[falker]

Hey I posted about this hours ago but no one answered?...my bro has impotence from the AS and lack of proper PCT..should he use like HCG Nolv CLOMiD or what?

What did he take?

[CRUISECONTROL]

Yep, clo and hcg will get his testes milkin again!

To my understanding the HCG needed to be taken while on cycle and wont do much good after cyle........... How long ago was his cycle and yes clomid should help but he might need to see a doc to do some blood work

[StayJuicen34]

yes I agree, you brother should seek Prof. care by a doctor becaue shooting up the HCG my make him impotent for life he is better of seeing the doctort telling him strait up that he used AS and asking what steps need to be taken in order to correctly and saftly bring there Test levels back to normal

[dtr98]

most docs don't know about aas, asked my doc about hgh and he said my head would grow bigger like barry bonds!!

[znak]

To my understanding the HCG needed to be taken while on cycle and wont do much good after cyle........... How long ago was his cycle and yes clomid should help but he might need to see a doc to do some blood work

Your understanding is wrong. There is nothing like hcg to get your testes working again.

What was his cycle? Length, compounds and dosage?

If he did not get completely stupid hcg at 500 mcg ed for two weeks on top of clomid therapy will help and depending on what his age, cycle, etc. was/are, the two may solve the problem.

[Booz]

To my understanding the HCG needed to be taken while on cycle and wont do much good after cyle........... How long ago was his cycle and yes clomid should help but he might need to see a doc to do some blood work

sorry cruiz you are incorrect on this one,you can use hcg between the last shot of test and the beg of clomid therapy to help with your natty

[CRUISECONTROL]

sorry cruiz you are incorrect on this one,you can use hcg between the last shot of test and the beg of clomid therapy to help with your natty

Thanks znak and booz for clarifying......... I had read somewhere before that Hcg needed to be taken during cycle and not only after cylcle .......... I guess I read some incorrect info so thanks guys

[shortie]

Some, usually Dan Duschaine disciples, believe that HCG should be only taken intermitently over the course of very long cycles to keep testicular atrophy at bay. I personally believe that it is an excellent addition to pct at the end of any cycle 8 weeks or longer. Since HCG in men acts as a synthetic LRH, but in mass quantity, I think of it as kinda shaking the boys awake. Excellent article out there by William Llewellyn(Anabolics 2004) on HCG-If I can find it I'll post it here.

Nothing against Dan Duschaine in any way, he had some great ideas, but some things will change over time.

[CRUISECONTROL]

Some, usually Dan Duschaine disciples, believe that HCG should be only taken intermitently over the course of very long cycles to keep testicular atrophy at bay. I personally believe that it is an excellent addition to pct at the end of any cycle 8 weeks or longer. Since HCG in men acts as a synthetic LRH, but in mass quantity, I think of it as kinda shaking the boys awake. Excellent article out there by William Llewellyn(Anabolics 2004) on HCG-If I can find it I'll post it here.

Nothing against Dan Duschaine in any way, he had some great ideas, but some things will change over time.

Thanks shortie........... I knew I read that somwhere!!!!!!!!! I dont like being wrong (It doesnt happen often )but I'm never to proud to admit it

[shortie]

Sorry I lost the graphs, but it is still a good read for anyone worried about PCT after long cycles.


By: William Llewellyn

O.K. You have been on an awesome 4-month cycle of Sustanon and Dianabol . You’ve gained a massive 20 lbs, and are extremely pleased with your results. You can’t stop looking in the mirror. But there is a problem now starting to eat away at you. You are going to run out of steroids very soon (you know you need a break anyway), and your testicles are the size of raisins.

Your body is producing less testosterone than a 9-year-old girl, and you are scrambling to figure out what to do to avoid a nasty post-cycle crash that could potentially strip away some of your hard-earned muscle. The opinions on how to restore endogenous testosterone production post-cycle seem to be different everywhere you look.

What option is best? Without an understanding of exactly what is going on in your body, and why certain compounds help to correct the situation, choosing the right post-cycle program can be quite confusing. In this article I would therefore like to discuss the role of anti-estrogens and HCG during this delicate window of time, while detailing an effective strategy for their use.


The Axis


The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Testicular Axis, or HPTA for short, is the thermostat for your body’s natural production of testosterone. Too much testosterone and the furnace will shut off. Not enough, and the heat is turned up, to put it very simply. For the purposes of our discussion here we can look at this regulating process as having three levels. At the top is the hypothalamic region of the brain, which releases the hormone GnRH (Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone) when it senses a need for more testosterone. GnRH sends a signal to the second level of the axis, the pituitary, which releases Luteinizing Hormone in response.

