Life without steroids. Who can relate?

So I have started a PCT thread in the PCT section, I wanted to try and recover from an 8 month blast (aggressive blast). Plan was to come off for good..

I was very motivated at the start, but now… 8 weeks down the line… I feel horrific, all I want to do is jump back on. Not a cycle just a TRT dose so I feel normal again!

At this point I feel like it’s not even worth coming off…. Lifting is my passion and without it I don’t have much, steroids and lifting has shaped me and my personality and I’m literally lost without out.

Who else is in this boat?

Its only 8 weeks down the line maybe you need to get blood work done over the next couple of weeks to see what's going on. I am not sure how aggressive your pct was but a 8 month cycle will need an aggressive PCT. You may well need TRT but its all guess work until you get some bloods done to see what's going on but I would leave it a touch longer around the 10 week mark and get tested.

I would also drop some of the intensity while training but still push the heavy weight and keep your cals high, don't train as long keep it heavy and short and just drop the intensity, I'd also add in further rest days and as always keep those cals higher end.

I fully understand how you feel trust me ive been there and low T was horrific to go through and the mental side of being off cycle can really mess around with your emotions but being only 8 weeks in its very early days so stuff it out train smart and keep your diet on track and get bloods done soon.

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Originally Posted by marcus300

Its only 8 weeks down the line maybe you need to get blood work done over the next couple of weeks to see what's going on. I am not sure how aggressive your pct was but a 8 month cycle will need an aggressive PCT. You may well need TRT but its all guess work until you get some bloods done to see what's going on but I would leave it a touch longer around the 10 week mark and get tested.

I would also drop some of the intensity while training but still push the heavy weight and keep your cals high, don't train as long keep it heavy and short and just drop the intensity, I'd also add in further rest days and as always keep those cals higher end.

I fully understand how you feel trust me ive been there and low T was horrific to go through and the mental side of being off cycle can really mess around with your emotions but being only 8 weeks in its very early days so stuff it out train smart and keep your diet on track and get bloods done soon.

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Thanks for the response, My PCT was 3 weeks after last injection HCG 2500IU EOD for 20 days, after the 20 days started Clomid @ 100mg ED 4 weeks and nolva at 40mg ED for 6 weeks. Plan was to do PCT and then get blood 8 weeks post PCT. But I’m struggling…

I’ll drop the intensity of my training, calories at the moment are around the 30000 mark, I’m 5ft 10 @ 187lbs I was 205 on cycle. Ill increase them by 300-500 and see how it goes.

My issue is I have really bad body dysmorphia, and as soon as I start putting on fat It fucks with my head, plus the loss of muscle… although I have maintained some good size so far.

Appreciate the message though, glad you guys can relate. Makes me feel much better!

Ill just have to man this shitty stage out, follow my protocol then go see the doc 8 weeks post PCT to see where I am at for my next move.

My exact delema from 5+ years ago

Off cycle - my total test is of a 65 year old, I feel like I would imagine a 65 year old would feel like(energy wise), sex drive - same as 65 year old




Soooo, I said fvck it - got back on, and got back on at insane doses just because.


5 years later - my doses are what they were on my 1st cycle, if not less.


I feel like I did when I was 20(which is almost 20 years ago), my blood work & vitals are just as good as they were before I even got on the juice.



All about what you want, there's no magic to this shit & this shit def has adverse effects on our health. So, I try to keep it minimal(sorta), take handfuls of supps daily, donate blood & so on & so on

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Originally Posted by Eduke93

Thanks for the response, My PCT was 3 weeks after last injection HCG 2500IU EOD for 20 days, after the 20 days started Clomid @ 100mg ED 4 weeks and nolva at 40mg ED for 6 weeks. Plan was to do PCT and then get blood 8 weeks post PCT. But I’m struggling…

I’ll drop the intensity of my training, calories at the moment are around the 30000 mark, I’m 5ft 10 @ 187lbs I was 205 on cycle. Ill increase them by 300-500 and see how it goes.

