First cycle questions

[Alex77]

Hi guys, I’m Alex. Been lifting for about 10 years, around 13-15% BF, 6ft 2, 210lbs.
I’m 7 weeks into my 1st cycle, decen strength and weight increases. Been following austinite's sticky (500mg Test E + 500ui HCG per week with 0.25mg Arimidex EOD) Everything pharma grade froma good source.


Pre Cycle:
TESTOSTERONE 17.50 nmol/L 7.60 - 31.40
FREE-TESTOSTERONE(CALCULATED) 0.460 nmol/L 0.30 - 1.00
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOB 20.25 nmol/L 16.00 - 55.00
17 -BETA OESTRADIOL 95.25 pmol/L 0.00 - 191.99
LUTEINISING HORMONE 4.50 IU/L 1.70 - 8.60

Mid cycle blood work:
TESTOSTERONE *60.9 nmol/L 7.60 - 31.40
FREE - TESTOSTERONE (CALCULATED)*2.30 nmol/L 0.30 - 1.00
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOB *9.00 nmol/L 16.00 - 55.00
17 - BETA OESTRADIOL 49.80 pmol/L 0.00 - 191.99
LUTEINISING HORMONE *<0.100 IU/L 1.70 - 8.60

The thing is - libido has dropped quite a bit after about 4-5weeks. From being horny as a teenager to just "moderate" and quite below pre-cycle levels. It varies through the week. I also noticed some testicle shrinking (again, varies during the week).

Should I increase my AI dose to 0.50mg?

[MToption2]

Hi guys, I’m Alex. Been lifting for about 10 years, around 13-15% BF, 6ft 2, 210lbs.
I’m 7 weeks into my 1st cycle, decen strength and weight increases. Been following austinite's sticky (500mg Test E + 500ui HCG per week with 0.25mg Arimidex EOD) Everything pharma grade froma good source.


Pre Cycle:
TESTOSTERONE 17.50 nmol/L 7.60 - 31.40
FREE-TESTOSTERONE(CALCULATED) 0.460 nmol/L 0.30 - 1.00
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOB 20.25 nmol/L 16.00 - 55.00
17 -BETA OESTRADIOL 95.25 pmol/L 0.00 - 191.99
LUTEINISING HORMONE 4.50 IU/L 1.70 - 8.60

Mid cycle blood work:
TESTOSTERONE *60.9 nmol/L 7.60 - 31.40
FREE - TESTOSTERONE (CALCULATED)*2.30 nmol/L 0.30 - 1.00
SEX HORMONE BINDING GLOB *9.00 nmol/L 16.00 - 55.00
17 - BETA OESTRADIOL 49.80 pmol/L 0.00 - 191.99
LUTEINISING HORMONE *<0.100 IU/L 1.70 - 8.60

The thing is - libido has dropped quite a bit after about 4-5weeks. From being horny as a teenager to just "moderate" and quite below pre-cycle levels. It varies through the week. I also noticed some testicle shrinking (again, varies during the week).

Should I increase my AI dose to 0.50mg?

Buy a preg stick and verify your hcg.
After that, double your hcg. If budget allows, bw for other hormones particularly dht.

[Alex77]

This is going to sound stupid but how do I test the HCG potency using a pregnancy stick? Do I just put 250UI and a sprinkle it on the stick using a syringe and expect a positive pregnancy result?
Provided the above is a positive, should I increase to 2x500ui HCG per week (now I take it as 2x250ui) until the end of the cycle?

What else should I get done on bw? DHT seems a separate test with a 7 day turnaround there's a myriad of choices and not many bundles, do I want prolactin, FSH/LH, SHBG, Free Androgen Index?
If there's real benefit to it I don't mind throwing a few extra hundred dollars at bloodwork, my concern is that I'm away and with the long turnaround I'll only get results about week 10 of the cycle. Would it benefit/change PCT as well?

[MToption2]

This is going to sound stupid but how do I test the HCG potency using a pregnancy stick? Do I just put 250UI and a sprinkle it on the stick using a syringe and expect a positive pregnancy result?
Provided the above is a positive, should I increase to 2x500ui HCG per week (now I take it as 2x250ui) until the end of the cycle?

