Blast didn’t work for me. (Understatement) Ended my 15wk blast after 8 weeks...

[TMan96]

It was suggested this be moved here from the HRT forum. There is info here for those on TRT considering blasting.

I have been on TRT with Test Cyp for over a year now. Had spent time dialing everything in and was excited about do my 1st blast cycle with some of the extra Test I had accumulated from my script.

My main goal was to add muscle mass. I am 46 years old, 5’'6 165lbs with 13%bf.
My complete normal protocol is:
Test cyp. 120mg wk.
.25mg Arimidex 2x week
250iu HCG 2x week
.5mg Simvastatin EOD
1 grain Armor Thyroid Each Day
200mg CoQ10
500mg Krill Oil
2600mg flax seed oil
120mg ginkgo biloba
Ld aspirin
Multi-vitamin with 5000iu D3 plus about everything else except Iron.

For my blast I upped the Test dose to 400mg and upped the Arimidex to .25 EOD. My diet was on point with a 40/30/30 and 500 cal above maintance. Workout was a 5x5 4 days a week with light cardio 2x a week.

Started my blast 2nd week of February. Everything went well to start with… except didn’t see any results…. I mean no weight gain, no increase in strength. If anything lower libido. As information this is what I saw throughout the blast…. So gained nothing.

Week 5 I had my levels checked at labcorp. E2 Sensitive was pretty much in check at 39 and my T levels were >1500 (lab didn’t go any higher than 1500). The other bad thing I noticed was my RBC, H&H were near the top of the rage… even though I had donated blood right before I started the blast.

On the bad side, thanks to members on this forum, I also knew to keep up with my BP and had bought a cuff so I could check at home. About 4-5 days after my BW my BP shot up. I have not had any issues with High BP ever and am usually at 120/80 or sometimes a little lower. Well I started feeling a little lightheaded, check my BP and it was 168/90! Called my doc immediately as I was a little freaked out (I probably made it go even higher with anxiety). Doc saw me that morning and said he was going to put me on Diovan (valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide) 160/12.5. Said that sometimes people just develop HBP all of a sudden and gave me a month’s worth of samples. He said to keep up with the BP monitoring and we would check it next time he saw me. Said I might be able to get off of it if things cleared up. Took the 1st tab and felt better quickly. Within a week BP was back to about 130/82. Thought about stopping the blast then, and should have, but since I was feeling so much better I was desperate to see if I would get any results and rationalizing I was under control now, I decided to keep going.

Never saw any positive results from the blast, infact I had started feeling weaker and libido was down. Workouts were crap. 2 weeks ago I was due to give blood and thought that might make me feel better. Well I went in and they said my hemoglobin was 18.1 and they could only take blood if it were 18 or less. I know that the test they do there with a finger stick weren’t that accurate, but I didn’t think they could be too far off either so the next day I went back to labcorp. When I got my results back, my hemoglobin was 17.8, hematocrit 52.5 and RBC 5.89 all high and out of range. I decided right then to stop my blast and Test Cyp all together until I get this back under control.

I have been off Test for 1 week now and am feeling a lot better and stronger. I plan to go back to donate and hopefully I will show below 18 and be able to donate. If I can get things back under control I plan to go back on my TRT dose of Test. I also want to get off the Diovan.

If I still can’t donate, I will go back to the doc and let him know what is going on. I know this is one thing you don’t want to mess around with for long.

So you can see why this has not been a good experience for me. I know everyone is different and everyone responds different. There was nothing about me that made me think this would have happened.

Right now, don’t think I will ever try this again. Anyone else ever have results like this or have any input into what I could have done different? Anything about my current protocol that may have caused a problem? I did take some creatine while I was on the blast… could that be a problem….. everything I read said it was okay.

Anything about my protocol that seems redundant or I should look at eliminating? Seems like a lot in retrospect. Appreciate any input.

For those considering a Blast, you might want to consider my story before you take the plunge.

[warmouth]

Honestly, I dont see squat with a long ester until about week 8. I hate it and that is why I only care to blast with shorts from now on. Ive had the best results simply on 6 week blasts that 12 week cycles using shorts. I keep on my TRT dose throughout. But as you said, everyone reacts/responds different. Some people notice results in 4 weeks or so.