My issue is I have really bad body dysmorphia, and as soon as I start putting on fat It fucks with my head, plus the loss of muscle… although I have maintained some good size so far.

Appreciate the message though, glad you guys can relate. Makes me feel much better!

Ill just have to man this shitty stage out, follow my protocol then go see the doc 8 weeks post PCT to see where I am at for my next move.

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I would wait till around 8-10 weeks post PCT before bloods. I would also increase your cals and side on increased pro and fats imho. I think everyone can relate to what your going through,it is a mind fuk for sure. When we cycle or we have been cycling for a long time we kind of get use to how our bodies look and the way we feel and when we fully come off for any duration things will take a huge dip or it does for many. I had to realize that I hadn't had normal hormone levels since my early 20's and "normal" didn't feel good at all but over time once you get your levels back to some kind of decent base you can get over this stage. You defo need blood work done and then you can decide what your next plan of attack is.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by < >

My exact delema from 5+ years ago

Off cycle - my total test is of a 65 year old, I feel like I would imagine a 65 year old would feel like(energy wise), sex drive - same as 65 year old




Soooo, I said fvck it - got back on, and got back on at insane doses just because.


5 years later - my doses are what they were on my 1st cycle, if not less.


I feel like I did when I was 20(which is almost 20 years ago), my blood work & vitals are just as good as they were before I even got on the juice.



All about what you want, there's no magic to this shit & this shit def has adverse effects on our health. So, I try to keep it minimal(sorta), take handfuls of supps daily, donate blood & so on & so on

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I feel like im going to end up doing this to be honest, I will see the PCT through wait 8-10 weeks and get blood work, see what happens. Thanks mate

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Originally Posted by marcus300

I would wait till around 8-10 weeks post PCT before bloods. I would also increase your cals and side on increased pro and fats imho. I think everyone can relate to what your going through,it is a mind fuk for sure. When we cycle or we have been cycling for a long time we kind of get use to how our bodies look and the way we feel and when we fully come off for any duration things will take a huge dip or it does for many. I had to realize that I hadn't had normal hormone levels since my early 20's and "normal" didn't feel good at all but over time once you get your levels back to some kind of decent base you can get over this stage. You defo need blood work done and then you can decide what your next plan of attack is.

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Cheers Marcus, Yeah its shit but will crack on as I have planned and see how it goes!

Spoken like a true addict: I won't come off juice completely unless my health no longer permits or I am made so by LE


Doesn't mean that I don't try to stay safe tho < spoken like one fine functional addict



It is what it is - I base all of my opinions on facts

since I been on steroids I never want to go back to life without them

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couple years back I got off gear for 7 months . I had been on for several years straight. I had an injury that kept me from lifting so figured it was a good time to 'clean up' and detox. I didn't do a PCT at all. I just came straight off (didn't want to take more drugs being I was 'detoxing') .
the first couple months sucked. that last couple months I felt pretty good and all my health factors were much better.

point is , give it time and you'll start feeling normal again.

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Originally Posted by < >

Spoken like a true addict: I won't come off juice completely unless my health no longer permits or I am made so by LE


Doesn't mean that I don't try to stay safe tho < spoken like one fine functional addict



It is what it is - I base all of my opinions on facts

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Originally Posted by Max562

since I been on steroids I never want to go back to life without them

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

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There is life without steroids?
LE won't stop me. My ass will go to the pen with 100ml of nebido tucked inside a condom up my ass.
Health reasons would have to be something very serious and temporarily life threatening; Otherwise my ass will be dying anyway so I will go to the grave swole as hell.

Hope the tren is strong enough to break on through to the other side. Devil is not gonna be messing with me the first few weeks. I will also be accustomed to being hot all the time this way.

How hard is it to use and not abuse or become dependent? Honestly...

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Originally Posted by Clove1234

How hard is it to use and not abuse or become dependent? Honestly...

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Define dependant? Stop using = shrink. Therefore I will not. I would survive without it but I would be miserable.

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Originally Posted by Clove1234

How hard is it to use and not abuse or become dependent? Honestly...

