I need help; seeking advice
I'm writing this post to seek advice from those more experienced and knowledgeable when it comes to using steroids and balancing cycles and diets and whatnot. I've been researching HGH and steroids lately. I'm 22 years old and at the age of 18 I was hit with Graves' disease, a disorder that causes hyperactivity of the thyroid gland. As a result, my metabolism sped up so greatly that no matter what food I consumed, my body would digest it so quickly that I wasn't able to fully pull the complete amount of nutrition from it. Due to that, my body began to eat what muscle I had on my body at that point in order to make up for the lacking nutrition.
Since that time, I have been treated with radioactive iodine in order to kill off the thyroid's production processes and I am now on levothyroxine (synthroid) in order to supplement the hormones that are no longer being created by what is now a slow thyroid (hypothyroidism). I am currently on a balanced amount of this medication.
Before this occurred, I was six feet tall and my weight fluctuated between 140-150 pounds. My body would gain muscle mass very quickly and easily when I went into consistent times of training and I was very strong for my size (bench pressing 225).
Presently, I am the same height and my weight is set pretty stable at 145 pounds. However, I'm finding that no matter how much I work out, my body is not holding ANY muscle mass. What minimal growth I do see after busting my ass seems to shrink back to scrawny very quickly. This is pissing me off at this point. What guy wants to have to face the fact that they were stronger at 17 years old then they are at 22?
My question is this: should I more seriously consider beginning a cycle? I do know that at this time, I should be consuming greater amounts of protein. However, due to the thyroid condition, my body holds any excess calories as fat and doesn't really turn it to muscle when I train. At this point, I find myself dieting to stay trim, and that's not allowing for muscle gain, either. I feel sort of stuck.
Any advice given will be greatly appreciated and I'm a teachable person. My mind isn't already made up, so I'll be listening to your recommendations.
Please consider that in a steroid, I'm looking for something that is more basic and less likely to trigger baldness, cause breast tissue to form, or cause bloating. I understand that some of these are inescapable to some extent as side-effects, but if any of you know of any steroids that can be taken in pill form and that are known for being less likely to cause these side-effects, that's what I'm interested in.
However, if this is more of a dietary issue, I'd like to have some pointers to correct that as well.
Thank you very much!