[BBJT200]

Next time you blast and have those symptoms, try a phlebotomy to lower your rbc/hemoglobin
It will probably make you feel much better.

[AnabolicBoy1981]

Not that unlikely to happen at all IMO. Case in point. I also did 400 mgs/wk of stockpiled legit script test. There are some similarities.
My blood pressure was up, and my libido was down. Blood ppressure can cause problems with erectile ability, even though you'd think it should increase it lol. Estrogen too high can play with your overal lack of desire and penile sensation even in the presence of 3 fold test and dht, ehich i had, and you probably did too. My e2 was also 3 fold. Your problem was e2. e2 causes the high BP, from the water retention, which will affect erections, and the e2 itself will cause penile insensitivity. E2(and really test and dht as well) all have an "optimized sexual sweet spot and ratio". Those ratios....are probably not gonna happen when your giving yourself "optimized anabolic sweet spot" doses. E2 is a double edged sword too much, no sex drive, too little, no sex drive. My best sex drives are with 100-150mgs a week, no AI. When i go to 200, im less sexual. People just think that sex drive will be up if you have a ton of androgen. No. Hell, im on 200mgs of test and 600 mgs of primobolan right now, and i don't even cum right. Its true. The body has a very specific sex hormone ratio, and when your on gear your just flooding your receptors with too much shiitt for it to know what to do with. E2, test and DHT all mediate different parts of your sexuality. One may affect desire, on may effect penile sensation, one may affect prostate sensation, one may play more a role in the brain..who knows. Depends where and how many receptors you have in your brain and genitoury tract etc. For instance Trenbolone generally kills sex drive in most guys, but i know one member here refered to it as the "sexy drug" not only because of its ability to build lean muscle, but because its effects on his sex drive.
Keep in mind, i am 15 years your junior and still had these problems, minus the RBC increase. THE rbc thing is something that men over 40 on trt seem to get, even the first year they get on on. Its just the way an older body deals with the high test i guess. Not sure theres a way around it other than giving blood and maybe baby aspirin, extra fish oil to keep things slick. I've been on trt for two years and never had an rbc problem even when i did 400-600 mgs of test over 9 month period straight.
Did i gain on cycle, yeah, but not the first time after week 5. You cannot double your training while on anything 500mgs or less IMO. Just keep your training the same, maybe add a second working set to SOME exercises. I doubled my training and only gained the first 5 weeks. Instead of reducing the training or taking a week off mid cycle, i upped to 500. 600mgs plus, yes you can increase your volume ffrequency etc. JMO. I don't know if you doubled your training, but i'd keep it the same and take a week of in the middle, add an extra week to your cycle if you have to but you really need a week off before your cycle and 5-6 weeks in IMO
i also will not use high aromatizing androgens without concurrent use of bromocriptine at 2.5-5mg a day. Bromo is a multi use drug, increasing insulin sensitivity, keeping metabolism from dropping, cortisol from rising, lowers blood pressure, and increases libido from its D2 receptor activity and lowering prolactine. It may also increase GH slightly. I run it mainly for the bp issues. Estrogen is indirectly anabolic, so i try not to use AIs to control BP or help sex drive.

[Metalject]

Could be a number of things. Your testosterone to estrogen could have been to low when you increased the AI dose. This will make you feel like crap. I've said it on this board a million times, people often use more AI than necessary. I've been on a TRT plan for 3yrs give or take a few months at 200mg/wk test-cyp, and yes, actual TRT script from a doc, not self-medicating. Obviously meds come from the pharmacy. My point, my estrogen levels have not once required me to need an AI on this dose, not even close.

Warmouth also mentioned larger ester base testosterone taking longer to kick in. A lot of people say this and there is some truth to it but it's not that cut and dry. For example, once you inject test-cyp despite its long half-life, your blood levels will spike within the first 48-72 hours and produce a large jump in testosterone. With that in mind you should be able to notice the hormone working long before you get to 8wks. (BTW, Warmouth, I'm not knocking you hear)

Another possible issue, you increased your testosterone dose nearly 4x the amount of your TRT plan. Your metabolism is now burning stronger than it was on your 120mg/wk dose. This could mean you needed more calories to spur growth and if you kept things the same as when on your TRT protocol this could have been part of the problem. It's not that it was hurting you, but for gaining more lean tissue you may have needed to bump your calories up a little bit.

