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07-30-2010, 10:38 AM #1New Member
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41yr old non-lifter looking for advice.
I'm 41, 6'1, 190 and haven't been able to lift weights in 20 years. Even though I was obsessive about proper form and didn't work with heavy weights I invariably hurt my tendons. I've done this to my rotator cuff, my elbows, my knees. Hell, I've even hurt a tendon in my thumb from playing guitar too long. It seems I just have a predisposition to tendinosis (not tendonitis). I've read a bit on this condition and it appears that simply adding collagen synthesizers doesn't necessarily help since the collagen produced will be ****ed up. Supposedly doing eccentric exercises will help the collagen line up properly. My question is, is there a steroid that would aid this process? I'm not looking to get big off the steroid, just get better so I can lift without them in the future. I take propecia for hair loss and am not interested in testing it's capacity any further. My reading thus far has brought Anavar to the fore. Would this be a useful adjunct to an eccentric strengthening program?
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07-30-2010, 10:50 AM #2
If you've got money, HGH would probably be your best and safest bet. You could just stay on year around and not have to worry about PCT or side effects, really.
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07-30-2010, 05:39 PM #3Member
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I am interested in Anavar for the same reason. Deca and EQ also boost collagen synthesis, but the potential for side effects are much greater than with Anavar. I have also heard that regular test can have positive effects too. Collagen synthesis is progesterone and estrogen modulated, so you either need something that spurs on those, or something that aromatizes to estrogen.
HGH may help, on the other hand it may make the condition worse. I've read a fair amount about HGH, and there are many reports about joint pain and such issues. Possibly it's a dosage thing, but I personally wouldn't take the chance.
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07-30-2010, 05:42 PM #4
Taking var by itself will create problems with your libido, amongst other things.
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07-30-2010, 06:04 PM #5
For collagen purposes very low doses of deca would be efective right?
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07-31-2010, 06:09 AM #6
Joint pain with HGH is entirely dosage related. GH increases synovial fluid in joints (but it does this in a dose-related linear manner). The pain can happen if you take too much and the joints swell and put pressure on the nerve that runs through them (like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome). You just have to start low and work your way up as high as you can go before the side effects occur.
Either way, GH is by far a better option than Anavar or Deca , which must be cycled and will cause a lot of side effects of their own. They will both require testosterone to maintain libido, and Var will wreck your lipids.Last edited by Bonaparte; 07-31-2010 at 06:32 AM.
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07-31-2010, 12:52 PM #7Member
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Then the increased synovial fluid is causing nerve impingment? Great, how long does that take to go away? I had a bit of that from my lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow) and it shot pain down my arm and caused pins and needles in my little and ring finger. On and off for about a month during my five month battle with it. Nothing really made it go away either. Ice, heat, ipuprofen, etc. nothing worked. Eventually at the end of month four I started ultrasound and in about a month it has nearly completely gone. I'd say I'm now 95% back to normal.
Deca is a lot more prone to side effects than Anavar . The two are non DHT based and linked to the stimulation of collagen synthesis, but beyond that they are very different. Many on this site have commented that they experienced no loss of libido from Anavar whatsoever. I would probably have some tribulus and avena sativa on hand just to be safe, both legal and easily obtained.
As far as cholesterol that is a possible side effect, but if your cholesterol is already normal you have some room for it to get out of whack on a cycle and then go back to normal afterward. That's just another reason to keep your diet clean.
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07-31-2010, 01:02 PM #8
OK you could try it BUT IMO you have to address the problem first. There is a reason why you are getting hurt probly because form isnt as good as you think. Could be due to muscle imbalance, tightness, all kinds of things. Here is what I been doing. Stretch after EVERY workout make it a part of the workout. Foam roll before and after each workout, find a better warmup routine. Do prhab exersizes there are a shitload of them google it they work and suck to do but will fix the problem and not hide it like some of this BS drugs will
Let me put it this way if you had a tendon snap over the bone for instance its going to cause it to get very tight and it will eventually fray causing tendonitis issues right? If you dont free that tendon up so it works they way its supposed to how is HGH or anything else supposed to magicly heal it? HG works for general recovery and will speed healing but only if there is not an issue there you see what I meen?