LH for short, this hormone stimulates the testes (level three) to secrete testosterone. The same sex steroids (testosterone, estrogen) that are produced serve to counter-balance things, by providing negative feedback signals (primarily to the hypothalamus and pituitary) to lower the secretion of testosterone when too much of this hormone is sensed.

Synthetic steroids, of course, suppress testosterone the same way. This quick background of the testosterone-regulating axis is necessary to furthering our discussion, as we need to first look at the underlying mechanisms involved before we can understand why natural recovery of the HPTA post-cycle is a slow process. Only then can we implement an ancillary drug program to effectively deal with it.


Testicular Desensitization


Although steroids suppress testosterone production primarily by lowering the level of gonadotropic hormones discussed above, the big roadblock to a restored HPTA after we come off the drugs is surprisingly not the level of LH itself. This problem is made clearly evident in a study published in Acta Endocrinologica back in 1975(1). Here blood parameters, including testosterone and LH levels, were monitored in male subjects whom were given testosterone enanthate injections of 250mg weekly for 21 weeks.

Subjects remained under investigation for an additional 18 weeks after the drug was discontinued. At the start of the study, LH levels became suppressed in direct relation to the rise in testosterone, which is to be expected. Things looked very different, however, once the steroids had been withdrawn (see Figure I). LH levels went on the rise quickly (by the 3rd week), while testosterone barely budged for quite some time. In fact, on average it was more than 10 weeks before any noticeable movement started.

This lack of correlation makes clear that the problem in getting androgen levels restored is not the level of LH, but in fact testicular atrophy and desensitization to this hormone. After a period of inactivation the testes have apparently lost mass (atrophied), making them unable to perform the workload required by heightened levels of LH.


Post-Cycle LH Levels


Post Cycle Testosterone Levels




Figure I. LH and Testosterone measurements starting 1 week after the last injection of 250mg of testosterone enanthate (pretreated measures were 5 mU/ml and 4.5 ng/ml respectively). Note that between weeks 1 and 5, as testosterone levels are declining due to the cessation of exogenous androgen administration, LH levels are already rebounding. From weeks 5 to 10 testosterone levels are at or very near baseline, to spite the substantial LH levels by this point. No significant increase in testosterone is noted until after the 10-week mark.

The Role Of Anti-Estrogens


It is important to understand that anti-estrogens alone do not do much to restore endogenous testosterone release after a cycle. Normally they only foster LH by blocking the negative feedback of estrogens, and we now see that LH rebounds quickly without help anyway. Plus, post cycle there is not an elevated level of estrogen for anti-estrogens to block, as testosterone (now suppressed) is a major substrate used for the synthesis of estrogens in men. Serum estrogen levels will actually be lower here as a result, not higher.

Any estrogen rebound that occurs post-cycle likewise happens concurrently with a rebound in testosterone levels, not prior to it (note there is an imbalance in the ratio post cycle, but this is another topic altogether). We are seeing no mechanism in which anti-estrogenic drugs can really help here. We can see why this fact would not be difficult to overlook, however. The medical literature is filled with references showing anti-estrogenic drugs like Clomid and Nolvadex to increase LH and testosterone levels, and in normal situations these drugs do indeed increase endogenous androgen production by blocking the negative feedback of estrogens.

Combine this with the fact that just as many studies can be found to show that steroid use lowers LH levels when suppressing testosterone, and we can see how easy it would be to jump to the conclusion that post-cycle we need to focus on restoring LH. We would miss the true problem of testicular desensitization unless we were really looking into the actual recovery rates of the hormones involved. When we do, we immediately see little value in using anti-estrogenic drugs.


HCG


So we now see, contrary to the dominating opinion of the times, that anti-estrogens alone will do little to raise testosterone levels in the early weeks of the post-cycle window. This leaves us to focus on a very different level of the HPTA in order to hasten recovery: the testes. For this we will need the injectable drug HCG. If you are not familiar with it, HCG, or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin , is a prescription fertility agent that mimics the bodies own natural LH.

Although the testes are equally desensitized to this drug as LH (they both work through the same mechanism), we are administering it as a measured drug and are therefore not constrained by the limits of our own LH production. We similarly can use HCG to provide a bolus dose of LH (of our choosing), which works only to augment the recovering LH levels we already have in the body. In essence we are looking to shock them with an overwhelmingly high level of LH activity, coming from both endogenous and exogenous sources.

We want it to reach a level far above what our body, even when supported by anti-estrogens, could possibly do on its own. The result can be a rapid restoration of original testicular mass and functioning, which would allow normal levels of testosterone to be output much sooner than without such an ancillary program. What we are looking at now is HCG actually being the pivotal post-cycle drug, while anti-estrogens are relegated to a supportive role at best.


