Mitigating Joint Pain - tips and tricks?

[CraigWatts]

Did a six week cycle of Anavar (or what I believed to be Anavar) from a reliable (or what I was told was a reliable) source back in January.

Definitely was a great experience, except that at about week 4, I began to develop severe joint pain. My clavical and shoulders hurt so much that I could only Bench 75% of the weight I could before Anavar. My elbow joints hurt so much I couldn't do dumbbells. Still, I pressed on (very stupid) and endured the ripping and tearing pain. By week 6 I had to stop early. Couldn't do it anymore. Since I hadn't stopped earlier, I spent the next 4 months unable to work out. My joints hurt like hell. To test the theory that it really was due to the drug, I took one full dose of it, a month later. The same day I worked out and the joint pain was back with a vengeance. Took me nearly a week for that new pain to subside. I was doing 40mg daily, taking it all at once. Mornings, because if I split it up, I was unable to sleep.

I am now ready to try Anavar from a different source. Maybe I got the wrong product last time. I will know the minute I take the first capsule.

But I know joint pain is an issue on some gear. I was wondering if you guys had any suggestions on how to reduce this side effect in general. There have to be some tricks and tips for getting a head start on it. I know joint pain is something that you're screwed if you wait until it starts. If you can prevent it, you're better off. I've been brainstorming some ideas but I am not as educated as you guys. Here are my uneducated ideas. Comments?

1) Does dosing reduce side effects? Specifically joint pain? Have read some who say you MUST split up your dose. If you're taking 40mg you want to do 20 and 20 every day. Others have told me you want to do it all up front. Which is typically better for avoiding potential side effects?

2) Does ramping up dose reduce side effects? It was suggested that instead of starting out at 40, I should start out at 20 for a week or two, then work my way up. They said this is "exactly why" i had more side effects. Factual?

3) Water intake? I was doing 1 gallon of water per day. I will continue with that.

4) Ample (and I mean ample) amounts of fish oil? Recommended amount?

5) 1000mg of Glucosamine per day. (more recommended?)

6) 500mg Chondritin per day. (more?)

7) 500mg MSM per day. (more?)

8) I never. Ever. Ever stretch before I work out. I usually just dive in. Do you think this will help? I remember my joints feeling insanely hard. Tight. So tight and so "taught" and hard that movement seemed to rip them and hurt them. But once movement got going, they immediately seemed to loosen up.

Who knows - maybe I really had another product altogether, and these wont cause any problems!

CW