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07-31-2010, 01:29 PM #9Member
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Stretching should absolutely be a part of every workout, before, during, and after.
It is true that if you have a bone issue it will not resolve with just drugs, but truthfully if that's the case it will probably require surgery. However, for tendon issues that is like 5% of the cases.
Most tendon issues are overuse injuries. Particularly in people who do a lot of manual labor, not just athletes. The real problem is that the injury is degenerative. If you keep pushing while it's hurt you will continue to do damage as the torn fibers create fibrous adhesions to the good fibers, which can then cause the good fibers to be overloaded and tear, creating a downward spiral of injury.
The best modalities are typically non-invasive. Rest, ice, and ultrasound are the three I've found most helpful. Some guys swear by acupuncture. The biggest problem is that tendons have poor blood supply and consequently take a long time to heal. The tendonitis in my elbow took 5 months to resolve. Now I have it in my wrist and am not looking forward to another 5 months of recovery. This has impact on nearly everything I do, and is a constant reminder that I'm injured.
Cortisone shots can alleviate pain, but you should never get more than three, and if you push while the pain is blocked see the downward spiral referenced above. A drug like Anavar was designed to heal soft tissue injuries. That is actually what it was created to do. Biologically speaking there is no difference in the collagen in your tendons and the collagen in your skin. Anavar is used to heal burn victims, even children with dosages of 30-50mg/day. If that were so dangerous would doctors prescribe it in those instances?
Truthfully I believe that the only reason it isn't prescribed to treat tendonitis and other joint issues is the negative stereotype that steroids have, and the lack of definitive testing. The problem with the testing is that no one will conduct the trails to verify it. I'm sure other countries are like America here too; it's sort of a hypocrisy. You can smoke and drink all you want and surely kill yourself, but they'd rather see you dosed up on anti-anxiety pills than smoke a joint. It's a drug culture, as long as you're on the right drugs its okay, but the same people who chow down adderol look down their nose at a guy who takes steroids. Both increase performance and/or treat conditions. What's the freaking difference?
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07-31-2010, 01:54 PM #10
Where did you read that Var isn't DHT based? It most certainly is.
And a poor lipid profile isn't a "possible side effect", it is a certainty. Anavar is the worst AAS for lipids, no contest. Anavar is not a long-term treatment option because it will set anyone up for heart problems if taken for long enough without lengthy breaks to rebalance lipids.
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07-31-2010, 02:02 PM #11
Look up westside barbell prehab exersizes. There are dudes squating over a grand, hell benching over a grand for that matter, do you think they would not fall apart if they didnt know how to take care of there bodies? They use ART, deep tissue, foam rollers and prehab exersizes and it should be a part of every routine.
I am lucky I got guys that will watch my form and can pick up a muscle imbalance, tight hamstring or it band. Most dr will not operate on a tendon unless its a severe rupture or severed.
It just bugs the hell out of me seing guys scream deca or hgh every time some one asks for joint help when there is no way you can tell what the issue really is over the internet.
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07-31-2010, 04:36 PM #12Member
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I misspoke. What I should have said is that, yes Anavar is derived from DHT, but it does not convert to DHT in the body like test. Anavar has already been 5-alpha reduced, so it does not interact with the 5-alpha reductase enzym. This is why it does not have the same DHT based effects on the body as say Winstrol . This is the reason why Anavar can be beneficial to connective tissues when steroids like Winstrol are actually detrimental. It's all about collagen synthesis. DHT limits it, whereas progesterone/estrogen actually increase it.
Of course avoidance is the best policy with injury, but once you are injured that point is moot. The question then becomes how to treat it and get back on the horse as fast as possible.