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Depends on who u ask


You already got my answer

I am happy I went on TRT.
I wish I never strayed from the TRT path and blasted.

Once you go to the dark side....

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Originally Posted by The Deadlifting Dog

I am happy I went on TRT.
I wish I never strayed from the TRT path and blasted.

Once you go to the dark side....

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.... you are eating the forbidden fruit of the tree of life and kicked out of the garden.

Jokes on God though. Naked women never looked hotter and we have p***y now so thats good:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by The Deadlifting Dog

I am happy I went on TRT.
I wish I never strayed from the TRT path and blasted.

Once you go to the dark side....

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I've seen you say this a lot . I'm curious to know why and the back story.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Eduke93

Cheers Marcus, Yeah its shit but will crack on as I have planned and see how it goes!

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There is life without steroids trust me there is, but if you would of asked me a few years ago I would of probably bitten your head off. It all depends why you want to stop and how you are going to move forward from here. I've got a very long history of steroid use and probably some abuse wrapped in there but there have been times were I did go for long periods of time without steroids/cycling. When I was going through low T and getting my trt which was around 13 yrs ago was once I went a few yrs. Also I've not cycled for 3 yrs this Xmas just trt and I've held some outrageous size and been able to train with the best. My time with steroids/ cycling is over I wont touch them again but this is only motivated by health concerns I've had.

When I was younger I did want to try and stop but I just couldn't stop the train ride I was on, being a freak controlled my life and it made me who I am today. The feeling and the confidence they gave me is second to none but I do feel great without cycling and I know I'm still a monster even to guys who cycle heavy so my job is done. Don't worry about the drop in mood and body weight once you get your levels up again things will start to look better its just the transition period what many find hard to cope with and end up going back on, its a vicious circle what you cant win. Give yourself time and accept! :)

I find this thread interesting and after reading the responses it made me want to ask a question. How many of you lifted and were able to build muscle naturally before you ever touched a steroid?
I will be 57 in July, started HRT at 50 because my total T was at 299. About 3 years ago I did a test only cycle low dose 200mg a week vise my 140mg a week on HRT. About 6 months later did a tren A at 250mg a week and test cyp at 200mg a week, got amazing results. 6 months later tried a deca/cyp cycle not so great cycle. So for the past 2 years I do two cycles a year for 8 weeks 250 Tren A and 200 cyp with all supporting compounds and then just go back to HRT. My point is I always lifted before touching anything and had built pretty good muscle naturally, now cycles build a bit of muscle but make me lean and hard (which is what I want). I never loose muscle between cycles, but I do feel like superman while on cycle.
Is it true or myth that natural muscle stays steroid muscle go? I know so many guys in there late 20's that use steroids heavily and when forced to stop due to health reasons (liver issues) seem to shrink and gain fat pretty quick.

Just be sure there is bits of aldosterone and cortisol left in your system, you can't live without these. Then, you are g2g.

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Originally Posted by GearHeaded

I've seen you say this a lot . I'm curious to know why and the back story.

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I powerlift and I personally feel that I can obtain about 92.45687% of my gains by simply using my TRT of 100mg/week and 300ish ius of hCG twice a week.
I am on TRT due to low T. I am almost 47yrs old.

I think young guys can naturally easily reach 90% of their steroid powerlifting total.

Messing with your health for 8-10% gainz is stupid IMHO. (And yes, steroids are bad for you.... BP, lipids, etc...)
However, once you go to the dark side...

Now bodybuilding is totally different....
As you are fond of saying....
Natural bodybuilders are about half the size of steroid users on stage.
The difference is night and day.

But for 98% of the lifters out there... steroids aren't a wise choice IMHO. They would be better off learning how to train and diet.

TRT on the other hand can be a life saver.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Deadlifting Dog

I powerlift and I personally feel that I can obtain about 92.45687% of my gains be simply using my TRT of 100mg/week and 300ish ius of hCG twice a week.
I am on TRT due to low T. I am almost 47yrs old.

I think young guys can naturally easily reach 90% of their steroid powerlifting total.