What else should I get done on bw? DHT seems a separate test with a 7 day turnaround there's a myriad of choices and not many bundles, do I want prolactin, FSH/LH, SHBG, Free Androgen Index?
If there's real benefit to it I don't mind throwing a few extra hundred dollars at bloodwork, my concern is that I'm away and with the long turnaround I'll only get results about week 10 of the cycle. Would it benefit/change PCT as well?

What I did was squirt 500iu on it then run it under the sink for a fraction of a second. Just enough to get a reading. If it's legit, then obviously you're not using enough. Otherwise you wouldn't be experiencing a trend toward shrinkage. 500iu E3D is what I'm doing.

Privatemdlabs, Discountedlabs, Directlabs lots of choices. Good to compare hormone prices.

DHT is implicated more in libido than Testosterone. This doesn't necessarily mean having high DHT = high sex drive. But the correlation is there. Unfortunately, DHT testing is usually expensive. I think around $70.
Prolactin shouldn't be a problem with 500mg Test. It's usually something to monitor on Tren.
Instead, you could try adding in Mast or Proviron. Suppose to perk your drive right back up.

[kelkel]

It's quite normal to experience elevated libido when you start a cycle. It's also normal for it to eventually subside. Elevated testosterone induces elevated dopamine levels (neurotransmitter) but they eventually normalize. You don't need to add in other AAS on your first cycle. You just need to know that it's normal to experience that. If anything, get some cialis.

[Alex77]

What I did was squirt 500iu on it then run it under the sink for a fraction of a second. Just enough to get a reading. If it's legit, then obviously you're not using enough. Otherwise you wouldn't be experiencing a trend toward shrinkage. 500iu E3D is what I'm doing.

Privatemdlabs, Discountedlabs, Directlabs lots of choices. Good to compare hormone prices.

DHT is implicated more in libido than Testosterone. This doesn't necessarily mean having high DHT = high sex drive. But the correlation is there. Unfortunately, DHT testing is usually expensive. I think around $70.
Prolactin shouldn't be a problem with 500mg Test. It's usually something to monitor on Tren.
Instead, you could try adding in Mast or Proviron. Suppose to perk your drive right back up.

Thank you for explaining, will get a test and report back. Sounds like I need some more HCG.

I'm not US based, it's around $150 here and it does have a long turnaround time for test ( the other bloods turn up quite quickly online).

If it's useful I can get it, but even regular bw is $150+ so I don't want to throw money down the drain unnecessarily.

As for other compounds - it's my first cycle so I'm quite keen to keep it simple and figure out what is going on rather than throw additional variables in the equation.

It's quite normal to experience elevated libido when you start a cycle. It's also normal for it to eventually subside. Elevated testosterone induces elevated dopamine levels (neurotransmitter) but they eventually normalize. You don't need to add in other AAS on your first cycle. You just need to know that it's normal to experience that. If anything, get some cialis.

Fair enough, if it's something normal then I won't worry. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues getting erections it's just that the drop was quite sudden.

For example if I take a 100% baseline on libido normally when off cycle then :

Just before starting the cycle it was at around 70- 80% as I was dealing with stress at work at the time.
From week 2 to week 4 it was at more like 150% to the point where erections where almost painful sometimes lol.

Week 5 it kinda dropped to 60-70% and the contrast was very obvious. I could still get erections without issues, but it wasn't the same lol. I also noticed some water retention and puffy nipples so I doubled my AI for a week and It went back to around 90%. It kinda stayed there even though I'm back to the regular AI dose of 0.25mg EOD.

If this is normal then great, I don't want to throw in other compounds if not needed.

[MToption2]

Thank you for explaining, will get a test and report back. Sounds like I need some more HCG.

I'm not US based, it's around $150 here and it does have a long turnaround time for test ( the other bloods turn up quite quickly online).

If it's useful I can get it, but even regular bw is $150+ so I don't want to throw money down the drain unnecessarily.

As for other compounds - it's my first cycle so I'm quite keen to keep it simple and figure out what is going on rather than throw additional variables in the equation.

Fair enough, if it's something normal then I won't worry. Don't get me wrong, I have no issues getting erections it's just that the drop was quite sudden.

For example if I take a 100% baseline on libido normally when off cycle then :

Just before starting the cycle it was at around 70- 80% as I was dealing with stress at work at the time.
From week 2 to week 4 it was at more like 150% to the point where erections where almost painful sometimes lol.