The OP did say that his issue was tendinosis, which is simply chronic tendonitis. It typically is caused by degeneration of a tendon, which is typically caused by overuse, especially while the tendon is already injured. It typically presents without inflamation, at least not visibly. I am assuming that given his history and age he has had this diagnosis made by a doctor, but you never know. Having had similar issues myself I have a pretty good handle on how to treat the condition. I have literally tried all legal means at this point, and the only thing I found that really works is time, and lots of it. There are modalities that will give you some relief of symptoms, and may help with healing eventually, but it still takes a long, long time. I and others are simply looking for the safest means of reducing that time. It's not a knee jerk reaction; it's actually quite the opposite.
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07-31-2010, 05:28 PM #13Senior Member
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I suggest you take your question to the injury/rehab forum.
I had the question of strengthening/healing tendons and ligaments and that forum is where i was quickly guided to a post that explained about collagen synthesis and drugs like Primo, EQ, Anavar , Deca , and HGH being good for this, while winny being bad for it because of some process during the synthesis or something where your tendons become larger but brittle.
I'm about to start a cycle of Anavar @ about 70-80mg/day for about 10 weeks or so. I have a lingering tendon issue in one of my bicep tendons, it was quite frayed after an accident over a year ago. It's mostly recovered but I can sense the specific area at rest, a 'pain' of 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. I can do most exercises now but not upright rows with any real weight. I also have recurring tendinitis in my opposite wrist secondary to pushing my non-dominant hand doing wrist curls while letting the dumb bell roll all the way down to my finger tips at the start/end of each rep as well as doing things like push ups on my finger tips and other finger/hand/wrist strengthening exercises.
I have been leaving the wrist and fingers alone but my 3rd and pinky finger are numb and the outside of my wrist is tender.
I am hoping to notice a difference after the cycle of anavar.
Coincidentally, I was doing a cycle of anavar 1 1/2 yrs ago and was cooking lobsters in a pressure cooker as I was in a big rush and foolishly forgot about the pressure cooker being under pressure. I forced the top open, heard a small explosion, the top shot up and hit the stove hover thing, a lobster and a ton of water shot out of the pot as well as steam everywhere. I was lucky in that only my forearms got hit with the water and did not catch any in the face. The burns were BAD and everyone was telling me to go to the hospital/doctors when they saw it, even a week out after the occurrence. I didn't as I handled the pain and knew that the primary issue was infection and took care to treat to help prevent that. The reason I mention this is because the burns were pretty severe but 1 1/2 years later they are barely noticeable at all on my arms. I have scars and such from burns that are 20 yrs old and were not as severe but are much more noticeable than the large burns on my forearms that occurred while using anavar. It must have helped to some degree, not sure how much but someone commented the other day that it is remarkable as you can not really see the burn scars at all on my arms. Anavar is my best friend.Last edited by 40plusnewbie; 07-31-2010 at 05:30 PM.
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07-31-2010, 05:42 PM #14Member
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Winny and other non 5-alpha reduced steroids are bad for collagen synthesis because they can promote DHT in the body, which blocks progesterone; the hormone responsible for collagen synthesis. 5-alpha reduced steroids like Anavar actually increase progesterone, and therefore collagen synthesis. There's a bit to too it than that with regards to tendons because there are two types of collagen at play (T1 and T3), but in a nutshell that's how it works.
FYI, 3rd (ring) and pinky finger numbness is a symptom of ulner nerve impingement. It can occur with lateral epicondylitis (tennis elbow). I've experienced it myself. Are you experiencing any pain on the bony part of your elbow (to the outside, not the olecrenon process which is your actual elbow)?
10 weeks is also a longer cycle than typically recommended for Anavar. Most would recommend 8 as max. It's still an oral 17aa, so it's still harsh on the liver. You can run injectables for 10-12 weeks because they aren't 17aa to survive the first pass through liver metabolism as they enter the bloodstream directly.