Finalizing The Program


An ideal post-cycle recovery program will focus on two things really. The first is hitting the testes hard with HCG. It is important, however, not to overuse this drug. Taken for too long, or at too high a dosage, the LH receptor will actually become desensitized to LH(2), which may further exacerbate our post-cycle problem instead of helping it (this is why I am not in favor of regular HCG use on-cycle). My experience with HCG has led me to feel comfortable using it for a course of three weeks, at a dosage of maybe 5000-7500IU weekly.

Often the last week I limit the dose to 2,500IU, unless the cycle has been particularly long or potent. This is timed so at least half of the total administered drug dosage will be given when there is still exogenous steroid in the body. On our graph above this would be at about the 3-week mark after the last injection of testosterone.

This will give the testes some time to get back into shape before the baseline is actually hit with T levels. Secondly, Anti-estrogens are used to play a supportive role at the same time, so 20mg of Nolvadex or 50-100mg of Clomid would typically be added (my last article for Mind and Muscle discusses the comparative differences with these two agents). This is to combat the suppressive effects of estrogen as testosterone levels start to go back up, as well as potential side effects (HCG has been shown to increase testicular aromatase activity as well (3)).

Although in the first couple of weeks the anti-estrogen does little, it may indeed be helpful when testosterone levels actually start to get back up near normal. To further stimulate the HPTA, and support continuingly high LH levels, the anti-estrogen remains to be used for 2 to 3 weeks after the HCG therapy has been stopped. A sample program, as it would be instituted in our sample post-cycle window, is provided below.


Sample Post-cycle Plan:
Week
Amount

Week 3:
5000IU HCG total + 20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 4:
5000IU HCG total + 20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 5:
2500IU HCG total + 20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 6:
20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 7:
20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 8:
20mg Nolvadex daily




In Closing


I hope this article provided a well-needed new look at the mechanisms involved in post-cycle testosterone recovery. Indeed I believe it should debunk a commonly held belief these days, as we seen now that those advocating the sole use of Clomid post cycle are sorely missing the mark. The problem goes much deeper than just getting LH levels back.

In fact, we see that LH doesn’t even need much help kicking back into gear, and a drug like Clomid will do very little to help this anyway in the absence of significant estrogen levels anyway. HCG is a drug with undeniable usefulness during the post-cycle window, and many bodybuilders have been much too quick to abandon it. It is truly fundamental to an effective recovery program, and would not consider any dose or combination of anti-estrogens or aromatase inhibitors capable of doing the job without it.


Be sure to also check out:
Hepatoxicty: Fact or Fiction? :: Author Rea's Steroid Q & A!
This article appears courtesy of www.mindandmuscle.net

References


Effect of long-term testosterone oenanthate administration on male reproductive function: Clinical evaluation, serum FSH, LH, Testosterone and seminal fluid analysis in normal men. J. Mauss, G. Borsch et al. Acta Endocrinol 78 (1975) 373-84

Desensitization to gonadotropins in cultured Leydig tumor cells involves loss of gonadotropin receptors and decreased capacity for steroidogenesis. Freeman DA, Ascoli M Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 1981 Oct;78(10):6309-13

Acute stimulation of aromatization in Leydig Cells by Human Chorionic Gonadotropin In-vitro. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 76:4460-3,1079
William Llewellyn

[Seattle Junk]

Excellent article on PCT while using HCG on cycle. I've read a lot of PCT theories and using HCG at the end of your cycle then clomid in PCT is the best way to go IMO.

[IronMuscle]

Regarding a cycle I will begin.. 5 weeks of Winstrol and 10 weeks of Deca .....

Will this post cycle work? How about including clomid?

[big an rich]

Regarding a cycle I will begin.. 5 weeks of Winstrol and 10 weeks of Deca .....

Will this post cycle work? How about including clomid?

It will work but you want to add some test in there too. I'm on my PCT now after tren winny and test and started with HCG cos its quicker than clomid at first then clomid after a week. Nolva is better than clomid though cos it inhibits estrogen too.

[RA]

Rub some dirt on it.

[vein-x]

why do people constantly reccommend clomid? is it that much better? it seems to me, that with no/very few sides, nolvadex would be a better option. on clomid, you run the risk of blurred vision and headaches, PLUS feeling like a woman on it... why not nolva?!

[CRUISECONTROL]

Rub some dirt on it.

Cracking me up

[JohnnyB]

Sorry I lost the graphs, but it is still a good read for anyone worried about PCT after long cycles.


