Recovery cycle question

[boxingfan30]

After much debate about getting on AAS, I have decided that I would not be able to be at my full potential of lifting and gains until my shoulder has been fixed. The surgery I need to have is called a Glenoid Osteotomy. It's rather complex and the healing part will take a minimum of 2 months and likely at least double that before I would be able to use the shoulder for any sort of decent weight lifting to hold up.

Please all keep in mind when I ask this question that it is NOT to gain size, it's NOT because I want to be some massive bodybuilder and never want to be so... this is simply a question of helping to recover faster and also hopefully in the process, add some bone density (though i'm going to try to talk to the surgeon about adding more steel or something to make the whole joint stronger).

500 mg's of test is just going to be a waste at that time, so I had considered doing 250 mg test with just 50 mg of deca weekly. I decided on 50 mg of deca because I don't want some super high dose that's going to mess with my dick, just something to help me along to get back as strong or stronger than I have been.

My other reason is that I want to keep what I have gained (though i'm not big by any means), either way though it's been a lot of hard work i've put into myself for years and with constant rest and inactivity, my test levels will likely fall.

Opinions?

[boxingfan30]

Here are a few links that i've found to support my idea.



June 24, 2004

Anabolic steroids may improve surgical repair of torn shoulder tendons, study finds

By LESLIE H. LANG
UNC School of Medicine

CHAPEL HILL -- New research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill indicates that treatment with anabolic steroids may improve surgical repair of massive or recurrent tears of the shoulder’s rotator cuff tendons.

Such injuries extend well beyond the world of high-performance athletes, professional and collegiate – often occurring among older weekend athletes, including tennis and golf players.

The study, which appears in the June issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine, was led by Dr. Spero Karas, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in UNC’s School of Medicine.

Dr. Albert J. Banes, professor of orthopedics and biomedical engineering at UNC, developed a bioengineered tendon that figured prominently in the study’s experiments. Through a company he founded 18 years ago, Banes developed a special tissue plate in which cells in a liquid collagen gel could remodel on their own to form a tissue-like matrix or structure. The structure then could be placed under mechanical load by a computer-driven pressure-controlled system.

In 2002, his laboratory announced it had successfully bioengineered a rhythmically beating experimental model of heart muscle.

Anabolic steroids benefit millions of people a year, said Karas, including those with deficiencies in sex hormones and burn victims who need to build up their metabolism to repair musculoskeletal tissue. They also are FDA-approved for treating anemia for their ability to help the body rebuild blood.

As it’s widely known that anabolic steroids can build muscle mass and strength, Karas said he thought these properties might apply to shoulder tissue and that Banes’ bioartificial tendon might provide the appropriate model for testing.

“In this new study, supraspinatus tendon cells were harvested from my patients during rotator cuff surgery, isolated and then sent to Albert’s lab,” Karas said. “The cells were then grown in his culture media to coalesce and form this experimental tendon model, the bioartificial tendon.”

Prior to applying mechanical strain, the researchers treated some of the developing tissue with the anabolic steroid nandrolone decoanate. The steroid was administered directly into the lab dish via pipette, or dropper.

“We clearly found that when you looked at the bioartificial tendon matrices that were treated with anabolic steroid and then mechanical load or strain, we saw significant increases in their biomechanical properties,” Karas said.

“The tendons were smaller, more dense, stronger, more elastic and had better remodeling properties than tissue cells not treated with steroid or placed under strain,” he said. “They responded better to the load and formed a more normal appearing tendon, versus a more disorganized matrix we see in the untreated bioartificial tendon.”

Thus, said Karas, it appeared that load and anabolic steroid “act synergistically” to improve the characteristics of tendon.

Karas said the research had clinical applications, including the possibility of a day when bioartificial tendon matrices might literally help bridge the gap between deficient human tissue and the normal state – that is, to bridge the holes that remain following surgery for large rotator cuff tears.

In the less distant future, the new study’s crucial implications may apply to the post-surgery healing of tendons that have been torn or retracted for a long time, he said.

“Orthopedic surgeons, especially those who specialize in the shoulder, tend to have one vexing dilemma in front of them: There are certain states that make rotator cuff repair extremely difficult, and that would be a tendon that has experienced atrophy and degeneration, that has been torn for a long time. In other words, not a fresh tear.

“With FDA-approved drugs taken at the appropriate dosages for the appropriate occasions, we might be able to modulate tendon-to-bone healing in this postoperative period,” he said, adding that the next step is to explore the use of anabolic steroids in the animal model.

Most of these patients are between 50 and 70 years of age and have their athletic years behind them. But many are very active and comprise a much larger demographic in society than the athlete, Karas said.

“And these weekend warriors who play tennis and golf are represented far more in most orthopedic practices than professional or collegiate athletes.”

Support for the study came from the National Institutes of Health.

[boxingfan30]

Nandrolone increases bone mass and eases pain in bones and joints that have been damaged.
1: Maturitas 1993 Nov;17(3):211-9 Related Articles, Books
Effects of nandrolone decanoate on bone mass in established osteoporosis.
Passeri M, Pedrazzoni M, Pioli G, Butturini L, Ruys AH, Cortenraad MG.
Clinica Medica Generale e Terapia Medica, University of Parma, Italy.

A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study was conducted in 46 postmenopausal women with established osteoporosis in order to assess the long-term effects of nandrolone decanoate on the bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar vertebrae and of the distal third of the radius and on the biochemical markers of bone turnover. The patients received intramuscular injections of placebo or 50 mg nandrolone decanoate every 3 weeks for 18 months. Thirty-two of the initial 46 patients completed 1 year of study and 25 completed the whole study period of 18 months. Overall, vertebral BMD increased by 2.9% in the nandrolone decanoate group and fell by 2.3% in the placebo group. Radial BMD showed a slight but transient improvement, with a subsequent return to basal levels in the nandrolone decanoate group, whereas there was a progressive decrease in the placebo group. Patients treated with nandrolone decanoate also complained less of bone pain. Urinary hydroxyproline decreased significantly in treated patients, whereas osteocalcin tended to increase, but the change was not significant. HDL cholesterol concentrations decreased only slightly and haemoglobin increased significantly in the nandrolone decanoate group. Two patients treated with nandrolone decanoate withdrew from the study because of hirsutism and honess. The results indicate that nandrolone decanoate exerts positive effects on vertebral BMD and on bone pain in patients with established postmenopausal osteoporosis.

[boxingfan30]

I also wanted to note that I will take 6-8 grams of MSM per day along with a supplement called bone builder.

[boxingfan30]

bump, i'm just wondering if anyone has any advice on this?

[boxingfan30]

was my question that bad? lol

[Soar]

I fear no one has read this due to it being a mini novel. My brain hurts scrolling up to see the top.

[boxingfan30]

lol, ok, well I basically want to know if after having major shoulder surgery, my arm will be immobile for about 2 months and is there such a thing as a "recovery cycle" and if so, could i do 250 mg's test and 50 mg's Deca to speed the healing process a bit more?