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07-31-2010, 09:16 PM #15Senior Member
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Thanks. I'm pretty certain it's tendonitis in my wrist, or at least that is how it started. I was doing some wrist curls and noticed some discomfort in the wrist afterwards, I was using fairly heavy weights and I let the dumb bell roll down my fingers to the tips so my hand is almost open and then roll it up closing my fingers then going into the actual wrist curl for the forearm muscles. Rather than resting I taped up my wrist and pushed it a couple more times and then the numbness set in. I talked to my dr and he felt that it was a result of this and told me to lay off and when healed use a much lighter weight and more reps. I didn't take this advice and pushed again a couple weeks later continuing to start off a set where I could do like 4-5 reps max wiht this non-dominant hand, dropping dumb bell weight by 5 lbs for each subsequent set. I don't have any pain at all in my elbow. I have since layed off the hands/wrists workouts.
I know that 10 weeks is not recommended, 8 max seems to be standard. I'll be chewing and swallowing 1 1/2 lbs of milk thistle over the course of the cycle, feeding myself scoops of it at a time rather than taking it in capsule form. I am also going to use liv52 as well and drink lots and lots of h20. I think I will be OK and I was very pleased with my last anavar cycle, didn't really effect my sex drive too much at all, I was using some sort of test booster supp, forget what exactly. I get anavar in powder form so cost isn't an issue either, I can run 80mg for the 10 weeks without that being an issue (although I know that is not why 8 week max cycles seem to be standar recommendation). I know it's more than standard, I'll be paying close attn to my shoulder, wrist and fingers during and post cycle and hope that I will notice healing from the anavar use but that is not the primary goal of my cycle, just hopefully and ancillary benefit.
I'd like to run hgh but really prefer having powders inported rather than risking importing vials which seem to be very easily identifiable if opened by customs whereas powders seem to slip through with ease in my limited experience. I have had pills grabbed but never powders. Never tried to have vials imported. I have seen hgh available domestically but the price seemed kinda steep. Might take a shot at having 5 kits imported but would need to know that the source would reship and possibly have it sent with tracking, don't want to take that kind of loss when I can get ample var, eq, prop, etc in powder form at low risk and low price.Last edited by 40plusnewbie; 07-31-2010 at 09:21 PM.
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07-31-2010, 09:30 PM #16Member
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I'm assuming the pain was on the little finger side of your wrist? Could be tendonitis related to the tendons of the flexor muscles which control those fingers. Sounds like you went heavy, strained the tendons, then continued to work them while damaged. That seems to cause tendonitis every time. That's how mine started. The problem is that initially it didn't feel that bad, just like a sore, burned muscle. So you suck it up and push through, that's what we do right? Then a week or so later the pain was so bad that I couldn't use a stapler. Oh well as my grandfather used to say "getting old sucks, but it beats the alternative."
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08-01-2010, 03:09 AM #17
Bro, it's obvious that you're just trying to help out, so I won't be too hard on you. However, Winstrol is also 5a-reduced, and there is a lot more to this whole collagen synthesis thing than DHT vs Pgr. I don't know exactly how it works, but nobody really does yet, which is why there is so much debate over what AAS does what with regards to joint healing and progestin issues.
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08-01-2010, 10:49 AM #18
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08-01-2010, 11:21 AM #19Associate Member
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I've used anavar and winstrol and they made my tendons worse (more stiff).
I've been using HGH for the last 9 months and the shoulder problem I was having for two years is finally gone.
No steroids are capable of hyperplasia, only hypertrophy, HGH is capable of hyperplasia which is what you want. You want new tissue cells and you want to be able to recover and heal quick.
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08-23-2010, 02:23 PM #20
I've been on HGH for a couple of years, 5iu/ed. It's good stuff. I have bad joints so now I'm on a very low dose of EQ, Deca , and test (150mg/150mg/150mg per week) as well as the HGH. It's been 4 weeks and my joints are feeling ok. I think I can really tell if it's the AAS in a few more weeks. I'm planning a 12 week cycle and at the end see how my joints feel. So far so good.