By: William Llewellyn

O.K. You have been on an awesome 4-month cycle of Sustanon and Dianabol . You’ve gained a massive 20 lbs, and are extremely pleased with your results. You can’t stop looking in the mirror. But there is a problem now starting to eat away at you. You are going to run out of steroids very soon (you know you need a break anyway), and your testicles are the size of raisins.

Your body is producing less testosterone than a 9-year-old girl, and you are scrambling to figure out what to do to avoid a nasty post-cycle crash that could potentially strip away some of your hard-earned muscle. The opinions on how to restore endogenous testosterone production post-cycle seem to be different everywhere you look.

What option is best? Without an understanding of exactly what is going on in your body, and why certain compounds help to correct the situation, choosing the right post-cycle program can be quite confusing. In this article I would therefore like to discuss the role of anti-estrogens and HCG during this delicate window of time, while detailing an effective strategy for their use.


The Axis


The Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Testicular Axis, or HPTA for short, is the thermostat for your body’s natural production of testosterone. Too much testosterone and the furnace will shut off. Not enough, and the heat is turned up, to put it very simply. For the purposes of our discussion here we can look at this regulating process as having three levels. At the top is the hypothalamic region of the brain, which releases the hormone GnRH (Gonadotropin-Releasing Hormone) when it senses a need for more testosterone. GnRH sends a signal to the second level of the axis, the pituitary, which releases Luteinizing Hormone in response.

LH for short, this hormone stimulates the testes (level three) to secrete testosterone. The same sex steroids (testosterone, estrogen) that are produced serve to counter-balance things, by providing negative feedback signals (primarily to the hypothalamus and pituitary) to lower the secretion of testosterone when too much of this hormone is sensed.

Synthetic steroids, of course, suppress testosterone the same way. This quick background of the testosterone-regulating axis is necessary to furthering our discussion, as we need to first look at the underlying mechanisms involved before we can understand why natural recovery of the HPTA post-cycle is a slow process. Only then can we implement an ancillary drug program to effectively deal with it.


Testicular Desensitization


Although steroids suppress testosterone production primarily by lowering the level of gonadotropic hormones discussed above, the big roadblock to a restored HPTA after we come off the drugs is surprisingly not the level of LH itself. This problem is made clearly evident in a study published in Acta Endocrinologica back in 1975(1). Here blood parameters, including testosterone and LH levels, were monitored in male subjects whom were given testosterone enanthate injections of 250mg weekly for 21 weeks.

Subjects remained under investigation for an additional 18 weeks after the drug was discontinued. At the start of the study, LH levels became suppressed in direct relation to the rise in testosterone, which is to be expected. Things looked very different, however, once the steroids had been withdrawn (see Figure I). LH levels went on the rise quickly (by the 3rd week), while testosterone barely budged for quite some time. In fact, on average it was more than 10 weeks before any noticeable movement started.

This lack of correlation makes clear that the problem in getting androgen levels restored is not the level of LH, but in fact testicular atrophy and desensitization to this hormone. After a period of inactivation the testes have apparently lost mass (atrophied), making them unable to perform the workload required by heightened levels of LH.


Post-Cycle LH Levels


Post Cycle Testosterone Levels




Figure I. LH and Testosterone measurements starting 1 week after the last injection of 250mg of testosterone enanthate (pretreated measures were 5 mU/ml and 4.5 ng/ml respectively). Note that between weeks 1 and 5, as testosterone levels are declining due to the cessation of exogenous androgen administration, LH levels are already rebounding. From weeks 5 to 10 testosterone levels are at or very near baseline, to spite the substantial LH levels by this point. No significant increase in testosterone is noted until after the 10-week mark.

The Role Of Anti-Estrogens


It is important to understand that anti-estrogens alone do not do much to restore endogenous testosterone release after a cycle. Normally they only foster LH by blocking the negative feedback of estrogens, and we now see that LH rebounds quickly without help anyway. Plus, post cycle there is not an elevated level of estrogen for anti-estrogens to block, as testosterone (now suppressed) is a major substrate used for the synthesis of estrogens in men. Serum estrogen levels will actually be lower here as a result, not higher.

Any estrogen rebound that occurs post-cycle likewise happens concurrently with a rebound in testosterone levels, not prior to it (note there is an imbalance in the ratio post cycle, but this is another topic altogether). We are seeing no mechanism in which anti-estrogenic drugs can really help here. We can see why this fact would not be difficult to overlook, however. The medical literature is filled with references showing anti-estrogenic drugs like Clomid and Nolvadex to increase LH and testosterone levels, and in normal situations these drugs do indeed increase endogenous androgen production by blocking the negative feedback of estrogens.