Now bodybuilding is totally different....
As you are fond of saying....
Natural bodybuilders are about half the size of steroid users on stage.
The difference is night and day.

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agree. even if you look at drug tested federations vs non drug tested federations in powerlifting the record totals are not all that different . natty lifters can get very strong and compete against enhanced lifters quite well.

but like you said, bodybuilding is totally different. a natty pro can't even stand next to an enhanced pro and be compared (they look like polar opposites)

the reason for this, Imo, is that steroids do not increase one rep max strength to a very high degree (steroids can't improve nervous system strength or lifting technique) but what they can do very well is hypertrophy sarcoplasmic muscle fibers . look at Phil heath, those big round full muscles from doing nothing but 8-15 reps of machines only is because of sarcoplasmic muscle tissue hypertrophy (enhanced with steroids). Plus steroids create a much better ability for the body to store glycogen, which is going to make you much stronger and more efficient in that 8-12 rep range, which is also going to give you more sarcoplasmic fiber hypertrophy.

powerlifting is much more myofibril muscle tissue and does not respond nearly as well to steroid use. and again another reason natty power lifters are not that far off from enhanced ones.
but put a natty power lifter with equal lifts to an enhanced one and make them do sets of 12-20 and the enhanced lifter is going to be much stronger here then the natty lifter (even if they have equal one rep maxes).

Quote:

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Originally Posted by The Deadlifting Dog

I powerlift and I personally feel that I can obtain about 92.45687% of my gains by simply using my TRT of 100mg/week and 300ish ius of hCG twice a week.
I am on TRT due to low T. I am almost 47yrs old.

I think young guys can naturally easily reach 90% of their steroid powerlifting total.

Messing with your health for 8-10% gainz is stupid IMHO. (And yes, steroids are bad for you.... BP, lipids, etc...)
However, once you go to the dark side...

Now bodybuilding is totally different....
As you are fond of saying....
Natural bodybuilders are about half the size of steroid users on stage.
The difference is night and day.

But for 98% of the lifters out there... steroids aren't a wise choice IMHO. They would be better off learning how to train and diet.

TRT on the other hand can be a life saver.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by GearHeaded

agree. even if you look at drug tested federations vs non drug tested federations in powerlifting the record totals are not all that different . natty lifters can get very strong and compete against enhanced lifters quite well.

but like you said, bodybuilding is totally different. a natty pro can't even stand next to an enhanced pro and be compared (they look like polar opposites)

the reason for this, Imo, is that steroids do not increase one rep max strength to a very high degree (steroids can't improve nervous system strength or lifting technique) but what they can do very well is hypertrophy sarcoplasmic muscle fibers . look at Phil heath, those big round full muscles from doing nothing but 8-15 reps of machines only is because of sarcoplasmic muscle tissue hypertrophy (enhanced with steroids). Plus steroids create a much better ability for the body to store glycogen, which is going to make you much stronger and more efficient in that 8-12 rep range, which is also going to give you more sarcoplasmic fiber hypertrophy.

powerlifting is much more myofibril muscle tissue and does not respond nearly as well to steroid use. and again another reason natty power lifters are not that far off from enhanced ones.
but put a natty power lifter with equal lifts to an enhanced one and make them do sets of 12-20 and the enhanced lifter is going to be much stronger here then the natty lifter (even if they have equal one rep maxes).

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Never really thought about this. Nice point guys!
Thank God I am not a powerlfter!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rhoag

I find this thread interesting and after reading the responses it made me want to ask a question. How many of you lifted and were able to build muscle naturally before you ever touched a steroid?
I will be 57 in July, started HRT at 50 because my total T was at 299. About 3 years ago I did a test only cycle low dose 200mg a week vise my 140mg a week on HRT. About 6 months later did a tren A at 250mg a week and test cyp at 200mg a week, got amazing results. 6 months later tried a deca/cyp cycle not so great cycle. So for the past 2 years I do two cycles a year for 8 weeks 250 Tren A and 200 cyp with all supporting compounds and then just go back to HRT. My point is I always lifted before touching anything and had built pretty good muscle naturally, now cycles build a bit of muscle but make me lean and hard (which is what I want). I never loose muscle between cycles, but I do feel like superman while on cycle.
Is it true or myth that natural muscle stays steroid muscle go? I know so many guys in there late 20's that use steroids heavily and when forced to stop due to health reasons (liver issues) seem to shrink and gain fat pretty quick.