Week 5 it kinda dropped to 60-70% and the contrast was very obvious. I could still get erections without issues, but it wasn't the same lol. I also noticed some water retention and puffy nipples so I doubled my AI for a week and It went back to around 90%. It kinda stayed there even though I'm back to the regular AI dose of 0.25mg EOD.

If this is normal then great, I don't want to throw in other compounds if not needed.

Well. It depends how badly you want it. If you don't want to add anything (Cialis, DHT derivatives, PT141), it doesn't sound that bad.

Kelkel is right. It could be dopamine related. In that case, hormonal testing will reveal nothing.

[hammerheart]

Cialis wouldn't do anything when it comes to libido, even if ED is present without any trigger signal from the brain no erection will happen.

Just saying. For some guys libido is more a matter of overall balance than a function of T levels.

DHT will usually ramp up to ultraphysiological levels on a cycle, I doubt that's the problem.

Severely low DA in the hypothalamus (where sex centers reside) might show as elevated prolactin in bloodwork. I got that literally from nowhere (no 10-nors, normal E2).

As above, I'd check the HCG.

[Alex77]

Right, so it started happening again this week - slight loss of libido, I can still get erections but they are softer than normal. Coincidentally, I am at the end of the 2nd HCG vial (same as the 1st time it happenend).
Brought 2 pregnancy tests, tested the last ~400ui of old HCG: very faint line, but visible under direct light.
Openend a fresh HCG vial, sprinkled 500ui on the 2nd test... definite positive line, not as coloured as the "control" line but you can see it for sure. Much more visible than the first one. Yesterday I had 250ui of the old vial, today I had another 500ui of the new one to kick start things. Plan is to pay close attention and monitor closely, seems HCG was losing its potency (it's almost 4 weeks old) even though I keep it refrigerated.

2nd thing - I did a bit more reading. The libido was reduced, but could still easily get erections. However I was a bit softer, and got cold hands and feet most of the time, especially when naked. Seemed like poor circulation. So I bought a blood test monitor and found high systoic pressure - 150 /75. I never had issues before, but I read this tends to happen on cycles.

I'm revising my diet to include more cruciferous vegetables, bought some Omega 3's, Vitc B,C,D and Ginkgo Biloba. Will drink more water, get more sleep (things will be quiet at work for a while) and keep a closer eye on salt intake (I admit I haven't lately). Obviosuly will continue to monitor blood pressure levels.
Also ordered extra HCG in 1500ui vials (old ones were 2000ui) some Arimidex so that I can up the dose and also some Cialis (just in case, I'm not keen on using it if not really needed).

Let me know your thoughts.

[kelkel]

Be sure to get your BP in control. Also, don't get so wrapped up in your libido that it becomes phychological. Meaning don't talk yourself into having problems like so many guys do. You're throwing a lot of drugs at your body during a cycle, how your body responds will not always be perfect. Right now you're taking test, hcg, adex yet you seem to worry about Cialis, which is arguably the healthiest of all the drugs mentioned and will even help lower BP.

[Alex77]

Absolutely, will keep an eye on now that I recognise the symptoms. Even after a few hours, 2 decents meals, an aspirin and some celery it is now down to 135/72. I have the BP monitor so will be easy to track every day for the next few days and weekly after that.
As for libido - makes sense, I think it was the combination of reduced libido + soft erections that concerned me. Everything seems back to normal now, so I'll only pay attention to the blood pressure. I guess you can potentially do more damage just by worrying about it too much, like a vicious circle.

Cialis - it sounds like I might have a case of "double standards" going on and I do need to reconsider my position, this is mainly due to 2 things:
1. Whilst I've been training for a long time and I'm confident about nutrition, the area of performance drugs is quite new to me and I aknowledge I haven't done as much research as I should have. The internet is full of conflicting info about training as it is and it takes ages for a begginer to filter things out, when it comes to steroids there are significantly more variables in the mix and significantly less public trustworthy sources. At first it's difficult to filter the "broscience" types from the knowledgeable people.
2. It is my first cycle and I was quite keen to keep it simple and understand how my body reacts, hence why I don't want to throw in extra compounds that I don't know much about. I've read austinite's very helpful sticky and that's pretty much what I've based it on, but I fully aknowledge that I've got a lot more research to do.

Thank you everyone for the helpful tips so far!