Combine this with the fact that just as many studies can be found to show that steroid use lowers LH levels when suppressing testosterone, and we can see how easy it would be to jump to the conclusion that post-cycle we need to focus on restoring LH. We would miss the true problem of testicular desensitization unless we were really looking into the actual recovery rates of the hormones involved. When we do, we immediately see little value in using anti-estrogenic drugs.


HCG


So we now see, contrary to the dominating opinion of the times, that anti-estrogens alone will do little to raise testosterone levels in the early weeks of the post-cycle window. This leaves us to focus on a very different level of the HPTA in order to hasten recovery: the testes. For this we will need the injectable drug HCG. If you are not familiar with it, HCG, or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin , is a prescription fertility agent that mimics the bodies own natural LH.

Although the testes are equally desensitized to this drug as LH (they both work through the same mechanism), we are administering it as a measured drug and are therefore not constrained by the limits of our own LH production. We similarly can use HCG to provide a bolus dose of LH (of our choosing), which works only to augment the recovering LH levels we already have in the body. In essence we are looking to shock them with an overwhelmingly high level of LH activity, coming from both endogenous and exogenous sources.

We want it to reach a level far above what our body, even when supported by anti-estrogens, could possibly do on its own. The result can be a rapid restoration of original testicular mass and functioning, which would allow normal levels of testosterone to be output much sooner than without such an ancillary program. What we are looking at now is HCG actually being the pivotal post-cycle drug, while anti-estrogens are relegated to a supportive role at best.


Finalizing The Program


An ideal post-cycle recovery program will focus on two things really. The first is hitting the testes hard with HCG. It is important, however, not to overuse this drug. Taken for too long, or at too high a dosage, the LH receptor will actually become desensitized to LH(2), which may further exacerbate our post-cycle problem instead of helping it (this is why I am not in favor of regular HCG use on-cycle). My experience with HCG has led me to feel comfortable using it for a course of three weeks, at a dosage of maybe 5000-7500IU weekly.

Often the last week I limit the dose to 2,500IU, unless the cycle has been particularly long or potent. This is timed so at least half of the total administered drug dosage will be given when there is still exogenous steroid in the body. On our graph above this would be at about the 3-week mark after the last injection of testosterone.

This will give the testes some time to get back into shape before the baseline is actually hit with T levels. Secondly, Anti-estrogens are used to play a supportive role at the same time, so 20mg of Nolvadex or 50-100mg of Clomid would typically be added (my last article for Mind and Muscle discusses the comparative differences with these two agents). This is to combat the suppressive effects of estrogen as testosterone levels start to go back up, as well as potential side effects (HCG has been shown to increase testicular aromatase activity as well (3)).

Although in the first couple of weeks the anti-estrogen does little, it may indeed be helpful when testosterone levels actually start to get back up near normal. To further stimulate the HPTA, and support continuingly high LH levels, the anti-estrogen remains to be used for 2 to 3 weeks after the HCG therapy has been stopped. A sample program, as it would be instituted in our sample post-cycle window, is provided below.


Sample Post-cycle Plan:
Week
Amount

Week 3:
5000IU HCG total + 20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 4:
5000IU HCG total + 20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 5:
2500IU HCG total + 20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 6:
20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 7:
20mg Nolvadex daily

Week 8:
20mg Nolvadex daily

That's old school, those doses are to high, HCG should be run during your cycle at 300-500iu every 3-5 days. Thinga have changed a lot since that was written, we do progess in this game thank God.

JohnnyB

[bignatt]

ya i was just going to say that

[shortie]

Agreed that it is old school in some respects but what I think should be taken from the research is the fact that LH rebounds so quickly after discontinuing exogenous test without a correlating increase in endogenous test. Kinda throws the old strictly clomid/nolva pct under the bus IMO. Anyhow with the limited amount of research available on steroid and effects some of it is bound to be old, but it is what we got in some cases.

[superflex1897]

Hey man my buddy was completely impotent and then he tried some cialis and said that it worked pretty good. I also heard that liquid V from the sites sponsor works really good for a 4 hour wood. Maybe try mixing them both.

[IndianGodMan]

One of my friends was on cialis as well, he told me he couldnt get it down, you should give it a try.
But if you ask me aint nothing like a good blowjob to jump start a boner...
But thats only me.

[mark956101957]

JB you say it is old school so I had thought as well and not to do hcg after a cycle but during. It can be a bit confusing after reading the above article and than reading todays commentaries on no hcg on pct????? I wish I knew for sure what was right. Especially at 48 this is of huge importance for me and getting my test back as quickly as possible and my new girlfriend. : )

[RA]

Cracking me up

Well cmon, its broken??!