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I did for one year. Was 190 naturally and every girl that crossed my path wanted to put her hands around my skinny ass waist and slide her hands up my lats. I looked aesthetically perfect then.

Hell with that business though... I like being bigger.

Muscle stays as long as you maintain it.
If it took supplements to achieve it then you wont keep it once they cease.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by marcus300

There is life without steroids trust me there is, but if you would of asked me a few years ago I would of probably bitten your head off. It all depends why you want to stop and how you are going to move forward from here. I've got a very long history of steroid use and probably some abuse wrapped in there but there have been times were I did go for long periods of time without steroids/cycling. When I was going through low T and getting my trt which was around 13 yrs ago was once I went a few yrs. Also I've not cycled for 3 yrs this Xmas just trt and I've held some outrageous size and been able to train with the best. My time with steroids/ cycling is over I wont touch them again but this is only motivated by health concerns I've had.

When I was younger I did want to try and stop but I just couldn't stop the train ride I was on, being a freak controlled my life and it made me who I am today. The feeling and the confidence they gave me is second to none but I do feel great without cycling and I know I'm still a monster even to guys who cycle heavy so my job is done. Don't worry about the drop in mood and body weight once you get your levels up again things will start to look better its just the transition period what many find hard to cope with and end up going back on, its a vicious circle what you cant win. Give yourself time and accept! :)

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Yeah, I know mate. I remember when I was completely natural I was happy with my physique, genetically I can hold some decent size/strength. But once I entered the dark side, like you said... the way it made me feel.. confidence, drastic weight gain, high sense of well-being etc... then 5 years later I’ve tried everything! HGH, insulin, pretty much every steroid I could get my hands on I had a go at and I’m 24... It litterally has taken over my life, which is why I want to stop and im still going to stop as I want to try and prioritise health, family and all that good stuff... even though deep down I wanna jump on again! But... just going to stick to my plan, train hard, get blood work and pray I recover! If not then to the endo I go!!

Appreciate you input your experiences Marcus, it’s really helpful! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rhoag

I find this thread interesting and after reading the responses it made me want to ask a question. How many of you lifted and were able to build muscle naturally before you ever touched a steroid?
I will be 57 in July, started HRT at 50 because my total T was at 299. About 3 years ago I did a test only cycle low dose 200mg a week vise my 140mg a week on HRT. About 6 months later did a tren A at 250mg a week and test cyp at 200mg a week, got amazing results. 6 months later tried a deca/cyp cycle not so great cycle. So for the past 2 years I do two cycles a year for 8 weeks 250 Tren A and 200 cyp with all supporting compounds and then just go back to HRT. My point is I always lifted before touching anything and had built pretty good muscle naturally, now cycles build a bit of muscle but make me lean and hard (which is what I want). I never loose muscle between cycles, but I do feel like superman while on cycle.
Is it true or myth that natural muscle stays steroid muscle go? I know so many guys in there late 20's that use steroids heavily and when forced to stop due to health reasons (liver issues) seem to shrink and gain fat pretty quick.

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I started lifting 35 years ago. I competed in B.B. 2x naturally. Then it came to a point that I am not even in the same league as the others who are using AAS. I have not been cycling long, but as long as I will compete, I will cycle.
I also like the compliments.
I would say that the enormous guys would lose a great deal of size. I would say that the people that are big but not huge may lose a little, but as long as they continue to workout, they will maintain most of it. While a Dr was doing about 4 months of testing to get me on TRT, I did not use any supplements or AAS and I did not notice a loss of muscle and I was able to maintain my weight. The problem was that I wasn’t getting bigger like I needed to.


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