Diary of a first-time DNP user...Part 1
PREFACE:
This is going to outline my first cycle of DNP which I did in early May. I was not on any AS at the time and I learned a lot about what to do differently for my second one (which will be a separate post)…just in case you look at this and wonder why I was doing some of the things I did. (*NOTE: This is not a technical or scientific piece of what DNP is or does…it is merely another person’s experience while taking it…I believe there is the "DNP Bible" of sorts in the discussion topics board)
I started out with a low dose as I wanted to see what my tolerance level would be and to see if I would have any allergic reactions to it...I believe this is necessary for all first-time users. I will note that I had prepared for the worst in terms of side effects. I read what seemed like 100 reports of other people’s experiences for a few months before deciding to try it and was prepared to feel like death for a while. All I can say is you really canNOT prepare for what you will feel like when you’re on it.
THE CYCLE:
Here are the doses and times when I took them (these were the powder caps not the crystal)
Day 1 200 mg 12:00 pm
Day 2 200 mg 12:00 pm
Day 3 200 mg 12:00 pm
Day 4 200 mg 8:00 am
Day 5 200 mg 2:00 am 200 mg 8:00 pm
Day 6 200 mg 2:00 pm
Day 7 200 mg 8:00 am
Day 8 200 mg 2:00 am 200 mg 8:00 pm
Day 9 200 mg 2:00 pm
Day 10 200 mg 2:00 pm
It looks strange but it works out to 200mg every 18 hours starting the fourth day. I really didn’t need to wake myself up to take the early morning caps since I couldn’t sleep for more than an hour or two at a time anyway. The first 2 days I didn’t notice anything different and I think this is where people say “hell, this is nothing. Don’t know why everyone complains about being so hot. I think I’m going to start taking more caps”. Then when around the 5th day they feel like an inferno, they’re screwed.
THE REALITY:
The morning of the third day, I woke up and thought I had the flu and/or extremely hungover. I was sweating like crazy, the world was spinning and I felt VERY nauseous. The last thing in the world I wanted to do was eat. So I walked around like a miserable zombie at work for a few hours before I finally was able to force something down my throat…which instantly made me feel better. Day 4 and Day 5 were the same way when I woke up but I made myself eat something and felt “better.”
I had 2 fans on me at work and was still sweating. In the summer my job lets me dress semi-casually so I could wear a skirt and a tank top which helped a little but when I had to go into closed-doors meetings, I felt like someone put winter clothes on me and threw me in a sauna. I also had to work outside at night during days 4-10 which was a complete nightmare. It was 115 degrees at 7:00 pm at that time. I highly, HIGHLY recommend if you live in a hot climate, to save DNP for the winter.
You will also need at LEAST 2 fans for “sleeping”. I was tempted to buy a bunch of ice, pour it into my bathtub and lay in it one night it was that bad. Even melatonin didn’t help a bit. Unfortunately, I didn’t have any G or I would have taken that.
Just a warning that it will turn everything it comes into contact with yellow. Even though I was extremely careful when handling them, I had yellow stains on my hands for a while…kind of like Midas…everything he touched turned to gold except everything I touched turned yellow.
THE DIET:
45% carbs 40% protein 15% fat
The best piece of advice I ever got was to eat cold/iced fruit all day long while you’re on. Unfortunately, I got this advice after I was already done with the cycle but it made a world of difference. I basically ate the same TYPES of foods I normally eat…although I ate a bit more carbs than usual. You HAVE to eat carbs while you’re on, but when you do, you will start to sweat even more due to the body’s burning of excess ATP. You will also crave carbs like a mad man…and the more you eat, the worse the cravings get. I have read where people have basically eaten whatever they wanted with no regard to whether it's clean or not and have gotten better results than when they were watching their diet. I wasn't willing to test that theory out.
I had a minimum of 3 ½ gallons of water a day…on training days it was closer to 5
THE SUPPLEMENTS:
glycerol 3T/day
1200iu Vit E
3000 mg/Vit C
L-glutathione
200 mcg selenium
1000 mg calcium
50 mg zinc
glutamine am, post-workout and before bed
1200 mg magnesium
I started taking melatonin after day 3 so I could sleep but it was useless.
THE TRAINING:
I did no cardio whatsoever during this time…unless you count walking up a few flights of stairs as cardio…which certainly feels like it when you’re on DNP. I did experience shortness of breath beginning that third morning…I constantly felt like I had just finished running a 400m race. It only started getting better about 2 weeks after my last cap.
I trained normally…like any other week. Each body part once/week. But the similarities end there. It was great timing that my gym’s A/C broke for 3 of the days in the middle of the cycle. Combine that with the 115 degree weather and I might as well have been a walking waterfall. My strength on my compound lifts went down the tubes and it was hard to finish even a warm-up set…but I never took an unscheduled day off. Just make sure you carry around extra towels when you train.
I cramped real bad the morning after leg day. I tried to get up and my whole lower body locked up and I had to basically crawl to get some water from the kitchen…then sit there for 30 minutes until I thought I could walk like a normal person.
THE RESULTS:
I gained about 6 pounds during the first 5 days to add to the misery of being so hot. I believe my face swolled up to 3 times its normal size. None of my clothes fit. It was not a fun time. It was only until 8 days after my last cap that i started to even look "normal" then days 10-11 all the water came off and i saw things i hadn't seen since i had been dieting for my last show. Pretty much every few hours you could see more and more. This is when you say "oh it wasn't so bad...i think i'll do another one." I ended up losing 5# of fat
SOME OTHER NOTES:
*I did not take any T3 or ECA at any time throughout this cycle. (I did end up taking some EC for my second cycle for energy but that’s for the other post.)
*I have also read that DNP may help in bringing back clen’s effectiveness if you have used it before and it has stopped working. I will see on this one.
Part 2 will follow in a few days depending on how many views this gets :)