[panntastic]

I think you need to check on the meaning of "BLAST"
15 weeks @ 400mg isn't a blast in my eyes, its a lengthy cycle.
If your really wanted to blast in typical convention of blast and cruise you should of been hitting 800-1000mg a week for 8 weeks max.
Hit the receptors hard gain maximum growth in short time then go back to trt dose for few weeks then repeat.

[AnabolicBoy1981]

Word.

And yeah i agree, people always say oh it takes 8 weeks to kick in. Not really. More like 2-4. The stuff stays in you for four weeks, not very significant after week 2 tho. So at week for your gonna have your highest possible level, but your still pretty much in the same boat as you were at week two. So, strength and weight increases should be seen as soon as week 2 or 3.
And remember, even tho you increase testosterone 3-4 fold, doesnt mean you've increased recovery and anabolism 3-4 fold. Androgen level is just one factor in your anabolism. You cant really assume your recovery is anything more than double, unless you increased GH 4 times over, and insulin 4 times over as well maybe.

[TMan96]

Word.

And yeah i agree, people always say oh it takes 8 weeks to kick in. Not really. More like 2-4. The stuff stays in you for four weeks, not very significant after week 2 tho. So at week for your gonna have your highest possible level, but your still pretty much in the same boat as you were at week two. So, strength and weight increases should be seen as soon as week 2 or 3.
And remember, even tho you increase testosterone 3-4 fold, doesnt mean you've increased recovery and anabolism 3-4 fold. Androgen level is just one factor in your anabolism. You cant really assume your recovery is anything more than double, unless you increased GH 4 times over, and insulin 4 times over as well maybe.

Thanks for your input. Seems like you are thinking I might be over training ? If so, what type of routine would you recommend? Both for on blast and normal trt.

[motoxposse]

Thanks for your input. Seems like you are thinking I might be over training ? If so, what type of routine would you recommend? Both for on blast and normal trt.

I also trt test c at 200mgs weekly I increased my dose as high as 600mgs week and really didn't notice a lot. Strength came up and a little muscle was added. I started noticing good gains when I added deca and dbol to the mix. Also some people don't respond we'll to Ldex it's possible you need an AI like stane or letro these seem to be a bit more aggressive at controlling E. as far as a workout to get maximum results look up Dorian Yates blood and guts on YouTube watch the series and apply it, if that doesn't put size on you your diets wrong. I find adding size is easier at a little higher bf% so eat big dont be afraid to add 1000 cals to your maintenance diet and do a few days of fat burning while on cycle 60mins low intensity on an empty stomach, this usually keeps fat at bay. And to clarify the bf% statement what I mean is dont worry if u start adding a little fat most people will over react cut macros and gains will suffer. Good luck

[ReverendNewman]

I think you need to check on the meaning of "BLAST"
15 weeks @ 400mg isn't a blast in my eyes, its a lengthy cycle.
If your really wanted to blast in typical convention of blast and cruise you should of been hitting 800-1000mg a week for 8 weeks max.
Hit the receptors hard gain maximum growth in short time then go back to trt dose for few weeks then repeat.

I concur. 400 mg. a week isn't really a blast.

[TMan96]

Next time you blast and have those symptoms, try a phlebotomy to lower your rbc/hemoglobin
It will probably make you feel much better.

When you say phlebotomy, is there someone you could go to without a script? Or are you talking about DIY? I am not sure I could do that myself.

[TMan96]

I think you need to check on the meaning of "BLAST"
15 weeks @ 400mg isn't a blast in my eyes, its a lengthy cycle.
If your really wanted to blast in typical convention of blast and cruise you should of been hitting 800-1000mg a week for 8 weeks max.
Hit the receptors hard gain maximum growth in short time then go back to trt dose for few weeks then repeat.

It's hard for me to seeing doing 800-1000mg after the bad sides I had would 400... more test would be more sides... right?

[TMan96]

Honestly, I dont see squat with a long ester until about week 8. I hate it and that is why I only care to blast with shorts from now on. Ive had the best results simply on 6 week blasts that 12 week cycles using shorts. I keep on my TRT dose throughout. But as you said, everyone reacts/responds different. Some people notice results in 4 weeks or so.

What short ester do you use? I assume you are getting this though UGL and using script for the Test cyp?