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08-24-2010, 02:20 PM #21Member
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I've never heard of anyone doing legit Anavar and having it make their tendons worse. My guess is that you got Winstrol masquerading as Anavar, which is common because Winstrol is cheap and Anavar is expensive.
Also, no steroid or anything is going to cause an increase is muscle fibers. You have all the muscle fibers you'll ever have right now. All you can do is hypertrophy as many of them as possible. BBs don't have more fibers than regular guys, it's just that their fibers are thicker, which is why their muscles are bigger and to an extent stronger. Not even HGH will do that. What HGH can do it increase the building blocks needed for muscle repair, so that if you have an injury it can be repaired faster and with minimal to no scar tissue (depending on the severity of the tear).
Collagen synthesis is the same way. HGH will increase collagen synthesis, as this is one of the many processes that slows down with age. That's why it has been linked to repairing minor connective tissue and joint issues. Anavar, Deca , and EQ all do that too. They do increase the production of the building blocks needed to make a repair to a tendon. It's the same concept as eating more protein to get stronger. You must have the building blocks available to repair the damage. You eat far more protein than your body could ever assimilate, but the reasoning is that when your body needs it there's a greater chance it will be available. Same goes for collagen synthesis.
Now, the process of course is not that simple. There's the issue of delivery system. There's the issue of T1 collagen vs T3 and the replacement ratio and rate after injury. This is ultimately what determines if the extra collagen produced can be used and if the repaired tendon will be as strong and injury resistant as the original uninjured one was. However, simply put Anavar is used to help burn victims regrow damaged soft tissue, which is also rich in collagen, with minimal formation of scar tissue. To my knowledge there has never been any direct study done on the use of Anavar to treat tendonitis, but the evidence that does exist is closely related and promising.
Finally, I was incorrect about Winstrol not being 5 alpha reduced. It is indeed 5 alpha reduced, so it will not increase free DHT in the body. However, due to the fact that it acts as a progesterone antagonist it acts just like free DHT. It reduces the amount of progesterone, which is how it reduces collagen synthesis, and why it affects your joints. It is 5 alpha reduced, but in this respect it acts like a steroid that is not.Last edited by TKO Performance; 08-24-2010 at 04:06 PM.
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08-24-2010, 08:24 PM #22
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08-25-2010, 01:39 PM #23Member
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Absolutely. Muscle can gain strength rapidly, but tendons take time to strengthen. This is all the more reason to take something like Anavar , Deca , or EQ as part of your cycle so that your collagen synthesis can keep up. Is it going to definitely prevent any damage? Probably not, but it's going to be safer than running without it, especially if you are on anything that is not 5-alpha reduced, or that acts as a progesterone antagonist.
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08-25-2010, 05:33 PM #24
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08-26-2010, 01:26 PM #25Member
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Training on cycle tends to be more intense, and strength tends to go up quickly once your test starts doing its thing. I think you need to be super careful when pushing your limits, even naturally. My tendon issues did not stem from steroid use , but they did stem from getting to a point where I was considerably stronger than I'd ever been in my life. That point was also reached in a relatively short period of time (over maybe 3 months).
Tendons are tricky. You often think you just have some soreness, which we all know is common, so you push through. If it's a tendon you hurt it worse, then it flares up, and then you are looking at a long recovery time.
Knowing how much Deca , EQ, or Anavar to take to eliminate the effects of the DHT you are going to get from test is unknown. Without testing collagen synthesis directly at different dosages there is no way to say that you need to take x mg/day of Anavar for example to combat the effects of y mg/day of test. If that research exists I'd love to find it, but I really doubt that it does. Without such research anything mentioned on the subject is anecdotal. The real question is whether or not cycling one of those compounds alone will prevent such damage, and possibly heal minor damage. Some scientific and a lot of anecdotal evidence suggests that it is a possibility.
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